Straight Pool Average

[woody_968]

Woody, I will be home the weekend of 8-19-05, maybe you should come over for some pool; or maybe we can have a "remote"/"internet" EO matchup (depends on the size of your pockets).

Ill look at the weekend of the 19th, I atcually think that may work

And for a remote matchup you would probably want me to go to our poolhall to do my scores. From what I have heard about your table, your pockets are tighter than mine. Course the tables at our poolhall are crap and will reject some balls that should have gone in LOL.

 

[Williebetmore]

Ill look at the weekend of the 19th, I atcually think that may work

And for a remote matchup you would probably want me to go to our poolhall to do my scores. From what I have heard about your table, your pockets are tighter than mine. Course the tables at our poolhall are crap and will reject some balls that should have gone in LOL.

Woody,
Actually, any table is fine - my ego is not that fragile (if it was I'd just lie about my score anyway). My professional friend ridicules me if I dare to complain about the pocket size (she says the target is 2.5" not the width of the pocket - as long as you can see 2.5" you can make the ball - I wish I believed this advice). Let me know if you can make it over.

 

[mikepage]

[...]
I don't like one part of EO, and that is the power break. The balls end up being spread in a different fashion than in straight pool. There are usually fewer potential break shots than in straight pool. It also seems harder to manufacture break shots, as fewer balls linger in the rack area. I rarely play it for these reasons. Give me competitive straight pool any day over EO.
[...].

You may be interested in this alternative version of EO that I proposed a while ago. It has a maximum scre of 250 (25 per rack) and emphasizes 14.1 skills a little more.

another old rsb post. sorry ;-)
******************

I've been doing an alternative "practice game" to equal offense that seems
to me to remove some of the deficiencies of equal offense for someone at
my level. *It's actually just a modification of equal offense.

Simply, it's play 10 innings of equal offense to a max of 25 points per
inning starting with a six-ball rack. *

Just like Jerry Brieseth has modifications for newer players (get three
tries per inning, or don't go into the next rack), this is a modification
that is best for people that (1) have interest in practicing not just
general skills but their 14.1 game in particular, and (2) average at least
80 in equal offense.

It's another one of those games that's harder than it seems.

So rack six balls in a triangle. *It's fast and can be done by hand.
Break from the kitchen lightly. *I've found it's best to hit the head ball
full with just enough speed to knock a ball off the foot rail and back to
the middle of the table. *(You don't want to waste any of your precious
balls getting to the head of the table to pocket an errant ball). *Start
with cueball-in-kitchen.

Usually there will be a good break-ball right away. *But if not there will
be a few balls around the rack position, and it will be easy to identify
how best to knock a ball into position. *You can also identify a key
ball. *So that leaves just a few balls to get where you need to go. *In
other words, right after the break is the time to develop the whole plan.

One problem I find with equal offense as a practice game is that the score
seems to be determined more by the things you do wrong than the things you
do right. *This must be worse for the better players. *If a top player
averages 160 and starts an equal offense practice game and gets a 2 and an
8 for two of the first three innings, he's looking at another half hour
hoping at best to salvage a close-to-average score. *There is no chance of
recovering and having a *good* round. *I realize that tournament matches
may also be largely determined by what the players do wrong, but the
difference is that when you are down 6-1 in a tournament, you still have
that chance of winning. *You don't have to fight just to cut your loses.

Anyway, in this game it's tough to max out an inning. *If I just open up
that first rack successfully, it gives a noticable boost to my score. *I
get more 5's and 6's than I care to admit ;-), but I notice that every
shot has a purpose, I'm always "in the game," and there's always that hope
that I'll break open two successive racks and get that 25. *Getting a 20
in equal offense is satisfying but not exciting. *

So try it. *I've yet to get my average equal offense score. *I'm guessing
this game will amplify differences. *That is I average less than my EO
average. *At some skill level better than me, someone will average the
same, and at a very high level a player will average more in this game
than in EO.

mike page
fargo

 

[hobokenapa]

My score

I tried this on Friday evening for the first time. My score was 120. The inning scores in order were:

14,13,15,20,15,5,11,7,10,10

My ranking is B so my average of 12 is above the chart provided by sjm. I'd put this down to the fact that I've improved recently to B+ standard, and that my Straight Pool game is stronger than my 9-ball (where the ranking come from).

It definitely makes you concentrate and only towards the end did I miss a ball or two. I'd recommend it, it really makes you focus on practice.

