Playing the ghost... skill rating?

nineballsafety8

nineballsafety8

6ft 5" 285, hits 'em hard
Silver Member
Good evening all,
So I was just curious if anyone has made the correlation to playing the ghost and a players speed...?

Say a race to 7, as that seems like the most common race. Taking ball in hand after the break (regardless of ball made on break or not)

In the above race to 7... how well would an A, B, C, and, D level player do?

And just for arguments sake, lets assume that whatever player is playing plays 5 sets and the scores are averaged (to take out the luck factor)


Curious as to what you all think the scores would be for each skillset.

And also... where does the threashold of "pro" lay... is A, A+?

And what is a shortstop?

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It vastly depends.

I would say that your typical A player would beat the ghost 70% of the time. But this wouldn't apply to all A player's because some play safeties more often than others.

Your B player might beat the ghost 30% of the time. (We're talking about the 9 ball ghost here).

C player might get 1 or 2 games against the ghost but even that is doubtful.

A D player isn't likely to get a game against the ghost even on a barbox.

An A+ will keep the ghost to 5 games or less 80+% of the time and a pro will keep the ghost to 4 games or less 90+% of the time.

These are averages of course.

Jaden
 
How do you play the ghost? I hear people talking about it but I don't know what it means? Can someone explain this game to me?
 
This is way not enough information to make the call. The table size and pocket size would the first variable and soft breaking makes a huge difference. You can't just start spewing numbers without all of that. In addition to that, Playing the ghost only measures offense. Kicking and defense never come into play vs the Ghost. Playing the ghost is a good practice method for getting in gear fairly quickly but that's about it. You keep score to measure your own progress but that's about all the numbers are worth.
 
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dkjshark said:
How do you play the ghost? I hear people talking about it but I don't know what it means? Can someone explain this game to me?
Click to expand...

Here is a 9-ball ghost drill that you can print out and track your progress.
http://billiards.colostate.edu/resources/nine-ball_drill.pdf

Here are some opinions about 9-ball skill rating.
http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/ratings.html

Shortstop usually refers to a player whose skill is good enough to play as a pro, but doesn't make a living as a pro.
 
I agree.. more info is needed. It really depends on a tight pocket bar box. I play 3 races against the ghost every time I play at home. In between I do different position and stroke drills. Usually races to 7 . The last I might cut it to 5 if time is short. I beat it on average 2 out of 3 times and am usually on the hill when I lose it.
 
trob said:
I agree.. more info is needed. It really depends on a tight pocket bar box. I play 3 races against the ghost every time I play at home. In between I do different position and stroke drills. Usually races to 7 . The last I might cut it to 5 if time is short. I beat it on average 2 out of 3 times and am usually on the hill when I lose it.
Click to expand...

So what skill level would you say that you are?
 
IMO 9 ball is a crap shoot. You can smash 9 balls and get favorable layouts all in a row, terrible layouts all in a row, or combinations of both. Trying to measure skill in 9 ball to some degree is like melding playing skill with coin flipping. I'm not sure the result is worth a piss in a windstorm.

For the life of me I don't know why you guys don't set up a full rack of balls, pull the head ball off, set up a straight pool break shot and see how many balls you can run.

In that way you make your own layouts throughout the rack by massaging the balls, nudging the balls, developing patterns, and getting through the racks.

If you don't understand that, then you're a "C" player and will reap huge benefits in a short time by doing this instead of smashing open 9 balls.

Reminds me of a fortune teller throwing a handful of stones on the table to determine your future. Useless.
 
nineballsafety8 said:
So I was just curious if anyone has made the correlation to playing the ghost and a players speed...?
... how well would an A, B, C, and, D level player do?
Click to expand...
Several "playing the ghost" drills and A-D rating systems are documented on the "playing the ghost" rating drill resource page. I think the 10-ball drill and ratings currently provide the most accurate results.

FYI, the BU Exams and BU Rating System probably provide a better measure of overall playing ability. Give them a try. If you do, please post your results (and videos if available) on the AZB BU thread.

Here is a rating comparison chart that compares how the BU ratings correlate to A-D and other commonly used rating and handicapping systems.

Regards,
Dave
 
dkjshark said:
How do you play the ghost? I hear people talking about it but I don't know what it means? Can someone explain this game to me?
Click to expand...
Here's the description from the "playing the ghost" resource page:

The phrase "playing the ghost" implies that you are playing by yourself against a fictitious opponent (the "ghost") who never misses. A ghost drill consists of racking a certain number of balls (e.g., 7, 9, 10, 15), breaking, taking ball in hand after the break, and attempting to run out. If you run out, you have beaten the "ghost." You can keep score by keeping track of your rack winning percentage or by totaling the total number of balls pocketed before missing in a given number of racks (e.g., 10).

Regards,
Dave
 
Dr. Dave,
Thanks for the info, I have actually already done several of the tests that you mentioned. I am aware of my skill, and I feel that while the tests are quite useful, it doesn't seem to make much sense to me.

According to Fargo, APA 8-ball, APA 9-ball (as I have yet to do the full BU score), I would sit in the A-/A category...

However, It seems that any time that I play competively, I can't seem to finish well. Maybe I have performance anxiety? LOL

I know that if I am practing, running drills, etc... I am calm collected, and play what I consider to be very good pool... but put me in a tournament settings and my confidence plummets and my consistency goes out the window.

I feel like an A- player that performs at a B-/C+ level under pressure...

any advice?

By the way... this is only under tournament conditions, if I am gambling I don't have issues with nervs, as I know that if I lose a set, and I can still battle back to win.
 
The ghost is a pretty good test for at what level you play offense at only. Example: If you are a low "B" playing the ghost but have an "A" kicking and safety game, you are probably at least a strong "B" player in match play. Johnnyt
 
nineballsafety8 said:
Dr. Dave,
Thanks for the info, I have actually already done several of the tests that you mentioned. I am aware of my skill, and I feel that while the tests are quite useful, it doesn't seem to make much sense to me.

According to Fargo, APA 8-ball, APA 9-ball (as I have yet to do the full BU score), I would sit in the A-/A category...

However, It seems that any time that I play competively, I can't seem to finish well. Maybe I have performance anxiety? LOL

I know that if I am practing, running drills, etc... I am calm collected, and play what I consider to be very good pool... but put me in a tournament settings and my confidence plummets and my consistency goes out the window.

I feel like an A- player that performs at a B-/C+ level under pressure...

any advice?

By the way... this is only under tournament conditions, if I am gambling I don't have issues with nervs, as I know that if I lose a set, and I can still battle back to win.
Click to expand...
For many people, the pressure that comes with gambling is as tough (or tougher) than the pressure that comes with tournament play. You must not care about money very much. ;)

Maybe you should gamble (or make believe you are gambling) on your tournament matches. Maybe that would solve your problem. You could also try to imagine that your opponent is naked. :eek: Even better, try to imagine that your opponent is a hot chick and naked. That might work. :grin-square:

Seriously, if you want some advice concerning your mental game, check out the mental aspects of pool resource page.

Have you tried the BU Exams yet? If and when you do, please post your results (and videos if available) on the AZB BU thread. I think the pressure involved with posting scores and video publicly is good practice for other pressure situations.

Good luck,
Dave
 
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