OK..i am still learning the ghost thing. Is there any time during a game where you can miss a shot and not lose? Can you safety the ghost? Or is it simply sink balls tilll you cant, then if you havnt sunk em all you lose. Thanks for any advice..as you can guess i have been losing a LOT to the ghost.
What to so with ghost.
- Thread starter ramw5p
- Start date
The ghost never misses. If you leave the ghost safe, you lose. The ghost never misses. The only way to beat the ghost is to run out. Period.
We feel your pain, as the ghost has handed all of us our butts on a platter, at one time or another.
We feel your pain, as the ghost has handed all of us our butts on a platter, at one time or another.
You can change the rules however you want. You can play so that if the ghost cannot see the ball then you get ball in hand. This is a little easier than the regular ghost. But it still is definitely not easy. If you can beat the ghost this way then you are a formidable opponent for anyone who isn't a pro.
another
way I like to practice the ghost is to only rack 6 or 7 balls. I am still at a level that is unable to play the 9 ball ghost. I think it is great practice though.
way I like to practice the ghost is to only rack 6 or 7 balls. I am still at a level that is unable to play the 9 ball ghost. I think it is great practice though.
ramw5p said:
Generally speaking every shot must end with a legally potted ball. The point of the ghost drill is to improve your offensive game.
However since you are playing by yourself, you can do whatever you want
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sjm said:
Amen,
It is important to understand that your immediate goal isn't to do what is done by players a level or two above you, but to do better than what you have been doing--period. Thus, if the ghost is just too tough for you with nine balls on the table, then do six, or five, or even three or four. The point is that you first get to the next level, then you go to the levels above that. There is, simply, no other way!
theoneandonly said:
That is the great thing about rotation style games, they can be custom-tailored to meet one's level. Good thinking!
Here's something that has helped me transfer the ghost game thingy into the real game thingy...
When I miss, I don't immediately start reracking the balls. I pretend that I'm in a real match and now it is my opponent's turn at the table, so I go to my spot, put my cue in its holding spot and then I "watch" the ghost runout the table.
I pretend that he is shooting and I'm standing/sitting there fuming (or whatever) as s/he runs out. I imagine every shot the ghost takes, see his perfect position, and admire how well s/he takes care of the table. This takes a few minutes, but is a great way to practice emotional control in a match. THEN, I rerack the next game.
fwiw,
Jeff Livingston
When I miss, I don't immediately start reracking the balls. I pretend that I'm in a real match and now it is my opponent's turn at the table, so I go to my spot, put my cue in its holding spot and then I "watch" the ghost runout the table.
I pretend that he is shooting and I'm standing/sitting there fuming (or whatever) as s/he runs out. I imagine every shot the ghost takes, see his perfect position, and admire how well s/he takes care of the table. This takes a few minutes, but is a great way to practice emotional control in a match. THEN, I rerack the next game.
fwiw,
Jeff Livingston
Just wondering how you rack the balls on the 6, 7 and 8 ball ghosts. Since you are still essentially practicing for 9-ball, do you set up a 9-ball rack with gaps, or break all nine and take away a ball or two?
The reason I ask is that as my break is improving, my ghost scores are too. I kept him to 5-5 last night before he finished me off. The break is a massive part of the set. You could quantify each rack by order of difficulty 1-5 after the break.
1 : All balls are open, and nothing difficult. You just gotta run these.
2 : Maybe one ot tricky fairly tricky positional plays/shots, but a very makeable out.
3 : Perhaps a couple of clusters make this a challenging rack.
4 : Clusters and balls on the rail make for a very difficul track.
5 : Nigh on impossible. Clusters/balls on rail/maybe no shot on the 1, or no chance of getting 1 and breaking up the 2.
