Shot Clock In League Play??

[Black Cat 5791]

The APA Shot guidelines are 20 Seconds for a Standard Shot and 45 Seconds for a Difficult Shot. Not 1 Minute for every shot. Page 19, 20 of the Team Manual in the Section Entitled Etiquette.

As I stated in my earlier post, you can only set the expectation. Unless your in every division that you have monitoring every team every night of the week you have to train your Division Reps, who in turn monitor the Captains, and if they won't manage their teams then they have to step in and initiate the shot clock. If things don't improve then it will take a couple of BIH penalties being enforced. Once you get peoples attention things will improve.

There is a fantastic App in the Play Store for Android called PClock it's a Timer App Specifically designed for pool. Check it out.

~Black Cat~

 

[Bob Jewett]

Ok I'm intrigued about the chess clock. Have you ever used one in league play? Do the players touch the clock or are teammates designated as clock keepers? What time to you start a player out at? 10 min, 12 min, 15 min?

I know I have been involved in safety battles in which neither player took a long time shooting, but we played a bunch of safeties and the game took 30 minutes. If a chess clock were used in this case, both players would have run out of time, but obviously one would have done so first. In this case, do you think it would be fair to have one winner and one loser? Maybe each team could be given one or two 5-minute extensions to their chess clock per match.

I can see this as a solution, however I would really like to hear from someone who has actually used it on the pool table.

I've used them in two 14.1 leagues. Can you imagine a game to 100 taking nearly four hours?

The shooter has to stop his clock (and start the opponent's clock) when his inning ends. That also gets him away from the table and back to his seat. Or, he can linger over the table, curse the gods, whine about his bad luck and replay the shot several times, all while his clock is running.

Modern chess clocks can be set up to give a grace period at the start of each turn. That actually allows a long series of safes to be played without running down time but only if the players are quick with their planning and execution.

You can either have a fixed amount of time for each game or a fixed amount of time for the whole match. In the latter case if time runs out I think it is more fair to award a certain number of games to the person with time left in proportion to the time left on his clock. If he trails 5-1 going to 6 and only has 30 seconds left on his clock when the other player runs out of time, I think he should be awarded at most one game, and so still loses.

Some previous threads have more details about this. I think a search on "chess clock" will probably get you there.

 

[Str8PoolMan]

The APA Shot guidelines are 20 Seconds for a Standard Shot and 45 Seconds for a Difficult Shot. Not 1 Minute for every shot. Page 19, 20 of the Team Manual in the Section Entitled Etiquette.

As I stated in my earlier post, you can only set the expectation. Unless your in every division that you have monitoring every team every night of the week you have to train your Division Reps, who in turn monitor the Captains, and if they won't manage their teams then they have to step in and initiate the shot clock. If things don't improve then it will take a couple of BIH penalties being enforced. Once you get peoples attention things will improve.

There is a fantastic App in the Play Store for Android called PClock it's a Timer App Specifically designed for pool. Check it out.

~Black Cat~

Are you certain of the name of that app? I couldn't find it or any other pool related timer in the Google Play Store.

 

[sbpoolleague]

I've used them in two 14.1 leagues. Can you imagine a game to 100 taking nearly four hours?

The shooter has to stop his clock (and start the opponent's clock) when his inning ends. That also gets him away from the table and back to his seat. Or, he can linger over the table, curse the gods, whine about his bad luck and replay the shot several times, all while his clock is running.

Modern chess clocks can be set up to give a grace period at the start of each turn. That actually allows a long series of safes to be played without running down time but only if the players are quick with their planning and execution.

You can either have a fixed amount of time for each game or a fixed amount of time for the whole match. In the latter case if time runs out I think it is more fair to award a certain number of games to the person with time left in proportion to the time left on his clock. If he trails 5-1 going to 6 and only has 30 seconds left on his clock when the other player runs out of time, I think he should be awarded at most one game, and so still loses.

Some previous threads have more details about this. I think a search on "chess clock" will probably get you there.

Thank you, Bob

 

[sbpoolleague]

There is a fantastic App in the Play Store for Android called PClock it's a Timer App Specifically designed for pool. Check it out.

Are you certain of the name of that app? I couldn't find it or any other pool related timer in the Google Play Store.

Did you mean O-Clock??

 

[mm4pool]

Matt...APA has had a standard shot clock rule in effect for many years...60 seconds, which is plenty of time. :grin:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

actually APA guidelines are : 20 seconds per shot, 45 seconds for special situations. coachings should limit to one minute

 

[Black Cat 5791]

Actually it's "Plock"

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk

 

[Black Cat 5791]

Do a search for Pool Clock it should come up at the top of the list it's official name is "PLOCK Pool Clock"

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk

 

[BRussell]

There's one called Pool Shot Timer for iOS.

 

[Bavafongoul]

I went to see my pal's team play in the local APA playoffs.......while there, I was approached
by several individuals to ask about my arm and when I could resume pool playing. After I told
them probably in another week to 10 days, I was reminded that the new summer session for
APA will begin soon, I was recruited by some teams to join. So I basically replied that could be
a possibility and watched the matches that day.


