Curious what the definition of an A player is?

J

justinb386

Banned
I know that this is a really stupid question, but I am just curious how many levels come with the rank of of an A player, and what a player has to do to be thought of as an A player?

I always thought that an A player is a player that can consistently run out (not only that), but can also play a very strong defensive game as well.

I have always considered myself to be a decent B player (but never an A player, because I am not very consistent, and many aspects of my game are very weak, like bank shots, and combination shots).

I am also not a very good defensive player.

Even though I am not (and have never been) a very strong player (with many weak points to my game), or a very consistent player, this one 9 ball tournament that I used to play in every now and then (in Cape Girardeau MO) would never allow me to play as a B player (they always made me play as an A) in their handicapped 9 ball tournament.

I am just curious what most people think of how good an A player should be to achieve that rank (and I am referring to 9 ball players, or 10 ball players).

I know that I might be made fun of for creating this silly thread (with some of the things that I have talked about), but I am just curious how good a player should be to be called an A player, and what are all the aspects of an A players game should be really strong to deservingly be considered an A player?

I do not think I will ever deservingly become an A player, because my game is just not consistent enough, and there are aspects of my game that are really weak (like bank shots for example).

Maybe an A player is a player that is really good at all of the games (8 ball, 9 ball, 10 ball, 1 pocket, banks, and even 14.1 straight pool)?

Just curious about opinions about what an A player is exactly, and if they really have to be strong at all aspects of the game in order to be called an A player?

Thanks for reading, and I hope to receive nice replies about my curiosity about A players.

I always wanted to be one, but I never worked on the weak points of my game, and I never had a really good instructor.
 
Shotmaking & position play should be at a high level for an A player, this includes all shots, combinations, caroms, banks, kicks, etc. & position play should be very good too. This includes being able to know the correct routes. Be able to send the cue along the right line, and use the correct speed to land where you want. Knowledge of the games you play should be very high also. Know the strategy, be able to perform both offensively and defensively, know correct patterns all of the other subtleties of the games you play.

The above is what I would consider to be minimum requirements for an A player. An A players game should be solid, getting out most of the time he's suppose to, playing the right shots, solid defensive skills, a tough player. By the time he has reached that level in knowledge and skill, his mental game should be sharp too. He should understand the dynamics of the match, be able to play with a lead, be able to come back from behind, understand how to swing the momentum into his favor. People should be able to describe him with words like confident, focused, & composed. An A player label should be used to describe the real deal IMO.
 
That is a great definition of an A players game. Very high confidence, and strong mental game, and good at all aspects of the game. I assume that it takes years of really hard work (playing for many hours a day), and good instruction to become great like that. I wonder if it is too late after a certain age, or a certain number of years of being stuck at the same level of play (with all the same weaknesses) to become great like a true A player? I am 32 now, and this one guy told me back when I was 18 or 19 that it was too late for me to ever become really good, because all the great players started out at a very early age (and got really good within a couple years of practice with good instruction), and that is probably why their mental game is very strong too. Justin Bergman, and Landon Shuffett are 2 examples of players that started out really young and had very good instruction. I started playing seriously when I was 14, but just loved to play, and never really learned good drills and really worked on getting better. I just wonder if it is too late for me now. I still feel stuck at the same level, and a pretty weak mental game too (very low confidence when going up against any really decent players). I know that I went completely off subject, so sorry about that.

(((Satori))) said:
Shotmaking & position play should be at a high level for an A player, this includes all shots, combinations, caroms, banks, kicks, etc. & position play should be very good too. This includes being able to know the correct routes. Be able to send the cue along the right line, and use the correct speed to land where you want. Knowledge of the games you play should be very high also. Know the strategy, be able to perform both offensively and defensively, know correct patterns all of the other subtleties of the games you play.

The above is what I would consider to be minimum requirements for an A player. An A players game should be solid, getting out most of the time he's suppose to, playing the right shots, solid defensive skills, a tough player. By the time he has reached that level in knowledge and skill, his mental game should be sharp too. He should understand the dynamics of the match, be able to play with a lead, be able to come back from behind, understand how to swing the momentum into his favor. People should be able to describe him with words like confident, focused, & composed. An A player label should be used to describe the real deal IMO.
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An A player would be able to string several racks together a lot more than a B, same for break and run %. The difference between a good B and an A is probably just a tad more shotmaking and position skills.

