PoolIsScience
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If nerves are the issue, buy a natural supplement, Passion Flower. I take it before league or a tournament and it's calming.
Playing sober, can’t do it
- Thread starter cbi1000
- Start date
When I still drank, I had the same outcomes. One day I figured out that my subconcious drunk mind, was controlling everything.
After that "woke moment , everything became very clear. I stopped drinking and started living a life. Not a series of madcap drunken escapades.
Your results may be different.....{but I doubt it}
After that "woke moment , everything became very clear. I stopped drinking and started living a life. Not a series of madcap drunken escapades.
Your results may be different.....{but I doubt it}
Thanks! That soft "area" focus is what I thought you were talking about. Wanted to be sure though. I try to move around the table like that during an inning, eyes on the table bed but I may or may not be seeing anything more than a blur. Resting my eyes while not letting myself be distracted is what I feel like I am doing. Staying connected to the table too.
I shot a little skeet, even a little trap, with a cousin. He was a pretty serious duck hunter and he was getting in tune for the season, me too for that matter. I got pretty good shooting those little skeet pigeons but those things are more work than a crawfish to clean!
Getting a serious itch to go do one of a bunch of different things. A bit early in the year to start shooting, maybe a little fishing before it gets brain fryingly hot.
Hu
Since this post is still flourishing ill add my 2 cents.
If you are a heavy/regular drinker or an alcoholic you will not be able to understand how well you can play sober because you’re either
1. buzzed/drunk when you play.
2. Hungover when you play. (Which can be even worse)
3. Alcohol has become a crutch to you whenever something goes wrong so even when you plan to play sober, you start drinking after you miss a few balls or something doesn’t go your way.
I know this from experience and i used to think the EXACT same way as the OP.
I quit drinking a few years ago and after the acclimation period to a sober life my game absolutely skyrocketed. I mean skyrocketed…(+~110 FargoRate in less than 2 years) i went from a decent player that can run a rack here and there to winning local tournaments and cashing in regional ones.
Playing sober you’re clear, precise, level headed, able to handle adversity, bear down on pressure shots, evaluate percentage plays in key moments, present for the moment, and able to remember key mistakes the next day to work on them for the future.
If a player like Justin Hall decided to quit drinking and focus on his game everyone in the world would be in trouble. That sounds crazy but I’m dead serious. What that guy is able to do on the table while barely being able to stand up is nothing short of incredible. Darren Appleton talked about this a year or two ago as well…that if Justin was a European player, a bunch of guys would have sat him down and straightened him out (made sure he got help) on this issue because he is probably the most talented cueist we will never hear doing anything of importance.
Alex Pagulayan spoke about drinking after his defeat to Thorsten for the world championship. He said he drank too much the night before and you could feel the regret in his voice. Alex came back the next year and won it all and straightened it out but there is another example of how we can all fall prey to the pitfalls of alcohol.
If you are a heavy/regular drinker or an alcoholic you will not be able to understand how well you can play sober because you’re either
1. buzzed/drunk when you play.
2. Hungover when you play. (Which can be even worse)
3. Alcohol has become a crutch to you whenever something goes wrong so even when you plan to play sober, you start drinking after you miss a few balls or something doesn’t go your way.
I know this from experience and i used to think the EXACT same way as the OP.
I quit drinking a few years ago and after the acclimation period to a sober life my game absolutely skyrocketed. I mean skyrocketed…(+~110 FargoRate in less than 2 years) i went from a decent player that can run a rack here and there to winning local tournaments and cashing in regional ones.
Playing sober you’re clear, precise, level headed, able to handle adversity, bear down on pressure shots, evaluate percentage plays in key moments, present for the moment, and able to remember key mistakes the next day to work on them for the future.
If a player like Justin Hall decided to quit drinking and focus on his game everyone in the world would be in trouble. That sounds crazy but I’m dead serious. What that guy is able to do on the table while barely being able to stand up is nothing short of incredible. Darren Appleton talked about this a year or two ago as well…that if Justin was a European player, a bunch of guys would have sat him down and straightened him out (made sure he got help) on this issue because he is probably the most talented cueist we will never hear doing anything of importance.
Alex Pagulayan spoke about drinking after his defeat to Thorsten for the world championship. He said he drank too much the night before and you could feel the regret in his voice. Alex came back the next year and won it all and straightened it out but there is another example of how we can all fall prey to the pitfalls of alcohol.
State Dependent learning.... It's a real thing. Basically, if you learn to perform any task at a specific state of mind you will need to achieve that state of mind to replicate it.
Summary:
State-dependent learning is a phenomenon where people remember more information if their physical or mental state is the same at the time of encoding and recall123. It is different from context-dependent memory, which involves external environment and conditions12. State-dependent learning is observed when subjects experience training under one internal state and tested under the opposite internal state4. Behavior consistent with training is observed when subjects are trained and tested in the same internal state4. State-dependent learning is heavily researched in regards to its employment both in regards to synthetic states of consciousness (such as under the effects of psychoactive drugs) as well as organic states of consciousness such as mood1.
Summary:
State-dependent learning is a phenomenon where people remember more information if their physical or mental state is the same at the time of encoding and recall123. It is different from context-dependent memory, which involves external environment and conditions12. State-dependent learning is observed when subjects experience training under one internal state and tested under the opposite internal state4. Behavior consistent with training is observed when subjects are trained and tested in the same internal state4. State-dependent learning is heavily researched in regards to its employment both in regards to synthetic states of consciousness (such as under the effects of psychoactive drugs) as well as organic states of consciousness such as mood1.
One thing I wish I had known when I stopped drinking, was that you can be a "dry" drunk. You still handle situations and people, the same as you did when you drank , but now you are sober. I fumbled around in that world for a year or so ,after I stopped drinking, being an even more intolerable ass ,than I had been earlier, before someone I trusted, explained it to me.
