Cannabis as a performance enhancer.

Secaucus Fats said:

I'd like to hear from pool players who consume marijuana regarding their opinions on it's worth as a performance enhancing agent.

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Just a sec... let me get my son, Tony "Mosconi" Hakala, in here...


Well it's been months since I've been high and shot pool because of my probation and my damned parental figure. But more often than not when I shoot pool, like you said "low to medium intesity", it does seem to help me focus and concentrate more on the shot and the leave and what my opponent was doing, though at times I got "too high" (as if there is such a thing) and my game was completely off!! All-in-all, I won't gamble high, just play for fun..

~Estonio Mosconi~

Yes, that's really him, my @#$%! Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Low intensity I'd agree with the above. I do think about the leave and am a bit slower and more analytical about things(at least I think I am). However, I believe my actual eyesight and view of the table may be a bit distorted due to the pupil's expanding and the eyelids lowering. Since you said strictly cannabis I won't touch on any prescription drugs

I do not use the sticky icky so you can probably disregard my input, but I find this subject interesting.

The best players I know (pro level) all play straight. I can't think of one that even drinks while playing serious pool. They are much too competitive to handicap themselves with outside distractions.

Think about it, if you only play your best on (insert favorite flavor) you have already added levels of difficulty to your routine. You must possess said drug in quantities sufficient to last however long your session (what happens when you run out on the road or in the middle of a tournament?) You must find a secure location to ingest said drug and in the proper quantity (cop wanders by in the parking lot) and on and on.

The worst part of relying on a substance for performance is, like Bert said to Eddie, its an excuse to lose. " I was too high", "I was not high enough" you get the idea.

It just never seems to end well.

Oh yeah, I find it hard to believe Tiger is hitting the pipe (or anything else) before snapping off the best in the world on a regular basis.

But hey, if it works for you, roll with it.

JCIN said:

The worst part of relying on a substance for performance is, like Bert said to Eddie, its an excuse to lose. " I was too high", "I was not high enough" you get the idea.

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Agreed. Let them get stoned/drunk/high and lose their money

Well, you have above the input of my more experienced, only child (to the best of my knowledge and "relief" ).

Pot just puts me to sleep, I've found, especially the more potent modern hybrids. The last time I toked was 12 years ago, with a lovely and amorous young lady whose shift at a high-priced strip club had just ended. Big mistake. I had to send her home in a cab, unrequited.

These days, I drink only soda while shooting pool, except for some vodka-and-cranberry when I wish to give an apprentice a spot. The last time I allowed myself to get hammered was Feb. 28, 2006. Beloved Son ruthlessly relieved me of $150 that night, and after a whole week I'd only recovered $120 of it!

What I Have Learned!

Fats, I have smoked pot from 1965 to present! That's a lot of weed my friend. I guarentee you I have hit the best in the world and the worst. I have slacked off quite a bit lately and do not want it anymore. I went thru 9 days without, came home and pertook a couple of days and left it alone yesterday. What I have found is this, deep inside all of us, we know there is someone we were meant to be. And we can feel when we are becoming that person. The reverse is also true, we know when something's is off and we're not the person we we're meant to be. I now know who I was meant to be! When I toke up, I am off and not who I am suppose to be. I understand that now after 41 years of hitting the pipe. This has been the most important lesson of my life! I don't regret anything Fats, I am just trying to be authentic. I believe we are meant to experience exactly what we experience. Have no regrets and keep searching for the true meaning of life. I contribute a great deal of my enlightenment to the Tao, Deepak Chopra, Gary Zukav, Elizabeth Kubler Ross and Jesus. Without these folks, I would be eternally lost. JMHO
Purdman

I'm Having CEREAL !

Deleted b/c Fats removed his alligator avatar....

Doug

Smorgass Bored said:

Fats,
I don't smoke weed, but I did take two pain pills last night after the football game. I just awoke a few minutes ago and I'd like to tell you that I don't like your avatar of an alligator eating a baby.....

