Does playing the ghost in 9 ball of course on a tight 9ft table for a couple of hours help ones game and how much just looking for some good opinions oh yeah races to eleven
Playing the ghost
- Thread starter 5ballcharlie
- Start date
Other than putting more time on the table the only other way that I can see it helping is by adding artificial pressure. If you decide that you will beat the ghost by 3 games out of 7 and will not quit until you do you are adding some pressure to the game. Otherwise if you are not playing anyone you will never learn the strategies of the game..
5ballcharlie said:
There have been alot of posts lately about playing the ghost for practice, and while I think it can help I wouldnt spend all my practice time just doing that. If you do want to play the ghost there is one thing that I would recommend that will make it much more beneficial IMO. When you miss a shot or a postion play that you think should be somewhat routine dont just rake the balls in and start over, set it back up correct your mistake before you move on. For instance if you miss a shot that you know you should have a high percentage of making set it back up and shoot it several times. This way you are working on things that you failed to do correctly the first time, and I think that would help you to improve faster than just re-racking every time you miss.
I think another good way to practice is with a progressive drill manner of playing the ghost. This would be a race to nine against the ghost. But the difference is you dont break, you just throw the balls on the table. The other difference is you start with only one ball and move up from there. You put one ball on the table, if you get out you mark up a game and then throw two balls on the table. When you get out you give yourself a game and add one ball to the table for your next attempt. If you dont get out you give the ghost a game and try again with the same number of balls on the table. I think this puts you in within your threshold of how many balls you consistently run pretty quickly. For instance you might find that you get from one to four very easily, but may start having troube running five balls. If that were the case you would be spending most of your time on this drill trying to run from 5 to 6 balls (your personal threshold at the moment). If you get to where you beat the ghost regularly with this drill then start the drill with two balls instead of one, this will make you have to run two racks with nine balls on the table to win. When you can do that you start the first rack with 3 balls on the table.
Hope I didnt make that sound too confusing. Spend a few days doing that drill and I think it helps more than just playing the ghost.
I agree with you bca instructor when i play the ghost on that tight 9 footer I win about 1/3 of the time in a race to 11. other than that he gets me 11 to 7 or something of that nature. It seems that i beat myself and just let casper back in the game i will run the rack flawlessly just to miss the 7 ball on a routine shot. he will usually edge me out 11 - 7 but i do set the shots up i miss and correct them
thanks for the input
thanks for the input
5ballcharlie said:
If you have to practice by yourself it is a good way to go. If you're new to 9 ball I would actually go a different route. Practice throwing out three balls and running them consecutively. When you perfect this throw out 5 balls and do that. The only way to really get better is by playing better players than yourself and concentrating on what is going on.
Obviously, playing the ghost is good practice, but you're only developing your offensive execution.
Your defense, two way shots, your kicks and all the skills you need to win control of the table against a worthy opponent are not developed at all.
It is also arguable whether playing the ghost helps develop your break. Yes, you do get to pracitce your break, but spreading the balls well enough to get out with ball in hand is a lot easier than making a ball, spreading them well and controlling whitey. Failure to make a ball or to control whitey is not penalized when you play the ghost. You still get ball in hand and a chance to run out.
Playing the ghost is good training, but if it's most of your practice regimen, you are not on the road to becoming a well-rounded player with a complete skill set.
Your defense, two way shots, your kicks and all the skills you need to win control of the table against a worthy opponent are not developed at all.
It is also arguable whether playing the ghost helps develop your break. Yes, you do get to pracitce your break, but spreading the balls well enough to get out with ball in hand is a lot easier than making a ball, spreading them well and controlling whitey. Failure to make a ball or to control whitey is not penalized when you play the ghost. You still get ball in hand and a chance to run out.
Playing the ghost is good training, but if it's most of your practice regimen, you are not on the road to becoming a well-rounded player with a complete skill set.