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Fedor Gorst (2025) - The Best Pool Player Ever · The Joe Rogan Recap

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  Welcome to the Joe Rogan recap. Today we're doing a deep dive
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  into a really, really interesting conversation from
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  the Joe Rogan Experience episode Hashtag 2371, featuring
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  professional pool player Fidor Gorst.
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  Our mission here is basically to unpack how competitive pool is
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  evolving. We want to explore the mindset
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  of, you know, a truly world class athlete and kind of peek
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  behind the curtain of a sport that seems to be having this
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  huge global resurgence right now.
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  Get ready for some surprising facts, some deep insights into
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  the mental game, and a fresh look at why today's top pool
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  players might just be the greatest of all time.
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  Yeah, it's fascinating, isn't it, how just this one
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  conversation gives you such a rich picture, not just about
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  billiards itself, but the the sheer dedication, the mental
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  strength and even the economics that are shaping the sport now
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  will try to connect the dots, you know, between Fader's own
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  journey and these bigger trends happening in competitive gaming
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  overall. OK, yeah, let's definitely
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  unpack this. So starting with Fader Gorse
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  himself, he's currently ranked world number one, and his recent
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  schedule, just listening to it sounds absolutely brutal.
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  Just days before we talked to Rogan, he had lost in the finals
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  of the US Open. Before that, there was another
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  tournament crammed in between, and right before that, the World
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  Championships in Saudi Arabia, where he also got to the finals.
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  Wow. So that's four massive events
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  pretty much back-to-back, all squashed into about a month.
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  It really shows you the relentless pace these top
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  athletes maintain. It's an incredible display of
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  endurance, right, physically and mentally.
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  And I think that intensity is exactly what fuels Joe Rogan's
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  argument. He basically says today's best
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  players aren't just great for now, they're arguably the
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  greatest of all time period. And his reasoning is compelling.
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  The conditions they compete under are just significantly
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  tougher than they've ever. Been.
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  Yeah, and he's got proof, right? Like tangible stuff.
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  Think about it. Modern pro tables are these big
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  9 footers and the pockets. They're incredibly tight.
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  We're talking 4 inches. Just 4 inches.
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  It's tiny. Exactly.
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  Compare that to say your average bar table, maybe A7 footer with
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  like 5.5 inch pockets. Yeah, much more forgiving.
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  Huge difference, you can barely squeeze 2 cue balls side by side
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  into those 4 inch pro pockets. Forget making complex shots
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  easily the precision needed. Now it's just another level.
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  Right, it's not just the table getting harder.
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  No, not at all. The game itself, the rules have
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  changed dramatically, especially in just the last, what, three
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  years or so. They've shifted to 9 ball on the
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  spot. That means the nine ball always
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  goes back to one specific tricky spot if it's pocketed early.
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  Plus there's this new brake box that restricts where you can
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  break from and they got rid of the old 3 point rule.
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  Remember that, where you needed three balls to cross the
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  headstring or pocket a ball just on the break.
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  Yeah, I. Remember that rule?
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  Gone now. Gone.
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  So all these changes together, they demand players adapt
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  constantly, innovate their strategies and execute with even
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  more control. It really feels like these
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  changes are pushing the sport forward and a huge driver behind
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  that momentum seems to be Matchroom.
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  Oh absolutely. Matchroom's influence is
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  massive. They've done an incredible job,
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  kind of like they did with boxing, elevating pool on a
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  global scale, and they make it easy to watch too.
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  For anyone interested, you've got the World 9 Ball Tour WNT
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  dot TVI think. Yeah, that's it, wnt.tv.
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  And their Matchroom Pool YouTube channel has just tons of free
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  content really accessible. Totally Matchroom's impact on
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  IS. The visibility of OOL is
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  undeniable. You see it everywhere now.
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  TikTok, Instagram, OOL is booming on social media,
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  reaching whole new audiences, younger people.
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  Yeah, it's huge. Which is critical for growth,
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  obviously. But you know, it's worth
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  mentioning this rapid professionalization, it hasn't
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  been completely smooth sailing. There was that conflict,
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  remember, between the WPA, the World Pool Billiard Association
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  and Match Room. Oh right, the bands.
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  Exactly. The WPA banned players from
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  match room events for a bit, which led to the top players
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  basically boycotting WPA tournaments in response.
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  They were trying to force rule changes, essentially.
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  And then there was that controversy with Josh Filler.
