Automatic Shot Clock

[Bavafongoul]

Just buy a game clock. They are made for the purpose. They are flexible. They don't require a special cue ball. They have been in use for time control for almost 150 years. And they have a lot of nice features the electronic cue ball does not have.

Bob, I would but I haven’t found any that fits the bill. It has to be easily visible from 12-14 away for a 9’ table player and chess clocks and the like don’t fit the bill. Gosh, I would have thought APA and BCA would have adopted this by now which would have sparked demand to build a shot clock for pool players. Lazy or slow players are really intolerable annoyances, IMO.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Bob, I would but I haven’t found any that fits the bill. It has to be easily visible from 12-14 away for a 9’ table player and chess clocks and the like don’t fit the bill. Gosh, I would have thought APA and BCA would have adopted this by now which would have sparked demand to build a shot clock for pool players. Lazy or slow players are really intolerable annoyances, IMO.

It is not a per-shot clock. It is a total time used clock. There is no need to see it continuously. If you start with 40 minutes as your time for the race to 7, the exact time is of no concern until you get really low, and then you know you need to step lively. And if you need three minutes to figure out a shot, and you have the time to spend on that single shot, you can.

 

[nataddrho]

It is not a per-shot clock. It is a total time used clock. There is no need to see it continuously. If you start with 40 minutes as your time for the race to 7, the exact time is of no concern until you get really low, and then you know you need to step lively. And if you need three minutes to figure out a shot, and you have the time to spend on that single shot, you can.

Yes but the concern is limiting players time per shot, not per match. A lot of people don’t want to sit watching nothing for three minutes. I think this is the point.

Three cushion matches have for example 40 seconds per shot (or something like that) with a few extensions allowed. This is more of the idea.

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Yes but the concern is limiting players time per shot, not per match. A lot of people don’t want to sit watching nothing for three minutes. I think this is the point.

Three cushion matches have for example 40 seconds per shot (or something like that) with a few extensions allowed. This is more of the idea.

Correct me if I am wrong.

The major 3-cushion matches have per-shot clocks with time keepers on each table. In carom leagues, they use chess clocks.

I think you are wrong about the goal. If a player has a very complicated shot, the audience can understand that the problem requires time. And the player will have to play the rest of the shots more speedily. For the schedule, it is total time you are concerned about. If both players take 28 seconds per shot, every shot -- like Albin, Fedor, others... -- it is a slow grind. If they have, on average, 20 seconds per shot, they will play a better pace. There are some carom players who start their final strokes when the beeps start at 35 seconds -- every damn shot.

 

[GideonF]

Bob, I would but I haven’t found any that fits the bill. It has to be easily visible from 12-14 away for a 9’ table player and chess clocks and the like don’t fit the bill. Gosh, I would have thought APA and BCA would have adopted this by now which would have sparked demand to build a shot clock for pool players. Lazy or slow players are really intolerable annoyances, IMO.

Take a look at this app. It’s called Pool Shot Clock.

If you got it on a tablet I think it would fit the bill.

You can program the length of the shot, length of the extension, the beeps, etc.

To be fully like a tournament you’d need a person to operate it. But you could have the opponent reset the clock for the player if people aren’t being jerks.

 

[kling&allen]

Yes but the concern is limiting players time per shot, not per match. A lot of people don’t want to sit watching nothing for three minutes. I think this is the point.

Three cushion matches have for example 40 seconds per shot (or something like that) with a few extensions allowed. This is more of the idea.

Correct me if I am wrong.

I think time between shots is a useful metric for types of practice. For example, how often do I ever exceed 30 seconds between shots without a clock (my natural speed of play) and is it something I need to be conscious about during a time match?

This isn’t a reason someone would buy the digiball, but if you have the code already to compute this metric it’s a neat benefit on top of everything else. And perhaps this was already part of the app when I tested the digiball, in which case good job.