Beta blockers, anyone?

Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) has released the 2020 list of banned substances. Beta blockers are specifically listed for billiard sports in competition. You can use them if not in competition. By contrast, archers are not permitted to use beta blockers out of competition.
 
They stop the adrenaline response.
They definitely work.
Common with orchestra performers too.

Makes good sense to me.
 
couldnthinkof01 said:
They stop the adrenaline response.
They definitely work.
Common with orchestra performers too.

Makes good sense to me.
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Would they help with lie detectors? Pesky homicide “investigators”

They do seem like a good thing for those who can’t handle the pressure. I wonder if it’s a common thing. Someone must be doing it if they’re banning them
 
JazzyJeff87 said:
Would they help with lie detectors? Pesky homicide “investigators”

They do seem like a good thing for those who can’t handle the pressure. I wonder if it’s a common thing. Someone must be doing it if they’re banning them
Click to expand...

Ha. Dont ya know your not supposed to talk to those
guys or take their tests;)

I tried them twice a few years ago. They do work,
ultimately I decided it was better to make
the pressure my friend than rely on some crutch.

I was wondering that too. Also wondering what organizations are doing testing? In or out of
competition for p.e.d.
I know that Mario He popped for weed or something
but I dont know the who/what/when/ and why of it.
 
couldnthinkof01 said:
Ha. Dont ya know your not supposed to talk to those
guys or take their tests;)

I tried them twice a few years ago. They do work,
ultimately I decided it was better to make
the pressure my friend than rely on some crutch.

I was wondering that too. Also wondering what organizations are doing testing? In or out of
competition for p.e.d.
I know that Mario He popped for weed or something
but I dont know the who/what/when/ and why of it.
Click to expand...

Lol I’m not a chit chatter anyway. I like the pressure, it’s like my main reason for playing for money and always playing even. But there have been a few times, oddly enough when I played the league, that I could’ve used something like that. It was having others depending on me I think that I didn’t like.
 
JazzyJeff87 said:
Lol I’m not a chit chatter anyway. I like the pressure, it’s like my main reason for playing for money and always playing even. But there have been a few times, oddly enough when I played the league, that I could’ve used something like that. It was having others depending on me I think that I didn’t like.
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There are players who perform best under pressure - maybe adrenaline fuels their focus (or something).

pj
chgo
 
It wasn't wacky tabbacky...it was a blood pressure med.

Aka: beta blocker.
couldnthinkof01 said:
Ha. Dont ya know your not supposed to talk to those
guys or take their tests;)

I tried them twice a few years ago. They do work,
ultimately I decided it was better to make
the pressure my friend than rely on some crutch.

I was wondering that too. Also wondering what organizations are doing testing? In or out of
competition for p.e.d.
I know that Mario He popped for weed or something
but I dont know the who/what/when/ and why of it.
Click to expand...
 
Black-Balled said:
It wasn't wacky tabbacky...it was a blood pressure med.

Aka: beta blocker.
Click to expand...

Thanks BB.
Do you know who was testing or why?
Who pays for testing?

If pro mma has taught me anything its that
those tests are expensive and easily passed
by most that care to take precautions.

Pool doesn't seem to pay well enough for the
players themselves to be paying for good tests.
 
Been banned for a while in different sports. Shooting, archery, etc.

Wish I didn't have to take them, but I have little choice because of the condition of my heart.


JazzyJeff87 said:
Would they help with lie detectors? Pesky homicide “investigators”

They do seem like a good thing for those who can’t handle the pressure. I wonder if it’s a common thing. Someone must be doing it if they’re banning them
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Beta blockers are Rx only ! It's illegal to use them or buy them without an Rx. Also its illegal to get them from a 'friend' . And its illegal to give them to a friend. Golfers used them for years until mandatory drug testing began .
They are dangerous as they can drop your heart rate too low and can stop your heart!
I was on 3 high blood pressure meds for years, beta blockers being one.
They lower pulse rate. When abused , they will keep your heart rate down under
pressure, but when the pressure is off, heart rate can fall quickly to dangerous
levels.
Not a good thing to mess with.
ps
I was worried about Max with that 130+ pulse rate in Russia.
But he played very well.
 
Late 80's-early 90's there was a BB scandal in snooker. Quite a few players got caught up in it before they were banned and testing started. Cliff Thorburn was the biggest name player involved.
 
