how are ya'll doing in league ?

My teammates did give advice a few times. It was mostly on fundamentals like making a bridge and how to stroke the ball.

We did end up winning that night. We set a goal to not lose a game and beat them 25-0. It just felt awkward doing it.

From past experience, a couple of my teammates learned not to take on silly kick shots on the 8 if there was any chance to nick another ball before the 8-ball. Lost a couple in previous weeks to that.
 
azhousepro said:
So, I've been thinking about this for a while this season of league and I want the opinion of other players.

We had a new team join the league this season. It's made up of mostly the family of the league operator, who is a good player (Fargo 550ish). The family though, are all very amateur players. Let's say players who really have no shot to beat a Fargo 500 or better, if the better player is playing smart.

So we match up against this team. My team is mostly 500 or better players. The last time we played them, we gave up 17 games in a five on five format league. Meant that we had to beat them 21-4 to win the night.

My question is this. The idea of league is that hopefully everyone has fun. How is it fun for a team of amateurs if every time they get to the table, they are buried without a shot because the better team has to do that to them to win. I felt awkward playing the way we were supposed to play. (play a safe anytime you weren't comfortable with the shot).

I realize that everyone has to start somewhere in their life as a pool player. It just seems to me that this is an awfully rude introduction to the game. I don't know of an answer to make it any better though. Am I just being too sensitive towards the other team?
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This why i prefer a point based handicap, that is based on points over the entire season, than nightly based races to xx. Set number of games a night, handicap balls to the lower players. They still make points every night, and one bad night doesnt affect their overall league at the end.

The point based league draws a lot more players than our races league. We have 45 or so players in our singles in point based leage, and 12 in our race to 7 league with the lower rated getting a game or two.

Free balls give the lower level players a different strategy. They dont need to win the game to help the team, they can focus on potting balls and still contribute if they lose the game. When i started league ten years ago, i was able to focus on setting a realistic goal of making 5-6 balls a game instead of winning, and with the 1-2-3 free balls i got from high level players it felt good to learn and contribute.

I think the free points way is good for the entry level players to mid level. Higher level players can get pissy about it. It os a tough balance. There are whiners everywhere.
 
i got back into apa 9b to play under a huge handicap for training purposes. ive played a 3 and a 2 as a 7
the 2 nearly got me needing one point, and the 3 needed 10.

trying to discipline myself better by taking no risk/minimal risk to hopefully improve my game some.
 
Played in 8-ball last night against another player that is the same handicap as me. He's one of the upstanding guys in the league, and has never been anything but a straight shooter, so looking forward to a good match. Neither of us was playing our best, and we both had a couple games where a break-and-run, or a bread-scratch-and-run were ended by small errors in position. The location is a nice place, but their table and balls have seen better days. Cushions are kind of dead, and there is a roll-off enough that you hesitate to play anything too soft. So we get down to hill-hill, both having handed the other games, and he's down to his last ball. I still have 5, but an advantage with position. He shoots, but leaves his last ball in front of the side pocket with mine right beside it. I sink mine off his, bumping his down the rail a bit, and begin running out. My last ball is 4" from the corner along the long rail, with the 8 about 12 inches further up that same rail. The cue is at the opposite end of the table, centered in the kitchen. So either I slow roll it to pocket my last ball and play the 8 back to the far corner along the rail, or use a little more pace, some top-right, and let the cue go three rails back up above the 8 to shoot it in that same pocket. I can't trust this table, so I decide to let the stroke out and go three rails. The angle is such that there isn't a whole lot of room between the 8 and my ball, but the top right on the cue will spin my ball and help it off the facing if I get a little too thick. This didn't need to be hit all that hard, even given the dead balls and dead rails, but I hit it a little too hard, and gave it a little too much right. The cue squirted a bit, and just kissed the 8 as it clipped my last ball into the pocket, 8 moved about 3/4" so pretty obvious. He takes ball-in-hand and finishes easily.
So there's another time I've learned that hitting too hard usually hurts more than it helps. Eventually that lesson is going to sink in.
 
