Please do not head for the alcohol cabinet, well at least until you have read the article and put into practice the advice given herein.

I want you to remember your last competitive round of golf.

Now, answer the following three questions:

Did I feel fatigued, mentally or physically during any stage of the round?

Did I lose concentration, without any real explanation?

Did my performance drop during the latter stages of the round?

If you answered yes to any, or all of the questions then you need to consider the following information.

For every 10% of bodily fluids you lose, your ability to focus on a task is affected by 20%.

Now let us imagine the following scenario;

You are on the course, the sun is shining and you are feeling great about your game…Suddenly you feel a bit thirsty. You check your bag and realise you have left your water in the car.

A few holes later you level is dropping inexplicably and you put it down to your inability to keep a score going.

Well, actually it more than likely down to the lack of fluids that you now have in your system.

Due to the great weather, concentration and generally loss of fluids (sweating, urination, salivating etc) your ability to concentrate has dwindled.

You are lucky, you have managed to hail down the drinks cart or dart into the bar to grab a bottle of water, but too late.

You are now dehydrated and glugging back a half litre of water will do very little.

Towards the end of the round your performance may pick up, this is a mix of adrenaline and the effect of replenishing some of the lost fluids but it is too little too late.

You need to replenish your fluid levels throughout the round from the very first tee.

I have had many a client believe that this was in no way related to their decline in performance, but once they tried the following, which we added to their post shot routine the results spoke for themselves.

To make taking a sip of water (or an energy drink, although you must choose your energy drink wisely) easier I suggest you add it into your post-shot routine.

Once you have played your shot, especially tee shot take your bottle out of your bag and take a decent swig of it.

Replace it in your bag and continue with your round. When you reach the next tee do the same. If the climate is hot or humid then add this to your post-shot routine for every long game shot. It is not practical to add it to your putting routine.

By increasing your fluid intake you will be amazed at how much fresher you feel.

Why do you think at tournaments and professional events there are beverage stations at every turn??

Drink more and see your results improve.