APA Double Hit Rule
- Thread starter sgonzalez34
- Start date
Oh I agree with that. That's why I don't handle it that way in my area. But I don't have an area where the whole team feels ambushed or blindsided when I call a double hit. Sometimes the player is but a teammate usually explains it to them quickly and they're good. APA has a different customer base than I do. They don't want entire teams or areas leaving their events feeling ambushed.
"Let's just have fun" .....then why call any fouls? The advice that the "supposed neutral" referee cost the other team $450.00 and more importantly the trophy, I'm all for helping lower skill player learn but by the time you get to a regional final you should at least understand the rules, it should be the captain's job or someone he designates, How much fun did the losing team have by watching the other team get an extra timeout.
so some teams get an extra time out? Haven't played APA in a while, looks like I didn't miss anything
Bottom line is all rules are followed or no rules are followed, would you excuse the skills level rule? touching another ball with the cue ball in hand? When I was in APA and we were on practice tables that's where players learned the rules, we had unlimited timeouts with new players so when they got into a match we didn't have to waste a timeout on a rules violation, the losing team was done an injustice, APA should fix this
This in my mind is the same as if you were called to watch a hit and told the player they should use draw or they may scratch or any other shot selection where playing it poorly can happen. I don't care how bad the player is, or how low of a common denominator the APA is striving for, learning the rules and the shots needs to happen during practice and when the player learns the rules of pool, not in a match. The APA is basically saying that is considers the members morons that can't learn the basics of the game at the level of a child. A bad player in league is not one that does not know the rules, they just can't play very well. They should know what a foul is even if they don't have the skill to avoid it or miss all the time. I am on 3 different league teams (not APA), I make sure that everyone on the team learns the rules, there is no way that a team should allow any player to not know what they are doing at the basic level of pool.
Yet pros sometimes shoot the wrong ball because of the color of it lol
That's a nice idea but some people just don't get this concept and never will.
An APA 3 who is a serious or longtime player struggles with at least one of the following: 1) weak hand-eye coordination or 2) vague (at best) spatial awareness. Understanding wham-bam close double hits is going to be a bridge too far for most in the second group.
GoodPM
Member
I recently quit APA and want to join something more serious. What would you recommend?
I was thinking I'd try BCA, but worry that more of the same people will be in that league as well.
I disagree that an understanding of double-hit fouls is child-level. I think what APA is saying is that it's ok not to be cutthroat about one specific rule. Anyone who can't understand how that's different from ignoring all rules is the one who needs to grow up.
There is no question that the double hit rule is by far the hardest rule for most players to truly understand. Even some very good players have a hard time with it. For serious play, really the most accurate way to judge the shot is to use your Smart phone and shoot a closeup side view slow motion video of the contact.
Had the opposing team captain ask me about this in our match earlier this week. She asked if you were "required" to elevate your cue when the cue ball was within a chalk cube's distance from an object ball. She told me our LO passed that on during the previous week's match with them. I wasn't there, so I don't know what actually happened or was said, but it just goes to show how much misunderstanding and misinformation there is about this.
For my team, I really don't follow up on these calls when we have 2s and 3s playing. I've never had one of the people actually playing the match ask about it on those levels. Those games often go to double digit innings, and take almost an hour. I've explained the rule and suggested the usual Dr. Dave videos, but it still happens. One time I even tried to coach a 4 to help avoid a double hit, and he didn't get a ball to a rail after contact, so in his mind, he was going to shoot his way and not give ball-in-hand.
This has bit us in Tri-Cups though, and there's no way around it there. I agree that the best way to have it sink in is to be on the wrong side of that call, but that pre-supposes that the player wants to improve and that league is more than just a social activity. You can say the same about golf, bowling, bocce, whatever. Some people are just participants, not competitors.
And the APAs model of limiting skilled players on a team seems to work pretty well for them. We don't have many options locally, and as players improve, they push their teams apart, most often to additional teams in the league. More teams = more players, and more players = more money, which is really the reason for the people running it to do it.
For my team, I really don't follow up on these calls when we have 2s and 3s playing. I've never had one of the people actually playing the match ask about it on those levels. Those games often go to double digit innings, and take almost an hour. I've explained the rule and suggested the usual Dr. Dave videos, but it still happens. One time I even tried to coach a 4 to help avoid a double hit, and he didn't get a ball to a rail after contact, so in his mind, he was going to shoot his way and not give ball-in-hand.
This has bit us in Tri-Cups though, and there's no way around it there. I agree that the best way to have it sink in is to be on the wrong side of that call, but that pre-supposes that the player wants to improve and that league is more than just a social activity. You can say the same about golf, bowling, bocce, whatever. Some people are just participants, not competitors.
And the APAs model of limiting skilled players on a team seems to work pretty well for them. We don't have many options locally, and as players improve, they push their teams apart, most often to additional teams in the league. More teams = more players, and more players = more money, which is really the reason for the people running it to do it.
Well that is all fine also, they may not be able to avoid the foul but they need to be aware of the rule and how to attempt to play it. Just because someone knows how to hit a ball does not mean they will execute it properly in any shot. I know how to draw the ball but that does not mean I'll execute the shot all the time the way I want. If someone is bad at playing they can still foul when trying not to, which is normal. It's not the fact that the players foul, it's the fact that the players don't even know the shots in general. If someone does not know what they are doing, that is not the fault of the rule, that player is just not suited very well for competition. Playing pool requires some basic abilities, like any other activity.