15 Ball Ghost Rating Drill

BeiberLvr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
First off I apologize if something like this already exists. I just thought of it tonight, and haven't actually tried it out yet. I do think it would be a fun practice game, and the ratings seem like they would be accurate, but I'm willing to make adjustments if needed.

Rules:
1. Rack all 15 balls. Any order, but the 1 must be at the top, and the 15 in the middle.
2. Break
3. Player can take as many ball in hands each rack until all balls have been made.
4. Player does NOT have to take ball in hand immediately after the break.
5. Player can use a ball in hand at any point during the rack.
6. Play a total of 10 racks.
7. Player's score is determined by the total # of ball in hands taken after all 10 racks are completed.
8. Slop counts.
9. Player must continue shooting even if the 15 ball drops early.

Summary of what is a foul/BIH penalty:
- CB scratch (1 foul)
- OB off table (1 foul, and ball gets spotted)
- Missed shot (1 foul)
- Missed shot and then scratch (1 foul)
- Lowest ball not hit first (2 fouls)
- Lowest ball not hit first and then scratch (2 fouls)
- Make a ball and scratch (1 foul). If a legal hit is made, but the ball that dropped wasn't the lowest ball, it gets spotted. If the lowest ball was made, it stays down.


0-20 Pro
21-30 A
31-40 B
41-60 C
61-70 D
70+ BANGER

Posted Scores:
Gerry Williams - 15 (Pro)
Joe Tucker - 16 (Pro) (Video)
Gerry Williams - 17 (Pro) (Video)
Joe Tucker - 19 (Pro)
Joe Tucker - 19 (Pro)
Joe Tucker - 20 (Pro) (Video)
scottjen26 - 20 (Pro) (Video)
Joe Tucker - 28 (A)
Rjmoncrief - 28 (A)
Gerry Williams - 29 (A) (Video)
iusedtoberich - 46 (C) (Video)
iusedtoberich - 47 (C) (Video)
iusedtoberich - 50 (C) (Video 1) (Video 2)
BeiberLvr - 50 (C)
BeiberLvr - 50 (C)
iusedtoberich - 51 (C)

Edit (1/20/2014) Added scoresheet.
 

Attachments

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spanky79

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
First off I apologize if something like this already exists. I just thought of it tonight, and haven't actually tried it out yet. I do think it would be a fun practice game, and the ratings seem like they would be accurate, but I'm willing to make adjustments if needed.

Having 5 ball in hands per rack might make it seem easy, but the beauty of it is that it's not just about getting out. It's about getting out with the least number of ball in hands, and having the option to take 5 just makes it more accessible to the majority of us that have no shot against the 15 ball ghost.

Rules:
1. Rack all 15 balls (1 at the top, 15 in the middle, 2 and 3 on the corners).
2. Break
3. Take ball in hand anywhere on the table, and try to run out.
4. You are allowed up to 5 ball in hands per rack.
5. If you scratch on the break, you lose a ball in hand (so only 4 per rack).
6. Play a total of 10 racks.
7. Your score is determined by the total # of ball in hands you take after all 10 racks.
8. If you don’t manage to get out in a rack, then your score for that rack is 5.

10: Pro
11-20: A
21-30: B
31-40 : C
41-50 : D

a ton of pros will not run out 10 out of 10 times with ball in hand. I would make that bet with 90 of pros today
 

JohnPT

"Prove it!"
Silver Member
I ran out the first rack. Broke bad the 2nd and couldn't finish the rack even with 5 bih's. So i quit lol. There must be a more humane way to test skill!

I think beating a #ghost a long ahead set (>10) may be more accurate. Evens out the bad racks and such. For example a "B" player beats the 7 ball ghost but not the 8 ball ghost. Even if it took him only a few hours to beat the 7, if he cant beat the 8 then he's no better than a B. Etc, etc.
 

prewarhero

guess my avatar
Silver Member
I ran out the first rack. Broke bad the 2nd and couldn't finish the rack even with 5 bih's. So i quit lol. There must be a more humane way to test skill!
.