I play the ghost in a race to 9. I've done nine sets and I'm 0-9 (it's too hard for me). If I can improve my break such that my average rack difficulty comes down from 3 (where it is now) to 2 then I'm gonna do much better with the same runout ability. I know that I get at least one, probably two 5s each set so they are lost racks right away (although I did gloriously run one of them last week!). I probably get one or two 1s. It all comes down to those 2, 3 and 4 difficulty racks and how I play them. Now if I play the ghost 7-ball removing two balls after a 9-ball break, I can bring that rack difficulty average way down and perhaps make it an even match. I would also then be practicing the kind of racks that I need to run in tournaments (at my level), not going for crazy Efren-style runouts I'd never go for in a match. This is essentially what the point of this drill is : practicing the outs we need to make in a match.
If I play 7-ball, and rack in the regular circle then the whole break dynamic is different. Maybe it's better to rack like 9-ball but without the wing balls?
Just seeing what others do in this important "stepping stone" exercise.
The reason I ask is that as my break is improving, my ghost scores are too. I kept him to 5-5 last night before he finished me off. The break is a massive part of the set. You could quantify each rack by order of difficulty 1-5 after the break.
1 : All balls are open, and nothing difficult. You just gotta run these.
2 : Maybe one ot tricky fairly tricky positional plays/shots, but a very makeable out.
3 : Perhaps a couple of clusters make this a challenging rack.
4 : Clusters and balls on the rail make for a very difficul track.
5 : Nigh on impossible. Clusters/balls on rail/maybe no shot on the 1, or no chance of getting 1 and breaking up the 2.
I play the ghost in a race to 9. I've done nine sets and I'm 0-9 (it's too hard for me). If I can improve my break such that my average rack difficulty comes down from 3 (where it is now) to 2 then I'm gonna do much better with the same runout ability. I know that I get at least one, probably two 5s each set so they are lost racks right away (although I did gloriously run one of them last week!). I probably get one or two 1s. It all comes down to those 2, 3 and 4 difficulty racks and how I play them. Now if I play the ghost 7-ball removing two balls after a 9-ball break, I can bring that rack difficulty average way down and perhaps make it an even match. I would also then be practicing the kind of racks that I need to run in tournaments (at my level), not going for crazy Efren-style runouts I'd never go for in a match. This is essentially what the point of this drill is : practicing the outs we need to make in a match.
If I play 7-ball, and rack in the regular circle then the whole break dynamic is different. Maybe it's better to rack like 9-ball but without the wing balls?
Just seeing what others do in this important "stepping stone" exercise.
Another form of playing ghost is play your game so that the only time you leave the table is after pocketing the 9, or leaving the ghost hooked. The 'real' ghost game is a great way to improve your run out skills, but for many, it's a drill with a goal that is just not realistic. So add the safety option to your ghost game, and stick to it. You miss a ball, or don't leave the table safe...............you lose...............period! It's a little bit more realistic for players that don't have a chance of beating the ghost, but it is still a strict enough drill that will teach you the art of allowing your opponent a trip to the table only to kick at something, or the rack the balls.
dave
dave
hobokenapa said:
If the table always opened up, the game would be a lot easier. Rolls are a big part of it. Start off by giving yourself a perfect rack, all balls touching. If you give yourself a tight rack and strike the one ball square, the balls should spread fine. I would say about 10 - 20% of the tables I get have clusters. In many cases, I can get through them anyway. When I have ball in hand on the one, I can often use that to break a cluster. There are kiss shots, combos, banks - you have to be creative to beat the ghost.
Clusters are like a puzzle, you have to figure out a way of solving them and there almost always is a way.
Chris
I feel your pain about the break. I was playing the 9 ball ghost the other night racing to 12 for $25. I was in complete control cruising to an easy win the score being 8 games to 2 in my favor. The table starts breaking funny balls start tying up on me before I knew it the score was 8 games to 5. I switched sides and got some tough spreads but runable nothing tied up just congested. I play about .500 the rest of the way and won 12 games to 7. Point is I played great to beat the 9 ball ghost I only missed 2 open shots but almost got screwed because the the balls started tying up. In my opinion the ghost is an excellent way to improve your offensive skills but there is alot more to pool than being offensive, like learning a jam up safety game. BEST OF LUCK keep playing and you will beat him.hobokenapa said: