Help needed with player classification

[Opie]

Hello everyone. I've been playing pool for a few years but only really got serious about the game 8 months ago. Reading some posts I see players talked about being called a B player, A player, A+ player and so on. I was just curious as to how these players are rated in conjuction with thier skill level. For example, like how often does a C, B, and A player each break and run out in 9 ball? I was just wondering where I fit in in the mix. I was also wondering about the rating system by APA standards and how they rate players according to skill level. Like how often an 7, 8, or 9 runs out from the break. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I'm a new AZBer and totally love the forum!

 

[GeraldG]

Hello everyone. I've been playing pool for a few years but only really got serious about the game 8 months ago. Reading some posts I see players talked about being called a B player, A player, A+ player and so on. I was just curious as to how these players are rated in conjuction with thier skill level. For example, like how often does a C, B, and A player each break and run out in 9 ball? I was just wondering where I fit in in the mix. I was also wondering about the rating system by APA standards and how they rate players according to skill level. Like how often an 7, 8, or 9 runs out from the break. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I'm a new AZBer and totally love the forum!

There have been several threads on this. I don't know how you would really quantify this in any meaningful way...it seems to be pretty arbitrary and inconsistent from one place to the other.

I tried to do a comparison between APA SLs and A,B,C,D ratings...but several inconsistencies were pointed out. For one thing, the APA's SL system is not as consistent as it could be either. I know two APA 9's (and a bunch of 7's and 8's) in APA 9-ball. One of them will run out probably 2 racks out of 10 consistently, the other will run out 4 out of 10. That's a HUGE difference...but both are 9's and heve been for years. Most of the 8's I know will run out 1 or 2 out of 10 racks, 7's maybe 1 out of 10 racks or a little better. For another thing, APA 9-ball isn't really 9-ball. It's almost like a short-rack straight pool game or a combination of 9-ball and straight pool, or something.

 

[Billy_Bob]

I found this on google groups (rec.sport.billiard) a while back....

D- Player
-Will not run a rack.
-Average run is about 3 balls.
-With ball in hand, will get out from the 7, one out of 3 times.
-Rarely plays a successful safe.

C-Player
-Will probably run one rack, but usually not more than one.
-Average run is 3 to 5 balls.
-With ball in hand, will get out from the 7, two out of 3 times.
-Mixed results when playing safe.
-Inning ends due to botched position, missed shot or attempting a safe.

B-Player
-Able to run 1 to 3 racks.
-Average run is 5-7 balls.
-With ball in hand will get out from the 5, 2 out of 3 times.
-Most of the time a "B" player will play a "safety" which maybe hit easily 2 out of 3 times.
-A typical inning will end with a missed shot, a fair safety, or a won game.

A-Player
-Will string 2 to 3 racks.
-Average ball run, 7-9.
-With ball in hand, will be out from the 3 ball, 2 out of 3 times.
-Typical inning will end with a well executed safety or a win.

OPEN-Players
-Average 8+ balls.
-String racks together more than once in a match.
-Is a threat to run out from every ball, from every position, every inning.
-Typical inning will end in excellent safety or win.

 

[Opie]

I found this on google groups (rec.sport.billiard) a while back....

B-Player
-Able to run 1 to 3 racks.
-Average run is 5-7 balls.
-With ball in hand will get out from the 5, 2 out of 3 times.
-Most of the time a "B" player will play a "safety" which maybe hit easily 2 out of 3 times.
-A typical inning will end with a missed shot, a fair safety, or a won game.
...

Thanks a million man. I think the B player description probably fits me the best for now. Hopefully that will change in the future.
Thanks

 

[Jude Rosenstock]

I found this on google groups (rec.sport.billiard) a while back....

D- Player
-Will not run a rack.
-Average run is about 3 balls.
-With ball in hand, will get out from the 7, one out of 3 times.
-Rarely plays a successful safe.

C-Player
-Will probably run one rack, but usually not more than one.
-Average run is 3 to 5 balls.
-With ball in hand, will get out from the 7, two out of 3 times.
-Mixed results when playing safe.
-Inning ends due to botched position, missed shot or attempting a safe.

B-Player
-Able to run 1 to 3 racks.
-Average run is 5-7 balls.
-With ball in hand will get out from the 5, 2 out of 3 times.
-Most of the time a "B" player will play a "safety" which maybe hit easily 2 out of 3 times.
-A typical inning will end with a missed shot, a fair safety, or a won game.

A-Player
-Will string 2 to 3 racks.
-Average ball run, 7-9.
-With ball in hand, will be out from the 3 ball, 2 out of 3 times.
-Typical inning will end with a well executed safety or a win.

OPEN-Players
-Average 8+ balls.
-String racks together more than once in a match.
-Is a threat to run out from every ball, from every position, every inning.
-Typical inning will end in excellent safety or win.

This is probably the best description of the skill-levels I've ever seen and is consistent with the terminology used in NYC. As for the APA, the problem with translating it to ABCD is that the APA skill-levels are really gradations of the D-class with their top ranks being held by anything C-level and above. It's like talking about inches when we're talking about feet. An 8-ball APA 5, 4, 3 and 2 are all D's while the remaining ranks will have anything betwen A and C players.

 

[vapoolplayer]

This is probably the best description of the skill-levels I've ever seen and is consistent with the terminology used in NYC. As for the APA, the problem with translating it to ABCD is that the APA skill-levels are really gradations of the D-class with their top ranks being held by anything C-level and above. It's like talking about inches when we're talking about feet. An 8-ball APA 5, 4, 3 and 2 are all D's while the remaining ranks will have anything betwen A and C players.

very true jude, especially with 8 ball since the handicap only goes to 7.

when they have the city tournament here, they have a,b,c classes. they use the apa handicaps like this

1-4 C
5-7 B
8,9 A

this by no means is perfect, so they do make some of the strong 7's play in the A, and some of the weak 8's play in the B.

VAP