Trouble with this is, if I have a layout that can't be ran, i may use one of my ball in hands and take a foul to eliminate the problems. 9 or 10 balls on the table with some problems can go from not getting out to getting out pretty easily with just one foul.
 

BasementDweller

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I like it for the most part.

I like to practice with all 15 balls. Some of the other rating systems seem to be too punitive if you miss early in a rack. So you really have to keep track of your scores over a long period of time to get an accurate reflection of where you are at. Something like your idea may be a quicker way to get a snapshot of your current skill level.

Your idea has some merit I think.
 

liakos

Banned
I ran out the first rack. Broke bad the 2nd and couldn't finish the rack even with 5 bih's. So i quit lol. There must be a more humane way to test skill!

I think beating a #ghost a long ahead set (>10) may be more accurate. Evens out the bad racks and such. For example a "B" player beats the 7 ball ghost but not the 8 ball ghost. Even if it took him only a few hours to beat the 7, if he cant beat the 8 then he's no better than a B. Etc, etc.

Love that idea playing the ahead set with the ghost! Never thought about that before! I now know my new practice routine! Thanks:)
 

backplaying

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
No human alive could score a 10. That would be beating the 15 ball ghost 10 games in a roll. That will not happen from anyone!
 

BeiberLvr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I like it for the most part.

I like to practice with all 15 balls. Some of the other rating systems seem to be too punitive if you miss early in a rack. So you really have to keep track of your scores over a long period of time to get an accurate reflection of where you are at. Something like your idea may be a quicker way to get a snapshot of your current skill level.

Your idea has some merit I think.

I like to think so. I plan on trying it this weekend to see how I score, and hopefully others will try it as well, and post their scores.

Actually, if anyone does try it, and is willing to post their scores. Please do so, and I'll update the OP. We'll go by the honor system, but if you have video, that would be great.
 

BeiberLvr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
No human alive could score a 10. That would be beating the 15 ball ghost 10 games in a roll. That will not happen from anyone!

I'm hesitant to say it's impossible, but I will say it's extremely unlikely, so I'll edit my OP to change the rankings to something that is hopefully more reasonable.
 

JohnPT

"Prove it!"
Silver Member
Love that idea playing the ahead set with the ghost! Never thought about that before! I now know my new practice routine! Thanks:)

You are welcome. However I would like to caution you on playing the smaller ball # ghosts. It might not apply to you, but in the past I found myself playing just good enough when playing this way. I feel like it puts a mental barrier on your progression.

My focus is sharper playing more balls than I am comfortable with.

I think my overall game improved more over the last year struggling to run out full racks in rotation than it did beating the 9 ball ghost.
 
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Gerry Williams

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I like the idea - you could incorporate playing a lock up safety awards a ball in hand as well. So you could play safe twice in a rack and still finish with a net 1 BIH.

Opponent would have to be kicking or jumping for this to count.

Too often these drills are one dimensional - crazy offence :) This could bring some defence into the mix.

Gerry
 

BeiberLvr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I like the idea - you could incorporate playing a lock up safety awards a ball in hand as well. So you could play safe twice in a rack and still finish with a net 1 BIH.

Opponent would have to be kicking or jumping for this to count.

Too often these drills are one dimensional - crazy offence :) This could bring some defence into the mix.

Gerry

The only problem is that it's much to easy to play a safety in 15 ball.
 

