2020 AZB Ghost Challenge - Official Thread

JazzyJeff87 said:

Thanks Jeff.

I’m going to try to kick my one pocket addiction, or at least taper down to only occasional play so I can really work on my rotational skillz. One pocket helps other games with certain things but after playing almost nothing but one pocket I feel exposed playing 9 ball. Sometimes the pressure of having to run out gets to me after always knowing I have a safety valve in 1P. It’s a mindset thing I guess

Click to expand...

I got nuttin against watching a set of 1hole ghost.

The way I play it is:

Choose your pocket
Break like you normally would
Take bih
Run 8-n-out or lose

Think 14.1 secondary break on the bih shot...

It's a brutal game ghost game. IMO, it's harder than rotation games unless we bring AR into the mix.

Either way, I look forward to it.

Jeff

You know I’ve tried running all 15 a bunch of times just as an exercise but never tried an 8 and out ghost. I will definitely set to it

JazzyJeff87 said:

You know I’ve tried running all 15 a bunch of times just as an exercise but never tried an 8 and out ghost. I will definitely set to it

Click to expand...

What I described earlier is but one way to practice solo 1hole...lol..

Seriously though, it's a change of pace when we get tired of rotation games or 14.1 etc...etc.

Jeff

iusedtoberich said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0mQ6cFDBeY&feature=youtu.be

Me 2 - Ghost 7, regular 9 ball. I started off strong on this, ran the first 2 games, made the 9 on rack 3, but scratched. It was all down hill from there, ha ha. Still, I felt like every rack I was in it. Video sped to 5x for my short attention span.

Click to expand...

I have those days. I think we all do. Heck, a lot of my days are much, much worse. Some days I swear, I wonder if I can hit the end rail.

Good shooting...

BTW...I'm still jealous of the camera!!!!

Jeff

I'm also jealous of the projector.......

Yur starting to piss me off......j/k

Not really, after my next couple surgeries are done and I'm healed, I plan on trying to do what you've done.

I'm sure I'll be hitting you up for advice.

Jeff

iusedtoberich said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0mQ6cFDBeY&feature=youtu.be

Me 2 - Ghost 7, regular 9 ball. I started off strong on this, ran the first 2 games, made the 9 on rack 3, but scratched. It was all down hill from there, ha ha. Still, I felt like every rack I was in it. Video sped to 5x for my short attention span.

Click to expand...

Man this is how so many of my attempts go lol. I get the first 2,3,4 sometimes and then I do something dumb or get a bad roll somewhere and like you said...it’s all down hill from there. And you had that 1 tie up with the 2 on the break right after the first loss and just like that the ghost gets 2...snowball effect. Good playing though

jrctherake said:

What I described earlier is but one way to practice solo 1hole...lol..

Seriously though, it's a change of pace when we get tired of rotation games or 14.1 etc...etc.

Jeff

Click to expand...

Yeah I normally just play both sides for 1P practice, I love it. My first attempt at the 8-N-out ghost went something like 3-21

I still haven’t decided on a good break. 2 of those wins were with a regular 1P break, just a tad harder. And 1 win was off a Head-on 8 ball style break once I was good and frustrated lol.

JazzyJeff87 said:

Man this is how so many of my attempts go lol. I get the first 2,3,4 sometimes and then I do something dumb or get a bad roll somewhere and like you said...it’s all down hill from there. And you had that 1 tie up with the 2 on the break right after the first loss and just like that the ghost gets 2...snowball effect. Good playing though




Yeah I normally just play both sides for 1P practice, I love it. My first attempt at the 8-N-out ghost went something like 3-21

I still haven’t decided on a good break. 2 of those wins were with a regular 1P break, just a tad harder. And 1 win was off a Head-on 8 ball style break once I was good and frustrated lol.

Click to expand...

Adjust your 1hole break speed. That way you still get practice for 1hole breaking but, at the same time open the rack up a bit more to allow the 8-n-out to happen.

BTW, after you break, make sure to take BIH behind the string.

It's tough but, it's a lot of fun and is a very good teaching tool for all games.

Jeff

iusedtoberich said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0mQ6cFDBeY&feature=youtu.be

Me 2 - Ghost 7, regular 9 ball. I started off strong on this, ran the first 2 games, made the 9 on rack 3, but scratched. It was all down hill from there, ha ha. Still, I felt like every rack I was in it. Video sped to 5x for my short attention span.

Click to expand...

Seems like every time you make a mistake playing the ghost that the next rack something is tied up where it is impossible to get out. I guess that’s the punishment for making an unforced error. It also seems like that the snowball effect happens a lot playing the ghost.

9BallKY said:

Seems like every time you make a mistake playing the ghost that the next rack something is tied up where it is impossible to get out. I guess that’s the punishment for making an unforced error. It also seems like that the snowball effect happens a lot playing the ghost.

Click to expand...

I agree, which is why I think the only way to truly know our skill set with the ghost is to play long sets.

IMO, a set to 15+ is needed to really find out where our runout game is at.

We all like to see a match where a player makes a big comeback. Well, why not put ourselves in that same position by allowing the ghost to get well ahead...that way we are forced to get into "grind mode" to even stand a chance of being close, much less win.

I appreciate all the matches you guys put up for the scrubs like me to learn from.

Jeff

Gerry Williams said:

Finally, got him 7-0. Onto 10 ball

https://youtu.be/iZvK54BifhA

Click to expand...

Nice shooting Gerry. The only tip I have is about the noise reduction in your drop pockets, especially when the 1st ball goes in.

Cut out the bottoms of 6 huggies/ can Koozzies or whatever people call them and place one each in the bottom of your pockets. It greatly reduces the noise.