I take a beta blocker daily. My heart rate runs about 45 b.p.m. I've got a thickened and enlarged heart, medicate for atrial fibrillation, not to mention type-2 diabetes. I'm on eight meds daily.

If someone ever tells me I can't play pool if I take BB's....then I'm quitting pool.

I would rather live, thank you.

In professional pool, there should be an exception for those clinically diagnosed with heart disease. JMO

Maniac
 
Maniac said:
I take a beta blocker daily. My heart rate runs about 45 b.p.m. I've got a thickened and enlarged heart, medicate for atrial fibrillation, not to mention type-2 diabetes. I'm on eight meds daily.

If someone ever tells me I can't play pool if I take BB's....then I'm quitting pool.

I would rather live, thank you.

In professional pool, there should be an exception for those clinically diagnosed with heart disease. JMO

Maniac
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Do what you need to to hang in there...many of us here want you around:cool:
 
been there, done that, don't want no BB's or a t-shirt!!

I was prescribed beta-blockers for blood pressure and a somewhat dicey heart. Took them for about ten years, hated them! They took away the alertness and little bit of tension needed to perform my best. Pool, I just never felt quite awake. Really burned me in sports where I needed fast reflexes. My best draw and first shot into a small target was 0.75 seconds. Not blazingly fast but certainly respectable. Unfortunately on beta-blockers my first shot time from the same hands up "surrender" position was more like 1.25 seconds. With six or eight people on the line at once for some matches I heard a shot or two before I fired.

Beta-blockers are usually prescribed in conjunction with another medication. About ten years or so ago, not really certain when, the medical community decided it was the other medication doing the work and beta-blockers were just along for the ride. I talked to my doctor and got off of beta-blockers without any repercussions. There are a lot of different medications out there. Pays to educate ourselves on the ones we are taking. I have been prescribed new med's a few times over the years, contacted my doctor about possible conflicts with other drugs, and been told to flush the new medication.

When a race horse is 100% fit and healthy there is nothing that will make them perform better. I have long suspected humans are the same way. I have won in good company, I have set a few small records. Damned nice to be able to say I did it on the natch with no crutches or aids.

The best way to control emotions is as simple as breathing. I have used breathing to control my emotional temperature for decades. Ease off by yourself, close your eyes, think of a place you have been that was quiet and peaceful. I can do that for even a few minutes and drop my pulse and blood pressure significantly. By the same token, before explosive action I will take some slow deep breaths to oxygen load, then a handful of short shallow breaths to raise my emotional temperature just a bit. I may be slow, but I don't leave much in the tank. My draws were pretty much consistent within a hundredth or so of a second.

I could be confusing them with something else but best I recall beta-blockers work in the brain. Is it really worth jacking with your brain to try to gain a slight advantage that can be reached other ways?

As always, my opinions and my experience. Others mileage may and will vary!

Hu
 
Maniac said:
... If someone ever tells me I can't play pool if I take BB's....then I'm quitting pool. ...
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The WADA site linked above says they are OK for pool players except in competition. I assume that means that they are OK for chronic conditions but you have to suspend them during competitions and stop some time before the competition begins.
 
Bob Jewett said:
The WADA site linked above says they are OK for pool players except in competition. I assume that means that they are OK for chronic conditions but you have to suspend them during competitions and stop some time before the competition begins.
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Would that put someone who is prescribed them at risk
or at some disadvantage?

Usually testing protocols like wada have some kind of
medical exemption dont they?
 
couldnthinkof01 said:
Would that put someone who is prescribed them at risk
or at some disadvantage?

Usually testing protocols like wada have some kind of
medical exemption dont they?
Click to expand...

There are 'therapeutic use exemptions' (TUE),. but they aren't for all drugs.

If your life depends on the meds, you aren't going to be able to compete.

Sort of like how the Americans with disabilities Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to folks. Ain't no wheelchair people gonna play in the NBA, or blind people gonna be cab drivers.
 
Black-Balled said:
There are 'therapeutic use exemptions' (TUE),. but they aren't for all drugs.

If your life depends on the meds, you aren't going to be able to compete.

Sort of like how the Americans with disabilities Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to folks. Ain't no wheelchair people gonna play in the NBA, or blind people gonna be cab drivers.
Click to expand...

I would argue that taking a prescription drug for a known condition isn't akin to being blind and having to drive. I would say that allowing the medication would be a reasonable accommodation. Think of it as more of the blind cab driver can have 20/20 vision with glasse, which would be an reasonable accommodation.
 
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