APA Handicap System

For those of you who are not familiar with the APA's handicap system, this is how it works. The handicaps range from 1 to 10 with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. A new female player will start out as a 3 and a new male player will start out as a 4. I don't understand why it makes a difference whether you are male of female, but that's just the way it is. Your handicap (ranking) changes based on several different things. Whether you win or lose, how many innings were in the match, the ball count, how many defensive shots, and the rank of the player you were playing against. The amount of innings is how many times did both players shoot during the match. Defensive shots are when you make a good hit on the object ball without trying to make it and intentionally leave a bad shot for the other player. The ball count is how many balls did you and your opponent make. Lets say you are a level 4 and the other player is an 8. You would have to make 31 balls before the other player makes 65. The final score is the ball count. Hope this gives you some basic understanding of how the handicap system works in APA 9 ball.

Week 4 playing 9 ball in APA league

It is now week 4 and I am ready to start winning again. I practiced some at the house to make sure I would be ready to play. They posted me up against a skill level 4 player which is the same rank as me. My goal was to win the match and try to improve. I played the perfect match. The match was close, but I kept the lead from start to finish. The final score was 31 to 27. My rank will probably stay the same this week. I will have a post later this week about how the handicap system works.

Week 3 playing 9 ball in APA league

Week 3 and I have a real challenge this time. I had to play an 8. One of the best players in the league. I hate to lose, but this could be my first loss. Well, I gave it my all but, I got my butt kicked 65 to 25. Seems I need to practice some more. I am not too upset though. It's early in the season and I will improve my game every week. Maybe next week my match will be against someone not quite as good. I will definitely be practicing this week just in case.

Week 2 playing 9 ball in APA league

Well, week 2 arrived and I found myself having to play another 4. My rank did not go up after the first week even though I won by a large margin. Things went the same as the week before. I jumped out to a 10 to 0 lead and never trailed. The final score was 31 to 6. I am sure that my rank will be going up now. The question is how high will it go. As most of you know, your rank is important when playing in the APA because the team has a maximum handicap of 23 that can be posted. I just hope my rank does not go up to high because, it would make it difficult for the team to post. Time will tell.

First week playing 9 ball in APA league

The new season for APA 9 ball has started and I got to play my first match. For the first time in a long while I was actually nervous about playing. I am very competitive and wanted to do well. Since I am a new 9 ball player, my rank is a 4. I feel quite confident that this will go up. I was matched up with a player who was also a 4. This made me feel a little more relaxed but, I was still quite nervous. Since we were both ranked as 4's, the race was to 31 balls. All my worries vanished quickly after the match started. I quickly jumped out to a 15 to 2 lead and never looked back. The final score was 31 to 7. Victory was mine. I am very pleased with my performance and plan to have a repeat next time I play.

Deciding to Play 9 Ball in the APA

I have always been an 8 ball player. For years I have played 8 ball in the APA and never thought about playing 9 ball. Last year my team made it into the finals in the Northeast Georgia APA league only to come up short by one game. With one more win, we would have made it to Las Vegas to play in the National Championships. My team just won another division championship last session and we are qualified for the local team championships in May again. However, I was asked if I would like to play on a 9 ball team this session. I have never played 9 ball in league before. It would mean giving up my spot on the 8 ball team which you can see is a good team. After thinking it over, I decided to give it a shot. Maybe it will be a nice change of pace. Maybe even improve my game. I will be posting every week the results of my new challenge. Who knows, maybe I'll be a better 9 ball player and make it all the way to Las Vegas this time.