 

[sjm]

I tried this on Friday evening for the first time. My score was 120. The inning scores in order were:

14,13,15,20,15,5,11,7,10,10

My ranking is B so my average of 12 is above the chart provided by sjm. I'd put this down to the fact that I've improved recently to B+ standard, and that my Straight Pool game is stronger than my 9-ball (where the ranking come from).

It definitely makes you concentrate and only towards the end did I miss a ball or two. I'd recommend it, it really makes you focus on practice.

Nice shooting. That's a very solid effort.

 

[ScottW]

• Break balls open
• Take ball in hand behind the headstring
• Run until you miss. That is one inning
• Re-rack and start a new inning
• Complete ten innings

By "break balls open" are you talking a typical straight-pool break (i.e. very light) or a typical 8/9-ball break (bust'em open as best you can)? I'm assuming the latter, considering the nature of the drill, but wanted to be sure.

 

[PoolSharkAllen]

By "break balls open" are you talking a typical straight-pool break (i.e. very light) or a typical 8/9-ball break (bust'em open as best you can)? I'm assuming the latter, considering the nature of the drill, but wanted to be sure.

I also have this same question about how the balls are intended to be broken for this 14.1 drill.

I recollect reading somewhere else that Bob Jewitt had a 14.1 tournament format wherein players play themselves starting with a break ball located on the side of the rack and ball-in-hand close by for the break. Wouldn't this be a more realistic drill than having ball-in-hand from the kitchen?

 

[mikepage]

By "break balls open" are you talking a typical straight-pool break (i.e. very light) or a typical 8/9-ball break (bust'em open as best you can)? I'm assuming the latter, considering the nature of the drill, but wanted to be sure.

Yes, an "8-ball" break. Spot any pocketed balls and begin with cueball in kitchen.

 

[bruin70]

at first i liked the idea of equal offense 14.1, but looking back, that was because any kind of 14.1 sounded good to me.

now, i don't like it. safety is a strategy that's part of the game,,,,and guyz like earl would go nutz. tough!

howz about equal offense 9ball. break 30 times and the guy who runs out the most wins.

 

[PoolSharkAllen]

Yes, an "8-ball" break. Spot any pocketed balls and begin with cueball in kitchen.

This might as well be an 8-ball drill (rather than 14.1) if you're going to smash the rack open on the break.

In the real world, 14.1 requires chipping away at the rack, opening clusters, etc. If you smash the rack open, this isn't really a simulated 14.1 drill anymore.

 

[ScottW]

It might not be religiously 14.1, but it sounds interesting as a way to measure core ball-pocketing and position skills. It's all about one person's skill, not one person's skill against an opponent's skill - there *is* no opponent, hence no need to play those sorts of strategies.

Plus there's still the 14.1 strategy of running down to that last ball and leaving yourself a good rack-breaking position.

I'm going to start trying this myself next opportunity I get.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... I recollect reading somewhere else that Bob Jewett had a 14.1 tournament format wherein players play themselves starting with a break ball located on the side of the rack and ball-in-hand close by for the break. Wouldn't this be a more realistic drill than having ball-in-hand from the kitchen?

That was the 14.1 Challenge at the 2006 Derby City Classic. Those players averaged about 60% on clearing all 14 balls the first rack. The tables were fairly tough Diamonds and the high run was 139 by Danny Harriman.

I think the table you play on makes a lot of difference for Equal Offense scores. Where I play, the variation in pocket size seems like 2:1 from the front table to the tables for normal people.

Internet Equal Offense was played for about 5 years in the 1990s. For the results, including the percentile rating mentioned earlier, see

http://www.tourboard.com/ieo/results/past.htm

I would also direct you to the Fargo results, but Ed Mercier's site seems to have been turned off. If you really want to see them, visit www.archive.org and ask for www.playpool.com

 

[lewdo26]

Assuming twenty is the max:

D 2
D+ 3
C 5
C+ 6
B 7
B+ 9
A 11
A+ 12
Open 14
Pro 16+

I did an EO session today. I think sjm's averages are a little inflated. I came up with a 69 or 6.9 average (one perfect score of 20), which would make me almost a B player, but I'm really nowhere near that. I'd say I'm just now making the transition from a low C to a solid C player.

 

[PoolSharkAllen]

I just got through watching a short video clip of Steve Mizerak vs. Lou Butera. It's like a work of art in watching Butura chip away at a new rack, break open clusters and other parts of the rack with secondary and tertiary break shots, and solve other positional problems at the table.