Doug
(I dreamed about a boa constrictor eating my Ford Ranger......... in color)

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You always did get the best drugs, Smorg. Want some mustard-infused mashed nightcrawlers?

But Fats' avatar looks like an octopus giving birth to a baby, to me!

And that Ranger must be what gave Cuddles, my boa, a bellyache.

let's put it this way. If I played Johnny Archer a race to 7 it would take awhile to finish the set. Johnnyt

Okay here it goes. I personally only some in the evening, I don't want to run around all day being stoned, but generally smoke every evening. In my opinion I play my very best pool sober, weed just doesn't focus my mind nearly as well as a good openent can. I can play bad, good or great stoned but really the pot doesn't seem to have an influence there much at all. The butterflies are still there, just as the desire to win.
The only thing that the pot really changes for me is that on league nights I don't feel like going home at 9 pm to have a smoke, since I'm stoned allready. The few tournaments I do play (I usually stay sober at tournaments because you can't just up and leave for half an hour you might miss your match) I find that I shoot just as well/poor but as mentioned, when the evening comes around I just lose my drive and feel like relaxing on the couch. So do I consider Cannabis a performance enhancer for me? No. You wanted to keep it narrowed down to weed, so I won't go into stronger stuff (which I don't take) that imo can help your game thru means of boosting your confidence.

gr. Dave

JCIN said:

I do not use the sticky icky so you can probably disregard my input, but I find this subject interesting.

The best players I know (pro level) all play straight. I can't think of one that even drinks while playing serious pool. They are much too competitive to handicap themselves with outside distractions.

Think about it, if you only play your best on (insert favorite flavor) you have already added levels of difficulty to your routine. You must possess said drug in quantities sufficient to last however long your session (what happens when you run out on the road or in the middle of a tournament?) You must find a secure location to ingest said drug and in the proper quantity (cop wanders by in the parking lot) and on and on.

The worst part of relying on a substance for performance is, like Bert said to Eddie, its an excuse to lose. " I was too high", "I was not high enough" you get the idea.

It just never seems to end well.

Oh yeah, I find it hard to believe Tiger is hitting the pipe (or anything else) before snapping off the best in the world on a regular basis.

But hey, if it works for you, roll with it.

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J.
While I agree with most of your post about the difficulty of controlling the buzz level, you might be WAY off on the amount of Pros playing on "something". I never knew it myself before getting to hang with people "in the know" so to speak. I was real surprised, and not so surprised by who did what, and NO I would never post names no matter who or what I know. But here's a short list of what I was told were some of the favorites...

Alcohol
Pot
Amphetamines
Pain killers...also mixed with Cocaine
Anti-depressants

and on and on.....but by no means was I lead to believe it was a majority of the Pro's. The link I found was almost EVERY one of the players I was told about had extensive road time. I think the pressure of making a buck on the road might become overwhelming for some.

I guess the problem is if you find you play great (insert action here) you are going to want to repeat that action next time. That action might be getting enough sleep, taking drugs, drinking coffee, staying up all night, running or working out before a match....etc. IMO the problem with drugs is controlling the buzz level, and the fact that the more you do, the more you NEED to do to get the wanted result.

Me?....I have played high, drunk, speeding, none of which worked out very well. Like Grady said in one of his vids, In his career He can count on one hand the amount of times he was beat by someone who was "on" something.

Gerry

Also, don't be surprised to see drug tests next year in the IPT.....

Gerry

Double-Dave said:

So do I consider Cannabis a performance enhancer for me? No. You wanted to keep it narrowed down to weed, so I won't go into stronger stuff (which I don't take) that imo can help your game thru means of boosting your confidence.

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Well, since it's already been a little skewed by alcohol and pain pills. I personally find that if I'm feeling very nervous or anxious my prescription for anxiety attacks (alpralozam aka Xanax) calms my mind a bit. While it's not a crutch nor do I need it to play dead stroke pool, I will admit sometimes it does help me to get in the frame needed to be there(dead stroke).

