Taking Banned PGA Tour Enhancers to play better, is it right and should i ?

[johnd]

Hello Sand Trap, i am new to this board and this is my first post ... i had a question i thought i would put out into the Sand Trap community.

I moved down to Florida, and in my fifties now and feel like i was losing my edge... was losing my distance off the tee, and after the round had no energy. My mind would wander during the round and it was just hard to focus.

i had one of my friends suggest taking 5 herbs and combined over the counter supplements i bought over the counter at my local GNC and Vitamin shop.  He had been taking them the past year and had great success!  I started to take these dietary supplements, now i am super long, my game is back, i have a ton of energy after my game... (and i feel 100 times better :)

I was reading on the PGA Tour site that 2 of these ingredients were BANNED by the PGA Tour.

My question is:  since i am not a tour pro, i will never be one, should i keep taking it and playing better in my Sunday game ?

thanks!

[Golfingdad]

Sure hope this isn't the beginning of a sales pitch.  Anyways, against my better judgment, I'll say I don't see it as a problem.  You're not on the PGA tour, so why would it matter?  (Unless we're talking about illegal substances ... that would be different)

[johnd]

Golfing Dad.. no its not a "sales pitch" lol ..

Just catching a lot of heat from my buddies

thanks for the input !

[Parker0065]

I would be more concerned with what I'm putting in my body and what the long term effects might be!

Vitamins at a normal dose are a good thing, but a healthy diet and routine exercise is a much better way to gain stamina back over pills, in my opinion.

[joekelly]

So, tell us Johnd, what are those secret herbs? Let me guess.  A morning cocktail of cialis, horny goat weed, palmetto powder, arcoxia, and caffeine.  Lovely.

[MS256]

1. You are not required to follow the PGA Anti-Doping Policy any more than we are required to follow the policies of some random company that we don't even work for.

2. A low percentage of the recreational golfing public has ever even attempted to read the Anti-Doping Policy Manual.

3. An even lower percentage had any clue how to pronounce the names of all of the banned substances.

4. An even lower percentage know all of the ways they could unknowingly be getting some of those substances.

5. Even Tour players can get exemptions for some of those substances for medical reasons.

So:

If people can take some of those substances to improve their quality of life through sickness, injury, or even age, and they are not required to follow a policy, there is no reason not to take them.

Any Tour player in such a circumstance would apply for (and likely be granted) an exemption for medical reasons. I doubt if any of us take our copy of the Anti-Doping Manual to the store to buy medicine or present it to our doctors and tell them we simply can't violate any of that policy because we play in a Saturday Nassau game.

P.S. I'm 58 years old and so far have been lucky enough to not have any general health problems and (knock on wood) don't even remember the last time I got sick, but if or when that happens I'm not going to worry about any Anti-Doping Policy.

The only thing I take is a Resveratrol capsule every day. The only reason I take that is I saw a video of a bunch of rats running on a treadmill and the ones taking Resveratrol were running really fast (suckered me in).

[saevel25]

Hello Sand Trap, i am new to this board and this is my first post ... i had a question i thought i would put out into the Sand Trap community.

I moved down to Florida, and in my fifties now and feel like i was losing my edge... was losing my distance off the tee, and after the round had no energy. My mind would wander during the round and it was just hard to focus.

i had one of my friends suggest taking 5 herbs and combined over the counter supplements i bought over the counter at my local GNC and Vitamin shop.  He had been taking them the past year and had great success!  I started to take these dietary supplements, now i am super long, my game is back, i have a ton of energy after my game... (and i feel 100 times better :)

I was reading on the PGA Tour site that 2 of these ingredients were BANNED by the PGA Tour.

My question is:  since i am not a tour pro, i will never be one, should i keep taking it and playing better in my Sunday game ?

thanks!