By comparison to the above paragraph, I think one loses a lot in playing the Equal Offense straight pool drill and smashing open the rack like you're playing 8-ball. IMO, the EO straight pool drill isn't realistic enough.

When I practice straight pool by myself, I learn more by trying to simulate real game-like scenarios...starting with placing the break ball in various places around the rack, and with cue ball in hand, break open the rack and go from there.

My two cents worth!

 

[sjm]

I just got through watching a short video clip of Steve Mizerak vs. Lou Butera. It's like a work of art in watching Butura chip away at a new rack, break open clusters and other parts of the rack with secondary and tertiary break shots, and solve other positional problems at the table.

By comparison to the above paragraph, I think one loses a lot in playing the Equal Offense straight pool drill and smashing open the rack like you're playing 8-ball. IMO, the EO straight pool drill isn't realistic enough.

Nice post! Definitely a lot of truth in what you write.

Still, I'd note that Miz and Butera played on slower equipment than the players of today. On the break shots that began a rack, the balls didn't spread for them the way they do for you and me and all the players of today. Hence, gradually developing the rack from a few loose balls pertains to fewer racks today than it did back then, while the wide open layout is encountered far more frequently than before.

 

[Gerry]

I think EO was designed for people who never had a big exposure to 14.1, to try to get them to make a transition. Anyone just learning 14.1 can get bored to tears with the safety play, so the EO keeps you at the table running balls.

Serious 14.1 players only have 1 way to practice high runs.....rack em', set up a breaker, and go!

I like what Bob did a the DCC. I think the fans can understand running a rack and leaving a ball to continue the run. Also EVERYONE loves the excitement as you approach 50/100/200.....Most people I've heard say 14.1 is boring said it because long safety battles can be boring for joe average.

I practice 3 things for 14.1...

1. End rack situatuations by throwing out 4 to 7 balls at random, and getting on a breaker. I do this for hours on end

2. Break shots......setting up a million different ones, and shooting them different ways to see the results.

3. Running balls...and charting the reasons WHY my runs stop.

Gerry

 

[lewdo26]

I think EO was designed for people who never had a big exposure to 14.1, to try to get them to make a transition. Anyone just learning 14.1 can get bored to tears with the safety play, so the EO keeps you at the table running balls.

Serious 14.1 players only have 1 way to practice high runs.....rack em', set up a breaker, and go!

I like what Bob did a the DCC. I think the fans can understand running a rack and leaving a ball to continue the run. Also EVERYONE loves the excitement as you approach 50/100/200.....Most people I've heard say 14.1 is boring said it because long safety battles can be boring for joe average.

I practice 3 things for 14.1...

1. End rack situatuations by throwing out 4 to 7 balls at random, and getting on a breaker. I do this for hours on end

2. Break shots......setting up a million different ones, and shooting them different ways to see the results.

3. Running balls...and charting the reasons WHY my runs stop.

Gerry

I just like EO as a drill, not exactly as a substitute for 14.1 per se. Your end rack situations are essentially the same as what you do at EO, no?

I like the idea of charting why my runs end. Especially since I've been making a REAL effort in organizing and documenting my practice on spreadsheet.

P.S.: I love safety battles, as long as they aren't played by Max Eberle and Hohmann!

 

[DJKeys]

If you get to the last ball, do you pocket it, rerack, and smash the rack open again, or do you have to make it a break shot and continue the run in 14.1 fashion?

 

[lewdo26]

If you get to the last ball, do you pocket it, rerack, and smash the rack open again, or do you have to make it a break shot and continue the run in 14.1 fashion?

After the initial open break, you play it like a regular 14.1 rack starting with CB behind the headstring and shooting uptable (all balls spot). Leave yourself a breakshot and re-rack the remaining 14 balls like you would do in a regular 14.1 game. Make the breakshot and 5 more balls into the new rack and you got a perfect 20 score. Start over. 10 attempts comprise a session.

 

[Gerry]

After the initial open break, you play it like a regular 14.1 rack starting with CB behind the headstring and shooting uptable (all balls spot). Leave yourself a breakshot and re-rack the remaining 14 balls like you would do in a regular 14.1 game. Make the breakshot and 5 more balls into the new rack and you got a perfect 20 score. Start over. 10 attempts comprise a session.

Oooooooooooooooh!...I was totally seeing EO the wrong way. I thought you just smashed the rack, took ball in hand then ran em out. I didn't know you made a breaker then went into the next rack. Now I like the idea...

Gerry