Melissa,
Just a note of invitation to the AZB Drivermaker Holiday Invitational. Many of us are trying to complete 100 racks of Allen Hopkins' Q-skill challenge before Christmas, in an attempt at self-assessment. We would LOVE it if we could get any of the professional's to attempt it and post their scores. I will put the rules at the bottom of this post if you are interested.
I really enjoyed the article in BD. Good luck in Florida.
P.S. - Here are the rules.
1. Rack fifteen balls on the Foot Spot, in any order, and place the cue ball ON the Head Spot. Break the balls. If you miscue or miss the cue ball completely, it is a foul. Re-Rack, break again and subtract one from your score. If you miscue and contact the rack, you may choose to continue shooting, leaving the balls where they lie and not take a foul.
2. If you scratch on the break, it is a minus 1, unless the cue ball goes off the table, then it is a minus 2. After a scratch on the break, you may place the cue ball on either the Head Spot of Foot Spot and shoot any ball on the table, or place the cue ball anywhere behind the Head String and shoot any ball above the Head String. On the break, if you scratch or the cue ball goes off the table, all balls made on the break stay down but do not count as points. If you do not scratch on the break, then all balls made on the break count as one point each.
3. After the break, if you do not have a shot or do not like the shot you have, you may choose one of three options. (a) Place the cue ball anywhere behind the Head String and shoot any ball above the Head String. (b) Place the cue ball on either the Head Spot or the Foot Spot and shoot any ball.
(c) Place the rack over the cue ball (where it lies) and move the cue ball anywhere inside the rack and shoot any ball. All of the options noted above are a penalty and incur a minus 1.
4. After the break, whether you made a ball or not, proceed to shoot, calling each shot. Try to run the table, shoting the ball in any order UNTIL THERE ARE FIVE BALLS REMAINING. If you do pocket ten balls, then the last five balls must be shot IN ROTATION (in numerical order starting with the lowest number ball). If you MISS A SHOT, the rack is OVER. There are no second chances or mulligans! The first ten balls score 1 point each, and the last five balls score 2 points each. On each rack you can score a MAXIMUM of 20 points.
5. When there are six balls on the table and you pocket two or more balls in one shot, they all stay down and are each worth 1 point. Shoot the remaining balls in rotation, in which each ball is worth 2 points each.
6. Ten racks comprise a session. In one session you can score a maximum of 200 points. The score from TEN SESSIONS (100 racks) determines your Official Rating. The highest possible Official Rating is a perfect score of 2000 points.
Here is the Rating System:
0-300 - Recreational Player
301-600 - Intermediate Player
601-900 - Advanced Player
901-1200- Developing Pro
1201-1600 - Semi-Pro
1601-1800 - Pro
1801-2000 - Touring Pro
__________________
Just a note of invitation to the AZB Drivermaker Holiday Invitational. Many of us are trying to complete 100 racks of Allen Hopkins' Q-skill challenge before Christmas, in an attempt at self-assessment. We would LOVE it if we could get any of the professional's to attempt it and post their scores. I will put the rules at the bottom of this post if you are interested.
I really enjoyed the article in BD. Good luck in Florida.
P.S. - Here are the rules.
1. Rack fifteen balls on the Foot Spot, in any order, and place the cue ball ON the Head Spot. Break the balls. If you miscue or miss the cue ball completely, it is a foul. Re-Rack, break again and subtract one from your score. If you miscue and contact the rack, you may choose to continue shooting, leaving the balls where they lie and not take a foul.
2. If you scratch on the break, it is a minus 1, unless the cue ball goes off the table, then it is a minus 2. After a scratch on the break, you may place the cue ball on either the Head Spot of Foot Spot and shoot any ball on the table, or place the cue ball anywhere behind the Head String and shoot any ball above the Head String. On the break, if you scratch or the cue ball goes off the table, all balls made on the break stay down but do not count as points. If you do not scratch on the break, then all balls made on the break count as one point each.
3. After the break, if you do not have a shot or do not like the shot you have, you may choose one of three options. (a) Place the cue ball anywhere behind the Head String and shoot any ball above the Head String. (b) Place the cue ball on either the Head Spot or the Foot Spot and shoot any ball.
(c) Place the rack over the cue ball (where it lies) and move the cue ball anywhere inside the rack and shoot any ball. All of the options noted above are a penalty and incur a minus 1.
4. After the break, whether you made a ball or not, proceed to shoot, calling each shot. Try to run the table, shoting the ball in any order UNTIL THERE ARE FIVE BALLS REMAINING. If you do pocket ten balls, then the last five balls must be shot IN ROTATION (in numerical order starting with the lowest number ball). If you MISS A SHOT, the rack is OVER. There are no second chances or mulligans! The first ten balls score 1 point each, and the last five balls score 2 points each. On each rack you can score a MAXIMUM of 20 points.
5. When there are six balls on the table and you pocket two or more balls in one shot, they all stay down and are each worth 1 point. Shoot the remaining balls in rotation, in which each ball is worth 2 points each.
6. Ten racks comprise a session. In one session you can score a maximum of 200 points. The score from TEN SESSIONS (100 racks) determines your Official Rating. The highest possible Official Rating is a perfect score of 2000 points.
Here is the Rating System:
0-300 - Recreational Player
301-600 - Intermediate Player
601-900 - Advanced Player
901-1200- Developing Pro
1201-1600 - Semi-Pro
1601-1800 - Pro
1801-2000 - Touring Pro
__________________
