Choking against the 9-ball Ghost

R

Rackin_Zack

Suffering from OCBD
Silver Member
I've been trying to play the Ghost here recently and have had horrible results. The other day I played two races to nine and won only one game. The most frustrating thing is that I had several easy outs which I would normally run but, with the pressure of knowing that a miss means a loss, I inevitably choke.

I also had a similar occurrence the other day when I was playing a friend of mine we were betting a dollar on the out and there were some really easy outs that I screwed up because of the added pressure. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to remedy this? Should I just continue to play the Ghost and put myself in higher pressure situations until I get over it? Any ideas you can give will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Rackin_Zack said:
I've been trying to play the Ghost here recently and have had horrible results. The other day I played two races to nine and won only one game. The most frustrating thing is that I had several easy outs which I would normally run but, with the pressure of knowing that a miss means a loss, I inevitably choke.

I also had a similar occurrence the other day when I was playing a friend of mine we were betting a dollar on the out and there were some really easy outs that I screwed up because of the added pressure. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to remedy this? Should I just continue to play the Ghost and put myself in higher pressure situations until I get over it? Any ideas you can give will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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If you are playing the ghost with break and then ball in hand whether or not a ball is pocketed (which, by the way, is the version I play), give yourself a tuneup by switching to playing six ball against the ghost until you regain your confidence.

If, on the other hand, you don't take ball in hand after the break when you play the ghost, do so until you regain your confidence.
 
sjm said:
If you are playing the ghost with break and then ball in hand whether or not a ball is pocketed (which, by the way, is the version I play), give yourself a tuneup by switching to playing six ball against the ghost until you regain your confidence.

If, on the other hand, you don't take ball in hand after the break when you play the ghost, do so until you regain your confidence.
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I do take ball in hand after the break unless I have an easy open shot. That's what is so frustrating. How do you rack the six balls to play the ghost?
 
Rackin_Zack said:
I do take ball in hand after the break unless I have an easy open shot. That's what is so frustrating. How do you rack the six balls to play the ghost?
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Row 1; 1
Row 2: X X
Row 3: X 6 X

The x's represent the two, three, four and five. By the way, it's very hard to make a ball on the break, much tougher than in nine ball, so don't get frustrated.
 
BAZARUS said:
Can you say something more about this?
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The six ball configuration is the same as nine ball except the three balls lying beneath where the nine ball would normally lie are left off of the table. The one goes in front, the six ball goes where the nine would normally go, and the seven and the eight are not used at all. Put another way, only the first three rows of the standard eight ball rack configuration are used.

To play against the ghost, hit a break, then, whether you make a ball or not, take ball in hand and try to get out of the rack in one inning. If you do, you win the rack, otherwise, the "ghost" wins. The "ghost" is a pretty tough opponent in nineball, so those unable to beat the ghost in nineball, or those in a slump against the nineball "ghost" would do well to switch to competing against the sixball "ghost."

A player form the sixties once told me that the game of six ball emerged
because gamblers playing nine ball on a coin-operated bar table wanted to get two games for the price of one, so they needed to invent a game that could be played with six balls. Go figure!

Warning: Beating the sixball "ghost" isn't as easy as it sounds.
 
BAZARUS said:
Can you say something more about this?
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Played just like 9-ball, except 6 balls are used. Around my way, we played a variation.....5ball, after the break get rid of the 6 ball if it doesn't go in on break. 5 ball was centered instead of 6. We also played a version with 3 balls. Just a faster way to gamble for people with less experience, generally.

START(%AN7O5%BL7P8%CL7N3%DM7N8%EM7P1%FL6O4%Pg9V9)END

LINK TO TABLE
 
I see, thanx guys. Although I think that six ball version should only apply to gambling and to really improve the game it should be played with 9 balls. Another thing I was wondering, that people offering playing you a "ghost" for money must be pretty good & confident. I've never played against someone for money and not played at the same time."lol" :D Whats the point of doing it anyway?
 
BAZARUS said:
I see, thanx guys. Although I think that six ball version should only apply to gambling and to really improve the game it should be played with 9 balls. Another thing I was wondering, that people offering playing you a "ghost" for money must be pretty good & confident. I've never played against someone for money and not played at the same time."lol" :D Whats the point of doing it anyway?
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I, for one, am not playing the ghost to gamble. I am playing the ghost to practice in a higher pressure environment. i.e. I run out or lose!
 
Playing 9ball ghost is pretty much like playing a pro, you miss and he gets out.
 
sjm said:
The six ball configuration is the same as nine ball except the three balls lying beneath where the nine ball would normally lie are left off of the table. The one goes in front, the six ball goes where the nine would normally go, and the seven and the eight are not used at all. Put another way, only the first three rows of the standard eight ball rack configuration are used.

To play against the ghost, hit a break, then, whether you make a ball or not, take ball in hand and try to get out of the rack in one inning. If you do, you win the rack, otherwise, the "ghost" wins. The "ghost" is a pretty tough opponent in nineball, so those unable to beat the ghost in nineball, or those in a slump against the nineball "ghost" would do well to switch to competing against the sixball "ghost."

