Joe Rogan Experience #1917 - Fedor Gorst

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast,…

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) What's up, man? Keep this like about, like a fist from your face.

   4. FGFedor Gorst0:15

      Oh, all right.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      You are the first professional pool player to ever be on this podcast.

   6. FGFedor Gorst0:19

      Yeah. Thank you.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:20

      So congratulations.

   8. FGFedor Gorst0:21

      Thank you so much.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:21

      How old are you, man?

   10. FGFedor Gorst0:22

       I'm 22.

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:23

       How long you been playing?

   12. FGFedor Gorst0:25

       Uh, I've actually started with a different game called Russian Pyramid.

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:29

       Yeah, I've seen that before.

   14. FGFedor Gorst0:30

       Yeah, that's the game we play in Russia. Uh, you know, I've played since I was about six, that's when I had my first coach. But I've been around, uh, billiard balls since the very beginning.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:42

       You, what are you ranked in the world right now? You're like, in my opinion, you're like top three, top four in the world.

   16. FGFedor Gorst0:49

       Uh, there's currently like too many different rankings.

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:53

       Oh.

   18. FGFedor Gorst0:53

       You can't, you can't really ... 'Cause I didn't play as many tournaments this year, like official ones, so I don't have any ranking points.

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:00

       Because of the, 'cause you're from Russia, and-

   20. FGFedor Gorst1:03

       Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:03

       ... um, you couldn't play in tournaments for a while, right? During the Ukraine crisis?

   22. FGFedor Gorst1:08

       Yeah, so uh, since the end of February when the, the whole thing started, uh, uh, they uh, they banned all the Russian athletes, and they only removed the ban in, I believe, in the end of July.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:23

       You know what's crazy is they didn't ban UFC fighters.

   24. FGFedor Gorst1:27

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:28

       We have a lot of Russian UFC fighters, and they don't even get treated badly. They don't, they don't get booed. I mean, they get booed a little bit by some assholes, but-

   26. FGFedor Gorst1:36

       It's, it's different in every sport, like hockey, you know-

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:39

       Yeah.

   28. FGFedor Gorst1:39

       ... Ovechkin is still playing. You know, there's uh, a lot of great players in hockey that still play from Russia.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:43

       But, so in pool they made a decision to not have Russian players for a little while, and then they relaxed it. How, why did they relax it? Did they-

   30. FGFedor Gorst1:51

       Uh-
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   You're still growing? You're…

   1. FGFedor Gorst15:00

      I, uh, I have to slightly change it every year because I'm still growing and, uh, I'm taller than the average pool player.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:07

      You're still growing? You're 22? You haven't stopped growing?

   3. FGFedor Gorst15:10

      No.

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:11

      (laughs)

   5. FGFedor Gorst15:12

      No.

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:12

      That's interesting.

   7. FGFedor Gorst15:13

      (laughs) Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:14

      So, um, y- you also have to bend at the knees, too, right? Because you're, you're kinda tall, so, like, to lock the legs out?

   9. FGFedor Gorst15:20

      So that's, that's the thing that I always experiment with. I can play with one, uh, bent knee and with both, uh, bent knees.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:28

       Yeah, 'cause I was always taught to lock legs, that if you locked your legs, um, you have a more stable stance. But then I watch guys like Shane Van Boening, and he bends at the knees.

   11. FGFedor Gorst15:39

       Yeah. Well, every player is really different.

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:42

       Yeah.

   13. FGFedor Gorst15:42

       Uh, you can see, uh, for example, Carlo, or Carlo Biaello or-

   14. JRJoe Rogan15:47

       Mm-hmm.

   15. FGFedor Gorst15:47

       ... Jason Shaw. They have their legs straight, both of them.

   16. JRJoe Rogan15:50

       Mm. Yeah.

   17. FGFedor Gorst15:51

       Because they're not as tall as the other ones.

   18. JRJoe Rogan15:54

       Right.

   19. FGFedor Gorst15:54

       You have both legs, uh, straight, right?

   20. JRJoe Rogan15:57

       Yeah, I always do that. So-

   21. FGFedor Gorst15:58

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan15:59

       I was taught... I didn't used to do that, though. But then I got some pointers from someone. Max Eberl really actually helped me with that.

   23. FGFedor Gorst16:04

       Mm-hmm.

   24. JRJoe Rogan16:04

       Max Eberl coached me, uh, when I lived in LA. That was the first... I had some lessons when I first started out in New York from, like, there's a guy named Jimmy Abled that was, like, an old-school, uh, straight pool player, was a really good player. And, uh, a few other guys, like, gave me some pointers and tips. But Max gave me some, like, real lessons.

   25. FGFedor Gorst16:21

       Yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan16:22

       And he changed a lot of my fundamentals and tightened everything up, 'cause I had a lot of, like, bad habits that I didn't even know I had. That's the difference, I guess, uh, what I'm talking about with Russia, is that if you have a coach and you have a program, you're, you're, it's probably... Like, explain how that works. Is it a, like, a very disciplined regiment that you guys would practice?