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  Yeah, what happened there? Well, he decided to play in AWPA
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  event despite this sort of collective agreement among
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  players not to. Caused quite a bit of backlash
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  within the player community. It just kind of highlights the
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  growing pains, you know, when a sport transforms this quickly.
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  Yeah, makes sense. Shifting gears a bit from the
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  structures to the players, let's talk more about Fedor Gorst
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  himself, his personal journey. He's in the US on a green card
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  now, not a citizen yet, and he mentioned how America's really
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  welcomed him. But what's really interesting is
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  his background with those Russian athlete bands and how
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  that kind of highlights something unique about pro pool.
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  It really does. So there was that WADA ban on
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  Russian athletes started even before the current war, back
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  around 2018-2019, affected all sorts of international
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  competitions. Fedor said he had to play the
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  World Cup of pool in the UK under no flag.
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  But here's the compelling part. Private companies like Matchroom
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  and the UFC does this too. They basically made their own
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  rules. They consciously decided not to
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  make it political. They let Russia and athletes
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  compete. So performance was the only
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  thing that mattered. Exactly, it created this
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  environment where, as Fedor put it, the only thing that matters
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  is how good you play. Cure meritocracy.
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  And he felt that really clicked with what he saw as an American
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  ideal, a nation of immigrants where talent is paramount.
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  Precisely. He felt welcomed because of his
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  skill, and now he says US crowds are actually cheering for him.
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  It's a pretty powerful statement, isn't it?
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  In the pool world, skill is the ultimate currency.
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  Doesn't matter where you're from.
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  Yeah. That's cool.
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  So let's talk about the physical side.
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  This often surprises people. Pool looks kind of chill, right?
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  Yeah, not exactly high impact. But it takes a serious toll on
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  the body. Players often end up with
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  crooked backs, as Vader called it, just from being bent over
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  the table constantly. He specifically mentioned
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  dealing with neck and upper back pain himself.
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  Even a bulging disc, C4C5 I think, he said.
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  Wow, so it's definitely not just a mind game then?
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  Not at all. He has this whole preventative
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  routine, daily stretching, using resistance bands for his upper
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  back, plus general decompression stuff, inversion tables.
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  He mentioned cold saunas. Keeping the machine tuned.
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  Exactly. And here's a really
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  counterintuitive bit he shared. Lifting heavy weights actually
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  bad for a pool players game. Really.
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  Why is that? Apparently it can tighten up the
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  muscles too much. You lose that smooth, fluid,
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  precise stroke that's absolutely essential at the top level.
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  Never would guessed. It's fascinating, this obsessive
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  focus on maintaining the body. The instrument reminds you of
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  those old legends. Like there's that story about
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  Willie Hopp, an old school icon, supposedly refused to drive a
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  car, refused to do anything with his arms that might mess with
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  his pool game. Just total dedication.
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  Wow, that's commitment. It really is, and it brings up a
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  key question for us writer How does an athlete possibly perform
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  under that kind of intense pressure, both mental and
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  physical? Yeah, that's where the mental
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  game just seems paramount. Imagine the shot clock pressure
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  always ticking 30 seconds. That's it.
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  Make your decision, execute. With maybe 132nd extension per
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  rack, not much breathing. Room No.
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  And you're thinking multiple shots ahead the whole time under
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  the clock. Then you've got unique
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  environments like the Moscone Cup.
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  The Moscone Cup. Or usually crowds are
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  respectful, but they're sharking intentional distraction from the
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  crowd. It's not just common, it's
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  encouraged. Right.
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  They actively try to get in your head.
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  It creates this incredibly intense, almost brutal mental
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  arena. So how do you cope?
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  Fedor talked about his techniques.
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  Yeah, really insightful stuff. He uses specific breathing
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  exercises like 4 counts breathing in, hold for four or
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  five, then a long exhale 7 or 8 counts out.
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  Does it in his chair between shots, even right at the table
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  before a big. One, calming the nerves makes
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  sense. He also mentioned learning to
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  actually show emotions sometimes moving away from what he called
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  the old Russian way of like hiding any madness.
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  Realizing that acknowledging what you're feeling, letting it
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  out a bit, can actually be a release, not a weakness.
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  That's interesting, but the real kicker I thought was how he
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  fights negative thoughts, especially that fear of missing.
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  Oh yeah, the self talk. His secret weapon positive self
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  talk that park but like really forceful.
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  He literally say he tells himself I'm making this ball
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  bitch. Yeah, that fierce internal
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  command. Just total psychological
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  commitment, no room for doubt. It's intense.
