Nerves ruining my natural game during matches

[tedisbill]

They say anytime is good. It will take about 3 weeks for my lungs to clear out. My doctor is always on me to quit and when I do I'm going to ask her when she plans to lose some weight as overweight is just as dangerous as ciggys.

Good luck to you Terry. Hope you find it easy mate!

[GeordieDS]

They say anytime is good. It will take about 3 weeks for my lungs to clear out. My doctor is always on me to quit and when I do I'm going to ask her when she plans to lose some weight as overweight is just as dangerous as ciggys.

Good news then, I quit 18 years ago and don't miss it at all, I've lost a stone as well recently and will be losing another two this year as I was starting to find out why being overweight can be very uncomfortable

[rimmer10]

The brain uses an enormous amount of energy when you're nervous and I think it actually tries to tell you that you will miss in order to give itself a rest.

Very interesting point of view

[rimmer10]

They say anytime is good. It will take about 3 weeks for my lungs to clear out. My doctor is always on me to quit and when I do I'm going to ask her when she plans to lose some weight as overweight is just as dangerous as ciggys.

Let us know how you're getting on Terry. Been smoking for 31 years and would love to quit. Tried everything apart from hypnosis and have given up trying to give up. Had a little bit of success with Allan Carr's method but stupidly decided to have one for old time's sake after 6 months. Don't believe in E-ciggys, the misses is on them and it's never out of her mouth.

[eaoin11]

I found this to be an interesting post. I drink 3 large cups of coffee a day and it gets worse when I play in a tournament where besides my regular 3, I might drink another 3 and then I'm peed off because I get nerves at the start of every match and it takes me awhile to settle down. I am definitely going to give up both coffee and tea and stick to ginger ale or something at tournaments and see how that goes.

Just one question though for eaoin11 (or anyone else for that matter), what about decaf coffee and tea? We have one of those wonderful expresso machines my wife bought years ago from Starbucks and now we use those coffee pellets or whatever they're called and she has bought a box of decaf coffee pellets (disks?) and actually it doesn't taste half-bad. She also gets Yorkshire brand decaf tea for herself as she drinks 8 mugs of tea easily in a day and since she's a glass artist and has to use a lot of fine motor skills she feels she's doing better on the decaf tea.

I would probably have severe withdrawal symptoms as I've been drinking coffee ever since my Navy days at 17 years old, so that's over 50 years now.

Next, I gotta go to work on the smoking. Down to 11-12 ciggys a day and planning to quit in another 2 weeks or so.

Terry

Good example regarding your wife, that certainly agrees with the research.

A strong cup of coffee can have anywhere between (depending on type) 80-200mg per serve (6 oz) while tea on average will have about 30-100mg so about half. Decaf coffee and tea have around 2-12mg so I think they should be fine and I agree, they don't don't taste bad at all these days. Coke, Pepsi etc actually have less than tea for the same serving size but people often drink larger amounts, as in Dean's and Coach Gavin's examples because sugar is also addictive. Some of the 'energy drinks' have quite a bit more but surprisingly even Red Bull has no more than your average cup of coffee. Chocolate has some caffeine but in small amounts, 5-10 mg per serve and I suspect that the endorphins released by cacao might actually help with nerves in snooker.

Regarding withdrawal I'm definitely in the same boat as Raymon and Byrom. Regular takers of caffeine may suffer headaches within 12 - 18 hrs of not having caffeine. But not all people suffer withdrawal, and the withdrawal symptoms can be avoided with a staged reduction of caffeine in your diet. A lot of aspirin or similar products contain some caffeine so taking them only when you get a headache can help to stage the reduction in caffeine intake. I tried this and found that the headaches stopped after three or four days.

Good luck with the cigarettes Terry. They are harder to quit as you would know but with snooker as your motivation you can pit one addiction against the other and we know which one will win The health benefits are bound to be good for your snooker.

[alabadi]

They say anytime is good. It will take about 3 weeks for my lungs to clear out. My doctor is always on me to quit and when I do I'm going to ask her when she plans to lose some weight as overweight is just as dangerous as ciggys.

here are some facts for you Terry on quitting smoking

Once a person ceases smoking, the body immediately starts to cleanse itself of the chemicals contained in tobacco smoking. After twenty minutes, a person’s blood pressure and pulse rate will return to normal. This means immediately the risk of a heart attack is reduced.
After eight hours the carbon dioxide levels in the blood are halved resulting in enhanced energy levels.
After twenty four hours all carbon dioxide is eliminated from the body. The lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris that has built up.
After forty eight hours, nicotine is completely eliminated from the body. A person’s sense of taste and smell is also improved.
After seventy two hours, the bronchial tubes relax and energy levels increase.
Between two and twenty one weeks the circulation improves.
Between three to nine months, coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve as lung function is improved by 10%.
After one year, the risk of having a heart attack falls to about half of that of a smoker.
After ten years, the risk of lung cancer falls to half that of a smoker.
After fifteen years, the risk of heart attack is the same as someone who has never smoked.

[eaoin11]

Good information but all carbon dioxide can't be eliminated from your body because it's the by-product of respiration by every living cell in your body. Perhaps you mean carbon monoxide? That's a nasty one we can definitely do without.

