How To Stay Hydrated During A Round of Golf

Water and Gatorade are good choices to stay hydrated on the course. If your drink of choice is water, you should also eat salty snacks such as salted nuts or pretzels. Because sweat contains a high concentration of sodium, you need to eat or drink sodium to maintain electrolyte levels in the bloodstream.

Now, on to the topic of alcohol. Everyone knows that beer is a popular drink during a round of golf. Some drink alcohol to be social, some drink to calm nerves, some just drink for the sake of drinking. While alcohol will improve your perception of how you're playing, your actual scores will show otherwise.

If you are going to drink alcohol while you play, it is best to stick with one drink per hour (read: per hour, not per hole!). Furthermore, you should drink 3 ounces of liquid per hole on top of that to counter the dehydrating effects of alcohol. This combination will allow you to stay hydrated while avoiding a noticeable loss in coordination.

A final consideration for those who play golf several times a week is that the dehydrating effects of alcohol can last up to 72 hours. Therefore, if you are playing golf 2 to 3 days in a row and you drink alcohol each day, your performance will likely suffer as the week goes on since dehydration will worsen. In this circumstance, you need to take a break from drinking as no amount of liquid will rehydrate you until alcohol is removed from your diet for a few days.

Overall, staying hydrated on the golf course is relatively simple provided a few simple rules are adhered to:

• Drink a little non-alcoholic and non-caffeinated liquid after every hole
• Ensure that you are consuming sodium during the day
• Drink no more than 1 alcoholic drink per hour while maintaining adequate non-alcoholic liquid consumption
• Don't drink alcohol on consecutive days since this will severely prolong the time needed to adequatley rehydrate

Finally, healthy snacks such as fresh fruits or raisins and dates will help keep energy levels going. Fruits are not only natural sources of healthy sugars, but they are rich in natural vitamins and minerals and plant specific nutrients called phytonutrients . Concentrated and liquid whole food supplements such as aloe vera juices are beneficial as well. Granola bars are also a wonderful snack for quick pick me up energy boost.

Just paying attention to these few extra details is certain to give your golf game the extra boost it needs for an excellent game.