Tonight was our first night of our town league , I won 3 of my 4 games I was happy with how I played for the most part , I'm learning to play through the arthritis pain ha ha

This Friday we have a opening seniors pool blind draw tournament to practice a few racks to limber up my body ha ha !
 
Today was our local seniors pool league opener 8 ball tournament it's blind draw with a race to 3 for the win , long story short my partner and I walked out with first place money in our pockets .
It was fun to come back through the losers bracket for the win !
 
SeniorTom said:
We got smoked last night, and I played like trash. That pretty much explains everything.
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This week a different story, and pretty much the exact opposite. Our team played well, I played well, and we won. Funny how different it can be from one night to another night. Being the captain of our team I suggested we focus better than we did the prior week and we seemed to accomplish that.
 
I know it's not a big deal to most of the folks here, but as a nearly 15-year SL5, beating an SL7 is pretty cool. Which I somehow managed to do last night.

APA 9-ball. For those who don't play it, it's a 38-55 race, one point per ball made, 2 points for the 9. My opponent is probably my age or a little older, and a student of the game. It's always fun to watch him play, his mechanics and PSR and such. And he's a real gentleman, too.

I was concerned that he might skunk me, the way he started out. I think it was 18-2 after the first two racks. But I hung in there, and eventually he stopped making everything. And I eventually started running a few balls each time.

Hopefully my level of play continues tomorrow, we have a Tri Cup...
 
After a 1st place finish in the seniors blind draw partners 8 ball tournament , my arthritis and eyes acting up , I forgot my eye drops at home I know keep some in your pool cue case !
I finished the Wednesday night city league with 1 win and 3 losses where I beat myself they didn't beat me if that makes sense .

As for seniors pool league today we had a bye
 
So my game plan of playing our lows to the other teams highs works out well
And my high(me) against thier lows also works well so far for us only losing 1 of 6 total nights this season

It works in other fashions as well throwing people off mentally. Some even getting in thier feelings
Putting them at a double disadvantage by the handicap and mentally confusing/ frustrating them


Like taking candy from a baby
 
Texas Carom Club said:
So my game plan of playing our lows to the other teams highs works out well
And my high(me) against thier lows also works well so far for us only losing 1 of 6 total nights this season

It works in other fashions as well throwing people off mentally. Some even getting in thier feelings
Putting them at a double disadvantage by the handicap and mentally confusing/ frustrating them


Like taking candy from a baby
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Seen it a lot... not how we do it, but I recognize it, and it's advantages.
 
Texas Carom Club said:
They put a 2 against a 9 in the 2023 apa grand final stream
it’s about winning not people’s feelings
the 2 won
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I've said it before... when I was team Captain, I would usually try my best to match up fairly evenly, if possible, during the regular session. (Most of the time...obviously there were exceptions)

I personally didn't want to see real beginners spending their possible only time on the table all week racking for a 7, and kicking the few times they got to the table. Similarly, I didn't want to see the few higher level players that we had have to beat up on baby seals, and not have a competitive match.

Again, this was merely a general philosophy and nothing hard and fast. And I had no issue throwing a 3 that's played for a while and knows how it goes, versus a higher level player. I just hated to see a real beginner getting beat up on when they didn't have any experience in the league at all. I want them to enjoy playing and want to keep playing.

Playoffs are an entirely different matter, and by that time, players aren't new to the league anyway.

Just my philosophy. I'm not the captain any more anyway, lol. (Happily)
 
I have been having some good results in my German league over the past couple of matches.

I am the main 14.1 player for my team, which is crazy, as EVERYBODY in Germany plays 14.1, and not much is expected of the lone American on the team, as we don't play that much 14.1.

I had two really good 14.1 games in the past two matches, putting up 50 points in 10, and 11 innings, respectively. Half those innings tended to be safeties. Generally, I was putting up 10-17 balls during each of my higher scoring innings. This came about due to me really working the bottle drill during practice, even though I practiced very little prior to the day before the matches.