[alabadi]

Good information but all carbon dioxide can't be eliminated from your body because it's the by-product of respiration by every living cell in your body. Perhaps you mean carbon monoxide? That's a nasty one we can definitely do without.

Well spotted, yes of course carbon monoxide.. Nasty

[vmax4steve]

I quit smoking 30 years ago at the same time as biting my nails, biting my nails was harder to quit. Some people eat, some people drink, some people smoke, some bite their nails, the connection between all four is the act of putting something in your mouth for comfort, and the subsequent release of endorphins in the brain from that act along with whatever chemical goes into your system from whatever it is you're ingesting.

It's known as the nipple reflex and even though you can free yourself from the chemical addiction, the nipple reflex remains. Unless you look inside yourself and ask yourself why it is you need this comfort, and sort that out, you will always return to needing to put something into your mouth when stressed or worried, or simply just living with something in your subconscious that makes you need this all the time.

I came to terms with what made me smoke and bite my nails and qutting became incredibly easy. I told myself that that was in the past, that I'm no longer a child and I put away all childish things on that day.
I came to terms that at last I was in control of my life, I was no longer at the mercy of my parents frailties, needs and ambitions for themselves that came from their own poor upbringing and I let my childhood go.

Still have a little bit of OCD left though, no longer in mannerisms or habits, just the act of overthinking and analysing things a little too much at times, which is something that I had to do to self diagnose, so that remains.

For those who wish to convert to decaff coffe or tea you need to know that formaldehyde is used to extract the caffeine and that a little remains in the product after the process.
There's always something to look out for.

[rimmer10]

I quit smoking 30 years ago at the same time as biting my nails, biting my nails was harder to quit. Some people eat, some people drink, some people smoke, some bite their nails, the connection between all four is the act of putting something in your mouth for comfort, and the subsequent release of endorphins in the brain from that act along with whatever chemical goes into your system from whatever it is you're ingesting.

It's known as the nipple reflex and even though you can free yourself from the chemical addiction, the nipple reflex remains. Unless you look inside yourself and ask yourself why it is you need this comfort, and sort that out, you will always return to needing to put something into your mouth when stressed or worried, or simply just living with something in your subconscious that makes you need this all the time.

I came to terms with what made me smoke and bite my nails and qutting became incredibly easy. I told myself that that was in the past, that I'm no longer a child and I put away all childish things on that day.
I came to terms that at last I was in control of my life, I was no longer at the mercy of my parents frailties, needs and ambitions for themselves that came from their own poor upbringing and I let my childhood go.

Still have a little bit of OCD left though, no longer in mannerisms or habits, just the act of overthinking and analysing things a little too much at times, which is something that I had to do to self diagnose, so that remains.

For those who wish to convert to decaff coffe or tea you need to know that formaldehyde is used to extract the caffeine and that a little remains in the product after the process.
There's always something to look out for.

That's a very good post vmax, thanks mate.

[guernseygooner]

you will always return to needing to put something into your mouth

Definitely doesn't apply to my wife

[Byrom]

Definitely doesn't apply to my wife

there's always one has to lower the tone - and we were having such a nice sensible conversation.

[eaoin11]

I quit smoking 30 years ago at the same time as biting my nails, biting my nails was harder to quit. Some people eat, some people drink, some people smoke, some bite their nails, the connection between all four is the act of putting something in your mouth for comfort, and the subsequent release of endorphins in the brain from that act along with whatever chemical goes into your system from whatever it is you're ingesting.

It's known as the nipple reflex and even though you can free yourself from the chemical addiction, the nipple reflex remains. Unless you look inside yourself and ask yourself why it is you need this comfort, and sort that out, you will always return to needing to put something into your mouth when stressed or worried, or simply just living with something in your subconscious that makes you need this all the time.

I came to terms with what made me smoke and bite my nails and qutting became incredibly easy. I told myself that that was in the past, that I'm no longer a child and I put away all childish things on that day.
I came to terms that at last I was in control of my life, I was no longer at the mercy of my parents frailties, needs and ambitions for themselves that came from their own poor upbringing and I let my childhood go.

Still have a little bit of OCD left though, no longer in mannerisms or habits, just the act of overthinking and analysing things a little too much at times, which is something that I had to do to self diagnose, so that remains.

For those who wish to convert to decaff coffe or tea you need to know that formaldehyde is used to extract the caffeine and that a little remains in the product after the process.
There's always something to look out for.

I'm not an expert on this but I've just had a look at a couple of different sources. The sources I could find mention formaldehyde as an 'old rumour' and that's it. There is mention of health scares involving benzene and chloroform in early attempts at decaffeination but they are certainly banned now so beyond that assurance the risks people take will be no different than for other processed foods. There are three main methods outlined by the sources I read; organic chemical solvents, carbon dioxide or the water method. Apparently many companies like Starbucks use the organic chemical solvent called methylene chloride. There were concerns about this because it was banned from aerosols as it seems to cause cancer when inhaled. But studies have shown no problems when animals drink it and the traces left in decaf coffee are virtually nil, much lower than the levels that were tested on animals. The Swiss water method uses no added chemicals at all.

[GeordieDS]

Definitely doesn't apply to my wife

The clue is in the word 'wife'

[sharkster63]

I would suggest you play with someone who wipes the walls with you, this will make you try harder and give every shot the respect it deserves, should help you with the nerves as well..