Hit your best Shotz

By Matt Cooper Last updated: 17th March 2010

We all understand the importance for endurance athletes of maintaining a good sports nutrition programme - but golfers, too, need to beware of the damaging affects of not properly refuelling and maintaining hydration.

Golfers appreciate the anger and frustration of watching a good round collapse around them, but we rarely attribute this to a slack attitude to nutrition - and it's a mistake.

Four hours (and more) on the course places high demands on energy levels because the loss of fluid and energy causes physical and mental fatigue.

That much has been proved by two incidents in the last couple of years when leading golfers have succumbed to the debilitating affects of dehydration.

Phil Mickelson's bid for victory at the 2009 WGC CA Championship was almost derailed by it - indeed on the Saturday night he spent two hours in hospital receiving fluids via an IV.

His trainer Sean Cochran later revealed: "If you watch Phil he really gets into the round and doesn't drink on every hole, doesn't always eat when he needs to. (Fortunately) his caddie Jim 'Bones' Mackay is really good about getting him to drink regularly."

Another golfer who went on to win a big tournament also had to fight the affects of dehydration, this time Padraig Harrington at the 2008 PGA Championship.

"My game was going downhill very quickly during the second round," he said. "I was mentally fried, my co-ordination was gone and I didn't know where the ball was going.

"I felt that I had no chance in the tournament the way I was playing and feeling. I went back to my house and slept for most of the afternoon.

"It wasn't until I spoke to Liam Hennessey, my trainer at home, that he diagnosed dehydration. That's what caused the lack of co-ordination: I had to make sure to get more liquids into me."

Like Mickelson, when Harrington addressed the problem, it worked - he went on to claim the title, his third major in six starts.

To find out more, Golf365 talked to Simon Bradeley at Assist, a company specialising in sports and fitness technology, and who distribute Shotz sports nutrition products.

He explained the importance of a sensible sports nutrition routine: how improved endurance and increased concentration can result from dealing effectively with re-fuelling energy levels.

Here is his guide to improved golf nutrition:

Before the round:

Simple: make sure you have sufficient fluid and energy onboard.

On the course:

Four hours playing the game - often in humid and/or hot conditions - means that the replacement of fluid lost through sweat is extremely important. But it is not merely a question of lost fluid - we also lose valuable electrolytes.

Electrolytes are chemicals that play a key role in many normal bodily functions including nerve impulse transmission and muscle contractions. To maintain optimum physical performance and keep our bodies functioning properly it is essential that we have a consistent and adequate supply of electrolytes.

Too many people choose to wait until they feel dehydrated or thirsty before taking on board extra fluid, however by then it is too late and your performance will have already been compromised.

Dehydration leads to fatigue which is the primary reason for that all too familiar back nine collapse. Physical and mental fatigue can cause a loss of concentration leading to mistakes and impact upon muscle function which can affect a golfers swing.

Replacing electrolytes lost through sweat is a key weapon in the fight against fatigue and the sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium in Shotz Electrolyte Tablets replaces those lost Electrolytes.

Sugar free effervescent tablets that dissolve in water, they produce a hypotonic drink in a choice of two flavours.

The back nine:

Every backswing, follow through and walk up the fairway reduces the amount of energy stored in our body and this has to be replaced in order to keep golfers performing to the best of their ability.

Bananas are a popular snack because they fit the bill with a speedy kick of energy. The Shots alternatives are Carboshotz Energy Gels and Shotz Energy Bars which are designed to be used alongside Shotz Electrolyte Tablets and help ensure that golfers feel as strong approaching the final green as they did standing on the first tee.

Containing a combination of complex carbohydrates and simple sugars, Carboshotz Energy Gels provide a fast-acting hit of sustained energy to help golfers maintain optimum performance for longer.

The 19th Hole:

Don't hit the clubhouse and get careless: you need to re-hydrate and ensure you are prepared for the next day's golf - another Shotz Electrolyte tablet will set you up.

Conclusion:

Bradeley and Assist deal mostly with endurance athletes - runners, cyclists, triathletes and ironmen - but the technology and expertise those sportsmen and women have utilised can also transform the results of golfers.

The physical toil may not be quite so overwhelming in golf but the demand for accurate and delicate physical movement over a long period of time calls for staying power and stamina.

And few sports require the long-term mental strength and focus that golf does.

The conclusion is simple: ditch the tradition of hastily eaten bacon rolls and sausage baps; embrace golf as an endurance sport and use the methods and knowledge those sports have been using for years.