i know that the apa is a good organization for those who want to have fun in pool is this true ?thanks
apa leagues
- Thread starter travis trotter
- Start date
i know that the apa is a good organization for those who want to have fun in pool is this true ?thanks
travis trotter said:
thanks
Why do you care Troll? I thought you are a pro player? Pro Players can't play in the APA...
It is lots of fun for amatuers or people who want to think they play good. I played in the APA for two seasons when I first started playing and had fun, but there are to many egos( they all suck and none will gamble).
There are egos involved in every facet of life, not just playing in a pool league. I have encountered a few big egos in the APA, but not any more than anywhere else.sicbinature said:
Also, what has gambling got to do with playing in a pool league?
Per the league rules, gambling is not permitted on league matches. Any other gambling would be up to the individual. Personally, I don't gamble, but I could stear you to a few APA players who do gamble. However, I doubt you would want any part of them.
Seems to me, you are the one with the big ego.
I don't like the "No Jump Cue" rule. I play allot of 8 Ball and I always have my trusty AT-1 Stealth Jump Cue with me. Also it seems in the last few years that the "Dues" have gone way up. When I figured the amount of playing time, to what the Dues were each week, it was to much. I decided not to join the APA. The local team Captain kept pushing me to join a few months back, only to find out, if he puts a team together he plays for free.
I also do not like playing on Bar Box tables, with dirty ripped felt etc etc.
That seems to be the normal table condition in most of the Bars around here that have APA teams.
I think the APA is a great organization, just not for me.
I also do not like playing on Bar Box tables, with dirty ripped felt etc etc.That seems to be the normal table condition in most of the Bars around here that have APA teams.
I think the APA is a great organization, just not for me.
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Just a few quick things about APA...
People don't join to gamble, I've seen more egos in my local 9 ball tournament than APA, I've never played with anything other than a red circle ball, table size and condition can vary from crappy unleveled bar table with slow ripped slow nap cloth to fine pool halls with regulation gold crowns, Simonis 860, etc.
APA is also a great way to enter a pool league and be able to compete with common SL opponents.
People don't join to gamble, I've seen more egos in my local 9 ball tournament than APA, I've never played with anything other than a red circle ball, table size and condition can vary from crappy unleveled bar table with slow ripped slow nap cloth to fine pool halls with regulation gold crowns, Simonis 860, etc.
APA is also a great way to enter a pool league and be able to compete with common SL opponents.
pool benefits!!!
Pool has benefited . It brought pool to the people < I played 30 years ago got good enough to lose money. Went to Nam , married stopped playing. Friend asked me to fill in on team .Enjoyed myself. My wife joined . Started playing at Drexeline. met great people. Play decent not great, been to Vegas 2 of last 3 years singles Had good time did not set world on fire. This tells you handicap system works for most part. The point is people, guys +girls, all levels Novice(handicap) to semi_pro(master division ) are being exposed to pool competition, this encourages all levels to play pool. Whats wrong with that. Some teams want the carrot Vegas, some want to play with friends, have a few beers, get out of the house and believe me you meet alot of great people. There has been more than one marriage due to pool leagues. Is it for all ,no but it develops a interest and embraces all to play practice and get better . Pool is in a down period, APA leagues are not.
Pool has benefited . It brought pool to the people < I played 30 years ago got good enough to lose money. Went to Nam , married stopped playing. Friend asked me to fill in on team .Enjoyed myself. My wife joined . Started playing at Drexeline. met great people. Play decent not great, been to Vegas 2 of last 3 years singles Had good time did not set world on fire. This tells you handicap system works for most part. The point is people, guys +girls, all levels Novice(handicap) to semi_pro(master division ) are being exposed to pool competition, this encourages all levels to play pool. Whats wrong with that. Some teams want the carrot Vegas, some want to play with friends, have a few beers, get out of the house and believe me you meet alot of great people. There has been more than one marriage due to pool leagues. Is it for all ,no but it develops a interest and embraces all to play practice and get better . Pool is in a down period, APA leagues are not.
mnShooter said:
LOL! Travis The Troll!
I have played in several pool leagues for a number of years, including the APA. The biggest draw to the APA was my team. I really enjoy their company on a personal level. All the while, I would continually knock the overall level of competition in the APA compared to other leagues in the area. Then a funny thing happened.
About 3/4 of the way through yet another season in two leagues, I realized that the more challenging league was not much fun. The aggravation and lack of real cohesion from a team perspective made it much more like work. Now, this could be purely a team chemistry issue, but the league in question has been losing membership for several consecutive seasons now. It turns out that I looked forward to my APA nights much more so than that of the other league. Why? Because it was much more fun. My team has a blast and opponents are generally outgoing and friendly. In the tougher league, people were much more uptight about their game, conversing...everything. Really weird.