1) do you properly hydrate yourself and eat before or during the round? That sound a lot like dehydration (I am not talking beer, which can dehydrate you more)

2) It is up to your playing group and you. If you guys are competing for lets say money, I wouldn't act all bent out of shape if some of your playing partners have a problem with it. If they are just giving you a hard time about it, like friends can do, so what, deal with the ribbing.

[David in FL]

Agree.  If the supplements are OTC and legal, do whatever you like.

From my personal perspective, as a 55 year old though, a good exercise routine (I hate gyms so I run, bike, and somewhat infrequently swim) makes all the difference in my ability to maintain my energy level, which translates to mental focus and acuity as well.

[Lihu]

I would be more concerned with what I'm putting in my body and what the long term effects might be! Vitamins at a [U] normal [/U] dose are a good thing, but a healthy diet and routine exercise is a much better way to gain stamina back over pills, in my opinion.

If they are over the counter drugs, there should be no problem. Vijay Singh took deer antler, which is derived from Chinese herbal medicine. According to FDA Chinese medicine is considered over the counter, because it is in its natural form. The deer antler contains a natural form of anabolic steroid, which is banned by the PGA. So, if you are taking any supplements, and they are not controlled there should be no reason to stop. However, I'm with Parker on this that you should avoid anything that might have other long term side effects just to improve your performance on the course.

[johnd]

I would be more concerned with what I'm putting in my body and what the long term effects might be!

Vitamins at a normal dose are a good thing, but a healthy diet and routine exercise is a much better way to gain stamina back over pills, in my opinion.

Parker,  I agree with you there .. long term effects on most all the good things we do from Viagra to the rest of them, its no fun :)    It was just over the years all the competitive sports and the body breaking down, the knee was the worst.  I had Surgery but kept over rotating on the drive and shots turning it again and again, i had to climb out of the cart and hobble to the tee box.   it was no fun, so it was either go straight to injectables HGH and Test or try something different.   My hippie friends in California suggested some cool old Chinese herbs that have been around thousands of years, and i started to take and become a believer.

No more knee pain, and now i can work out the way i should and need too.   I eat and have a very healthy diet , i just needed a little bit of help. So of course when i get a nice routine going and then read the PGA tour ban substances :(  The more i think about that the more i really dont care what the PGA says ... lol

thanks for your input. :)

[johnd]

So, tell us Johnd, what are those secret herbs? Let me guess.  A morning cocktail of cialis, horny goat weed, palmetto powder, arcoxia, and caffeine.  Lovely.

Joe.. NO... :)

[johnd]

1. You are not required to follow the PGA Anti-Doping Policy any more than we are required to follow the policies of some random company that we don't even work for.

2. A low percentage of the recreational golfing public has ever even attempted to read the Anti-Doping Policy Manual.

3. An even lower percentage had any clue how to pronounce the names of all of the banned substances.

4. An even lower percentage know all of the ways they could unknowingly be getting some of those substances.

5. Even Tour players can get exemptions for some of those substances for medical reasons.

So:

If people can take some of those substances to improve their quality of life through sickness, injury, or even age, and they are not required to follow a policy, there is no reason not to take them.

Any Tour player in such a circumstance would apply for (and likely be granted) an exemption for medical reasons. I doubt if any of us take our copy of the Anti-Doping Manual to the store to buy medicine or present it to our doctors and tell them we simply can't violate any of that policy because we play in a Saturday Nassau game.

P.S. I'm 58 years old and so far have been lucky enough to not have any general health problems and (knock on wood) don't even remember the last time I got sick, but if or when that happens I'm not going to worry about any Anti-Doping Policy.

The only thing I take is a Resveratrol capsule every day. The only reason I take that is I saw a video of a bunch of rats running on a treadmill and the ones taking Resveratrol were running really fast (suckered me in).

MS256... thanks for the input !!!

[iacas]

@johnd - check this thread out: . Specifically about multi-quoting. Welcome to the site.

[johnd]

Sorry ... thanks for the link!