As an example of being a B vs an A, I have found that almost every single time I am in line to run out a rack, I end up playing position just enough off and either hook myself (WAY WAY too many times to kill a clean run) or need to play position for the next ball though traffic, or end up with a tough shot. An A player would have a better control of the cueball. I run a rack very rarely from the break, but if you take away the tiny position errors which are usually just an inch or so, at times less, I would probably be an A-.
 
So far we've heard attributes of an A player, but not really a definition.
I think an A player (we call them 10-speeds) is simply one step below a professional who are many times called Shortstops in local pool rooms. The progression of skill levels continues downward according to who can beat whom. :)
 
It's all in where your at. If your an A player here you will get 2 games in a race to 11 from a road player. Bartrum played one of our A"s giving the 8 or 9 playing 10 ball and it was a good match ending in a failed headset then turning into a race so it would be over. If your a B you'll get about the same thing from an A. If your a B and any part of your game is weak then you better not match up as a B
 
An A player is the guy who gets out of the easy racks all day long, just like a pro would.
If he breaks and gets an easy spread, and you just know he's out.
Where he differs from a pro is that the pro also gets out of the hard racks with lousy opening shots
and lots of problems.

The B player... you just don't know. He may dog it or get out of line and never recover.
He'll do 4 or 5 balls perfectly and then overhit / get stuck on the rail / bump a ball / whatever.

The A player has learned every part of the game and is scared of nothing, he doesn't
whiff the 1 rail kicks anymore, he doesn't rattle the long straight-ins, he is comfortable
jacked over a ball or using the rake.

The B player has some flaws that stand out as different situations come up.
 
Since I'm bored...

Here are my definitions locally in my area (Ill/Wis).

Bangers - people who know very little about the game. Go to a poolhall as a group as something new to do. Or bar patrons that get tired of sitting on a stool and grab a cue to play.

Bar Bangers - Play in their bar. Will play a league night since they are there anyway, but generally not very good. Just doing it for something to do.

League players - Know how to play the game somewhat. Play their leagues and are generally in the top 20-30% statistically.

B players - Play in leagues and tourneys. May run 2 or 3 racks in a season (out of say a 48 game season, breaking 24 times). Will play in the small $10 tourneys, and sometimes cash.

A players (me) - Play in leagues and tourneys. Top 5-10% players in the league, sometime just playing in the league to meet sanction guidelines for state/national tournaments. Has 5-10 rack runs in a season. Will play in all local tourneys when available. Wins or cashes high in the smaller ones. Too many of these show up at the small tourneys and the B players stop showing and it dies. Higher level tourneys they hope to cash, but winning is a challenge. Can put together a 3 or 4 pack now and then.

AA players - Sometimes rated as Advanced, sometimes as Masters depending on high level tourney results or state/national tourney events. Top 5% in league that they join just to qualify for state/nationals. Regional tourneys they expect to cash, go high in the calcutta. Can lose to the A players though. Don't take nothing for granted.

Pros - They know who they are.
 
Inaction said:
What is the scale? Is A the top class? or is there AA and Masters for comparison purposes.
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Again depends on your region. I've seen B, A, AA, Advanced, Masters, Grand Masters, Pros.

It's a shame there will never be a way to truly rate a game/scoring system that works across the nation/world like a golf handicap or bowling average.

anytime someone tells me they play good pool, I'm up to challenge them simply because it is so subjective.
 
Inaction said:
What is the scale? Is A the top class? or is there AA and Masters for comparison purposes.
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The regular ranking I have seen in print and when talking about players at least in New England area is A-, A, A+, Open, Pro. Master, Advanced, etc.. are used for leagues, and even that is a bit funny as the "Open" in BCA leagues is a lower rank, althogh an Open player is a very good player in other rankings. I play in a Master's league in my league system (USAPL) which is an invite only 10 ball league that is for the better players, but I don't call myself a Master rank player.

Some areas instead of A+ use AA and AAA then Open then Pro or AAA for Open levels and then Pro. Arizona has more or less a statewide ranking systems with numbers, I don't know what that scale is, 1-10 maybe? In that case a 10 would be a top player like Frost ( I think he's from AZ ) and a A player would be an 8 or a 9.

