effects of alcohol on one's actual level of play
- Thread starter dr_dave
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1 ot 2 definetly helps me. Mellows me out and takes the edge off.
The problem is I never stop at one or two. it turns into a 12 pack plus shots of southern comfort. then my games crap.
but yes 1 or 2 does help.
The problem is I never stop at one or two. it turns into a 12 pack plus shots of southern comfort. then my games crap.
but yes 1 or 2 does help.
Having a couple of beers is quite different than a couple of drinks and far from playing drunk unless the drinker weighs 90 lbs. and/or has never had any alcohol.
Without a doubt it can help anyone who has a "familial essential tremor" or like condition. Ask a doctor. With that condition tremors occur during certain fine motor skills and are exacerbated by stress....you know if you have had a hard time getting a chip with salsa to your mouth w/o spilling that you have a problem.....and 'one or two' beers can radically effect the tremors depending on how bad the condition is.
If you've been around pool for a while, then you have surely seen players with the condition. There have been pros discussed on this forum with like conditions that have had to quit. I'm not sure of the relationship between these kind of maladies and a bad case of "nerves", but the feeling may be the same. I tend to believe that when someone gets the shakes that they may have some sort of mild form of this condition, and if so may be helped by a beer or two.
Keeping a level "balance" is always the difficulty with any mind altering drug, as well as driving impaired and safety needs.
JMHO
td
Without a doubt it can help anyone who has a "familial essential tremor" or like condition. Ask a doctor. With that condition tremors occur during certain fine motor skills and are exacerbated by stress....you know if you have had a hard time getting a chip with salsa to your mouth w/o spilling that you have a problem.....and 'one or two' beers can radically effect the tremors depending on how bad the condition is.
If you've been around pool for a while, then you have surely seen players with the condition. There have been pros discussed on this forum with like conditions that have had to quit. I'm not sure of the relationship between these kind of maladies and a bad case of "nerves", but the feeling may be the same. I tend to believe that when someone gets the shakes that they may have some sort of mild form of this condition, and if so may be helped by a beer or two.
Keeping a level "balance" is always the difficulty with any mind altering drug, as well as driving impaired and safety needs.
JMHO
td
1 beer or half a beer is enough to remove those butterflies off your stomach.
an unholy mixture causes me to miss or foul a ball on an easy straight-in shot.
as far as hanging out with ugly ladies is concerned, I don't believe there is a loss of perception, but rather loss of strict preferences and sense of embarassment hanging out with the uglies. it boosts your confidence level. you get more composed on talking with them, not minding what others have to say to you talking with the uglies. I would say that beer or liquor frees your mind of all the biases and superficial preferences. what interests you is to eject all of that heat out of your body by any means necessary. the worst one would be doing it to another guy. lol.
if you would ask me if that would make the person confident talking, making out and doing the jungle fever to:
a beautiful woman: absolutely
an ugly woman: she's still a woman, though I'm not into grandma
a man: just don't let me sleep along side one, coz I might dream that I'm in bed with my hot lady neighbor. yikes !
*the last one cannot be considered as a conscious perception (eyes closed) but a subconscious one since the person is in LALA LAND.
an unholy mixture causes me to miss or foul a ball on an easy straight-in shot.
as far as hanging out with ugly ladies is concerned, I don't believe there is a loss of perception, but rather loss of strict preferences and sense of embarassment hanging out with the uglies. it boosts your confidence level. you get more composed on talking with them, not minding what others have to say to you talking with the uglies. I would say that beer or liquor frees your mind of all the biases and superficial preferences. what interests you is to eject all of that heat out of your body by any means necessary. the worst one would be doing it to another guy. lol.
if you would ask me if that would make the person confident talking, making out and doing the jungle fever to:
a beautiful woman: absolutely
an ugly woman: she's still a woman, though I'm not into grandma
a man: just don't let me sleep along side one, coz I might dream that I'm in bed with my hot lady neighbor. yikes !
*the last one cannot be considered as a conscious perception (eyes closed) but a subconscious one since the person is in LALA LAND.
For me personally it depends on my level of fitness. If I've been very active and exercising regularly then any amount of alcohol will hinder my ability, since my nerves are steady without the alcohol and my mind is clear.
If I have NOT been exercising regularly but still shooting well then alcohol does make me a better shot-maker by steadying my nerves but alternatively I think about shots less.
If I have NOT been exercising regularly but still shooting well then alcohol does make me a better shot-maker by steadying my nerves but alternatively I think about shots less.
Gregg said:
Hmmmmmmmmmm. I wonder why they call it a "cop-out':wink: ....maybe because it keeps you out of the cops car!??????..or is it because the cop has to get out of HIS car to arrest you? Seriously, moderation always wins when you are drinking and driving!!!!!!!
p.s. My doctor told me about this and it is now my "secret weapon' shhhhhhhhhhh, don't tell.
td
Negative
My game steadily decreases from the first drink. The first one or two takes the nerves away, which I used to think was a good thing. Now I realize that I play better under a little pressure and the nerves just make me bear down and concentrate more, then when I start to relax naturally without the alcohol I can stay in stroke longer.
I still drink when I play in the weekly 5 and 10 dollar tourneys, but for the cash and the bigger tourneys I stay sober. Just a 5 hour energy drink and gatorade.
My game steadily decreases from the first drink. The first one or two takes the nerves away, which I used to think was a good thing. Now I realize that I play better under a little pressure and the nerves just make me bear down and concentrate more, then when I start to relax naturally without the alcohol I can stay in stroke longer.
I still drink when I play in the weekly 5 and 10 dollar tourneys, but for the cash and the bigger tourneys I stay sober. Just a 5 hour energy drink and gatorade.
energy drink
I'm interested in the five hour energy drink and playing pool. Does it give you the gentle lift and let down like it claims? Any negative effects? PM me if you prefer.