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  He also talked about visualization, how Nick
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  Vandenberg, an older player, would practice entire runs just
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  sitting on his couch. Purely mental reps.
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  And there's real science behind that, now, isn't there?
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  Visualization can sometimes be even more effective than actual
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  physical practice for locking in skills.
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  Totally. Rogan even threw in that kind of
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  unconfirmed story about President Obama being fooled by
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  CIA disguises. Right, the transformation idea.
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  And Fedor playfully linked it to his own idea of wanting to wear
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  disguises sometimes just to sneak into pool holes in Asia
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  unrecognized. It just highlights how much the
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  mental game can transform things.
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  Yeah, absolutely. And looking beyond the
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  individual player, the whole business of pool is modernizing
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  too. One thing they discussed was
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  this soft breaking issue. Yeah, where players break
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  lighter for more cue ball control.
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  Exactly. But it's subjective, right?
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  Leads to arguments. So Fedor proposed a cool
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  solution. A speed gun like a radar gun.
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  To measure brake speed objectively.
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  Yeah, set a minimum speed, maybe 18 mph.
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  Whatever makes it objective takes a controversy out.
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  Plus it kind of pushes players to practice harder brakes,
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  develop more power with control. That's smart.
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  And a speed gun reading, Yeah, that's a cool staff for fans
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  too, right? Makes it more engaging.
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  Definitely, but that's not the only innovation being talked
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  about. There's this concept called pool
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  house. Pool house like Top Golf, but
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  for billiards. Kinda, yeah.
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  Imagine tracking tech video projections right onto the table
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  surface, creating bonus targets, maybe virtual obstacles.
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  Sounds like a really dynamic way to make pool maybe more
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  interactive, more appealing to a broader audience, especially
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  younger people. Get it out of just the
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  traditional pool hall vibe. Yeah, moving beyond this Smokey
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  backroom image. Exactly.
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  And this push for innovation, this global expansion, it's also
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  being fueled by money, big money.
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  I mean, high stakes gambling. That's always been part of
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  Pool's history, right? Kind of romantic, but also kind
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  of shady sometimes. Sure, the hustler vibe.
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  But now the official prize money in tournaments is just soaring.
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  Look at the World Championships in Saudi Arabia.
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  Feder mentioned $250,000 for first place.
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  Second place got $100,000. That's serious cash and.
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  When you see the kind of money Saudi Arabia is pouring into
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  other sports like golf and boxing, the idea of a, say, $25
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  million pool tournament, it doesn't sound completely crazy
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  anymore. Imagine that Theodore even
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  mentioned a possible half million dollar match between him
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  and Josh Filler. Yeah, playing multiple
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  disciplines too. 8 ball, 9 ball, 10 ball, one pocket Banks like a
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  true test of all around skill for huge stakes.
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  That would be epic. But while the money and
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  innovation are booming globally, especially in Asia, the US scene
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  seems a bit different. Yeah, the contrast is pretty
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  stark. Pools just exploding in Asia,
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  Theater said. In Hanoi, Vietnam, just one
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  city, there's something like 2000 pool rooms, often combined
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  with computer clubs. Wow, 2000.
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  Yeah, attracting a really young crowd, often non drinkers.
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  He even noted that like 40% of his own Facebook followers are
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  from Vietnam. That tells you something.
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  Huge indicator. And then there's Chinese 8 ball
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  or hay ball as it's called now. Massive tournaments, huge prize
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  money up to $750,000 for first place.
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  Sometime times it's pulling in top players from snookers from
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  English 8 ball. OK, so compare that to the US.
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  Well, in the US, you've got the APA leagues, right?
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  Huge membership, like 270,000 people.
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  But Fedor pointed out they're mostly casual bar League
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  players. Many might not even know who
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  Shane Van Boning, arguably the best American player ever, is.
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  Different worlds. So the challenge in the US seems
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  to be separating pool from that traditional bar culture image,
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  broadening its appeal, attracting that younger, more
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  diverse crowd like they're doing so successfully in Asia.
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  It's perception almost as much as the game itself.
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  Yeah, definitely. OK, let's get into the real deep
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  stuff, the nitty gritty equipment and just how
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  incredibly challenging this sport is at the micro level.
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  There's this constant debate, right?
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  Solid wood shafts versus carbon fiber shafts.
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  Oh yeah, Always a hot topic among players.
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  And Fader explained it's not just preference.
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  Environment matters a lot. Like those sticky, humid pool
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  rooms in Asia. Maybe wood feels better, doesn't
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  get as tacky, but in dry, perfectly controlled conditions
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  carbon fiber might have the edge for consistency.