Bic D said:

Nice shooting Gerry. The only tip I have is about the noise reduction in your drop pockets, especially when the 1st ball goes in.

Cut out the bottoms of 6 huggies/ can Koozzies or whatever people call them and place one each in the bottom of your pockets. It greatly reduces the noise.

Click to expand...

When I had drop pockets I just cut up an old t-shirts and put that in the bottom of the pockets. It really makes a difference. Before that idea I think I just used paper towels in them.

Gerry Williams said:

Finally, got him 7-0. Onto 10 ball

https://youtu.be/iZvK54BifhA

Click to expand...

Nice shooting Gerry. I'm traveling this week, back on Friday. I'll be working on my 9 Ball game for the up coming tournament.

Side Pocket said:

Nice shooting Gerry. I'm traveling this week, back on Friday. I'll be working on my 9 Ball game for the up coming tournament.

Click to expand...

675 and under, damn....your gonna have a field day:happydance: ...you rascally rabbit :grin-devilish:.........

At 675 and under, I imagine the majority will be 550ish to 650ish.....:deadhorse:

Then, they gonna be chasing you in the parking lot for robbery uttahere:

But, in the end...you may not be the only "sleeper" (underrated player) in the room:scratchhead:

Either way, I'm sure you'll have a blast.

Jeff

BTW: post up brackets if you can.

Good luck sir!:thumbup:

Side Pocket,

By chance, do yiu and Gerry live close enough together for one of you to travel to the other's house. If so, I would like to see you two play a set each of 9 ball, 10 ball to at least 11 and 14.1 to 125.

I know ^^^^^^^^^^^'s a lot to ask but, if it's not to much travel involved and neither of you mind, I think it would be a good match.

If it's not a good idea or you two live to far from each other....just ignore my medication induced ramblings.

Either way, I enjoy all the vids posted.

Jeff

Thank you Iusetoberich:bow-down:. Like Manis, you do an awsome job keeping our matches inline. Thanks again sir!!!

Anyways, to me, the ghost section is BY FAR the best area on the entire site........by far.

In here, we AZer's get to SEE who can actually hold a cue, not just HEAR about it.

I know there are lots of members that have aged or like myself, have a little age + more than their share of health issues that keep them from playing well or even at all and I'm sure that I'm not the only member that enjoys watching "all" of the vids..regardless of the outcome. There is always something to be learned. We just have to knkw what to look for.

More times than not, I learn from people's mistakes or bad rolls rather than a set where someone faded the ghost in a race to 7ish.

I like to see players grind it out with the ghost after making a couple mistakes or getting bad rolls and being down 2 or 3 to 6 going to 7 and end up winning or at the least giving it their all. To me, that's heart and AZB has lots of players with heart and IMO, the ghost thread is full of heart.

It's easy to play a lot of sets and post the one or two wins here and there but, it takes heart to show the world your loss while struggling.:bow-down::bow-down::bow-down::bow-down::bow-down:

Having said ^^^^^^^^^^^, you guys get to see the scrub of scrubs (me) shoot balls into the rails...........which reminds me that I'm supposed to post at least one more ghost vid before my next round of surgeries this February.

Everyone in thread:

Try to post longer and longer matchs when you have time. Thanks a ton. You guys will never know how appreciated you are.

Jeff

jrctherake said:

675 and under, damn....your gonna have a field day:happydance: ...you rascally rabbit :grin-devilish:.........

At 675 and under, I imagine the majority will be 550ish to 650ish.....:deadhorse:

Then, they gonna be chasing you in the parking lot for robbery uttahere:

But, in the end...you may not be the only "sleeper" (underrated player) in the room:scratchhead:

Either way, I'm sure you'll have a blast.

Jeff

BTW: post up brackets if you can.

Good luck sir!:thumbup:

Click to expand...

Thanks Jeff, Here is a link, Follow The Break Room there will be a couple of tables being live streamed on Facebook. https://m.facebook.com/groups/162117977164725?view=permalink&id=2863997633643399

The brackets should be posted also. Early afternoon on Friday next week I'll post here again.

Scott Brazier

jrctherake said:

Side Pocket,

By chance, do yiu and Gerry live close enough together for one of you to travel to the other's house. If so, I would like to see you two play a set each of 9 ball, 10 ball to at least 11 and 14.1 to 125.

I know ^^^^^^^^^^^'s a lot to ask but, if it's not to much travel involved and neither of you mind, I think it would be a good match.

If it's not a good idea or you two live to far from each other....just ignore my medication induced ramblings.

Either way, I enjoy all the vids posted.

Jeff

Click to expand...

Jeff, I live 6 miles west of Hibbing MN. I am not sure where Gerry lives, he will need to answer that. Sounds like fun though.

Scott

Side Pocket said:

Jeff, I live 6 miles west of Hibbing MN. I am not sure where Gerry lives, he will need to answer that. Sounds like fun though.

Scott

Click to expand...

Yes sir. It's a darn good idea.

Maybe he lives close enough. Fingers crossed here......

I'm sure there are lots of people on here that actually meet up and play. I'm just not lucky enough to live where any players live.

I only have a couple people that I can play with. One works two jobs and only plays on Saturdays for a short time.

The other owns a business but, he plays a lot of tournaments and between his business and the tournament travel, he doesn't come over much.

Yep. It sucks playing by myself 99% of the time.

I tell my wife that nobody will come to play because I'm to good....lol...I'm not telling her the truth. She goes around bragging that I'm a real good player. One day, she's gonna say it to the wrong person and she'll find out the truth.

Good thing I got the injuries excuse to fall back on if needed..lol

Anyways, yep...I hope you two live close enough.

Jeff