Playing the Ghost... Break or Toss 'em out?

[stljohnny]

I was practicing with another local guy and we started playing the 5-ball ghost... I noticed pretty quickly that there's no good way to rack and break the balls; with just 5 balls. 2 balls go up table, the rest just kinda hang out on the back rail. So, my question when you're playing the ghost... do you rack up 9, break, take off the last x number and start from there, or do you toss the balls out on the table and go from there? It seems the break patterns for 3, 4, 5 balls are all pretty much the same - whereas if you racked 9 or 10 balls there's a different enough spread to make it really worth the time.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Aaron_S]

I would definitely rack 9 or 10-ball (probably alternate them, actually) and remove the additional balls after the snap. I actually use the ghost more for breaking practice than anything else, since that seems to pay off more than just practicing running balls (for me anyway).

Aaron

 

[Jason Robichaud]

Break them, its called learning CB control. Hit hard enough to spread balls and still be able to run it out. Obviously you don't have to hit the same speed all the time.

I do this drill and remove or add balls depending on missing and running out.

 

[cycopath]

Ghost

I always rack 9 balls and break. Then I remove the first 3 balls (1-2-3), leaving the last 6. If I make more than 3 balls on the break, I spot a ball/balls to give me 6 to run out (or attempt to run out).