I have a similar story. I stopped smoking marijuana and went up at least 150 fargo points in 4 years. After being stagnent forever.
I have a friend who plays and he has been stagnent this whole time. I've told him quit smoking the weed and drinking or you will never get better. He insists I got better because I practice a lot. The thing is I practiced a lot when I was high and I never got much better.
Thanks! That soft "area" focus is what I thought you were talking about. Wanted to be sure though. I try to move around the table like that during an inning, eyes on the table bed but I may or may not be seeing anything more than a blur. Resting my eyes while not letting myself be distracted is what I feel like I am doing. Staying connected to the table too.
I shot a little skeet, even a little trap, with a cousin. He was a pretty serious duck hunter and he was getting in tune for the season, me too for that matter. I got pretty good shooting those little skeet pigeons but those things are more work than a crawfish to clean!
Getting a serious itch to go do one of a bunch of different things. A bit early in the year to start shooting, maybe a little fishing before it gets brain fryingly hot!
Sounds like a complication of 'practice how you'll compete'?
The last 4 or 5 times I’ve played pool I drank. And I played like total poop. When I play without drinking I get super nervous and choke.
BUT,
It’s time to hang the bottle up for good. I’d rather lose by choking than lose by being too buzzed.
Wish me luck!
BUT,
It’s time to hang the bottle up for good. I’d rather lose by choking than lose by being too buzzed.
Wish me luck!
It`s funny but I got where I couldn`t play drunk anymore. For years it was one of my strong points playing bar pool, then it all went to shit. Had to stop gambling when I was drunk, problem is when you`re drunk you don`t care nor do have a strong sense of reality.
I am there now. I have been trying to play both, drinking and sober for the past few months. I am now playing worse when I do drink.
I bet if you had 10-15 youd be reaaaaal good lol
you mean you got old?
That's a step in the right direction.
Great call! Now you have to stick by that, follow through.
Drinking, Drugs, and Denial
I think one of variables at play when it comes to playing sober or not is the affect it has on our self perception. I think for many part-time players it's a nice shortcut to have a few drinks to loosen up, but WHY does this work? There's no secret sauce in the alcohol that makes our arms more talented. What's going on? If we figure this out, maybe we wouldn't need to drink at all.
I don't know what the percentages are, but there's a ratio at work here. It's a self-acceptance to execution ratio.
(I'm just making this up on the fly so bear with me
)
I think this how it works for me anyway...when I have a few drinks, I no longer expect or demand perfection. I lighten up not just on those around me but on myself. I still give it my all, but failure doesn't defeat me. The critical voices in my head are quieted. When the negativity goes away -- the execution improves. Of course too much drinking and the execution improvements fade, and the negativity returns. So how do you get the negative voices to go away without drinking? A big part of this for me, is to just accept the absolute worst case scenario before I begin. That's tougher when it's a team event and others are relying on you but it's still important to do.
What's the worst thing that could happen? You play like an idiot and someone posts it on social media. Oh well.
This acceptance helps me play a little better under pressure, but it's still a work in progress for me. The 2nd part for me helps me fight through it.
The other huge thing is -- MANY players just don't have pressure proofed technique. There's a lot you can get away with when you're not nervous, but will your game hold up under pressure? Do you have a tried and true pre-shot routine? Do you know all the touchy shots that aren't so easy under pressure? Do you know the true shot percentages for your B game, not just your A game? Are you still or do you play with movement that stays synchronized when you're loose, but quickly gets jerky when you're not. Lots of players don't know this stuff. Instead of learning it, they bypass this accumulation of knowledge and drink their way past it. You gotta learn these things about your game.
I'm talking to myself here as much as anyone else. I've cracked some of these nuts along the way but I'm still a work in progess and I probably always will be -- until I pocket my last ball and I'm good with that.
I think one of variables at play when it comes to playing sober or not is the affect it has on our self perception. I think for many part-time players it's a nice shortcut to have a few drinks to loosen up, but WHY does this work? There's no secret sauce in the alcohol that makes our arms more talented. What's going on? If we figure this out, maybe we wouldn't need to drink at all.
I don't know what the percentages are, but there's a ratio at work here. It's a self-acceptance to execution ratio.
(I'm just making this up on the fly so bear with me
)I think this how it works for me anyway...when I have a few drinks, I no longer expect or demand perfection. I lighten up not just on those around me but on myself. I still give it my all, but failure doesn't defeat me. The critical voices in my head are quieted. When the negativity goes away -- the execution improves. Of course too much drinking and the execution improvements fade, and the negativity returns. So how do you get the negative voices to go away without drinking? A big part of this for me, is to just accept the absolute worst case scenario before I begin. That's tougher when it's a team event and others are relying on you but it's still important to do.
What's the worst thing that could happen? You play like an idiot and someone posts it on social media. Oh well.
This acceptance helps me play a little better under pressure, but it's still a work in progress for me. The 2nd part for me helps me fight through it.
The other huge thing is -- MANY players just don't have pressure proofed technique. There's a lot you can get away with when you're not nervous, but will your game hold up under pressure? Do you have a tried and true pre-shot routine? Do you know all the touchy shots that aren't so easy under pressure? Do you know the true shot percentages for your B game, not just your A game? Are you still or do you play with movement that stays synchronized when you're loose, but quickly gets jerky when you're not. Lots of players don't know this stuff. Instead of learning it, they bypass this accumulation of knowledge and drink their way past it. You gotta learn these things about your game.
I'm talking to myself here as much as anyone else. I've cracked some of these nuts along the way but I'm still a work in progess and I probably always will be -- until I pocket my last ball and I'm good with that.