Track your practice sessions against the ghost - New tool (version 1.0 need your feedback)

[Raceto9]

Hi everybody,

I just finished creating a tool to track practice sessions against the ghost, it's available (for free, but you do need to create an account so that your sessions/stats can be saved) on my site www.raceto9.com under the section "play the ghost".
My idea was to keep the tool as simple as possible, that's why you only need to press 1 button at the end of each frame.
There are only 6 scenario possible (see image attached below) and based on the information collected you can then see some interesting information in the STATS page.
Obviously, you need to have recorded a few sessions before the stats page tells you anything interesting

I haven't shared this with the whole pool community just yet, I thought I would start here with the azbilliards people first to get a first round of feedback, fix the obvious bugs, etc...

If some of you are interested to play with it and provide me with some feedback that would be greatly appreciated!
I can't promise I would implement all the recommendations you make but if I think something makes sense, I will definitely implement it!
And if you find a bug, please let me know the device (phone brand/model) and browser (brand/version) you are using.

Thanks

 

[kling&allen]

Consider adding 6 ball ghost or an app for offline play. But it looks neat and I'll be interested to see how it presents historical stats.

 

[Raceto9]

Consider adding 6 ball ghost or an app for offline play. But it looks neat and I'll be interested to see how it presents historical stats.

Is 6ball the same as 9ball in terms of rules? Just with less balls...

 

[kling&allen]

Is 6ball the same as 9ball in terms of rules? Just with less balls...

Yes, for us sub-average players. Here's a rundown of variations of the ghost games from this year's AZB thread:

2020 AZB Ghost Challenge - Official Thread

2020 AZB Ghost Challenge - Official Thread It’s a new year, and everyone is on a clean slate. Let's see who can back up their written posts with game play for bragging rights :grin-square::grin-square::grin-square: 1st post will be kept up to...

forums.azbilliards.com

 

[Raceto9]

Yes, for us sub-average players. Here's a rundown of variations of the ghost games from this year's AZB thread:

2020 AZB Ghost Challenge - Official Thread

2020 AZB Ghost Challenge - Official Thread It’s a new year, and everyone is on a clean slate. Let's see who can back up their written posts with game play for bragging rights :grin-square::grin-square::grin-square: 1st post will be kept up to...

forums.azbilliards.com

Ahh i see. I might add 6-Ball then as an option!

 

[AlexandruM]

I think it can be useful to add some preset races, such as Race to 5, Race to 7, Race to 9, Race to 11. Also It can be Race to 7 with 1 ball on the spot, and Race to 7 with 9 ball on the spot, so you can see in future which break rules are better for your game.
Of course you should be able to add your own preset race.

The reason I'm asking about this, is because I'm interested to see my progress vs ghost in Race to 7 format, for e.g., so I should be able to get stats only for this specific race.

 

[Raceto9]

I think it can be useful to add some preset races, such as Race to 5, Race to 7, Race to 9, Race to 11. Also It can be Race to 7 with 1 ball on the spot, and Race to 7 with 9 ball on the spot, so you can see in future which break rules are better for your game.
Of course you should be able to add your own preset race.

The reason I'm asking about this, is because I'm interested to see my progress vs ghost in Race to 7 format, for e.g., so I should be able to get stats only for this specific race.

Hmm 2 interesting ideas there. Gonna look into the races and the type of racking.

 

[Raceto9]

Ok I've just published v1.1:
-I've added the ability to select the length of race (race to 5, 7, 9, 11 and 120 (120 is for people who just want to play a random number of frames...)).
-As well the option to select 4-Ball and 6-Ball on top of the existing 8-Ball, 9-Ball and 10-Ball.
-I've also split 9-Ball into 2 games: 9 on the spot or 1 on the spot.

So from now on im collecting that information, I'm now working on editing the stats page to show stats per race for instance, and other cool info ...
In the mean time, you can already see some stats per 'game' like which game do you play the most:

Or which game do you break best for:

 

[kling&allen]

I played a few matches with this tool over the last few days. The only "bug' I saw was that it doesn't automatically end the match (or prompt you to end the match) when you hit the race limit. So you have to manually remember and save the activity. And if you win there's no positive reinforcement for beating the ghost.

I think the big question will be if the hassle of using the tool (having your phone out, going to the webpage, having to tap your phone after a frame) justifies the benefit of the data. But thanks for sharing this, it's great the more (free) resources we all have available.

 

[jshaw]

Are these the correct rules for playing the ghost? I thought dry break or scratch did not make a difference..

SCENARIO #3:
You open with a dry break.
You have lost the frame.
+1 DRY BREAK

SCENARIO #4:
You open with a foul on the break.
You have lost the frame.
+1 FOUL ON BREAK

 

[Raceto9]

I played a few matches with this tool over the last few days. The only "bug' I saw was that it doesn't automatically end the match (or prompt you to end the match) when you hit the race limit. So you have to manually remember and save the activity. And if you win there's no positive reinforcement for beating the ghost.

I think the big question will be if the hassle of using the tool (having your phone out, going to the webpage, having to tap your phone after a frame) justifies the benefit of the data. But thanks for sharing this, it's great the more (free) resources we all have available.

Thanks man! Thats another great feedback.
Im gonna add something for when the race ends. Love the idea.

Im still working on the data section to make it more valuable.

Ill share an updated version in the next few days.

Thanks again!

 

[Raceto9]

Are these the correct rules for playing the ghost? I thought dry break or scratch did not make a difference..

SCENARIO #3:
You open with a dry break.
You have lost the frame.
+1 DRY BREAK

SCENARIO #4:
You open with a foul on the break.
You have lost the frame.
+1 FOUL ON BREAK

There is no official rules for playing the ghost, some people carry on after a dry/foul break but i just disagree with it.
The idea of this tool is to improve your game, and a massive part of the game is the break shot, so if in practice you dont care about dry/foul break, its not gonna force you to improve that part of your game.
In the stats you can see your % of valid breaks, and you want to improve that over time.

 

[Raceto9]

Alright! I have just released v1.2 of my PLAY THE GHOST tool

Raceto9 – I love pool.

www.raceto9.com

I have made a lot of small changes, but here are the biggest changes based on the feedback/recommendations I received in this forum:

1- You get a notification when you win/loose a race:

2- You can now look at your TOTAL stats or only the stats for a specific game/race:

3- The stats page has a few new data points including a 'player rating' which is calculated based on the most important metrics (like a Fargo Rate if you like ...). That's a good way to compare your level with a friend. It's next to the "Clutch Score":

WHAT NEXT?
I will now go out and share this tool with a wider audience outside of this forum.
I will continue to work on improving this tool so don't stop the feedback
As of right now, the biggest features I'm planning to add are:
-Badges (achievements to unlock),
-The ability to select specific periods on the stats page,
-The ability to compare your stats with the rest of the world average.


THANK YOU
I'd like to thank the azbilliards members who have provided feedback here, and in my Direct Message inbox.
If you like what I do and want to support me go to raceto9.com homepage and you will find all the different ways you can support the raceto9 project. The easiest (and free) way to support me is to subscribe to my YouTube channel