Playing the Ghost

[PGHteacher]

Is there a variation that includes great safety play? Or is only run-out pool? I always try to play the right shot playing against myself in practice, even if that means locking the cue ball up behind another ball. It's important to practice safeties.

Always keep in mind that this is YOUR practice time and you can do whatever you want. Just off the top of my head I say try this:

1. You can play safeties and you are rewarded BIH if you successfully do not let the ghost “see” the OB. If he can; loss of game for you.
2. You can play 1 safe per rack you are awarded BIH.
3. You can play safe just like in #1 but you cannot play them consecutively.
4. You play just like in #1 but no 3 foul rule.


Look at practice time as an opportunity to solve YOUR problems, after all that’s what your there for.

You play safeties against yourself?

We are talking about playing a person that runs out if you miss not yourself.

One man cannot tell another how to play with himself.

Yes this is put in a humorous way; and is quite frankly an extremely intelligent way of putting it :killingme::rotflmao1::bow-down: it is so funny that I think that the readers should be reminded that there is a valuable message here.

Here is a great modified version of playing the ghost that makes it a little more fun plus you have a more realistic chance of winning.

Break 9-ball and take ball in hand. Any balls that scratch on the break stay down. And it's better to use the Magic Rack so you always have a consistant rack. If you run out with the first ball in hand you get two points. If you miss you take ball in hand again and try and get out. If you get out then you get one point. If you fail the ghost gets a point. Race to nine wins. It's alot more fun when you get to shoot more and actually have a chance to win.

1st Ball in hand = 2 points
2nd Ball in hand = 1 point

Fail in both = ghost gets 1

Race to 9 (or whatever) it's not quite as easy as it sounds. No cheating!!!

This is great, I will try it out. Interesting that you put “No cheating!!!” at the end, I do know of players that would do this to themselves; simply amazing.

 

[Jpowell7575]

Here is a great modified version of playing the ghost that makes it a little more fun plus you have a more realistic chance of winning.

Break 9-ball and take ball in hand. Any balls that scratch on the break stay down. And it's better to use the Magic Rack so you always have a consistant rack. If you run out with the first ball in hand you get two points. If you miss you take ball in hand again and try and get out. If you get out then you get one point. If you fail the ghost gets a point. Race to nine wins. It's alot more fun when you get to shoot more and actually have a chance to win.

1st Ball in hand = 2 points
2nd Ball in hand = 1 point

Fail in both = ghost gets 1

Race to 9 (or whatever) it's not quite as easy as it sounds. No cheating!!!

I wonder what percentage of posters here on AZ can honestly win this game more than 50% of the time? It's a fair way to play the ghost.

 

[pt109]

Here is a great modified version of playing the ghost that makes it a little more fun plus you have a more realistic chance of winning.

Break 9-ball and take ball in hand. Any balls that scratch on the break stay down. And it's better to use the Magic Rack so you always have a consistant rack. If you run out with the first ball in hand you get two points. If you miss you take ball in hand again and try and get out. If you get out then you get one point. If you fail the ghost gets a point. Race to nine wins. It's alot more fun when you get to shoot more and actually have a chance to win.

1st Ball in hand = 2 points
2nd Ball in hand = 1 point

Fail in both = ghost gets 1

Race to 9 (or whatever) it's not quite as easy as it sounds. No cheating!!!

I can't believe it...somebody got weight off a ghost!

How did you make the game?....a crystal ball?:smile:

 

[Banker1978]

You take ball in hand after the break and try to run out, and yes...if you you don't get out you lose, 'cause the ghost ALWAYS gets out.

I've seen him make some 11-rail kicks you wouldn't believe. :wink:

I'm curious as to how many people play the ghost where combos on the money ball count as a win? Some people play it where you have to run all the balls.. early pocketing of the 9-ball spots. I like to play it where an early 9 does not count as a win, but it spots up and I get ball in hand again.

 

[M4verick]

Here is a great modified version of playing the ghost that makes it a little more fun plus you have a more realistic chance of winning.

Break 9-ball and take ball in hand. Any balls that scratch on the break stay down. And it's better to use the Magic Rack so you always have a consistant rack. If you run out with the first ball in hand you get two points. If you miss you take ball in hand again and try and get out. If you get out then you get one point. If you fail the ghost gets a point. Race to nine wins. It's alot more fun when you get to shoot more and actually have a chance to win.

1st Ball in hand = 2 points
2nd Ball in hand = 1 point

Fail in both = ghost gets 1

Race to 9 (or whatever) it's not quite as easy as it sounds. No cheating!!!

I love it!
I definitely try that out.

