how are ya'll doing in league ?

WON MY FIRST LEAGUE FINAL! Wheee..... Dominated the finals also, got first place during the session, 4 teams qualified for finals, we won the first match 3-1 games, I was the only one that lost a set but it was because I was upset that the guy I was playing was ranked a 5 to my 6 and I knew he was as good of a player as me. I don't put up for sandbagging and it throws me off when I see it.

The finals last night were a bit smoother. We won 3-0 and beat them by scores of 4-1, 5-0 (me) and 4-1. They only won 2 racks the whole night. I played a lot better than in the first match last week, I had a break and run and several 6-7 ball run outs on a tough table. I was also in the top 3 for top shooter in my skill rating in the league and since I played very well I am hoping that was enough to push me over to first place. There was only about a 5% win/loss ratio between me and the first place guy, with the 5-0 win now that should help.

Of course the prize is nothing to brag about, a $550 entry payment for nationals for TAP, does not include hotel or travel. Which means I'll just be taking my 1/7th cut of the cash. Well technically 2/7 because my son was also in the league.

DAVE_M said:

City Cup was a bust... Again

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I forgot to elaborate on this :embarrassed2:

I lost my match due to stupid errors and having to play in pain

Here's the run down:
Exactly one week ago, I was out and about and I hurt my back somehow.The next morning (Saturday), I woke up to go to City Cup. My back wasn't really hurting. When I finally arrived at Lacy's Cue, my back was on fire and had pain going throughout my leg. I shouldn't have played, but I roughed it out, took some ibuprofen and played. That was a bad idea. I ended up at the doctor's office getting shots, anti-inflammatory meds, and pain meds. Fast forward to today and the pain is starting to subside, but I'm going to lay off of pool for a few weeks until I'm back 100%.

hang-the-9 said:

WON MY FIRST LEAGUE FINAL! Wheee..... Dominated the finals also, got first place during the session, 4 teams qualified for finals, we won the first match 3-1 games, I was the only one that lost a set but it was because I was upset that the guy I was playing was ranked a 5 to my 6 and I knew he was as good of a player as me. I don't put up for sandbagging and it throws me off when I see it.

The finals last night were a bit smoother. We won 3-0 and beat them by scores of 4-1, 5-0 (me) and 4-1. They only won 2 racks the whole night. I played a lot better than in the first match last week, I had a break and run and several 6-7 ball run outs on a tough table. I was also in the top 3 for top shooter in my skill rating in the league and since I played very well I am hoping that was enough to push me over to first place. There was only about a 5% win/loss ratio between me and the first place guy, with the 5-0 win now that should help.

Of course the prize is nothing to brag about, a $550 entry payment for nationals for TAP, does not include hotel or travel. Which means I'll just be taking my 1/7th cut of the cash. Well technically 2/7 because my son was also in the league.

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Congrats on the win!

We got invited into a TAPS league starting in November. I am excited but we need to make arrangements for a babysitter on a Thursday night I'm hoping I can convince my mom to help

Stay juicy,
JG

Originally Posted by Koop View Post
Fookin APA 9 ball.
I'm a 7 in 8 ball and a 6 in 9 ball.
For some damned reason I win at around an 85% clip in 8 ball but 9 ball...I can't get out of my own way. Very frustrating to say the least. Here I was thinking I was stealing as a 6 and I am getting steamrolled by 4's.
I think it's mental but man it sucks badly.

Banks said:

If it makes you feel any better, that never changes for some of us! I've been a 9 for 4 years now or whatever its been, but I still struggle to get anything better than a 13-7 or 12-8, all while risking a big loss if my opponent gets hot. Just can't seem to do as well in 9b - scratching on the break and missing shots I'd normally make in 8b.

Sounds like everybody's doing alright lately, with the exception of Lo. He's got so much going on that he can do well and not well all within the same couple of days!

I played a buddy that's a 6/7 on Sunday and got him in both. Going out tonight, so no BCA and next week is off for our regional event. This Sunday, I'll be playing another 7/9. I always feel bad for the scorekeepers in 9b.

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I get the feeling that as an S/L 8 or 9 you guys feel pressure to have to run out all the time instead of maybe selecting well placed defensive shots. Regardless of the S/L of my opponent, I love playing people that are all offense. I might suffer through a rack or two, but usually it turns around. A couple of well placed safeties and the game and match has the potential to turn around in a hurry. As 7's, 8's and 9's, you guys pretty much have the raw talent to beat most people in your sleep. But in the point - rotation game that The APA plays, you have to figure that even an S/L 1 or 2 is gonna get ball in hand at least once during the match, if they get the break they will likely make a ball or two and they will probably shit in at least another ball or two, then also you will probably set up at least a couple of ducks and if they make those shots they're more than half way home, same thing with 3's , 4's, and 5's, except they can string together a few balls at a time in some / most situations. One of the match ups that I really like is when I get to play an 8 or 9 that doesn't know me. So they kinda roll their eyes and don't take me serious until it's too late. After they are kicking out of the 4th or 5th safety of the match that I have played, they might get catch up and more points or balls, and that's all well and good, but I win the match. I shudder to think how good some of you might be if you gave a full effort all the time