Although Pro is relative hehe.. a Woman Pro (no offence meant of course just how things are with the skill levels on their tour) can be a B player but still be a "Pro". B player being rarely running out from the break, averages 4-5 balls with ball in hand, very rarely running more than one rack in a row.
 
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It intrigues me too, I'd really like to play against a B and an A in your ranking system to see how I would perform so that would give me an idea of what you guys mean. An A player is in the weaker tier in our ranking system since we have 7 ranks.
 
Diamond69 said:
Here are my definitions locally in my area (Ill/Wis).

Bangers - people who know very little about the game. Go to a poolhall as a group as something new to do. Or bar patrons that get tired of sitting on a stool and grab a cue to play.

Bar Bangers - Play in their bar. Will play a league night since they are there anyway, but generally not very good. Just doing it for something to do.

League players - Know how to play the game somewhat. Play their leagues and are generally in the top 20-30% statistically.

B players - Play in leagues and tourneys. May run 2 or 3 racks in a season (out of say a 48 game season, breaking 24 times). Will play in the small $10 tourneys, and sometimes cash.

A players (me) - Play in leagues and tourneys. Top 5-10% players in the league, sometime just playing in the league to meet sanction guidelines for state/national tournaments. Has 5-10 rack runs in a season. Will play in all local tourneys when available. Wins or cashes high in the smaller ones. Too many of these show up at the small tourneys and the B players stop showing and it dies. Higher level tourneys they hope to cash, but winning is a challenge. Can put together a 3 or 4 pack now and then.

AA players - Sometimes rated as Advanced, sometimes as Masters depending on high level tourney results or state/national tourney events. Top 5% in league that they join just to qualify for state/nationals. Regional tourneys they expect to cash, go high in the calcutta. Can lose to the A players though. Don't take nothing for granted.

Pros - They know who they are.
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Your definitions leave me out. We don't have any leagues here. There are no tournaments here. We don't even have pool halls here. But our group of buddies go to bars specifically to play pool.
 
I don't think league players should be the guide in this discussion. My experience has been that they (league players) are generally a step down from those found populating local pool rooms.
 
infest said:
Your definitions leave me out. We don't have any leagues here. There are no tournaments here. We don't even have pool halls here. But our group of buddies go to bars specifically to play pool.
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If you get ball in hand in 9 ball, how many balls do you make on average? Do you know how to play position and get there or come close? Can you use spin, on purpose that is hehe? If you can only make 1-2 balls (on purpose, we're not talking about just hitting the ball and watch if fly around the table for a minute then fall in) and don't know where to put the cueball next, you are a "banger" or a D player.

If there are 4-5 balls left do you generally run out from there? A C player would run out with the 7-8-9 left with ball in hand often. A B should be able to run out from the 5 or 4 most of the time. An A would run out with ball in hand from the 2 most of the time. The +- rankings you can add or subtract a ball. This is with open table no clusters.
 
hang-the-9 said:
If you get ball in hand in 9 ball, how many balls do you make on average? Do you know how to play position and get there or come close? Can you use spin, on purpose that is hehe? If you can only make 1-2 balls (on purpose, we're not talking about just hitting the ball and watch if fly around the table for a minute then fall in) and don't know where to put the cueball next, you are a "banger" or a D player.

If there are 4-5 balls left do you generally run out from there? A C player would run out with the 7-8-9 left with ball in hand often. A B should be able to run out from the 5 or 4 most of the time. An A would run out with ball in hand from the 2 most of the time. The +- rankings you can add or subtract a ball. This is with open table no clusters.
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I guess I'd be in the C+ area. Only been playing seriously for a few months now. I know how to play for position most of the time. I just can't do it. lol
 
infest said:
Your definitions leave me out. We don't have any leagues here. There are no tournaments here. We don't even have pool halls here. But our group of buddies go to bars specifically to play pool.
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Seriously? No leagues, no tourneys? That sucks. By default, I guess I'd put you and your buddys in the banger category (ie go out as a group to play pool), maybe you know something about the game and you may have separate skill levels, but I'd say still bangers.

It's not an insult, it's a category.
 
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