Just out of curiocity, how helpfull for improving the game would you rate this kind of practice in comparison to the standard training drills ?

Would you suggest this type of training to someone who is trying to improve its positional play over the basic stroke training drills ?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[jgobigred]

When I go to the bar and practice by myself I do play safeties against myself! If i accidentally cheat I try not to beat myself up over it!

 

[mlfield]

Training drills are definately needed to improve the mechanics of your game. But actual playing situations test the mechanics, strategy and mental side. Playing the ghost in the above way can, if you let it, be a tremendous help with real match play. After a while trying this drill, you will be surprised how much you will be bearing down and trying to win.

 

[TheNewSharkster]

I can't beat the ghost consistently but have been working my way up. I started by breaking 9ball rack and removing all the balls except 4. Take BIH and run them out. If you miss the ghost wins. Once you can beat the 4ball ghost in a race try bumping it up to 5ball and so on.

 

[Tommy-D]

It's pretty simple really,all you have to do is run out just a hair over 1/2 the time,with ball in hand but regardless of layout after the 1st ball.

All of us that have tried this method of improving for any length of time know that sometimes,even with ball in hand you might only run one ball,and the next ball is inaccessible even if Shane or Orcullo had been at the table when that same layout presented itself.

When patterns where the balls are just not runnable in a single inning come into play,I don't even bother trying to run out in those spots,I just give the ghost that rack and try to break the balls better next game.

I don't have a 9 footer I can get on within almost a 2 hour drive in any direction,so I honestly don't know if I can beat it on one,but this is the overall state of my game,with maybe 8 hours a week on the equipment I have available.

On the 8 footers in my town,I beat the 9 ball ghost regularly but not overwhelmingly bad,a little more convincingly on a Valley bar box with slow cloth and balls I'd have to clean myself if I wanted them clean.

The best I've played with this game was a set number of 35 racks,so not an ahead set or race,I won 23-12 :smile:.

No real big packages,but had a 4 early on and several 2 baggers :thumbup2:.

The 10 ball ghost would be tough for me right now on any table,I haven't played enough of it to find a break that works,tough enough for me I wouldn't bet anything on it.

There is a video of Scott Frost playing the 10 ghost a race to 21 on a Valley where he wins 21-7,or 75% of the total games played,with a full 9-10 racks in a row to start. Tommy D.

 

[ENGLISH!]

Is there a variation that includes great safety play? Or is only run-out pool? I always try to play the right shot playing against myself in practice, even if that means locking the cue ball up behind another ball. It's important to practice safeties.

Just play the game out against yourself & I agree Play defense on yourself just as would against a normal opponent. I think that that is better practice than just trying to force a run out & if you miss the ghost runs out. That's not very realistic to me. If you play defense you're practicing those shots as well as the escape or recovery.

 

[ENGLISH!]

Training drills are definately needed to improve the mechanics of your game. But actual playing situations test the mechanics, strategy and mental side. Playing the ghost in the above way can, if you let it, be a tremendous help with real match play. After a while trying this drill, you will be surprised how much you will be bearing down and trying to win.

Agreed. Playing myself is the only way I practice unless something freaky pops up & then I will work that out & then I play myself. Shooting is shooting & playing is 'playing'

 

[ENGLISH!]

When I go to the bar and practice by myself I do play safeties against myself! If i accidentally cheat I try not to beat myself up over it!

Don't cheat! Not even yourself! Play it out 'right' it's good practice. You shoot next regardless, one way or the other.

 

[JDB]

Here is a great modified version of playing the ghost that makes it a little more fun plus you have a more realistic chance of winning.

Break 9-ball and take ball in hand. Any balls that scratch on the break stay down. And it's better to use the Magic Rack so you always have a consistant rack. If you run out with the first ball in hand you get two points. If you miss you take ball in hand again and try and get out. If you get out then you get one point. If you fail the ghost gets a point. Race to nine wins. It's alot more fun when you get to shoot more and actually have a chance to win.

1st Ball in hand = 2 points
2nd Ball in hand = 1 point

Fail in both = ghost gets 1

Race to 9 (or whatever) it's not quite as easy as it sounds. No cheating!!!

Good game; I like it.

I gave it a try tonight but I had to make a couple of rule adjustments.

First, I had to make a change for bypassing ball in hand on the first shot in order to go for a break and run. Therefore, if I did go for the break and run and succeed, I gave myself 3 points instead of the 2 if I would have taken ball in hand. If I missed, I took ball in hand and gave myself the 1 point if I ran out successfully.

