Need help with a league question

[Ballbreaker]

We switched from apa to our own league, we use apa rules, but what we are running into now is that players are getting better and moving up in skill level, which is a good thing however we are running out of lower ranked players 2s and 3s to support the amount of teams in the league.If we move the team handicap to lets say 25 it will be easy to stack a team and the lower players wont want to play. Im sure others have run into this problem how did you guys address it. There are no new players in the area, its a very small town, and making a open division will keep the lower players from playing, some are couples, husband and wife, and younger player trying to learn the game so we dont want to lose them. any suggestions to a solution.

 

[KRJ]

Yes, leave the APA format. Try the ACS format, because you can have a team of killers, but man, that team is gonna give up some heavy points for the night against a bad team. Heck, the bad team doesn't even need to win the games, just keep them close... make 5 or 6 balls in 8ball, and they could win the round based on a 5-man team.

Plus, the format is much better, because everyone plays in order. You play each player on the other team once, thus, you are always playing, not sitting for several hours before your turn.

Plus, impossible to sandbag, and there is no 2-7 rating. Your rating is based on the avg number of points you make a night, so you could be a 25 or a 65, or anything in between... kinda hard to sandbag with so many 'big' numbers over many sessions.
Also, the ratings are more fair, because not all "7" players are the same, but an apa 7 in ACS might be a 48 but another apa 7 will be a 55, so they are playing and giving out the appropriate handicap, not a generic "7".

 

[RioSevario]

I like the race formats in the APA but I LOVE the point system of the BCA/ACS. Averages for average players will sometimes vary due to time away from playing (like not playing for a couple years) then coming back. I also like the way that the point system helps to slow/contain sandbagging. If your players are increasing in handicap then increase the limit. Maybe you could create a SL-8. This would be useful especially when there is a limit to people wanting to play. The weaker players shouldn't be effected by the increase in team Handicap level if they are getting better too.

 

[hang-the-9]

We switched from apa to our own league, we use apa rules, but what we are running into now is that players are getting better and moving up in skill level, which is a good thing however we are running out of lower ranked players 2s and 3s to support the amount of teams in the league.If we move the team handicap to lets say 25 it will be easy to stack a team and the lower players wont want to play. Im sure others have run into this problem how did you guys address it. There are no new players in the area, its a very small town, and making a open division will keep the lower players from playing, some are couples, husband and wife, and younger player trying to learn the game so we dont want to lose them. any suggestions to a solution.

Don't make a team limit but a per night limit. So you can have a team of all 7s if they want but they can only play 21 pts total (for an example) so if it's a 5 match night they forefit 3 games unless they only play 1 or two of those 7s and get a few more lower ranked players.

I do like how some other leagues do the points, the USAPL has a 30-125 rating and there is a limit of 100 pts per player per night, if you go over the other team gets bonus points to their score, but you can still play anyone you want. Usually there is no issue as a 100 would be a good B+ player or an A- and those rankings are not too common in leagues.

I've never played leagues till the USAPL came around since I really like the handicap point system and the scoring. In APA you get only a few points for making a winning shot, it's what like 2 pts for the 8 or the 9? In USAPL you get a point per ball and 14 for the win even if you make just the one ball to win, a lot more like real pool, but you don't miss out on points if you happen to make all but miss the money ball. This also keeps a lot of lesser players in the game vs the good players as a high rank has to win a bunch of games (like 7) and if you play a low level player that's a 50, they can almost win 0 games and win the match. I've lost to 30-40-50 ranked players and beat them in games by like a 2-1 or 3-1 margin just because of points. That keeps you on your toes, you can't goof off.

Another great thing about the USAPL, if both players are on the hill (need 14 pts or less to win), that last rack is only won by the winner of the game, not the person that gets their points first. So we both could be ranked 70, I would be at 65 you can be at 60, even if I sink 5 balls, I don't win. Keeps the pressure up.