Maintaining sharp focus at the pool table is one of the hallmarks of the professional or top amateur. But if you, like me, sometimes find your practice games degenerating to just “banging balls”, then you might try the practice game discussed below to see if your focus improves. At the very least, I can almost guarantee that you’ll find you’re spending more of your practice time in a mentally ‘high-focus’ zone – the place you need to be to see improvement in your game.

While beginning and intermediate players often think solely about win/loss ratio, the advanced player is much more concerned with consistently good play. For your play to improve, you first need to realize that not all of your ‘wins’ are alike. There is a huge difference between a ‘forced win’ resulting from pocketing the 9-ball at the end of a 5 or more ball run-out and a ‘gift win’ where the opponent rattles the 7-ball in the pocket resulting in an easy 3-ball run-out. You must realize that the most characteristic feature of the very best players is their ability to ‘force a win’ and constantly strive to enhance this part of your own game. I believe that Focus 9-Ball can help.

This practice game is intended for advanced players (a more precise definition is given below in the game specifics). It improves focus in three ways. The first is that it places a strong emphasis on positive play such as the careful planning and execution of run-outs and safeties. Secondly, it removes the focus-killing and time-consuming completion of ‘worthless’ games - those where the game has already had multiple missed shots by each player. Thirdly, these mediocre games are no longer hidden by lumping them into the win/loss totals of the players involved, but are instead emphasized by tracking them separately giving an indication of the overall level of play in the match.

Removing the time spent completing mediocre games is key to increasing the percentage of total practice time spent in a high-focus mental mode. Additionally, the players involved remain focused on ‘forcing a win’ as opposed to just hanging around waiting for the opponent to make a mistake bad enough to lose the game.

Focus 9-ball is related to ‘playing the ghost’, which is perhaps the best solo way to practice focus. You probably are already familiar with this game. You rack, break, remove x lowest-numbered balls from the table (x depends on your skill level), take ball in hand and then attempt to run-out. If you fail to run-out, the ‘expert ghost’ gets the victory. If you can beat the ghost consistently removing x balls, decrease the number removed by 1 and try again. If you win races against the ghost by only taking ball in hand after the break, without removing any balls, then you don’t need to waste your time reading the rest of this article.

Solo practice can be somewhat boring. Focus 9-ball attempts to apply the same positives of the solo ‘play the ghost’ game to the normal two-player game of 9-ball. It keeps the concept of the ‘ghost’, but in this case the ghost is mediocre instead of expert.

Game Specifics

I will describe the game for two above-average 9-ball players. The players should be good enough that they can agree that only a win on their first or second attempt at an intended run-out constitutes a ‘decent game’. If both are good players, they can also agree that even a win where their opponent misses on two or more of his run-out opportunities is mediocre at best.

The two players are in a three-way race with a ‘mediocre ghost’ who gets credit for all the games where neither of the players could produce a run-out.

Each player begins with two run-out opportunities to score a win.

The player will declare one of three options on each turn at the table after the break:

1. “Go for it”, which costs one opportunity if the run-out fails.
2. “Run to the x-ball, then play safe”, which costs one opportunity only if the players fails to run as far as x
3. “Play safe” which does not cost an opportunity, but always costs the turn even if a ball drops.

The break is a free shot requiring no declaration. If a ball is pocketed on the break without scratching, the breaker then makes one of the above declarations and continues shooting. 9-on-the-break is spotted and does not count as a win, but the breaker does continue shooting after making a declaration. Push-outs are allowed on the shot immediately following the break and do not cost an opportunity.

The player behind in the race has the option of breaking or passing the break to the opponent. Players alternate breaks following ghost victories when their scores are tied.

A player can only collect a win by choosing to ‘go for it’ and then successfully completing the run-out, provided he has not previously exhausted his run-out opportunities. A player shooting after missing his second “go for it” opportunity is assisting the ghost, does not make a declaration and cannot win.

After one player has failed on his second opportunity, the opposing player is reduced to a single “go for it” opportunity, which must be taken on either the current or the following turn at the table. This potential loss of scoring opportunities encourages players to “go for it”.

After both players have exhausted their scoring opportunities, the balls are immediately racked for the next game and the ghost is awarded the victory.

No slop. Call ball and pocket if there can be any doubt about shot selection. If the called ball drops in the pocket intended and additional uncalled balls drop, the player continues shooting. If the 9-ball is one of the additional uncalled balls, the 9-ball is spotted and the shot does not count as a win.

It is important to note that the number of ghost victories in a match serves an effective gauge of the overall level of play involved. A winning score of 5-2-0 in a race against the opponent and the ghost indicates a much higher level of play than a score of 5-2-4. It is best also to consider that a 'mediocre ghost' victory really means that both players were losers regardless of their relative scores!

Of course, the term ‘mediocre ghost’ is relative to ‘good player’. If the ‘mediocre ghost’ is actually winning a lot of races, then, as in the solo ‘play the ghost’ game, try removing, for example, the two lowest numbered balls on the table immediately after the break. If the ‘ghost’ continues to win races, then it is likely that both you and your practice partner need to concentrate more on fundamentals than focus and 'forcing a win'.

Try adding some ‘Focus 9-Ball’ races into your practice regimen. Of course, 'gift wins' will still occur in this game, but even so you will get more opportunities to 'force a win' in your practice session by playing 'Focus 9-Ball' than by playing regular 9-ball. By concentrating on 'forced wins' achieved through run-outs or 'ball-in-hand' type safeties followed by run-outs, I think many players will quickly notice an improvement in their mental approach to the game. Some intermediate players may even be shocked by the amount of mental effort that should happen automatically in their everyday games. Still others may have their egos deflated when they discover the true percentage of mediocre games that they are playing. All in all, I think you and your practice partner will get a lot of value from the time you spend with this game.