You may hate the APA but.....

[Scott Lee]

PoolHallStuff...You're right to feel that way. "Handicap management" is just another word for cheating. Play your best, enjoy your teammates, and have a good time...that's what the APA is about. I would never play on a team where the captain told me to miss on purpose...period.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

The APA is fine for people who just want to drink and shoot pool and kill an evening. The biggest problem I saw was what one coach called, "Handicap Management." Basically this means sandbagging to keep player handicaps at a level advantageous to the team roster. I've heard it said that this is just part of the game, but it left me feeling a bit dirty.

 

[Scott Lee]

Dave...Weren't you still at MSU in 1992? That's when I brought the APA to Bozeman.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

DonSmidget,

Welcome to the board and welcome to our great little game.

I had never heard of APA until about five years ago when I started playing pool again. I had played in VNEA for a while in college and really enjoyed that.

When I found out about APA it was after I had taken about 3yrs off of pool almost completely. I started playing in bars just to get back into it. One tuesday I was at a place that was overrun with people who had brought their own cues. I was playing on one of the non-league tables and it seemed like every one of the league players came over to test their luck against me.

Keep in mind that I was pretty rusty and only out to have fun. It all worked well into my favor, every team except one offered me a spot. I told them that I would have to think it over.

In the end, it was players just like you that made me start playing APA. The division was new and had no seasoned players. I saw a lot of people who were having fun playing and didn't have the skills or knowledge that I did. I saw an opportunity to educate people and maybe change my attitude towards competitive pool (I had quit playing because I had stopped having fun).

I don't play APA any longer and I doubt I ever will again. There are things I don't like about it and I have other options that I enjoy immensely (a non-handicapped league with some of the best friends I could ever have). That said, I still sometimes 'happen' to be where APA teams are playing.

Best of luck,

dld

 

[pwd72s]

JimboJim,

As I grow in this pool journey, both in ability and confidence in my game, yes tournaments are in my future picture of pool. Im not by any means trying to wow the world, I just want to improve to MY best whatever that may be

What a great attitude! :grin:

 

[justadub]

PoolHallStuff...You're right to feel that way. "Handicap management" is just another word for cheating. Play your best, enjoy your teammates, and have a good time...that's what the APA is about. I would never play on a team where the captain told me to miss on purpose...period.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Exactly!

And make no mistake, there is a way to employ "handicap management" and to do so in an honest and above-board manner...

If I have someone on my team that we feel is close to "going up" and we are getting near the end of the session, the simple thing to do is to play that person against tougher opponents. If your player wins, then great, he/she earned it. But if they don't, then you can keep them at the lower skill level a while longer. We are trying to win, today, and tomorrow. Pick and choose your opponents wisely...

You can only do this for a short while, you can't go all session with this, or your player will get frustrated. And that isn't the point anyway, since the player is gonna "go up" at some point. But for a short while before playoffs, it can work.

This only works when everyone on your team is committed to winning, regardless, and the rest of your team is going to be able to continue to win enough to keep you in the race. All of our players want to win, no matter who they play, so this works for us. And it doesn't happen that often, so we don't have to go to this very often.

None of our players would tolerate another player laying down.

 

[Scott Lee]

Interesting...I thought you were there earlier. I still remember the cool ball signs you made for the gameroom. BTW, Dave, James, and Peanut all played APA...but I think it was before you got there. I sold the Bozeman league in '94, and I think it fizzled out within a couple of years. The Valley league was then, and still is the dominant league in that area.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Scott,

I didn't start at MSU until 1995 and didn't really play much until 1996 or so.

I really can't say why I didn't know about APA. I only knew the VNEA from playing the 'Hole-in-the-wall' league with DaveB, JamesR, AdamS, Peanut and WiltW.

Other than that league and a handful of saturday tourneys, I never played anywhere outside of MSU.

Fun times, tho. I have fond memories of playing during the summer of '99, closing down the Rec playing winners table/losers table 9-ball.

Hope all is well, Scott.

dld

 

[cardiac kid]

The APA is fine for people who just want to drink and shoot pool and kill an evening.

You are absolutely correct! It's why APA has 250,000 plus member / players worldwide. One of the major reasons I play APA!

The biggest problem I saw was what one coach called, "Handicap Management." Basically this means sandbagging to keep player handicaps at a level advantageous to the team roster. I've heard it said that this is just part of the game, but it left me feeling a bit dirty.

Agree again. To be truthful, every time one of our beginning players moves up a skill level, we wind up playing with four players. On the other hand, captains or coaches such as the one you describe are eventually outed to the LO. Not always but frequently enough. As soon as you find a cure for the problem, please contact the APA, AZ Billiards and myself. We all want to know the solution!

Lyn