competitive practice ideas?

prewarhero

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so I expect to have my pool room completed within the week and it will be a learning sanctuary for me and some of my friends. A lot of practice. I was trying to come up with some games that we could play, even gamble a little on to make it more fun and have a little heat on us. I would like some suggestions. So far I came up with

target pool ring game

and 8-ball with 9 balls - with a twist
4 solids, 4 strips and the 8. Player breaks, first player to shoot after the break must call the pattern and pockets for his 4 balls. If he fails to run out, other player gets ball in hand and must do the same.

I like this because it teaches pattern play and rewards good position play and routes.

What else have you guys done for cheap competitive drills or games?
 
scotch doubles one pocket. One thing I like doing in practice is taking the cue ball and 2 object balls, then trying to kick around one of the object balls and making contact on the other. basically similar to 3-cushion, but it's fun and helps you learn the rails and will really help your kicking game.
 
Rack 14 OB with the CB in front, reg break, use an OB from behind the headstring
as CB for the break, with breaker getting first shot after the break.
You call the pockets and shot OB's in off the CB. First one to 5 wins, or whatever,
good for learning caroms.
 
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Rack 14 OB with the CB in front, reg break, with breaker getting another shot.
You call the pockets and shot OB's in off the CB. First one to 5 wins, or whatever,
good for learning caroms.

Yeah, I played this for the same reason. The person giving me a lesson made me do this to prove how hard it was to actually scratch. Yeah this was tough but first set of 9 ball afterwards. I showed him just how easy it was to scratch.:)
 
How about Fargo?

I think a 10 ball ring game with a few dollars in play would be the most fun.
 
This is my favorite practice game to play with friends.
It's a way of practicing safeties and kicking/jumping.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=3556483&postcount=1

It moves quickly - there's a max 2 shots per player, then it's the next guy's turn.
And it's easy to handicap, you just race to a different number of points... I go to 10, you go to 12, etc.

You could also make it a pay-per-error sort of deal...
every time you fail to make a good hit, you pay a buck to the guy who played you safe.

How much harder will you try to really jam someone up, if you can earn money for it?
And it would definitely add some incentive to make a good hit, which kind of simulates
the "you give up BIH, you lose the rack" pressure you would have vs. a strong player.
 
"Foursomes"
- One Pocket
- 4 Players
- Scotch Doubles Play
- Rotate Players every game

"Scotch Banks"
- Banks
- 4 Players
- Scotch Doubles Play
- Rotate Players every game
- Use a 10 ball rack (first team to 6 wins)

A fun game my buddy and I play is 9/10 ball with no side pocket shots.
If a ball goes in the side, it spots. Makes for interesting run outs.
 
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