We all know that we need to drink water on the golf course, but how much is really enough?
Drinking 1/2 of your body weight (pounds) in ounces per day is optimal. For a 150lb. golfer you will need 75 ounces a day (about 4 1/2 bottles of water). This does not account for living in the desert! This should be considered minimum even in the winter.
Other fluids do not count for your water intake either. For every cup of coffee, tea, sodas or drink that contains caffeine you will need to drink 2 extra cups of water. Caffeine (along with alcohol) is a diuretic and will dehydrate the body.
Make sure that you drink 25% of your water needs in the morning. During sleep the body becomes dehydrated. Hydrating the body first thing in the morning is essential.
Next, make sure to drink water while you are playing, even if you are not thirsty. Staying hydrated early in the round will give you the energy and stamina for the back nine. A good rule of thumb is to drink 50% of your total daily water intake throughout the golf round. For a 200lb. Golfer, 50 ounces (about 3 bottles of water) of the daily 100 ounces while playing. If it’s summer, this is not nearly enough! You should be drinking 5-10 ounces (almost a bottle) every 20-25min. This means roughly every hole and a half you need to drink a bottle of water just to maintain proper hydration. Yikes!
If you don’t want to “crunch the numbers”, simply drink enough water so you have to “tinkle” before you play, at the turn, and after 18. If you didn’t “tinkle” 3 times during the round, you are not properly hydrated and can be losing energy and focus on the golf course. Better hydration means a better back nine!
Dodie teaches golf in Santa Cruz, CA and Scottsdale, AZ. For more information on golf lessons, mental strategy coaching and tournament preparation, contact dodiemazzuca@live.com