OMG.......SHOT CLOCK.........absolutely yes......I couldn't believe how long the matches took and the wasted time....
way too much talking and distractions that slowed the pace of the game.......and shot analysis.......jeez, it's a 7' table
not a 10' monster.......and slow play was the theme all day long. My buddy is a 7 or 8 (not sure) and he played a 5 ....
.the match took almost 2 hrs.......1 hr. 53 mins......that is absurd and before I left, I made sure to let everyone know
that approached me about joining a team I really wasn't interested unless there was a 30 second shot clock.......that's
more than enough time to figure out the shot and execute it.

Slow play is just awful but when it happens on a 7' table, it is unbearable.......the game is already easier being played
on a smaller table so if anything, I'd expect the pace of play to be faster. There's a lot less table to walk around than
with a 9' table........Until there's a shot clock in leagues, I will stick to playing tournaments and cash games because
slow play in leagues on 7' tables is just excruciatingly painful as I confirmed watching the matches this past weekend.


Matt B.

 

[Str8PoolMan]

Do a search for Pool Clock it should come up at the top of the list it's official name is "PLOCK Pool Clock"

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk

Yep, I'm an idiot. I did a search for "pool timer" instead of "pool clock". Strange that it doesn't show up when you put in the name: "plock". But anyway, thanks!

 

[Bob Jewett]

There are also many chess clock apps available.

 

[mikepage]

There are also many chess clock apps available.

Chess clocks are so boring...

How about the shooter wears an earpiece that starts a slightly annoying sound at 30 seconds, replaces it with a piercing high-pitched sound at 45 seconds and moves into Rosanne shrieking the national anthem at a minute...

 

[Bob Jewett]

Chess clocks are so boring...

How about the shooter wears an earpiece that starts a slightly annoying sound at 30 seconds, replaces it with a piercing high-pitched sound at 45 seconds and moves into Rosanne shrieking the national anthem at a minute...

The jukebox where I play serves a similar purpose. It makes you want to finish your game as quickly as possible. I am sometimes forced to play Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, and Dave Brubeck in self defense.

 

[Skippy27]

Matt...APA has had a standard shot clock rule in effect for many years...60 seconds, which is plenty of time. :grin:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

No they don't and you are wrong on the time for the rule they do have.

They have guidelines to go by on league night, but all you can do is whine about it (20 sec normal shoot, 45 tough shoot, 1 min coaching). There are no penalties for violations.

In higher level tournaments though they will put you on a clock if you are slow playing and if you violate it, you will give up BIH to your opponent.

 

[Blaine B.]

The jukebox where I play serves a similar purpose. It makes you want to finish your game as quickly as possible. I am sometimes forced to play Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, and Dave Brubeck in self defense.

Dean Martin - Ain't that a kick in the head is my 9 Ball song.

 

[ctyhntr]

If you have an iPhone or Android there are plenty of free chess clock apps that can be installed on a smart phone or tablet.

I'm in favor of Shot Clock, but think it should include a time bank. Every player starts off with a 30/45/60 second shot clock, and any unused time can go as credit towards a time bank. When a player occasionally needs extra time to concentrate on a hard shot, the shot clock immediately starts drawing on the time bank.

I ran a BCAPL league for a decade or so with a one minute per shot rule. Each packet received an inexpensive kitchen timer that I bought from eBay in bulk along with instructions to use it.

My rule was any team could ask the other to be put on the shot clock but both players had to go on it. (One guy on my team insisted he wanted to be on the clock as a way to get the other team to do it and not sound like an a-hole.)

The result was that the shot clocks were rarely used as the threat usually kept people on time. There were at least 2 teams every session that were horribly slow and when they played each other, I would talk to them and say, "Don't make me put you guys on the clock, myself but I will if X games aren't completed by X time." That usually worked.

I love the idea of chess clocks. Looks like they sell for as little as $10 online.....

Brian in VA

 

[sbpoolleague]

Do a search for Pool Clock it should come up at the top of the list it's official name is "PLOCK Pool Clock"

I checked out PLOCK and it's adequate, but then I found "Pool Scoreboard Pro". Only $1.32. There's a free lite version but you can't change the clock settings.

Very cool look and feel.

Now if I could only get my league members to download it and use it.

 

[ctyhntr]

Offer an incentive or prize. Say, take a picture of yourself playing with the shotclock. If you draw their picture, then that player gets a prize; a free drink or shot at a break and run contest.

I checked out PLOCK and it's adequate, but then I found "Pool Scoreboard Pro". Only $1.32. There's a free lite version but you can't change the clock settings.

Very cool look and feel.

Now if I could only get my league members to download it and use it.

 

[Blaine B.]

If you have an iPhone or Android there are plenty of free chess clock apps that can be installed on a smart phone or tablet.

I'm in favor of Shot Clock, but think it should include a time bank. Every player starts off with a 30/45/60 second shot clock, and any unused time can go as credit towards a time bank. When a player occasionally needs extra time to concentrate on a hard shot, the shot clock immediately starts drawing on the time bank.

Now that's an idea.