   27. FGFedor Gorst16:43

       I mean, not really. Uh, it may sound really professional, but, uh, f- what happened with me, I had four, five, five different coaches. And, uh, from the very beginning, I was... For example, a- as a seven-year-old, I had a coach, and I reached the limit, uh, that I could learn from one coach. And my parents used to always tell me, "Well, we have to switch, because that's, that's the only way to grow." And, uh, once I, uh, found a coach, the very last Russian coach that I had, at the 13, eh, when I was 13, uh, I felt like I couldn't grow more because we don't have many professional coaches in Russia because the game is really small. Russian Pyramid has many, many coaches. And, uh, I got really lucky because, uh, in 2015, Johan Reising, uh, he was, um, Mosconi Cup captain many, many, many times for Europe and US. He came to Russia as a national coach and practiced with the national team for two years. That's when things really changed and, uh, I think I'm really grateful that it happened.

   28. JRJoe Rogan17:55

       Interesting. So, um, so you're playing pool over in Russia. Are there many pool tournaments?

   29. FGFedor Gorst18:02

       I mean, we have, uh, amateur tournaments every two weeks maybe, and, uh, one tournament a month which called Russian Cup, which is...... kind of like a professional tournament.

   30. JRJoe Rogan18:14

       Just one a month. So you realized at some point in time that you were eventually gonna have to come to America to pursue it professionally, or Europe?
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Wow. …

   1. FGFedor Gorst30:00

      City Classic and beat him nine to one.

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:02

      Wow.

   3. FGFedor Gorst30:03

      (laughs) Yeah. That year-

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:04

      He's very good.

   5. FGFedor Gorst30:05

      Oh yeah, he is. He is, uh, he's still a top player today.

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:07

      Yeah.

   7. FGFedor Gorst30:09

      And that's how I met the other two brothers, Alan and Jason, and that's, that's another-

   8. JRJoe Rogan30:13

      Oh, that's crazy.

   9. FGFedor Gorst30:14

      (laughs) Yeah. And then...

   10. JRJoe Rogan30:15

       Well, was Skyler on the Mosconi Cup this year? Was he on the US team?

   11. FGFedor Gorst30:19

       Yeah.

   12. JRJoe Rogan30:20

       Um, the Mosconi Cup, for people who don't know, is a really amazing event that they put on where it's every year. It's in December?

   13. FGFedor Gorst30:29

       It's-

   14. JRJoe Rogan30:29

       November, December?

   15. FGFedor Gorst30:29

       ... either end of November or beginning of December.

   16. JRJoe Rogan30:32

       It's, uh, a team match between Europe and the United States. So you have all the top European players, and they play all sorts of different ways. They play individually, one-on-one. They play two versus two, which is very interesting. Like, if you and I were playing two versus two, and we were on the same team, you would make a shot and leave position for me, and then I would make a shot and leave position for you. Which is interesting because some of the guys are left-handed and some of the guys are right-handed, so you have to leave position for a left-handed shot-

   17. FGFedor Gorst31:03

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan31:03

       ... where you, you, you know, where it would be awkward for you to reach if you're right-handed, but it's perfect for left-handed. So there's a lot of, like, weird thinking. And then on top of that, there's the wildest crowd in all of pool.

   19. FGFedor Gorst31:16

       (laughs) Yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan31:17

       But they're great, because they're quiet when the player's down on the ball.

   21. FGFedor Gorst31:21

       Yeah, I mean, they know what's going on.

   22. JRJoe Rogan31:23

       Yes.

   23. FGFedor Gorst31:23

       I mean, all of them are pool fans, and they, uh, they know when, when they can yell and when they can't yell.

   24. JRJoe Rogan31:26

       I wanted to get out to Vegas to see it this year, but I was just too busy. I really wanted to go, because I... It's, it looks like so much fun to watch on TV, because there's so much screaming and cheering when someone makes a shot, and then everybody quiets down again.

   25. FGFedor Gorst31:40

       Yeah, this year there was, uh, as wild as it could be, I think.

   26. JRJoe Rogan31:43

       Yes. It was very wild.

   27. FGFedor Gorst31:45

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan31:45

       And Europe won this year.

   29. FGFedor Gorst31:46

       Yep.

   30. JRJoe Rogan31:47

       And unfortunately, you weren't allowed to play for the European team.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Yeah. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      y- it looks like his was sanded down.

   2. FGFedor Gorst45:02

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan45:02

      'Cause i- it looked like he sanded the shit out of that clear stuff and got down to the wood.

   4. FGFedor Gorst45:07

      (laughs)

   5. JRJoe Rogan45:07

      And he was playing with like a very small millimeter.

   6. FGFedor Gorst45:09

      Thinner one, yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan45:09

      I think it was like a 12-millimeter shaft or something.

   8. FGFedor Gorst45:11

      Yeah, probably thinner.

   9. JRJoe Rogan45:12

      Yeah. How do you, um ... How do you fall on like what weight to play with, what millimeter to play with? Do you ... Did you slowly evolve? Because you play with a fairly light cue. You pay- play with an 18-ounce cue. For a lot of people that don't know, that's on the lighter side.

   10. FGFedor Gorst45:30

       Mm-hmm.

