Practice games with scoring for 1 player

I forgot the name of the game, but you rack all 15 balls and after the break, shoot them in any order until there are 5 left. The final 5 need to be shot in order.

Count balls made for ten racks or so.

Not as much racking as 9 or 10b...yuhknow?

14.1

14.1 continuous play, the heavy weights record high runs.

High runs in 14.1 are kinda of a thing.

I like Fargo: https://billiards.colostate.edu/instructional-articles/pb-review/fargo-test/

You can always play the ghost too.

preacherman said:

I'm hoping this question will help me and others to see some fun pool games to play when you are alone (just you and the table).

What are some games you can play when it's just you and your table that has some scoring that goes with it.

Thanks,
Jim
www.chritianpoolplayers.com

Click to expand...

Rotation games - playing the ghost, racing to whatever. Remove the number of balls (from the lowest numbers) after the break that you need to give you a realistic chance to beat the ghost, if you play very well in relation to your abilities.

For me, nothing is as addictive and fun as 14.1 solo practice. Start with an ideal break shot and shoot till you miss. Then rack the balls up and start over. Don’t always start with the same break shot but practice different angles and toughness of break shots. You can obviously shoot for your PR high run, but also document your best three or four runs of the practice session.

Not really games but a couple of ideas.....

Bank, Combo, Carom...........roll all fifteen balls out on the table. Only allowed shots are a bank, a combo, carom, or a mixture of them. You could add points for degree of difficulty. This gives you a opportunity to practice these shots which really isn’t that done much.

Put one ball on the table. Go one or more rails with the CB to hit it. The more rails, the more points. Bonus points if you can call where on the OB you will hit.

preacherman said:

I'm hoping this question will help me and others to see some fun pool games to play when you are alone (just you and the table).

What are some games you can play when it's just you and your table that has some scoring that goes with it.

Click to expand...

All of the scored drills and games here are fun and challenging:

rating drills and games

Enjoy,
Dave

duckie said:

Not really games but a couple of ideas.....

Bank, Combo, Carom...........roll all fifteen balls out on the table. Only allowed shots are a bank, a combo, carom, or a mixture of them. You could add points for degree of difficulty. This gives you a opportunity to practice these shots which really isn’t that done much.

Put one ball on the table. Go one or more rails with the CB to hit it. The more rails, the more points. Bonus points if you can call where on the OB you will hit.

Click to expand...

Kicks, jumps and masse should be included also.

For specific numbered/colored balls, you could assign style of pocketing, as described above.

I keep track of attempts vs pocketed. This lets me know which shots to avoid in competitive play and which shots are worth it.

dr_dave said:

All of the scored drills and games here are fun and challenging:

rating drills and games

Enjoy,
Dave

Click to expand...

Specifically, I recommend the following (other than straight pool):

Billiard University (BU) playing-ability rating system

“playing the ghost” rating drills

Fargo rating drill

Regards,
Dave

Black-Balled said:

I forgot the name of the game, but you rack all 15 balls and after the break, shoot them in any order until there are 5 left. The final 5 need to be shot in order.

Count balls made for ten racks or so.

Not as much racking as 9 or 10b...yuhknow?

Click to expand...

I think it is referred to as Hopkins because Allen Hopkins first proposed this game?

one man game

I like bowliards with 10 balls. You can google the rules and change them for better players. If you can average over 200, change the rules. Such a simple game, and so irritating.

westcoast said:

I think it is referred to as Hopkins because Allen Hopkins first proposed this game?

Click to expand...

Here it is:

Hopkins Q Skills

Regards,
Dave

What's fun in the cue sports world varies,

if you want to nourish your speed;

picture the table as a ping pong, tennis table set-up, two sides of a table.

place 4 balls anywhere you want for now,

you're ball in hand anywhere between the object ball(s) on either side of the table,
you're starting somewhere in the middle between the balls.

You're ball in hand,
make your best shot and finish the cue ball between the remaining balls which are on one side or the other of the table.

You get to shoot again if your in play, between, in the middle of any balls remaining.

If you missed the shot, moved the balls around the dynamic of the table layout just
changed, where's your cue ball, is it in play? if it is you can shoot again (-1), miss again you're done, add up your score.

If you made your first shot and moved the balls around or not, but, didn't finish the cue ball in play, your done, add up your score (+1).

There's more to this, maybe for now though,
make shots keeping the cue ball center table, you haft to use the cushion's with speed, stun, push, all your little tricks to finesse the cue ball after the shot, made or missed, to shoot again.

Understand, if you manage to get the first ball, finished in, that's +1, manage to get shape in play and make that shot! You just earn +2 points! and the table could be getting easier or more difficult, you'll have to play it to find out.

If you manage to get out it's 15 points.
first ball 1 point, 2nd ball 2 points, 3rd ball +4 and the last ball made is worth 8 points.

The one thing the flock may be doing a little more is praying, so it's a win, win.

Joe Tucker's American Rotation. It was a great game, but only lasted 2-3 years.

Scott Lee
2019 PBIA Instructor of the Year
Director, SPF National Pool School Tour

Black-Balled said:

I forgot the name of the game, but you rack all 15 balls and after the break, shoot them in any order until there are 5 left. The final 5 need to be shot in order.

Count balls made for ten racks or so.

Not as much racking as 9 or 10b...yuhknow?

Click to expand...

I came up with a variant of Fargo since I’m a intermediate player and find Fargo brutal and demoralizing. I miss too frequently and it becomes a practice in break shots after a while.

The game uses the same principles of Fargo but the scoring is different and rotation is not used.

Break all 15 balls and start with ball in hand anywhere. Pocket as many balls as possible until you miss. After a miss leave the object balls where they lie and take ball in hand. Repeat this until you’ve cleared the table. You get a maximum of 10 frames (or tries) to clear the table.

The game rewards longer runs. Score the runs in the following manner:

Run = Score
1 = 1
2 = 3
3 = 6
4 = 10
5 = 15
6 = 21
7 = 28
8 = 36
9 = 45
10 = 55
11 = 66
12 = 78
13 = 91
14 = 105
15 = 120

For every frame you don’t use, give yourself a bonus point. The maximum score would be 129 if you run all 15 balls in the first frame and add 9 for the unused frames.

Granted this game would be simple for players of above average skill or anyone that could score 150+ regularly in Fargo, but for this mere mortal it’s a confidence builder.

westcoast said:

I think it is referred to as Hopkins because Allen Hopkins first proposed this game?

Click to expand...

I was thinking Hopkins, but wasn't sure.

Scott Lee said:

Joe Tucker's American Rotation. It was a great game, but only lasted 2-3 years.

Scott Lee
2019 PBIA Instructor of the Year
Director, SPF National Pool School Tour

Click to expand...

Is that how to play Amro? I never bothered to look at game play rules.

for self practice sometimes I decide matchups

like left handed vs right handed

or play regular games but have different shooting preferences
like only center ball hits vs only follow hits

other times i like to focus on
minimum strength strokes vs maximum strength strokes

my last one is
5 second aiming vs extended aiming

each builds a different skill

preacherman said:

I'm hoping this question will help me and others to see some fun pool games to play when you are alone (just you and the table).

What are some games you can play when it's just you and your table that has some scoring that goes with it.

Thanks,
Jim
www.chritianpoolplayers.com

Click to expand...

Any game. Straight pool has some scoring and you can just play by yourself. 9 ball, 10 ball, 8 ball you can always play the ghost and keep score there.