Little League Baseball Headquarters
Professional vs. “house” rules?
Why do you suppose there is such a huge discrepancy between world-standardized (WPA, BCA, ACS, etc.) rules and the many variations of what I would call “house” rules? Some of the major differences are huge. I understand the whole “8-ball on the break” thing due to coin-op tables, so that’s not my concern. What about giving up ball in hand anywhere on the table? This is alien to so many people. If they even let you take ball in hand after they foul, they’ll almost certainly expect you to put it behind the head string. Double-hit fouls and no cushion contacted fouls I see all the time as well. Johnny makes a good point with his baseball analogy. There’s uniformity at all levels in baseball, from little league to the majors (with a few exceptions). What gets me is that the rules are right there for anyone to read and they’re not difficult to understand. Show me the official text from the world “bar rules” headquarters and I’ll give it a read. M.D.-BCA Instructor/Referee.
I think the reason most BCA rules are eschewed in favor of bar rules is that casual players simply aren’t capable of making the decisions that come up when playing BCA rules. First of all, the no-rail rule (yes, I still say rail…sorry) is there to make safeties tougher (i.e. you have to be a better player to play a legal safety than to play one in which you just roll the cue ball somewhere, not that most of them can shoot a safety that way, either)…which brings me to another often ignored rule: contacting your own ball first. I glanced over at a couple of men playing 8-ball on Friday night (the best time of the week to get the greatest variety of rules 
), and the guy shooting the eight was hooked and he kicked at it, completely missed it, and the other guy shot his shot where it was left. I thought to myself, “What’s the point of kicking if nothing happens if you don’t hit it?” Now, for ball in hand anywhere on the table…Two reasons why I think they prefer ball in hand behind the headstring…first, the casual player is going to be overwhelmed by having to choose which ball to shoot, and second, he thinks that if his opponent has ball in hand anywhere on the table, it makes it too easy for him. Yes, illogical, but I really believe that’s how they think.
And yes, the rules are there for everyone to read, but first you have to want to read them. Why would they if it’s going to make it harder on them? Eventually, of course, playing by the rules would improve their games, but it’d be tough for them to play like that for a little while, and these people aren’t looking for a challenge. Agree?
–Lea
p.s. Your Best Friend was saying on a shot after the break, when the first ball is legally pocketed (a stripe, e.g.), one could, because of the ambiguity of the rule, choose solids instead…However, it doesn’t say that you’re allowed to just declare that you want to be solids instead…
(Chinese) Basics of Youth Baseball