I definately think Purdman is on the money as well...Anyways sorry for further taking the thread in another direction.

How OFten You Smoke Makes a Difference.

If someone is an occasional smoker, IMO, pot can have dramatic effect over their game (good or bad). For an habitual toker, the overall effect is more predictable. When you smoke all the time you have a good idea what the effect will be, and therefore the impact upon your performance is mitigated.

Before I was serious about this game, I was playing in a bar with a guy, who was just creaming me every game (for like 5/6 games straight). I asked if he smoked, and we went out and smoked a j. The end result.....he started playing real poorly, and I started playing better. I don't believe the j made me shoot better, but that the mistakes he made just opened up more opportunities to win.

I also think that any sort of vice can and does effect ones ability to play. For me the weed isn't a factor, but maybe that just says something about my tollerence, or my lack of refined skill on the table lol.

Purd.... Good for you...making life changes is hard, and it's something you have to want, not something imposed upon you. If we ever get together to play I won't offer. I'd rather not be the instrument that throws you off of your new path..... I would be willing to take all of your natural fiber tips, as you don't seem to need them anymore...

McCue Banger McCue

...if it goes with the lifestyle, it comes into the game.
Stoners already get stoned and play pool too.
No-one takes it to play better. Its already there as part of the lifestyle.
I'd been straight for three years and come across some wild weed six weeks ago.
Doesnt make any difference to the pool mechanics, but strategy can be goofy.
It does make everything more intense. Hate it, never for competition.
Too intense.
ok for freestyling with friends though.
Hamburgers arent performance enhancing either, I just eat 'em
Some players say though weed puts them in the zone.
Zombie.

DelaWho??? said:

If someone is an occasional smoker, IMO, pot can have dramatic effect over their game (good or bad). For an habitual toker, the overall effect is more predictable. When you smoke all the time you have a good idea what the effect will be, and therefore the impact upon your performance is mitigated.

Before I was serious about this game, I was playing in a bar with a guy, who was just creaming me every game (for like 5/6 games straight). I asked if he smoked, and we went out and smoked a j. The end result.....he started playing real poorly, and I started playing better. I don't believe the j made me shoot better, but that the mistakes he made just opened up more opportunities to win.

I also think that any sort of vice can and does effect ones ability to play. For me the weed isn't a factor, but maybe that just says something about my tollerence, or my lack of refined skill on the table lol.

Purd.... Good for you...making life changes is hard, and it's something you have to want, not something imposed upon you. If we ever get together to play I won't offer. I'd rather not be the instrument that throws you off of your new path..... I would be willing to take all of your natural fiber tips, as you don't seem to need them anymore...

McCue Banger McCue

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Sorry Banger, my ol'lady has conficated them all for herself. I ain't never gonna say never either. Who the hell knows what lies in tomorrow. I sure don't!
Purdman

While I have to admit, I have been known to partake from time to time (and by that I mean every day), I still laugh at those who feel a need to preach the positive affects of what is still essentially a narcotic.

And in response to the actualy question, all I can say is, if you shoot better when you're stoned, then you're obviously smoking crap!

I have seen world class pool played while the player was very stoned.

Sustaining a high level of play while stoned is the difficult part, and players that do this struggle with fine tuning their chemical balance. A little too much or too little and its an excuse as to why they played bad.

I think alot of folks would be very surprised to learn just how many pot heads there are in professional pool.

Smokin weed for me I shoot good for a while until i get to stoned and sometime but how can you control it when the potency of the weed is always different. I have taken to hits of my trust pipe and not been able to function do shit like picking up the cue ball for no reason when thinking there was a bad hit in a tournament. So from that lesson I will not gamble or play tournies stoned. I must be sober and I don't drink alchohol what so ever when playing pool