Improve Your Golf Game Through Hydration

The Case for Staying Hydrated

We are entering the Texas summer season with both humidity and temperatures rising.  What golfers often don’t consider enough is the impact of hydration on their game and how that’s important year around, but critical during the summer months. Factors that make-up 95% of the golf game are muscle speed, strength, coordination, and clear decision making.  A slight drop in hydration can have a significant impact on all 4.

From a recent Golf Digest article, “Drinking enough water each day helps keep you healthy. Even more so, it's important to stay hydrated on the golf course to replace the water lost from sweating (or dehydration from alcohol), prevent fatigue, and even support brain function.”

Dr. Bradley Borne, the Director of Wellness at Golf and Body in New York City, says how you avoid dehydration can be the biggest determinant for playing well.  Not handled correctly, it can affect both your brain and your swing.

“I think it’s important to look at proper hydration on the golf course as having an impact on performance from both a physical and mental perspective,” says Dr. Borne. “One study I read by Loughborough University showed that a 5 percent drop in water levels can cause 25-30 percent loss in energy and even a drop of 3 percent can cause fuzzy thinking and brain fog.”

You know that a dazed feeling you get when you’re in the sun too long?  That’s your brain telling you to drink water.  Making decisions like how you want to hit your shot or how a putt breaks can be made tougher when you brain is feeling like a limp noodle. 

“Water is a critical component of replenishing tissues of the body and removing waster products created by exercise, whether that’s walking 18 holes or working out,” says Dr Borne. “We talk a lot about soft tissue massage and form rolling to work out sore muscles but staying hydrated is just as important.”

Especially when you’re dealing with a multi-day event, your body needs water to give your muscles a chance to recover and repair before you head out the next day. 

PGA Tour players have teams of people looking after them to make sure they’re getting all the hydration they need.  But for the average players, it might come down to making a tough call between soda, sports drinks, or water every time the beverage cart comes around.  For your mind and body’s sake, grab a water. 

How Much Water Should I Drink?

How often do golfers find themselves playing a great round but then burning out with three to four holes to go.  One of the main reasons as discussed previously is likely due to loss of sweat and fluids.  So how much water should you be consuming during a round of golf? 

Experts say you should be having 8 to 16 oz before the round commences, then 4-6 Oz. every 15-30 minutes on the course depending on how hot it is and your propensity to sweat. 

On a hot day, assuming 6 oz. every 15 minutes translates to 6 bottles of 16 oz of water (three 16 oz bottles per side).  On the lower end of the range for a cooler day or golfers that don’t sweat as much a 16 oz bottle per side may be sufficient.  The bottom-line is you likely can’t drink too much water on a hot day on the golf course.

What If I Drink Beer to Relax or Cool Down?

On to the topic of alcohol. Everyone knows that beer is a popular drink during a round of golf. 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!) plus add another 16-32 oz. of water from the previous recommendation. This combination will allow you to stay hydrated while avoiding a noticeable loss in coordination.  

How About HOW?

HOW has three unique qualities that taken together makes HOW water the future of hydration:

• Hyperpure: Strips out all impurities before adding just the right amount of organic minerals to bring the PH to 8.0 Alkaline water. You can be assured that you are drinking some of the purist waters on the planet.
• Oxygenation: Uniquely enriched with oxygen up to 2-3X of most tap and bottled water. One reason this matter is it creates a light silky-smooth taste that makes it go down easier and you will naturally drink more. Most importantly, the extra oxygen helps you recover faster during and after your game and will help keep you hydrated. 
• Aluminum: HOW is bottled in infinitely recyclable aluminum that has the benefit of keeping you water cooler longer on the course and is aluminum bottles are recycled on average three times more frequently than plastic water bottles.

HOW is the proud water sponsor of the PGA Southern District!   Watch for HOW at your local golf courses and for PGA Southern Districts who live in the Greater Houston area you can order online and get free home delivery and if you use the code PGA20 to get 20% Off.