Hydration
Considerations for
Young Golf Athletes
By Karen Harrison, BGGA Director of Health and Athletic Development
Adequate hydration is important for both good
health and optimum sports performance. It is well-
documented that with sporting activity lasting longer
than 40-60 minutes, the consumption of water along
with carbohydrates (your primary energy source) is
performance enhancing. For a golfer, who potentially
spends up to five hours playing a tournament round
and countless hours practicing outdoors, ensuring
adequate hydration is a MUST. Let’s examine the
topic of proper hydration for the young golf athlete
in more detail.
Firstly, how is dehydration likely to affect you? The
general signs and symptoms of dehydration are
easily recognized. In cases of mild dehydration, they
may include one or more of the following: headache,
fatigue/weakness, dizziness, dry skin/lips, nausea
and/or muscle cramps. More severe dehydration can
cause vomiting, confusion and agitation, with extreme
cases leading to convulsions and unconsciousness.
Playing in the heat and humidity magnifies the
importance of maintaining a hydrated state since
these factors increase the risk of dehydration and even
worse, a dangerous rise in core body temperature
(usually referred to as heat exhaustion or heat
stroke). In fact, these heat-related illnesses can occur
even while exercising in a temperature environment
(that’s only mid 60’s °F!). It should be said however,
that most healthy children and adolescents can safely
participate in activities in warm to hot conditions
with suitable preparation and monitoring. Thus, most
heat-related illnesses are preventable.
Being aware of the risk factors for dehydration or
exertional heat-illnesses is the first step towards
prevention. Some of the other risk factors affecting
golfers may include insufficient consumption/access
to fluids during play, poor fitness, inadequate pre-
hydration, little sleep/recovery, illness, clothing (if
it leads to excessive heat retention) or two rounds
played in one day.
Clearly, the potential for poor fluid management
to negatively influence performance is substantial,
especially in the heat. Recent studies illustrate that
even mild dehydration has been shown to reduce the
muscular co-ordination required during sports skills
(motor performance), affect mental clarity (focus,
alertness, the ability to concentrate, decision making)
and alter our perception of fatigue (it all seems
harder!). In 2012, Smith and colleagues conducted
research demonstrating that mild dehydration
negatively affected both swing mechanics and
decision-making, including the ability to judge
distances, changes in slope and recognize differing
shades of green. Ultimately, this led to a reduction
in both the distance and accuracy of the golf shots
measured.
How to know if you are dehydrated? One of the simplest
ways is to assess the color of your urine. Generally, pale
yellow (the color of lemonade) is a good indication
that you are well-hydrated, and darker than the color
of apple juice may indicate dehydration. Secondly,
and more accurately, determine your sweat rate and
therefore fluid loss during exercise under differing
environmental conditions. In practice, measure your
weight before and after a period of practice, noting
how much fluid is consumed. The total amount of
fluid lost and therefore weight lost per hour can be
easily calculated, arriving at the amount of fluid lost
per hour. Obviously, it will differ between individuals
and according to the climatic conditions. Engaging in
preparation such as this allows you to develop your
own hydration strategy for both the practice setting
and under tournament conditions which in turn can
improve the quality of your practice and maximize
performance. The pros do it!