apa is awesome because......

[ctyhntr]

I've notice most disparaging remarks about APA overlook that their 8-ball league which is marketed towards beginners & intermediate players.

If pool leagues and tournaments were ranked and arrange like our education system, then APA 8-ball league would be elementary and junior high. If you have the potential for college or beyond, it doesn't make sense to stay in middle school, nor talk down to the ones whose skill level can't get beyond. Then again, not all of us are destined for higher education, and some are content to stay at their current level. Which is why newspapers in the United States is geared towards a fourth grade reading comprehension.

Leagues, like schools, offer an opportunity to educate and get people into the game. Without leagues, I think we would have lower participation rates, not unlike literacy rates.

*stepping off my soapbox*

This APA session has been my first experience with league pool, and I can say without hesitation, I have loved every minute of it. I have already progressed as a player, and it has gotten me hooked on pool. I know that there are faults with the system, but overall it has been a great experience. Maybe if and when I ever get good at this game I may not feel the same, but I love it so far.

 

[couldnthinkof01]

Minneapolis, not sure if apa has a masters 9ball. He is a really good l.o. and just enjoys his work. Always excited to get more people playing and having a good time.

If was there was enough interest he would be the kind of guy to try to make it happen if there was no apa masters 9ball yet. Couldnt say enough good things about him.

 

[Billiardsfan]

"I beleve its 8 games of 9ball, and 5 games of 8 ball otherwise you could end up 6-6.

Had my opponenet win the flip and chose the game(and to rack)last week in masters...he never did get to break 7-0 lol

We are inhouse cash masters, so maybe regular apa masters is race to 6?"

You are correct, there is a possibility of 8 games of 9 ball and 5 games of 8 ball. Race to 7.

 

[lorider]

I heard of an Olympic committee that gives everyone a trophy.... did you mean like that?

Correct me if I am wrong but I assume your comment is directed toward scotts statement about apa paying last place. Consider it show up money.

People on here constantly complain about lack of payouts in leagues ....then when son one comes on here saying at least one league makes an effort to payout you have some one come on with a smartass comment like above.

No call to compare apa league to the special olympics . Gotta say I have heard a lot of dumbass comments on this forum but yours really pisses me off .:

The special olympics does great tho gs for special kids. Comparing amateur pool players is really uncalled for.

 

[DelawareDogs]

Correct me if I am wrong but I assume your comment is directed toward scotts statement about apa paying last place. Consider it show up money.

People on here constantly complain about lack of payouts in leagues ....then when son one comes on here saying at least one league makes an effort to payout you have some one come on with a smartass comment like above.

No call to compare apa league to the special olympics . Gotta say I have heard a lot of dumbass comments on this forum but yours really pisses me off .:

The special olympics does great tho gs for special kids. Comparing amateur pool players is really uncalled for.

After reviewing my own comment I'd like to make my sincerest apologies to this particular thread.

 

[lorider]

After reviewing my own comment I'd like to make my sincerest apologies to this particular thread.

Your apology is appreciated.

I know sometimes we make off the cuff remarks and really dont think of the ramifications after all to err is human

I normally dont go off on the internet like I did on you but your comments bit a little close to home. My wife and I adopted a boy that we knew had to be treated a little different than our 4 natural children.

 

[jwhip]

APA helped me in improving my game, introducing me to 9 ball and making a lot of good friends. Way more positives than negatives for me .

 

[jasonlaus]

I've reversed my thinking on Leagues also.
Still don't want to necessarily join(unless my gf will) and then I think I would use it as a forum to teach.

 

[BmoreMoney]

I've reversed my thinking on Leagues also.
Still don't want to necessarily join(unless my gf will) and then I think I would use it as a forum to teach.

Conversely Jason, if you did not have a GF league is PRIME hunting grounds foe the lowly APA pool groupie chic lol! There are PLENTY to be had, and all you have to do is be able to run out every now and then. Not kidding, only speaking from experience.

 

[lorider]

I've reversed my thinking on Leagues also.
Still don't want to necessarily join(unless my gf will) and then I think I would use it as a forum to teach.

Apa could always use people with your viewpoint.

Thing is though you will encounter some that are not receptive to learning. Just ignore them and move on to others that are willing to learn.