About 3/4 of the way through yet another season in two leagues, I realized that the more challenging league was not much fun. The aggravation and lack of real cohesion from a team perspective made it much more like work. Now, this could be purely a team chemistry issue, but the league in question has been losing membership for several consecutive seasons now. It turns out that I looked forward to my APA nights much more so than that of the other league. Why? Because it was much more fun. My team has a blast and opponents are generally outgoing and friendly. In the tougher league, people were much more uptight about their game, conversing...everything. Really weird.
If your APA league/division is based out of a popular/large pool hall (not a traveling league) and is played on 9ft tables. It can be ok for a beginner. The APA is a bar table league played mostly in bars. When it is stationed in a pool hall, it is more like a normal decent league.
I played in the APA till I became a 7 (8-ball). It didn't take long, but in retrospect, it was too long for a different reason. If you play in league to improve, the APA is fine, in fact excellent for the newbie, but once you hit an SL5, that should be good enough and it's served its purpose. Move on and go elsewhere where your game will not be ruined due to the visual negative reinforcement of watching people with retarded strokes and bad play.
That's bad for you. Trust me. It isn't good to sit in a chair and watch 4 matches go by where people poke balls around, miss constantly, play horrible patterns, and generally play like $hit all while acting like pool Gods. Your brain is learning that this is part of the norm.
You'll see a huge improvement if you immerse yourself around players who can actually play and are significantly better than you. Watching good pool helps you play good pool. If you see things done the right way 95% of the time vs. 10% of the time...you'll start doing it the right way quicker.
I played in the APA till I became a 7 (8-ball). It didn't take long, but in retrospect, it was too long for a different reason. If you play in league to improve, the APA is fine, in fact excellent for the newbie, but once you hit an SL5, that should be good enough and it's served its purpose. Move on and go elsewhere where your game will not be ruined due to the visual negative reinforcement of watching people with retarded strokes and bad play.
That's bad for you. Trust me. It isn't good to sit in a chair and watch 4 matches go by where people poke balls around, miss constantly, play horrible patterns, and generally play like $hit all while acting like pool Gods. Your brain is learning that this is part of the norm.
You'll see a huge improvement if you immerse yourself around players who can actually play and are significantly better than you. Watching good pool helps you play good pool. If you see things done the right way 95% of the time vs. 10% of the time...you'll start doing it the right way quicker.
Bola Ocho said:
Amen .... Find a REAL league, where getting better is promoted and appreciated, and not punished in some form.
(Think I am being harsh, just imagine Basketball players with handicaps, lets see, player A, you're an 8, player B, you're a 7, so the team handicap difference is 28 points you have to spot the other team).
Bola Ocho said:
This is the very first somewhat negative post about the APA that I fully agree with and support. Your information is both knowledgeable and informative.
People have to understand that the league is a profit making organization, and caters to the masses; SL3s and SL4s are the majority that make up the league.
Let's put it this way; Nobody who is an APA SL7 shows up to play a SL2; they want to shoot against a real, live, pool shooter, someone with some skills.
We had a guy on our APA team who was a SL9 in 9 ball high run of 69 balls in straight), and had to make 75 to sometimes half the amount of balls of another pretty skilled shooter. He would make almost six/seven balls at a clip, and still lose big. The APA has a way of keeping the high level shooters out of the league. Also, it breaks them up, so that no team can shoot more than one SL7 in a night.
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Oh yes, I agree. I don't bash the APA as a whole. It does serve some people well. I think the handicapping is bad (as I said in another thread currently running)...but the APA serves its purpose.
Truth is, most of my criticisms of the APA are totally over the head of most APA players. They don't know, and don't care. They want to bang balls, and drink beer. If that's fun for them - God bless them. Who am I to condemn?
That being said, everyone has different expectations. If you want to seek good pool, the APA is useful up until you're about an SL5, maybe SL6. If you just want to drink, and hang out and pool is just the thing to do inbetween sips...the APA is ideal for you.
Truth is, most of my criticisms of the APA are totally over the head of most APA players. They don't know, and don't care. They want to bang balls, and drink beer. If that's fun for them - God bless them. Who am I to condemn?
That being said, everyone has different expectations. If you want to seek good pool, the APA is useful up until you're about an SL5, maybe SL6. If you just want to drink, and hang out and pool is just the thing to do inbetween sips...the APA is ideal for you.
I have to agree with most things here. I joined the APA when I first moved to America in 2002. It was my way to meet people pure and simple. The pool element was the means to get to the pool/beers/girls since I'd probably played no more than a dozen bar tables games since I was in college, and had never played anything more than a bar table. I had many great nights out till the early hours drinking, and loved the Tri-Cup events. For that purpose it was great, and I made a lot of very good friends through the APA. It was only when I won a singles event in late 2003 that I began to do it for the pool as well. I played on 9ft tables for the first time, learned about English etc... Now I've "grown out" of the APA, both from the pool side and I'm older now and am not interested in going to bars etc.. the APA served a purpose for me, and it is great for recreational players.