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Walrus

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Greetings...
I finally decided to get my feet wet here after following this board for a couple of months now. There certainly have been some lively debates (grin).

I am a purely recreational player, who does wish to get as good as my abilities will allow. I have no real aspirations to be a "pro", but I would like to learn more about our sport/game.

To this end, I have read with enthusiasm several posts of late, especially about practice games others recommend. I am partial to the game of "99" and am curious to here from any others who may use this practice game as well.

How do you feel the scores really reflect your abilities? Can one actually relate improved scores to improved ability, or do you feel luck plays a big part in this benchmark (like combo-9 and 9 on break).

Thanks for such a lively board... I look forward to reading and learning much from the participants of this group.

RM Smith
 
Welcome Walrus! This is the best pool forum available (IMO)! It has so much to offer, even some good laughs and debates now and then. There's much to learn from the posts here, just take what is worth something to you and brush off the rest. Sometimes posts get a little out of hand, but that's what keeps it interesting and keeps you reading ALL the posts just to see what was said.
Good Luck and happy reading,
Zim
www.zimsrack.com
 
Welcome Walrus! There are a lot of good practice games. Try the 3 ball run. Someone else posted this but all his posts have been deleted. Anyway, take 3 balls, the 1, 2, 3 and rack them on the spot. Break and if one gets pocketed, spot it and then run the 3 balls in numerical order. See how many times you can run them out in succession. If you can run them out 7 times in a row consistently, you're a road warrior. It's tougher than you think and it is very good practice. Good luck and keep your head down after you pull the trigger.
 
Thanks for the kind words... Do you think maybe I can run 3 friggin' balls...?(grin)

99 is a lot like the 3 ball run. Break, score 2 points on pocketed ball(s) , BIH and start in numerical order. 1 point for each ball pocketed until foul, miss, or run out (incl combo 9 which garners you the full 9 points for the rack, plus 2 bonus if one or more fell on the break...) next inning, start with the 2 ball on spot of rack and continue successive innings until the 9 is on spot (where upon the 1 ball is in the center of the rack). The results are 9 innings where 11 points total are possible per inning, hence the name "99".

Fun practice... "good" players should be in the 65 plus score range.

Anyone else use 99 for a benchmark in their personal evaluation?

For more information, follow the link... http://www.poolmag.com/player/
99
 
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I have used it a few times. I like the game personally. My average for the 3 games is 64!

Zim
 
Thanks, bob and sharp... Zim, good score!

I have used 99 more than a few times (but do not know the count). I, also, at three games had a great average in the mid sixties. Thought i was in-stroke, but continued to play. I'm sorry to say the average slipped a bit the more games I had under my belt. Fun, none-the-less. I still play from time to time, but like to explore other ways of practice besides just rolling out some balls and knocking them around.

I gave 3-ball a serious run for its money ta'nite and found what everyone does... It can be diffulcult! It was quite fun! I guess I can run 3 friggin' balls, but not as consistently as I would hope. I found the break to be very important... lotsa bottom english to get the cue back to the center of the table, and the one off the rail. How do you (and others) break on 3-ball (or 9-ball for that matter)?
 
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