 

[Scott Lee]

What's astonishing to me is here you have a league where you really CAN learn to play "on the job" so to speak, because coaching is allowed (as long as you have a higher skill level player on your team)...and people still want to badmouth it, because of the "slop" rules, too high fees, the skill level cap (23 rule), or some other perceived slight. Unbeleivable. Get out there...play your best...and have fun!

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Thing is though you will encounter some that are not receptive to learning. Just ignore them and move on to others that are willing to learn.

 

[BmoreMoney]

What's astonishing to me is here you have a league where you really CAN learn to play "on the job" so to speak, because coaching is allowed (as long as you have a higher skill level player on your team)...and people still want to badmouth it, because of the "slop" rules, too high fees, the skill level cap (23 rule), or some other perceived slight. Unbeleivable. Get out there...play your best...and have fun!

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

I'm not anti APA per say - just some of the people it attracts but I know it takes all kinds. League means something different to everyone, for me it would strictly be the social aspect. No real competitive value to me. With that being said the 23 rule is what really kills it for me. You want to go out and play with your friends and if you play your best ( which is the only thing d want to do - hate all the sandbagging bs ) but teams always seem to quickly break up or can't get together in the first place because of the 23 rule. Now I know you could always do Masters, but many of my friends are not really of a skill level where they would enjoy Masters competition. I will say though I think APA overall is good for pool ad certainly can be fun - if you don't play too well.

 

[lorider]

I'm not anti APA per say - just some of the people it attracts but I know it takes all kinds. League means something different to everyone, for me it would strictly be the social aspect. No real competitive value to me. With that being said the 23 rule is what really kills it for me. You want to go out and play with your friends and if you play your best ( which is the only thing d want to do - hate all the sandbagging bs ) but teams always seem to quickly break up or can't get together in the first place because of the 23 rule. Now I know you could always do Masters, but many of my friends are not really of a skill level where they would enjoy Masters competition. I will say though I think APA overall is good for pool ad certainly can be fun - if you don't play too well.

I enjoyed reading your post. Would you mind defining what .dont play too well means?

I dont understand why any one could not put together a team with at least one 7 on it .as you may or may not know ...7 is the highest you can go in 8 ball and their playing level can vary from a c plus to semi pro and I would believe your playing level would fall in there somewhere unless you are a certifiable pro.

Now 9 ball is a different story. I will agree its hard to fit a 9 on.

Some teams I know have been together for years.....well the majority of players on them.

Aa for my teams that I captain I prefer to not have a 7. I have one team that I can throw a 6...3-5's and a 2. Hard to beat that line up. I have 2-4's I can change the lone up around with also.thats a strictly 9 ball team.

My double jeapordy team can throw the same line up as above In either 8 or 9 ball. Plus 2-3's on it also .

But I ha e a other team that did have a 7/9 on it and we did have trouble playing him because we never could find lower level players to join. So yes it does happen

 

[BmoreMoney]

I enjoyed reading your post. Would you mind defining what .dont play too well means?

I dont understand why any one could not put together a team with at least one 7 on it .as you may or may not know ...7 is the highest you can go in 8 ball and their playing level can vary from a c plus to semi pro and I would believe your playing level would fall in there somewhere unless you are a certifiable pro.

Now 9 ball is a different story. I will agree its hard to fit a 9 on.

Some teams I know have been together for years.....well the majority of players on them.

Aa for my teams that I captain I prefer to not have a 7. I have one team that I can throw a 6...3-5's and a 2. Hard to beat that line up. I have 2-4's I can change the lone up around with also.thats a strictly 9 ball team.

My double jeapordy team can throw the same line up as above In either 8 or 9 ball. Plus 2-3's on it also .

But I ha e a other team that did have a 7/9 on it and we did have trouble playing him because we never could find lower level players to join. So yes it does happen