Celophanewrap said:

I get the feeling that as an S/L 8 or 9 you guys feel pressure to have to run out all the time instead of maybe selecting well placed defensive shots. Regardless of the S/L of my opponent, I love playing people that are all offense. I might suffer through a rack or two, but usually it turns around. A couple of well placed safeties and the game and match has the potential to turn around in a hurry. As 7's, 8's and 9's, you guys pretty much have the raw talent to beat most people in your sleep. But in the point - rotation game that The APA plays, you have to figure that even an S/L 1 or 2 is gonna get ball in hand at least once during the match, if they get the break they will likely make a ball or two and they will probably shit in at least another ball or two, then also you will probably set up at least a couple of ducks and if they make those shots they're more than half way home, same thing with 3's , 4's, and 5's, except they can string together a few balls at a time in some / most situations. One of the match ups that I really like is when I get to play an 8 or 9 that doesn't know me. So they kinda roll their eyes and don't take me serious until it's too late. After they are kicking out of the 4th or 5th safety of the match that I have played, they might get catch up and more points or balls, and that's all well and good, but I win the match. I shudder to think how good some of you might be if you gave a full effort all the time

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Pretty much accurate. If a mid-ranked player gets on a roll and plays a couple of defensive shots, it can be quite a hill to climb to overcome something like that. Other than that, though, my 9b game just doesn't tend to have as much fire power or strategy.. well, that, and I scratch a lot more on the break. Maybe I should practice 9b a little more. One of my friends plays pretty well with good safeties and all. Eventually I'll get there.. I hope. For now, I just play 9b vicariously through everybody here! :thumbup:

lorider said:

even taking into consideration i have played a heck of a lot more apa matches than napa i still find it odd that i have a higher win % for 8 ball in a call your shot league than i do in a slop league. after mulling it over a lil bit i think its because i fail to stay focused when i play a good safe and some one slops a ball in and is perfect on their next shot. i have been getting better at dealing with that but it still irritates me some times.

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I'm amazed that my lifetime 9b percentage is even close to my 8b.

Getting irritated over that stuff almost always hurts your game. I try to stay pretty even-keeled when in a match. You'd probably get mad at me a lot for slopping things in from a safety!

Banks said:

I'm amazed that my lifetime 9b percentage is even close to my 8b.

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Mine isn't very close...I want to say close to a 25% difference...ok just checked yep 24% difference lol

Edited to add I did bag a lot in 9 ball which was part of it back in the day years ago...

Banks said:

Pretty much accurate. If a mid-ranked player gets on a roll and plays a couple of defensive shots, it can be quite a hill to climb to overcome something like that. Other than that, though, my 9b game just doesn't tend to have as much fire power or strategy.. well, that, and I scratch a lot more on the break. Maybe I should practice 9b a little more. One of my friends plays pretty well with good safeties and all. Eventually I'll get there.. I hope. For now, I just play 9b vicariously through everybody here! :thumbup:

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The single biggest challenge the SL7 on my 9-ball team has is scratching on the break. He has a fairly "big" break, for our little corner of the world, but sometimes he gets caught up in really cracking'em, and the ball gets off the table. (Gotta get that cue ball to pop straight up like the big shots...it is pretty cool to see it when he gets into a groove.) Against a SL1 or SL2, that's a big part of what they need. Against a decent SL5, that can turn the tide quickly.

Fortunately, he's starting to find a groove, and has better control lately. It's fun to watch him get on a roll, and control rack after rack. I can only imagine how much more fun it is to watch you 8's and 9's....

justadub said:

The single biggest challenge the SL7 on my 9-ball team has is scratching on the break. He has a fairly "big" break, for our little corner of the world, but sometimes he gets caught up in really cracking'em, and the ball gets off the table. (Gotta get that cue ball to pop straight up like the big shots...it is pretty cool to see it when he gets into a groove.) Against a SL1 or SL2, that's a big part of what they need. Against a decent SL5, that can turn the tide quickly.

Fortunately, he's starting to find a groove, and has better control lately. It's fun to watch him get on a roll, and control rack after rack. I can only imagine how much more fun it is to watch you 8's and 9's....

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I actually had the same problem recently in 9 ball as I was scratching in the side a lot, as well as occasionally in the corners by where I break. I was hitting a bit too low on the ball and not aiming 100% accurately on the one. I took off a little bit of power and aimed a bit higher on the cue ball with much better success in terms of where the cue ball goes after the break. I am glad I tinkered with it a bit.

