Efren playing the ghost.
- Thread starter krychekrowe
- Start date
Thank you!
Alex of Stix was the man racking.
Alex is the one to ask if you want to know Efren's game.
Alex of Stix was the man racking.
Alex is the one to ask if you want to know Efren's game.
Like the video! He gets almost perfect shape every shot. Amazing!
He is fast, but not quite THAT fast. From break till first shot in the first four racks 43 secs, 32 secs, 18 secs, 59 secs. He definitely doesn't dawdle though.
People seemed surprised to see Efren beating the ghost?? I can beat the ghost on a bad day
I'd bet there were thousands of people that could beat the 10 ball ghost. Now, anything higher gets substantially more difficult...and Efren is real good at those.
Agreed - it would be more interesting to see Efren play the 15-ball ghost.
However, I won't turn down 80 minutes of Efren free stroking...
People seemed surprised to see Efren beating the ghost?? I can beat the ghost on a bad day
I'd bet there were thousands of people that could beat the 10 ball ghost. Now, anything higher gets substantially more difficult...and Efren is real good at those.
I wasn't surprised as much as awed at the ease with which he did it.
It definitely looks a lot harder when I do it!
Great post, thank you !
People seemed surprised to see Efren beating the ghost?? I can beat the ghost on a bad day
I'd bet there were thousands of people that could beat the 10 ball ghost. Now, anything higher gets substantially more difficult...and Efren is real good at those.
Not everyone plays on tables as tough as the one he was on.
Thanks. This is VERY instructional. What patterns and shots does a top player play when they have to go for the runout. Even the first game you see Efren make a mistake getting position on the seven and he plays a great power shot to bring the cue ball to the eight. Was it the right shot? Or was there another way? We can watch this without the interruption of an opponent and analyze it.
I made this comment on the video page but also it's appropriate here; We have so little footage of the greats from yesteryear, Mosconi, Caras, Lassiter, etc.... now through all the professional video and with amateur video like this the greatness of players like Efren will be forever available long after he is retired from playing.
Awesome stuff there. Anyone know how old he was in this vid,or was this recent?
As far as him and the 15 ball ghost,his standard warm-up process is keep going until he runs 3 full racks like that,doesn't make any difference if he does it on the first try or if it takes 2 hours,once he runs 3 he's in competition mode and he's done until the match starts.
I've seen him do it on the first try a few times,including one where it was just me and him
in the Holiday Inn practice room in Cheasapeake in '94,maybe 30 min before the finals with Nick Varner.
Even cooler was having spent a few hours with Nick earlier that day. Tommy D.
As far as him and the 15 ball ghost,his standard warm-up process is keep going until he runs 3 full racks like that,doesn't make any difference if he does it on the first try or if it takes 2 hours,once he runs 3 he's in competition mode and he's done until the match starts.
I've seen him do it on the first try a few times,including one where it was just me and him
in the Holiday Inn practice room in Cheasapeake in '94,maybe 30 min before the finals with Nick Varner. Even cooler was having spent a few hours with Nick earlier that day. Tommy D.
Yeah I thought the same. ...At first I wondered if the gentle breaks were because he was breaking with his playing cue and he didn't want to stress it too much ...but then it occurred to me that the non-clustered ball distribution might really be the reason for the soft approach.
Anyway, delightful to watch.
Yeah I thought the same. ...At first I wondered if the gentle breaks were because he was breaking with his playing cue and he didn't want to stress it too much ...but then it occurred to me that the non-clustered ball distribution might really be the reason for the soft approach.
Anyway, delightful to watch.
3railkick and you have both mentioned the gentle break and I think the sole reason Efren is playing this soft, controlled break is because he's playing the ghost.
Making a ball and cue ball position on the break don't matter against the ghost since you will be getting ball in hand to start.
What is important is achieving no clusters and that he did masterfully using this method.
And I agree, what a nice treat to see this master working out the patterns.
thanks op for posting this!
best,
brian kc
here is efren playing ghost rotation.. from the same youtube channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSDBHLG5eyQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSDBHLG5eyQ
One thing I noticed in the first rack was that he made the 2/10 combo and the cueball and the 2 was near the spot.They didn`t spot the 10 until after he shot the 2 ball.Everytime I`ve seen the ghost played with the moneyball spotting it spots right after the ball is made not once the balls are clear of the spot.Still one of the worlds greatest players though.
the little things that can keep us in perfect position contribute heavily toward keeping us alive in our matches.
watch at 30:50 as efren contemplates the 5 to the 6 position that will allow him to get just what he needs for the 7 ball. a perfect draw kill shot coming into the rail at angle. just beautiful! it may not look like a big deal but it is - it's def one of those things that keeps you heading for the finish line. :thumbup:
thanks for posting this bonus link.
best,
brian kc
Last edited:
And the 10 ball spots back up on a combo. Yeah, he got lucky. The SECRET to his play against the ghost, is he constantly stayed close to his work, besides staying in perfect line, most of the time.
Thanks for putting this up. A really good lesson in running balls in rotation.
Thanks for putting this up. A really good lesson in running balls in rotation.
When someone ask me what would improve their game, getting closer to the balls is the first answer. Staying on the right side of the balls and look 3 balls ahead would be another.
table
Unless they changed something at Hardtimes those are not the shimmed tables. It has been many years since I have been in SoCal, but when I was there the only shimmed tables were the tournament tables. Tournament tables were either double or triple shimmed GC1's and were a definite straight stroke check. That was not the tournament side.
Regardless, sloppy tables or not, playing the 10-ball ghost and winning is amazing.
Unless they changed something at Hardtimes those are not the shimmed tables. It has been many years since I have been in SoCal, but when I was there the only shimmed tables were the tournament tables. Tournament tables were either double or triple shimmed GC1's and were a definite straight stroke check. That was not the tournament side.
Regardless, sloppy tables or not, playing the 10-ball ghost and winning is amazing.