   11. JRJoe Rogan45:30

       And your, your tip is, uh, 11.5?

   12. FGFedor Gorst45:33

       12.5.

   13. JRJoe Rogan45:34

       12, oh, excuse me. 12.5. You used to play with a 11-

   14. FGFedor Gorst45:37

       I-

   15. JRJoe Rogan45:38

       ... mm, yeah?

   16. FGFedor Gorst45:38

       ... used to play with 11.7, and I would ... Used to shape it down a little more, so it probably was 11.5, but-

   17. JRJoe Rogan45:44

       And that w- ... Was that the Z shaft?

   18. FGFedor Gorst45:45

       No, that was actually the Jacobi Edge shaft-

   19. JRJoe Rogan45:48

       Oh.

   20. FGFedor Gorst45:48

       ... that I used to play with. Actually, that's another good story. I, uh, came to Derby City Classic the very first time, and Mike was a Jacobi cue ambassador, or he was a dealer in Russia, and, uh, he said, "You have to pick a cue when we go to US," and I didn't want to change my cue on the tournament right before I start, uh, playing. And he said, "It's all right. You, uh, y- you can do it, you know?" And I picked the cue from the wall, and I started hitting, and I, uh, and I really, really liked the cue, and I ended up beating like everybody. I played so good. Uh, that's, that's, that's amazing for me 'cause it never happened to me after that.

   21. JRJoe Rogan46:24

       Like right o- right off the rack.

   22. FGFedor Gorst46:26

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan46:26

       Like that is unusual 'cause usually-

   24. FGFedor Gorst46:28

       Yeah. Usually you have to experiment with cues and find what's, what's better for you-

   25. JRJoe Rogan46:32

       Mm-hmm.

   26. FGFedor Gorst46:33

       ... and what suits you, and, uh, that's actually how I found that 12.5, uh, five is better for me, and, uh, I've experimented so much that it's, uh, it's crazy.

   27. JRJoe Rogan46:42

       For me, it's so fascinating because what the game is, is you are rolling a ball s- purely with the force of your arm and the weight of the cue, and you're trying to calculate the exact, or very close to the exact amount of revolutions a ball is going to make over the course of like a nine-foot table.

   28. FGFedor Gorst47:04

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan47:05

       And for people that don't play it and don't know how nuts that is, like some of the shots that you made out there, I was like, "Damn."

   30. FGFedor Gorst47:10

       (laughs)
5. 1:00:00 – 1:13:31

   Really? …

   1. FGFedor Gorst1:00:00

      special muscles.

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:01

      Really?

   3. FGFedor Gorst1:00:02

      Yeah, in Asia, they, they have 'em. But I never went to-

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:04

      What?

   5. FGFedor Gorst1:00:05

      Yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:06

      They have, like, workout pool machines?

   7. FGFedor Gorst1:00:08

      Yeah, kinda. Kinda.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:09

      Can you find them online?

   9. FGFedor Gorst1:00:11

      Uh, I think so, yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:13

       What are they called?

   11. FGFedor Gorst1:00:14

       I don't know.... I don't know, there is a pool machine called Hibs, H-I-B-S, in Russia, that the... So it's like a round thing with a pool ball there, and it just goes up, goes around, so you just keep shooting the cue ball. And what the Asian machine has is you, your cue is always going straight in the same line.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:00:38

       Mm-hmm.

   13. FGFedor Gorst1:00:38

       So you're developing the right muscles, and your muscle memory remembers the straight cuing.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:00:44

       Are you cuing... Are you putting the shaft through a tube or something? Like, how is it always going in a straight line?

   15. FGFedor Gorst1:00:50

       Uh, yeah, it's kind of like a tube, yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:00:52

       'Cause Buddy Hall had a thing like that for a while, where he was selling... It was, like, a, a tube that sat on a table, a small tube.

   17. FGFedor Gorst1:01:01

       Mm-hmm.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:01:01

       With, like, little legs. And you would make a bridge, and you would... The whole thing would be, like, sliding your cue through that tube.

   19. FGFedor Gorst1:01:10

       I think it's, it's really helpful. I don't see these things, and I think if I were using it when I was a kid, it would help me a lot.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:01:17

       A- because some people, they're cuing the ball, and they don't even realize they're kind of going through the ball sideways.

   21. FGFedor Gorst1:01:22

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:01:23

       Like there's a spin on it.

   23. FGFedor Gorst1:01:23

       And even myself, even myself, I noticed that it's not... It's crooked a little bit. Nobody's perfect, but, uh...

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:01:29

       Do you film yourself?

   25. FGFedor Gorst1:01:30

       Yeah. That's, that's what I did a lot, uh, when I was 16, 17. You know, I'm like a pool geek. I'm always trying to figure out what's wrong and work on mistakes. And, uh, I used to analyze a lot of things, yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01:42

       Well, when you were 16 and 17, one thing that's interesting is that you had access to the internet.

   27. FGFedor Gorst1:01:47

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:01:47

       You had access to pool matches.

   29. FGFedor Gorst1:01:49

       Yeah, yeah, yeah. I watched a lot of pool matches.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:01:51

       How much did that help you?

Episode duration: 2:16:29