determine your skill level drill.

I think we should create an AZBilliards skill level rating. The AZBilliards test(s) and rating would be:
- Independent of play in any league
- A useful practice and self-assessment tool
- Self-administered and self-reported
- Portable across tables of different sizes (bar tables, 8', 9')
- Have comparable 9-ball, 10-ball and straight pool variations (no one-pocket players allowed:grin:I'm joking). Can we fit 8-ball in there too?
- ? (what else)

Golf Digest used to have a "Golf Digest handicap" on their web site; I bet they still do. This would work in a similar way.

We could set up a way for participants to post and update their rating over time in one of the forums.

The things that bother me about the systems given so far:

- Cue ball control on the break is of no value (always BIH after the break). Why not play the table as it lays?

- Potting the 1 and 2 balls has the same points value as potting the 8 and 9. Why not use the number value of the balls (for 9 and 10 ball variations)? The increasing value would increase "pressure" during a rack, and might be a better training aid as well.

- Safety play isn't valued, and that is wrong. Emphasizing making balls is not in the best interest of a player's development.

I'd suggest that the traditional ratings are enough (7 levels):
AZB recreational player
AZB D, C, B, A player
AZB A+ and A++ player

What will be most interesting to me, if anyone bites on this, is to see if the forum members can, in general, agree on something.:grin-square:

Is AZBilliards "big enough" to set a defacto standard in independent ratings?
 
derangedhermit said:
I think we should create an AZBilliards skill level rating. The AZBilliards test(s) and rating would be:
- Independent of play in any league
- A useful practice and self-assessment tool
- Self-administered and self-reported
- Portable across tables of different sizes (bar tables, 8', 9')
- Have comparable 9-ball, 10-ball and straight pool variations (no one-pocket players allowed:grin:I'm joking). Can we fit 8-ball in there too?
- ? (what else)

Golf Digest used to have a "Golf Digest handicap" on their web site; I bet they still do. This would work in a similar way.

We could set up a way for participants to post and update their rating over time in one of the forums.

The things that bother me about the systems given so far:

- Cue ball control on the break is of no value (always BIH after the break). Why not play the table as it lays?

- Potting the 1 and 2 balls has the same points value as potting the 8 and 9. Why not use the number value of the balls (for 9 and 10 ball variations)? The increasing value would increase "pressure" during a rack, and might be a better training aid as well.

- Safety play isn't valued, and that is wrong. Emphasizing making balls is not in the best interest of a player's development.

I'd suggest that the traditional ratings are enough (7 levels):
AZB recreational player
AZB D, C, B, A player
AZB A+ and A++ player

What will be most interesting to me, if anyone bites on this, is to see if the forum members can, in general, agree on something.:grin-square:

Is AZBilliards "big enough" to set a defacto standard in independent ratings?
Click to expand...

As another had mentioned, this is merely a shooting test. Golf doesn't have defensive plays.. you don't move the sandtrap or cluster up the hole. Good idea, but wouldn't work out very well imho..
 
Derangedhermit said, "Cue ball control on the break is of no value (always BIH after the break). Why not play the table as it lays?"

Yes that is true, Perhaps it could be modified so that taking ball in hand is a one point reduction. This encourages a good break but does not carry a ten point penalty for a "bad" break.

If you play this game very much it turns out that a bad break is devestaing. If you get a good break, place the one in the side and have no shot on the two, you lose all thos points. If this happens following a few good runs it is disappointing because your score or handicap is hurt by a few bad breaks, unlucky rolls or whatever.

Most people do not have a pro level break and they would have to spend much time to get to that point without a reasonable estimate of the number of balls they usually run.

If you were playing golf and had a bad tee shot you have to take a ten and move to the next hole. Not much fun and probably not reflective of your usual game.

Of course the same thing can happen with a cluster of balls on the break but the player has some control over the outcome when this happens.
 
Another way to play this game is to run off all nine (or ten) balls and count the number of times you miss. This is another measure of how well you play and can be combined with the usual approach to Olympic nine ball.

I tried playing Olympic nine ball with a good defensive shot following a miss. A good defense was defined as one where the opponent would not have a shot at a pocket on the next shot. You can keep track of the number of successes divided by the number of attempts.

Apparently, there are several ways to score the game depending upon what you want to know about your usual ability.

I agree that it would be good to have a sub-site dedicated to Olympic Nine Ball (or preferably Olympic Ten Ball) with a specific set of rules and ratings.
 
TheRIGERE said:
All of these also say to break, then take ball in hand and go from there..so having no shot after the break should not matter...
Click to expand...

Oh, it matters PLENTY if the lowest numbered ball after the break is tied-up along the rail or clustered with NO pocket to shoot it into, ball-in-hand or not!!! Happens to me more than I'd like it to whenever I'm doing one of these rating tests. And we all know what a score of 2 or less can do to one's average if we're just using 10 games to determine one's skill.

Maniac (thinks 100 games would be a more accurate way of scoring)
 
A good way to rate that probably gives an answer faster is to play the "progressive ghost." It tells you how many balls you will probably run out from. Let's suppose you are trying to beat the 6-ball ghost. Rack 9 ball, break, remove all but the top 6 balls, take ball in hand and run out. If you can do that 5 of 9 racks, try to play the 7 ball ghost. If you don't beat the 6 ball ghost, try the 5-ball ghost instead. For more accuracy in the rating, shoot longer matches. Plot your progress over time. When you can beat the 15-ball ghost, go on the road.
 
I've been doing this drill/practice session lately and have made progress.

I was in early Dec. 2011 making 32-36 balls on average.
Now my last three scores have been 47,48, and 52.

This drill makes you focus and concentrate because every ball counts, and after every session I think about the dozen or more shots that I should have pocketed if I would have done this or that. Keep you thinking.

Table conditions: oversize 8', 760 felt, 4.75 corner pockets. You might say the pockets are buckets, but the 760 felt is challenging, so I think it's a push on difficulty of table. As discussed on another thread, 760 is easy to get out of shape on and even harder to get back in.

I still missed 8-10 I should have made on my last score of 52.
I do this drill one a week, it's a good test.
 
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