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  So. It's not just what feels best.
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  No, it gets way more technical. He talked about his own custom
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  shaft with a longer taper. The science behind the foams,
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  inside the shaft, the wall thickness, the ferrule material,
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  that little piece the tip sits on, tip hardness, overall
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  weight, the balance point. It's incredibly detailed.
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  They even analyze deflection. That's how the cue ball squirts
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  offline a tiny bit when you use sides.
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  And some elite players like Koping Chung, He mentioned
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  They've mastered it so well, they actually aim to miss the
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  object ball slightly, knowing the deflection will curve the
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  cue ball into it perfectly. Whoa.
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  So they're aiming to miss to make the ball.
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  Exactly. It's insane precision, this
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  level of detail, this customization.
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  It shows how pool has gone from just raw talent to this blend of
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  applied physics and personalized engineering.
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  Every tiny element matters. It really puts it in
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  perspective. You know, John Schmidt, the
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  commentator, made a great point, Rogan brought up In almost every
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  other ball sport, something else hits the ball.
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  A bat, a foot, a racket, whatever.
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  But in Pool, it's a ball hitting another ball with extreme
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  accuracy over distance. And crucially, you're always,
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  always thinking about setting up the next shot.
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  It's not isolated like a golf swing or a baseball pitch.
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  Yeah, that chain reaction aspect.
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  It's arguably the most difficult sport in that very specific way.
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  Constant strategic calculation combined with pinpoint
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  execution. I mean, snooker has its own
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  insane difficulty. Smaller balls, thinner queues,
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  tiny pockets, massive tables. Different beasts.
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  Yeah, but snooker is mostly UK and China, folks. 9 Ball, as
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  Fidel pointed out, is much more globally diverse, requires
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  mastering conditions all over the world.
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  I'm good. Now we got to talk about the elf
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  in the room for 9 ball. Yes, the luck factor, it's
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  undeniably high in nine ball compared to other disciplines.
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  You can just flip the 9 right? It accidentally goes in off a
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  weird combo or even straight off the brake sometimes.
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  Totally win the whole game just like that can be incredibly
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  frustrating for the opponent and honestly sometimes a bit
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  embarrassing even for the player who got the lucky break.
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  Yeah, like you didn't earn it the right way.
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  Which leads kids to this whole concept.
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  Players talk about the pool gods.
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  The pool gods. Yeah, this kind of weirdly
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  reliable phenomenon players observe where if you're feeling
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  good, playing positive, you seem to just get more lucky roles.
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  The balls bounce your way more often.
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  But if you're down on yourself feeling negative, it feels like
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  you get all the bad breaks, kick safes, unlucky scratches.
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  So it's like your mindset actually influences the random
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  bounces. Well, that's the $1,000,000
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  question, isn't it? Is it actually influencing the
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  physics? Probably not.
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  Or is it that when you're positive, you're just better
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  prepared to see and capitalize on any opportunity, lucky or
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  not, and when you're negative you only notice the bad stuff?
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  Perception bias maybe? Could be, but Fedor himself said
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  he works really hard to stay positive because he genuinely
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  believes it makes a difference, that there's some real, maybe
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  unmeasurable benefit. It's like the game reflects life
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  that way, you know, attitude matters.
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  That's really fascinating stuff. So wrapping this up, what does
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  it all mean? We've seen through Fedora
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  Gorst's eyes how pro pool today is this intense mix.
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  It's physical conditioning, it's super precise mental discipline.
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  And it's a sport just exploding, evolving with new tech, global
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  promotion. It's a game of millimeters deep
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  strategy and yeah, maybe a little bit of that unexplained
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  luck, too. This deep dive, it really does
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  highlight how chasing excellence in any field, whether it's
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  billiards or something completely different, it
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  involves pushing boundaries, constantly adapting to whatever
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  the new conditions are, and mastering not just the physical
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  skills, but that whole complex mental landscape too.
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  Definitely, from the tough training, the shot clock
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  pressure to this global boom you see online and in these cool new
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  venues, Pool is clearly anything but some dusty old bar game
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  anymore. Or it feels vibrant, It's
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  evolving, maybe even at its peak right now.
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  Yeah, exciting times for the sport.
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  So here's a final thought for you listening in.
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  If positive energy and focus visualization can genuinely seem
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  to influence outcomes in a game requiring such incredible
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  precision, what other parts of your own life might benefit from
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  applying a similar mindset, A similar kind of dedicated pre
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  shot routine? Makes you think, doesn't it?