Situation: Before calling a timeout my opponent's team starts telling the shooter what to shoot. They have a timeout left but shouldn't it be called first?

Yes, teams have 1 minute for a timeout and that starts from when it is called. If a team starts talking to their player before calling the timeout then some amount of time can be assumed to be used as part of the 1 minute. In addition below are things that can be said that are not coaching and some things that are considering coaching.

Rule: Official Team Manual (OTM) page 8 “Time Guidelines”: https://media.poolplayers.com/TMRB/Team-Manual-English.pdf

Rule: Official Team Manual (OTM) page 28-30 section 18 “Coaching”: https://media.poolplayers.com/TMRB/Team-Manual-English.pdf

Other things that are ok and NOT considered coaching include:

• Telling a player to mark the pocket when shooting the 8-ball.
• Reminding a player which is the next ball in the rotation (9-Ball).
• Giving advice or placing the cue ball before the break.
• Reminding a player to chalk up.
• Telling a player a foul has occurred.
• Answering a player’s question concerning rules.
• Comments such as “good hit” or “nice shot”.
• Conversations with or comments to a player when it is not their turn at the table.

Things that are considered coaching and therefore a time-out:

• Which ball to shoot, except in 9-Ball.
• Where to leave the cue ball.
• Whether to shoot soft or hard.
• Whether to use english.
• Whether to play safe or defensive.

This section also covers:

• Who can coach
• Who can call a time-out
• What is allowed during the time-out
• What the coach is allowed to do for the player during the time-out
• Among other things regarding coaching

You can submit a "Rule of the Week" to the league office:

• Email to sandiego@apaleagues.com.
• Email Subject Line must read “SDAPA Rule of the Week”
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