APA regional Finals tips

KingCarom

KingCarom

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Well, our team is going to the regionals for King and Snohomish Counties in Seattle June 6-7.
We are a good team that has played well and made good decisions on who to throw when and while coaching this last session.

My question to you is this:

Do you as a captain of the team go into regional tournaments like this with any enhanced strategy in mind? Mind you the game is still played the same as playoffs, fisrt team to win three matches wins, so in each case each team is going to throw their top players first. But do you have any other tips or sugestion to help your team become successful?

I have not been to one of these since 97 because I have not been active in the league. What are we in for these days?
 
I've seen a few different styles used in coaching regionals and nationals levels, but I believe solely on one philosophy: you ain't there to play 5 matches, only 3. It is pretty important for your top players to know this and be prepared to lay the burden on their shoulders. But never be afraid to gamble early if your faced with a team whose handicaps are well set up. Don't be afraid to try to gain the upper hand if they throw a heavy 6 or 7 and your team doesn't have a good chance of beating that person but a good chance to beat most of the others they could match up with later. Throw the 3 or 4 on that 6 or 7 that could, if they're lucky, steal the victory you need to get in the driver's seat for the match.
 
Tips!

Take some Advil, Motrin, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Pepto-Bismol, Alka-Seltzer, Mylanta Gas Relief and possibly a little alcohol. - you should do fine.


Other than that, a good general tip to consider is to put one of your players up first. That way, you have some options on the four and fifth games of the match.

Rick
 
Hustlefinger-

I dont agree with that at all. I have always thought it was best to have the OTHER team throw first, so you have more options to make decisions on who you want to have play who during the match. If they throw first, they have to throw 3x vs your 2.
 
I think controlling who plays in the fourth and fifth match is more important than the first three. Of course winning one of the first three matches is essential for this strategy to work. Or at least have a reasonable chance to work. Considering the 23 point rule, whoever is put up in the four game determines pretty much who the last player will be.

Rick
 
Hustlefinger has it right, IMO. Should it get to that point, having the other team put up in the 4th match essentially allows you to control the matchups in the last two matches. By that time, you should know who/what the other team has left, and you can put up accordingly. You *must* plan on needing the last 2 matches - the other guy sure is. At the risk of sounding callous, if you only have comfortable matchups for the first 3 matches, you probably don't belong in Regionals anyways. On our team, we always put up first for match 1 if possible. It seems to work - we haven't missed Regionals in 5 years and went to Vegas in 2001. :)

KingCarem - Regionals are probably going to be very much like your session tournament. If your area is much like mine (South Jersey), they'll tend to group brackets by geography, thereby helping to guarantee that a team from all the geographical areas covered by your LO goes to Vegas. We almost always end up playing a team from our own division in Regionals, in one match or another.

I tend to lean towards matching handicaps against unknown teams in Regionals. Lower-rated players tend to be the most susceptible to the pressure, and that negates the advantages of a 2-7 match (for instance). On the other hand, I'm less likely to lead with a higher-ranked player (6 or 7), to avoid the other team creating such a lopsided matchup where one mistake on the 8-ball (or one bad rack in 9-ball) can drastically alter the match.

The only exception to that rule is, I'll put my 5(s) against their 4(s) if necessary, because experience indicates that you're most likely to be surprised by the relative skill of a 4 in any given match. To me, a 4 is a very inconsistent 7, and I have to plan for the possibility that their 4 is capable of getting out if my player leaves him/her a good opening.

Our team strategy is to start each year (and each session) taking big chances and testing risks, and gradually become more conservative as the session and the year progress. By April, we know what we can do, and what the other teams in our division can do. The Spring session tournaments (our team is essentially the same in 8-ball and 9-ball) are then played exactly as we would the Regionals, conservatively.

I wish you and your team the best of luck, and hopefully we'll meet in Vegas. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top