I know this has been discussed before, but here's my take on it.
I'm what I would guess is about a "B" player, an APA 7/8. I cannot (YET!) beat the 9-ball ghost on the tight 9' / Simonis 860 I like to practice on.
Still, flailing away at banks, jumps and flyers doesn't seem like great practice either, especially when he (the ghost) keeps beating me down.
Here's how I practice and it seems like it's a pretty good way to keep track of a lot of the various aspects, besides "missed or got out".
I play x amount of games, and each game record whether I:
Broke and Ran out (from the natural position of the cue ball after the break)
Ran out w/ BIH
Played a safety (and this is open to inpterpretation, and you have to be honest with yourself, call safety vs/ fluking safe after a miss etc, does it have to be a hook or is end to end, squared up safe?
Missed.
I like this game better than just flailing away at the ghost, because it brings in your decision making, and as skills develope, or you get in stroke a little more, find a good break spot or play on easier equipment, you can see how it effects the various percentages.
I've also been playing around with keeping score based on points for each of the above catagories. Something like:
Miss = -8
Safety = 4
Run out (BIH) = 6
Break and Run (as it lay) = 12
So the ghost "only" has misses to put up points with, but you can score with a decent safety.
I made the BIH run out, less than a miss, because unless you make mistakes, the ghost doesn't get to string racks, where if you start making balls, you might.
And if you learn to control whitey, and feel saucy, you can shoot from the cue ball position after the break (without BIH) for a chance at the juicy 12 point bonus for running out without BIH.
Should I put something in there for ending the rack early on a combination? Maybe 5 points?
Are the points values fair? How would you adjust them?
What d'ya think?
I'm what I would guess is about a "B" player, an APA 7/8. I cannot (YET!) beat the 9-ball ghost on the tight 9' / Simonis 860 I like to practice on.
Still, flailing away at banks, jumps and flyers doesn't seem like great practice either, especially when he (the ghost) keeps beating me down.
Here's how I practice and it seems like it's a pretty good way to keep track of a lot of the various aspects, besides "missed or got out".
I play x amount of games, and each game record whether I:
Broke and Ran out (from the natural position of the cue ball after the break)
Ran out w/ BIH
Played a safety (and this is open to inpterpretation, and you have to be honest with yourself, call safety vs/ fluking safe after a miss etc, does it have to be a hook or is end to end, squared up safe?
Missed.
I like this game better than just flailing away at the ghost, because it brings in your decision making, and as skills develope, or you get in stroke a little more, find a good break spot or play on easier equipment, you can see how it effects the various percentages.
I've also been playing around with keeping score based on points for each of the above catagories. Something like:
Miss = -8
Safety = 4
Run out (BIH) = 6
Break and Run (as it lay) = 12
So the ghost "only" has misses to put up points with, but you can score with a decent safety.
I made the BIH run out, less than a miss, because unless you make mistakes, the ghost doesn't get to string racks, where if you start making balls, you might.
And if you learn to control whitey, and feel saucy, you can shoot from the cue ball position after the break (without BIH) for a chance at the juicy 12 point bonus for running out without BIH.
Should I put something in there for ending the rack early on a combination? Maybe 5 points?
Are the points values fair? How would you adjust them?
What d'ya think?
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