A player form the sixties once told me that the game of six ball emerged
because gamblers playing nine ball on a coin-operated bar table wanted to get two games for the price of one, so they needed to invent a game that could be played with six balls. Go figure!

Warning: Beating the sixball "ghost" isn't as easy as it sounds.
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SJM,
Just another fillip; I use the 8-ball and 9-ball instead of the 5-ball and 6-ball so that the last 2 balls on the table (after making the first 4) are usually the 8 and 9, just to get that feeling of ending with the 8 & 9. By the way, please don't tell anyone I have been working on my 9-ball; my status in the ASPS (Association of Straight Pool Snobs) will be seriously downgraded.
 
Williebetmore said:
SJM,
Just another fillip; I use the 8-ball and 9-ball instead of the 5-ball and 6-ball so that the last 2 balls on the table (after making the first 4) are usually the 8 and 9, just to get that feeling of ending with the 8 & 9. By the way, please don't tell anyone I have been working on my 9-ball; my status in the ASPS (Association of Straight Pool Snobs) will be seriously downgraded.
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Your secret is safe with me, Willie. Hope you had a great fourth of July.
 
9@6......

Pretty common games to play on the bar box,and it does save you some money, Scott
 
I've tried the 6 ball ghost game. It is much more difficult then I thought it would be. Took me a few tries at first, but now I have a slight edge over "him". I take the ball in hand whether I make anything on the break or not. So far my record is 6 in a row, but I usually score 2-3 on average.

I envy those who could do the same at 9ball ghost.
 
Playing the ghost is a valuable method of creating pressure when playing alone. I feel slight pressure only when on a high run in straight pool (over 50 for me). Usually I try to put down the results in playing the ghost so I can calculate a nice average on a long run. So far I've played only a few sets of ghost, but won all of them ! Don't have so much time to practise anymore, though.

If you choke in playing the ghost, you will definitely choke in real matches. Unless you somehow feel the ghost more intimidating opponent than a real-life opponent :) Sorry, I don't know the cure for choking, I could use it sometimes myself...
 
There is no cure for choking!!

Play a lot against the gost and start with 5 balls when you are 5 racks up then start over with 6 balls until it are 10!
Then start playing good players for small amount of cash. Try to win but don't force it. If you start to win some (maybe with an advantage at the start). Then play some bad pool and hustle a guy for big time money.

Al these things still doesn't garanty that you will be cured!
 
Rackin_Zack said:
The most frustrating thing is that I had several easy outs which I would normally run but, with the pressure of knowing that a miss means a loss, I inevitably choke.
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I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that there is a cure for choking.

1. Simplify and perfect your stroke. Think in terms of using the fewest number of muscles. The more complicated your stroke and the more muscles you need to use the easier it is for the stroke to break down under stress. This may require an instructor.

2. Practice the same way you play. To do this you must decide what kind of player you are. Are you a serious player or a have fun player. If serious then when practicing pretend every shot is a must make shot. You simply have to make it. Then when you play a real match, it's no different. Of course you have to make it, but then you are used to that, so it's just another shot. Of course the downside of this is people will accuse you of being too serious. "You're no fun to play with."

If you are a have fun kinda player then you take the opposite approach, when you play a real match you tell yourself "It doesn't matter, it's just a game, just relax." This works for some people, who can shoot the lights out chatting it up and joking all the way. The downside of this can be on teams when the other players may think you didn't take the big match seriously enough.

The key here, the big thing, is practice the same way you play.

3. Work out a pre-shot routine. ( PSR ) Then force yourself to use it. Every shot all the time. Something along the lines of: Assess the table, decide the shot, stand behind the shot and locate the ghost ball, (or use whatever aiming system) feel the speed of the shot, assume the stance while pointing the stick at the ghost ball, take 3 practice strokes, pause, fire.

I think a PSR can be kinda personal, and different players can have significantly different ones. So find your own. And then use it all the time, every shot.

Snoozy
 
more cure for choking...

Originally posted by snoozy
I think a PSR can be kinda personal, and different players can have significantly different ones. So find your own. And then use it all the time, every shot.
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Pre shot routine is a very good way to keep choking under control. Watch top pros, like Fisher or Souquet how they do it. Whether they look nervous or loose(you can tell by looking at a player face what he feels like) they always do the same thing:
- aproach the table and evaluate it
- decide on a shot, ball, pocket, english, speed etc
- get down into stance, body, legs, hands, bridge etc
- aim and shoot
Do that or simmilar everytime you shoot and you will see the difference in no time.
Lots of players also change their speed of play - during practice they play slowly, but under the pressure they speed up their tempo, which pretty much means, thet they do not have their routine down.
 
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Very good point. Pre-shot routine is very important, I think many shots are missed under pressure because the lining up wasn't done properly and the stance was unbalanced. Also, it's very important to have confidence in your stroke. Many times missed shots occur when you try to "guide" the shot with your body, instead you have to rely on your stroke. It should provide perfect results if you just keep it together. For me the trick has been concetrating on having a steady elbow on difficult long shots.
 
Rackin_Zack said:
...we were betting a dollar on the out and there were some really easy outs that I screwed up because of the added pressure. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to remedy this?...
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A dollar? Yes, I do have a tip...slap yourself!!

-piga
 
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