Spimp13 said:

I actually had the same problem recently in 9 ball as I was scratching in the side a lot, as well as occasionally in the corners by where I break. I was hitting a bit too low on the ball and not aiming 100% accurately on the one. I took off a little bit of power and aimed a bit higher on the cue ball with much better success in terms of where the cue ball goes after the break. I am glad I tinkered with it a bit.

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What my guy discovered was that his right foot wasn't on the shot line, as much as it needed to be. Once he got better aligned, a lot of the problems cleared up.

justadub said:

The single biggest challenge the SL7 on my 9-ball team has is scratching on the break. He has a fairly "big" break, for our little corner of the world, but sometimes he gets caught up in really cracking'em, and the ball gets off the table. (Gotta get that cue ball to pop straight up like the big shots...it is pretty cool to see it when he gets into a groove.) Against a SL1 or SL2, that's a big part of what they need. Against a decent SL5, that can turn the tide quickly.

Fortunately, he's starting to find a groove, and has better control lately. It's fun to watch him get on a roll, and control rack after rack. I can only imagine how much more fun it is to watch you 8's and 9's....

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Sometimes it's like 9b has something against me. I break medium/soft and I leave a spread with an open shot on the 1. I break harder and I scratch. Just about anywhere works for 8b, just the opposite for 9b. :scratchhead:

Been meaning to try to video myself playing, since I'm really curious as to what I look like shooting.

Edit: I've also been trying out a bit what Matt said. I'll put a little more work into it and see how it does and if I can keep it consistent.

Banks said:

Edit: I've also been trying out a bit what Matt said. I'll put a little more work into it and see how it does and if I can keep it consistent.

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You may have to move the location of your cue ball also in terms of where you are breaking from. I would start much slower and then increase the speed as long as you aren't losing any accuracy. I noticed a pretty big difference what 2-3 tips higher up will do on the cue ball once I realized I was hitting it lower than I originally thought.

Spimp13 said:

You may have to move the location of your cue ball also in terms of where you are breaking from. I would start much slower and then increase the speed as long as you aren't losing any accuracy. I noticed a pretty big difference what 2-3 tips higher up will do on the cue ball once I realized I was hitting it lower than I originally thought.

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Depending on the speed of the table, I've been breaking softer on the barboxes. Starting slow and increasing speed with practice, was the best thing I've done for my game. I've found that a solid hit (medium speed) with controlled english, will get everything moving and get you good shape. Checking the rack is just as important, though. Last week, I had my opponent so aggravated that he would chunk the balls into the rack and lift it without any care. It's annoying telling your opponent to rerack the balls because there is a gap bigger than the grand canyon.

DAVE_M said:

Depending on the speed of the table, I've been breaking softer on the barboxes. Starting slow and increasing speed with practice, was the best thing I've done for my game. I've found that a solid hit (medium speed) with controlled english, will get everything moving and get you good shape. Checking the rack is just as important, though. Last week, I had my opponent so aggravated that he would chunk the balls into the rack and lift it without any care. It's annoying telling your opponent to rerack the balls because there is a gap bigger than the grand canyon.

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Try incorporating a 'pause' in your breaking backstroke. It will help with accuracy and control, which will allow you to gradually work on adding speed/power.. :thumbup:

lorider said:

last night double jeapordy. i faced a 3 in 9 ball. won 38-2. my 1st ever skunk in regular session. " i got a skunk at nationals last year "

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Just about to finish up my 10th year and still have never gotten one. Been skunked once, though.. if that counts.

Yesterday, started off my 9b match with another 9 with a bnr. Had another later on, almost one more after that one, but tried to do too much to make an easy layout somewhere around the 6 ball, I think. Scratched, I think, 3 times on the break. Ended up something like 75-70 or so.

We played 8 after that. Oh, did I mention my opponent was hammered? He's also got a habit of being obnoxious, too. Not sure if that played a roll, but I couldn't do anything right in 8. Lost 5-1 after just flat giving away at least two games. My captain told me it was the first regular season loss I had in 8b on that team after joining last Fall - 19 in a row.

No BCA on Thursday, but my Sunday captain wants me there this weekend since we'll be missing 3 players. I told her she'll owe me, since my plan was to be a part-timer! At least the next couple of weeks shouldn't need me there.

I held myself out of our 8-ball match last night (we have a 7 and three 5's, so one of the four of us has to sit each week) but we had an interesting result I thought I would share.

We lost the first four matches of the night, and still ended up only losing the night by an 8-7 score. Four hill-hill losses for one point a piece, and one shut out win for three points...

Bizarre. Interesting. Kinda funny. Encouraging, at least a little, to have such a bad team night and still not really lose much ground. We'll get'em next week!