We are leading the league... But "just", by 1 point after three rounds. We had a draw, versus second place team having a loss in the first three matches. I am pretty pizzed at the rest of the team, as we played the then 2nd place team last match, and three team members bailed and said they couldn't make it, leaving me and one other team member to try to fill two more spots. We could only get one person to come, so out of 8 points possible, we lost 2 straight out the gate before a ball was hit. We ended up scoring 4:4 for the draw, but if just ONE of the other three team members show up, then we were pretty much guaranteed to open up a significant lead on the rest of the league. If there is ONE match you need to win full points.. It's when you are in first place, playing the second place team. Soooo.. Yeah.. Not happy that the rest of the team left us hanging.

We won the league last season by a HUGE margin, and in Germany, you actually move up a level when you win the entire league, and play one level better players the next season. We were severely underrated last season due to levels being dropped from our club due to COVID downturn, so we were a bunch of players quite a bit too strong for the level we were playing. We are in the same boat this season, as we should easily win the league, although it will prolly be a little closer.

There are a bunch of ringers similar to us at our league level currently, due to the same COVID downturn affecting other clubs here. Players that should really be playing at least one, if not two levels higher. I have managed up to put up the best 2 per-inning averages so far in the season, even amongst the ringers. My per-inning average is closer to those put up by league players two levels above our current level, so I am happy with my play.
 
justadub said:
I've said it before... when I was team Captain, I would usually try my best to match up fairly evenly, if possible, during the regular session. (Most of the time...obviously there were exceptions)
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I started back up in CPA (APA) a few weeks ago and so far my match ups have been in the appropriate SL range. Although I do offer to play the weaker SLs to make my captain's life a little easier in chess game match ups. It hasn't happened and probably to my benefit. While I think any strong top player, plays the game to specifically to limit opponent opportunities. I haven't been that sharp and the breathing room I'm enjoying against the SL-6's and weaker 7/9's has provided me time to get going. Having that pressure of a short race for the ceiler players always makes defensive play more front and center.

I'm sure once the season gets a little deeper and definitely in the regionals. I'll have to content with some serious weight in giving up balls/racks.

Last time I played CPA, I was hyper focused on the MVP, so when I got slushed off on I got my panties in a knot. I was very annoyed by not being allowed to directly compete against those who were after the same title. This time around I'm indifferent. The goal is the team win come playoffs, so my focus is to maximize my point differential, whatever match up my be presented to me.
 
Along the lines of some previous posts.....
Had our 9-ball league last night. My GF is captain of that team this session, which seems to have focused her much more on things, in a good way. So we're playing the current first place team last night, we're in 4th, and it was even after the first three matches, 30-30. They put up their top guy, he's a strong 6, and even stronger here on his home location's table. (all our league locations have tables with "quirks" that make a difference while you're playing)
My GF wants to put our 2 up against him, apparently they were joking with the other team about this before I got there. So I talked with the 2 and asked if she wanted to play, then explained that the first couple racks would be rough, but after he opens a lead, he'll start getting comfortable, and that's when she will start making her points. She played last session so not new, and not a bad shooter, but gets into her own head and gives up way too easily. We were thinking that playing her in a match like this, it would take some pressure off, and just let her relax and shoot. He won the lag, broke the first rack and ran to a 7-9 combo to finish that rack. Second rack, B&R for him. He's definitely in the zone. I reminded our 2 that we talked about exactly this happening, so don't get discouraged. He eventually hooked himself, and gave it to her with an easy cut to the side, but she missed it, too nervous. He made a few then played a defensive shot. She had an easy hit, but no real shot. After standing there for a few seconds, my GF, who was keeping score, said she could call a timeout if she wanted, and the 6 erupted with "THAT'S A TIMEOUT NOW". Ugh, we're going to start this crap now??? I just agreed and went up to help settle her down a little, and go over what her shot should be, which was more about how hard to hit it since there wasn't really a shot. Anyway, long story short, she got crushed. She only made one or two balls, and he got a shutout patch.
I'm a believer in going with the even matches for the most part, especially during the season. It's supposed to be fun, and usually it is. Some lower handicaps rise to the challenge when matching up with higher levels, but some don't. I've lost to lower handicaps and they almost always make me sign their patch when they get it, and I always do. I'm kind of a wise-ass, so that's fair play, and a kind of a compliment actually.
I'm going to have to see what I can do about getting my 2 to relax and just play. She is so focused on all the negatives that she doesn't give herself a chance.
 
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