Joe T

New member
First off, thanks for the practice, way tougher concentration wise than one might think.
I played pretty good but of course made errors that I thought I shouldn’t have but isn’t that always the case. In reality I don’t think I can play any better than this right now. If I had a shot on the 1 ball which was only a couple of times I didn’t take ball in hand. I also racked them in a conducive order, 2 3 on corners, 4 5 behind 1, 6 7 on one side 8 9 on the other side and broke medium soft speed.
3
2 Dog stroked the 11
1 nice out
1 nice out but not bih on the 1 but later in rack
4 with 1 miss, 1 bad break out and idk why 4
3 with 1 miss
3 2 bad misses (embarrassed to say lil mentally tired)
took 5 min break
3 one miss one hook
3 1 miss 1 hook
2 bad position error
28 :O I’m almost a B player lol

The rules need a lil tweaking, like can I shoot at the 1 and save a bih, when I’m hooked do I just break out trouble balls, count that as a miss then take ball in hand and probably a few more. I say let them rack in any order they choose. It would be interesting to see how different players rack them. I thnk I could actually run more if (hold on to your hat) I could put the 1 2 3 in the middle of the rack.

Hate to say this but believe it to be true, most players will not be able to fade the drill, it’ll piss’em off and wear them down, lol I would like to see a group of pro’s compete at this. I think under 20 is a good number but I don’t think too many A players will break 30.
:) Gerry wants to practice his safes, lol tough doing that on your own right. Play some solo 1 pocket bro it should tighten up your cue ball safeties.

Now I have to leave the fantasy pool player life and go back to the real world :(
 

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I only have a bar box with tight pockets so I don't think mine counts lol i played three racks. I decided that I'm only going to take 3 ball in hands. 5 seemed way to easy for me. Oh and I also didn't use a ball in hand if I had a shot I like on the one.

1st rack. Made it to the 13 but used all my ball in hands.

2nd rack Used two ball in hands but got out.

3rd used one ball in hand. Disappointed I should have been out when with none.

Like I said it was on a bar box so the numbers could be off. It was a nice change of pace though. Lately the ghost has felt a little easy so I started playing long races.
 

Joe T

New member
I only have a bar box with tight pockets so I don't think mine counts lol i played three racks. I decided that I'm only going to take 3 ball in hands. 5 seemed way to easy for me. Oh and I also didn't use a ball in hand if I had a shot I like on the one.

1st rack. Made it to the 13 but used all my ball in hands.

2nd rack Used two ball in hands but got out.

3rd used one ball in hand. Disappointed I should have been out when with none.

Like I said it was on a bar box so the numbers could be off. It was a nice change of pace though. Lately the ghost has felt a little easy so I started playing long races.
I think 15 balls on a bar box may be even tougher? Idk, it's been a while but i think more clusters would hinder me more than a lil distance. 9 or 10 easier, 15?
 

liakos

Banned
You are welcome. However I would like to caution you on playing the smaller ball # ghosts. It might not apply to you, but in the past I found myself playing just good enough when playing this way. I feel like it puts a mental barrier on your progression.

My focus is sharper playing more balls than I am comfortable with.

I think my overall game improved more over the last year struggling to run out full racks in rotation than it did beating the 9 ball ghost.

I only play 10-ball ghost! 15-ball is just too difficult for me! My table is a gc3 with 4 1/4 inch pockets so 15 ball is out of the question! But I do practice the game all the time! Maybe someday;)
 

ignomirello

Tony IGGY
Silver Member
Help

First off I apologize if something like this already exists. I just thought of it tonight, and haven't actually tried it out yet. I do think it would be a fun practice game, and the ratings seem like they would be accurate, but I'm willing to make adjustments if needed.

Having 5 ball in hands per rack might make it seem easy, but the beauty of it is that it's not just about getting out. It's about getting out with the least number of ball in hands, and having the option to take 5 just makes it more accessible to the majority of us that have no shot against the 15 ball ghost.

Rules:
1. Rack all 15 balls (1 at the top, 15 in the middle, 2 and 3 on the corners).
2. Break
3. Take ball in hand anywhere on the table, and try to run out.
4. You are allowed up to 5 ball in hands per rack.
5. If you scratch on the break, you lose a ball in hand (so only 4 per rack).
6. Play a total of 10 racks.
7. Your score is determined by the total # of ball in hands you take after all 10 racks.
8. If you don’t manage to get out in a rack, then your score for that rack is 5.

10-20: Pro
21-30: A
31-40: B
41-50: C

Help I'm lost no (D) players?
 
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