However, since I was giving myself the opportunity for an additional point, however unlikely, I felt like I needed to give the ghost the opportunity for an additional point. Therefore, I included a rule that if I left 4+ balls on the table the ghost would get 2 points instead of the 1 for "winning." Unfortunately, this was much more likely than me breaking and running; therefore, the rule change really helped the ghost more than me.

I was only able to play one set and I won 9 - 6 with these rules. With the original rules, I would have been up 8 - 4 at the end.

Under normal ghost rules, the ghost would have been up 6 - 3 when I quit the game.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good game. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Black-Balled]

The main reasons for playing for the out- and why I disagree with playing safe vs. the Casper- are if you choose the safe, you never know if you woulda banked that ball in and played 3-rail, short-side shape on the next to get the win.

Also, what are you gonna next shot, if you play safe? You are gonna kick or jump, both which are generally not going to lead to a runout. So then what? You lost.

I say go for total offense. You might surprise yourself and learn somethin new and powerful.

Not that safes aren't to be practiced...but getting out is the best safe.

 

[ENGLISH!]

The main reasons for playing for the out- and why I disagree with playing safe vs. the Casper- are if you choose the safe, you never know if you woulda banked that ball in and played 3-rail, short-side shape on the next to get the win.

Also, what are you gonna next shot, if you play safe? You are gonna kick or jump, both which are generally not going to lead to a runout. So then what? You lost.

I say go for total offense. You might surprise yourself and learn somethin new and powerful.

Not that safes aren't to be practiced...but getting out is the best safe.T

This is going to sound crazy compared to my earlier post but... I also agree with you. The thing is about how you 'feel' about the shot. In a tough match, what would you really do? Would you shoot the shot or play safe? Then do whatever you would do in the match. Maybe the best way is to alternate. But I would hate to play a certain way going in. The lay out of the table should tell you what to do & 9 times out of 10 you should do what the table tells you to do. That's my humble 2 cents anyway.

 

[Black-Balled]

This is going to sound crazy compared to my earlier post but... I also agree with you. The thing is about how you 'feel' about the shot. In a tough match, what would you really do? Would you shoot the shot or play safe? Then do whatever you would do in the match. Maybe the best way is to alternate. But I would hate to play a certain way going in. The lay out of the table should tell you what to do & 9 times out of 10 you should do what the table tells you to do. That's my humble 2 cents anyway.

I agree to a degree, but playing a tourney or for the cheezez is a different matter/ goal.

Tourney/ $, you need to win. You shoot the shot that gives you the best chance to win.

Ghost is to make your offense better.

 

[ENGLISH!]

I agree to a degree, but playing a tourney or for the cheezez is a different matter/ goal.

Tourney/ $, you need to win. You shoot the shot that gives you the best chance to win.

Ghost is to make your offense better.

The best defense IS a GOOD offense. We agree. But sometimes a BAD offense can kill you. While attacking in another direction can let you live to then go for the throat. We need to 'practice' attacking in the other direction as well. We agree. I just wanted to get the last word. Just kidding, so I'll let you have the last word.

 

[Black-Balled]

The best defense IS a GOOD offense. We agree. But sometimes a BAD offense can kill you. While attacking in another direction can let you live to then go for the throat. We need to 'practice' attacking in the other direction as well. We agree. I just wanted to get the last word. Just kidding, so I'll let you have the last word.

No, you go. I insist!

 

[Black-Balled]

I posted before this:wink:

 

[kaver22]

Here is a great modified version of playing the ghost that makes it a little more fun plus you have a more realistic chance of winning.

Break 9-ball and take ball in hand. Any balls that scratch on the break stay down. And it's better to use the Magic Rack so you always have a consistant rack. If you run out with the first ball in hand you get two points. If you miss you take ball in hand again and try and get out. If you get out then you get one point. If you fail the ghost gets a point. Race to nine wins. It's alot more fun when you get to shoot more and actually have a chance to win.

1st Ball in hand = 2 points
2nd Ball in hand = 1 point

Fail in both = ghost gets 1

Race to 9 (or whatever) it's not quite as easy as it sounds. No cheating!!!

I like this! I'll have to give this a try later today.

Right vs left is a fun one too. Just because there are some shots that are easier to play left handed (and I find the bridge kind of awkward) I'll occasionally play right hand vs left hand. When I miss I'll switch hands. I usually do this after completing a couple of drills also switching hands. I'll do this until I feel as comfortable playing lefty as I do righty.

This practice came in really helpful a few weeks ago when I hurt my right elbow. I couldn't flex my elbow without it hurting so I just switched hands and played that way for a few days until it felt better. This was actually a blessing in disguise because I had to learn how to break lefty which I had always had a lot of difficulty with before.