Ok, I did not mean the " play not so well " to be a dig in any way. I was speaking strictly logistically. Also I should have specified but I was speaking about 9 ball, 8 ball league would be of no interest to me whatsoever. So I have limited personal experience playing league, I only played 4 weeks of one session one time. The reason I only played that little is I was in bad accident and physically could no longer play. I will base my comments off of that team though. Like I said, we all were good friends before forming team. The best guy on the team ( by ranking ) was a 7. 7 was a fair ranking for him but he had a not so good win % so if he started winning he would go up. The other guy was a 6, also a fair ranking. The bb we had girl 1 that was a solid 5, with potential to improve. Girl 2 was a 3 but was rapidly improving. Girl 3 was a 2, couldn't hit the end rail but once again was a good friend of ours. Then there was me. I was a 4, that was strictly because I was a new player. I don't know exactly where I would have ended up ( I spot the 7 guy on our team the 6 ball for the cash ) but I was garunteed to go up quite a bit - I'm sure at least a 7 but prob would end up as an 8 or 9 of I were to play my game. So what inevitably would happen is every week me and or my buddy that was a 7 would have to sit out every week, basically there only to give advice because of the 23 rule. What fun would that be for him or me? So to elaborate on your initial question I think a 5 or 6 is the sweet spot for APA 9 BALL. At that level you can make some balls, get out occasionally, be relatively competitive, and get to play most weeks. I understand the league is geared towards beginners - intermediate players but as I said we did this team for fun, not looking to go to Vegas or anything. With that being said, with the 23 rule it quickly becomes a chore every week trying to keep team together and it becomes not so fun.

 

[BmoreMoney]

Lo ill add this: Imho a cap around 30 or so would be much better. I look at it this way - on any given day a 9 can play a 2 and they say with the point handicap it makes it fair. Ok well if that's the case what would be so wrong with having a couple of those matxhes each week, what I mean is if the handicap system is supposed to be fair and work why not allow a little more of it. If its fair and supposed to work what would be the problem? It would make a HUGE difference in being able to keep friends together on the same team - and like myself that's exactly why a lot of people play league in the first place. Also for those people there would be little to no incentive for sandbagging and even if it did not encourage people to get better it at least wold not discourage them.

 

[jaetee]

I think APA is awesome for many reasons... Among them is that the players who actually do participate in APA league don't have any stupid preconceived notions or hang-ups about playing in a pool league.

:wink:

 

[nine_ball6970]

Conversely Jason, if you did not have a GF league is PRIME hunting grounds foe the lowly APA pool groupie chic lol! There are PLENTY to be had, and all you have to do is be able to run out every now and then. Not kidding, only speaking from experience.

Some people call leagues "match.com" for pool players.

 

[justadub]

Lo ill add this: Imho a cap around 30 or so would be much better. I look at it this way - on any given day a 9 can play a 2 and they say with the point handicap it makes it fair. Ok well if that's the case what would be so wrong with having a couple of those matxhes each week, what I mean is if the handicap system is supposed to be fair and work why not allow a little more of it. If its fair and supposed to work what would be the problem? It would make a HUGE difference in being able to keep friends together on the same team - and like myself that's exactly why a lot of people play league in the first place. Also for those people there would be little to no incentive for sandbagging and even if it did not encourage people to get better it at least wold not discourage them.

This is an old argument. The handicap doesnt necessarily make it a "fair" (or equal) match, but it gives the lesser player a decent chance if they play well (for them) and the far better player plays off (for them) on a given day.

Ask yourself how many times, given that spot, that 2 will beat the 9? Not many, if the 9 is really trying.

To have a team loaded with 8's and 9's will throw off the whole balance. There simply arent that many players that are that good (and interested in playing league) in many parts of the country. You have one or two teams loaded like that, boom! There goes the ability for other teams to compete.

 

[BmoreMoney]

This is an old argument. The handicap doesnt necessarily make it a "fair" (or equal) match, but it gives the lesser player a decent chance if they play well (for them) and the far better player plays off (for them) on a given day.

Ask yourself how many times, given that spot, that 2 will beat the 9? Not many, if the 9 is really trying.

To have a team loaded with 8's and 9's will throw off the whole balance. There simply arent that many players that are that good (and interested in playing league) in many parts of the country. You have one or two teams loaded like that, boom! There goes the ability for other teams to compete.

The 9-2 was just an xtrene example. But if the was was higher you could just as easily have a couple 7 against 6's matches. My point was just being able to keep friends together on a team, not necessarily loading it up. For example with what I am saying is you coil have a 9, 7, 5, 4, and a 3 all on the same team and all play in the same night. I dont consider those rankings " loading a team up ". Just my perspective.

 

[Ken_4fun]

Biggest thing I see is shot selection.

The thing I find interesting is the folks that think the "coaching" is a big deal. What I have seen is that the coaching is usually giving terrible advice, and often advising the lesser player to shoot the wrong shot.

My shot making skills are less than they used to be, but I make up for it by shot selection and shooting "2-ways" as often as possible. When I miss, I usually get told I am "lucky". I just scratch my head like Efren and say, "I got lucky".

Ken