Monster Handicaps for Kids Learning the Game

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AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My 9-year-old daughter is finally tall enough to stroke without side-arming it. So yesterday I thought it was about time to really introduce her to the game.

I challenged her to a race to 5 "9-ball" match. I play with the normal 9 ball rules. She gets BIH after any missed shot by me, and she wins the rack if she pockets a single ball.

She won 5-0. Time to adjust the handicap to two balls.

Though, I did manage to lose only 5-3 to my 7-year-old daughter with the same handicap.

What's great about this is that they're excited to kick my butt, and they can't wait to play me again. Sometimes finding motivation is more than half the battle. Not to mention at the same time I get pretty decent practice myself.
 
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Give em what I call the "special rotation." They shoot any ball in any order, you don't. If that's not enough, you also play 1 handed. Still not enough, lefty and 1 handed. My kid actually had me down to lefty, 1 handed, and no touching a rail for me. Dam that kid!
 
When my boys were in their late tens I would give them the breaks on eight ball and I would have to play last pocket and they would not. The big equalizer was they got to call my last pocket for me after I sunk my last ball:eek:
 
BIH after a miss and two (or three) misses for their turn seems to work out pretty well once they have an idea of how to play.
 
With my girlfriend (who is terrible at billiards), I give her two shots per shot of mine.

This seems to handicap it fairly well. If it's a difficult shot then just "get it close on the first shot, you'll get another anyway" seems to help. Of course, if a ball is pocketed then her shot continues.

That being said, i'm not that good either (only a 5 via APA), so it works for us.
 
I do a similar thing with my wife. I give her the (wild) 6-through and the breaks playing 9-ball with a Magic Rack. I can gauge my speed (that particular weekend, anyways) based on the score.

The added bonus is that it's cool to watch her occasionally bear down and try to win a set even though she doesn't really play. (Don't hang a money ball)
 
Bump after three years...

My then 9-year-old daughter just turned 13. She currently wants nothing to do with the game. Too bad.

However my then 7-year-old daughter (the coordinated one) is now 10, and she has started to show great interest in the game the past few weeks. The spot I give her in 8-ball (race to 3) is that I have to play my balls in rotation and she can win by 3-fouling me.

She has yet to win a game by clearing all her balls and the 8 (she has come close a few times), but she has won a few racks by 3-fouling me. The ability to 3-foul me teaches her some strategy/safety play, as well as the importance of the stop shot. I think after a few weeks I'll start losing with this handicap and I'll be forced to adjust it. Maybe the first thing to go is eliminating the 3-foul handicap and force her to make all her balls.

I still have a 8-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter in the pipeline. They have some growing to do first (for my son both mentally and physically).
 
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I'm trying to help an 8 year old boy learn to shoot.

He loves throwing the balls around the table and I let him learn what he can from that, and I'd say it's a lot. He's becoming much more aware of what the balls will do.

He asked me to show him how to shoot with the poker thingy. His first lesson was to call it a Pool Cue, not a stick or a pokey thing. That, right there, was about as long as he could concentrate on it, so we didn't get to use the pokey thing.

I'm waiting for when he really has an interest in learning before engaging. The last thing I want is for him to have bad experiences with pool and quit.


Jeff Livingston
 
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