Hu
Poolfiend said:
I'm interested in the five hour energy drink and playing pool. Does it give you the gentle lift and let down like it claims? Any negative effects? PM me if you prefer.
Hu
I enjoy drinking when playing pool, especially in a real tournament situation. It relaxes me. And of course it's "perceived." If I didn't perceive being relaxed, I wouldn't be relaxed! And whether or not I do well in the tourney for me has no bearing on why I drink during play. It's not important enough for me to not drink. I like to drink. End of story.
But, I could be in the minority. I don't drink much. I don't drink at home. I drink at almost every pool outing whether it's league (less than once a week) or a tournament (less than once a month). OTOH, if I'm at a pool event like DCC or SBE or Vegas Nationals, I'll be drinking every day. But, I won't play every day. Go figure.
Fred
But, I could be in the minority. I don't drink much. I don't drink at home. I drink at almost every pool outing whether it's league (less than once a week) or a tournament (less than once a month). OTOH, if I'm at a pool event like DCC or SBE or Vegas Nationals, I'll be drinking every day. But, I won't play every day. Go figure.
Fred
I started playing in 83 and always drank when playing and practicing. I only saw improvments for the first couple of years then very little improvments. I quit drinking in 97 and have had steady improvments since. I can only speak for myself but drinking and playing really didn't mix well for me. It did take a while for me to get really comfortable playing sober but has been worth it.
I do not see any improvement with light alcohol consumption, and a definite decrease in skill/judgement after 4 beers. I do not feel very intoxicated at 4 beers (doubt I would fail a roadside sobriety test) yet I do notice a decline in my ability on the table.
The only time I see a benefit to alcohol is if I have had to much coffee and have the caffiene jitters. A couple beers conteracts that.
B
The only time I see a benefit to alcohol is if I have had to much coffee and have the caffiene jitters. A couple beers conteracts that.
B
Alcohol helps me a lot when I'm playing pool, but only when my opponent is drinking it.
Heres my .02
When I have a serious match, either gambling or tournament I pretty much always drink. Its not that I think I play better, its that it helps me focus on only the game. Ill explain what I mean by that, I have a tendancy to worry about whos watching me play or worry about missing a ball or shape. Once I get a decent buzz going I tend to block all of that out. I could care less what other people are thinking, or whos watching. Ive also noticed that I get further down on my shots as opposed to when Im stiff and not relxaed. So for ME, yes it helps my game.
When I have a serious match, either gambling or tournament I pretty much always drink. Its not that I think I play better, its that it helps me focus on only the game. Ill explain what I mean by that, I have a tendancy to worry about whos watching me play or worry about missing a ball or shape. Once I get a decent buzz going I tend to block all of that out. I could care less what other people are thinking, or whos watching. Ive also noticed that I get further down on my shots as opposed to when Im stiff and not relxaed. So for ME, yes it helps my game.
I've never properly measured this, so I have no idea. Having said that, playing under the influence never brings out my best game.
This does remind me of a story, from 1980 or so (my third year EE I think). Anyway, one of my prof's had a old console TV in his office, and it was obviously modified. I asked him what it was about and he explained it was to measure reactions. The system caused a small 'dot' to move randomly around the screen. A joystick controlled a 1" ring, and the idea was to keep the dot inside the ring. The system integrated the time-distance relationship to show a score of how long/far the ring was away. This system was commissioned by our local government insurance company to measure the effects of alchohol. Prof. Jerry and his partner were well accomplished drinkers, and went along to the inaugural tests (I think they had free beer !). The results were that peoples performance improved after a bit of alchohol, with peak performance at a blood-alchohol level or about 0.03 - 0.04. At about 0.06 the results were about the same as 0.00, and by the time you were at about 0.08 the performances were noticeably poorer.
Just another data point, for what it's worth.
Dave (a mere Bachelor Dave)
BTW, these two prof's also had a method to measure the class of any drinking establishment. Every time they went to the bathroom they used the same urinal. Each visit they would toss a coin or two into that urinal. The measure of an establishment was how much money accumulated before it disappeared. These guys claimed that every place had its price, even 5-star restaurants
This does remind me of a story, from 1980 or so (my third year EE I think). Anyway, one of my prof's had a old console TV in his office, and it was obviously modified. I asked him what it was about and he explained it was to measure reactions. The system caused a small 'dot' to move randomly around the screen. A joystick controlled a 1" ring, and the idea was to keep the dot inside the ring. The system integrated the time-distance relationship to show a score of how long/far the ring was away. This system was commissioned by our local government insurance company to measure the effects of alchohol. Prof. Jerry and his partner were well accomplished drinkers, and went along to the inaugural tests (I think they had free beer !). The results were that peoples performance improved after a bit of alchohol, with peak performance at a blood-alchohol level or about 0.03 - 0.04. At about 0.06 the results were about the same as 0.00, and by the time you were at about 0.08 the performances were noticeably poorer.
Just another data point, for what it's worth.
Dave (a mere Bachelor Dave)
BTW, these two prof's also had a method to measure the class of any drinking establishment. Every time they went to the bathroom they used the same urinal. Each visit they would toss a coin or two into that urinal. The measure of an establishment was how much money accumulated before it disappeared. These guys claimed that every place had its price, even 5-star restaurants
First of all, let me say I like beer, but alcohol impairs vision, judgement and coordination which are all imporant for playing good pool. When I drink and play I perceive that I'm playing better(impaired judgement) but miss shots that I shouldn't(impaired vision and coordination) and in the end, my bankroll is the true barometer.:frown:dr_dave said: