Hydration For Golf Performance

Welcome to the first evidence-based blog from me, Chris Goswami (MSc) a published golf science researcher ^[1], for SMART Golf and Fitness, Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL. As evidence-based practitioners, we look to scrutinise and apply the latest science research to optimize golf performance.

TLDR

Hydration is often an afterthought for golfers, with emerging evidence showing the negative impacts of even mild dehydration on many areas of golf such as distance, accuracy and putting. To optimize performance and recovery, aim to consume 16oz of fluid gradually in the 2-4h pre-round, 4oz per hole, and enough to sufficiently replace lost fluid post round. Consuming carbohydrate and/or caffeine based fluids may provide additional benefits. 

Introduction

In this first blog, we are going to have a look at hydration, an often overlooked element of golf performance. After all, we all know that mid round, brown and often potent toilet break…

Hydration on the golf course can be affected by multiple factors, including but not limited to: the golfer, fluid intake, performance intensity, cart or bag carry preference, sweat rate, climate, course geography, and the type of clothing worn ^[3].

Hydration plays a crucial role in maintaining energy levels, mental clarity, and physical performance throughout a round ^[4]. Dehydration can impair focus, increase fatigue, increase body temperature and glycogen utilisation and reduce coordination, making it harder to execute shots consistently ^[3,4].

Since golf rounds can last several hours, maintaining proper hydration is essential for both physical and mental performance. In fact, multiple studies across a variety of sports have shown negative performance effects of dehydration. For example, dehydration can lead to a decrease in cognitive performance ^[5] and general physical performance in areas such as muscular endurance (-8.3%) Strength (-5.5%) and power (-5.8%) ^[6].

Hydration for Golf

When looking specifically at the golf hydration research, it should be noted that in general there is a poor weight of evidence and there are mixed findings.  The field is still in its infancy but the evidence is finally emerging, with two recent review articles published ^[4,7].

Previously, Smith et al. found that mild dehydration decreased shot distance and shots were less accurate in low handicap golfers. They assessed 7 low handicap golfers and established that mild dehydration significantly (p<0.01) impaired golf performance, expressed as shot distance (114.6 vs. 128.6m) and off-target accuracy (7.9 vs. 4.1 m) ^[8].

In another study by Magee et al. on low handicap golfers, the average shots taken were significantly higher (p<0.05) in the players who began the round dehydrated (79.5 ± 2.1 strokes) when compared with the hydrated group (75.7 ± 3.9 strokes) ^[9].

Finally, Stevenson et al. assessed performance differences between hydrated and dehydrated golfers over 4 simulated holes in a small scale pilot study on female collegiate golfers.  They found small decreases in 7 iron distance (141.9 vs. 144.2) and marginally lower putting accuracy (2.4 vs 2.7 putts made out of 4 attempts) when dehydrated ^[4]. However, due to the sample size, the study had low statistical power, and no statistically significant findings were reported (p>0.05), as you would expect in a preliminary study of this kind.

Combination drinks Furthermore,  there are additional studies that assess the impact of a mix of carbohydrate, protein, and caffeinated drinks on golf performance, with mixed findings. For example, Stephenson et al. found that a combined carbohydrate-caffeine beverage increased performance and feelings of alertness in a simulated golf environment ^[10]. Although, more recently Thompsett et al. assessed a carbohydrate, carbohydrate-protein beverage and a zero calorie control during on-course performance, finding no differences in performance, however, did  find a decrease in self-reported feelings of fatigue ^[11]. The addition of carbohydrates, protein and caffeine make direct comparisons to water based interventions difficult. Was it the water? The carbohydrates? The caffeine? Or as is more likely, all of the above? This area merits extra attention as a way to further enhance hydration strategies in golf, as it would appear that when nutrition and fluid are combined there is an additive performance effect, something supported by O’Donnell’s review ^[3].

SMART Golf and Fitness Recommendations:

1. Pre-round: We recommend starting the round in a hydrated state. A simple strategy for this is to gradually consume ~500ml (16oz) of fluid within the 2-4h window pre-round for a typical 80kg (180lbs) golfer ^[12,13].

2. On Course: The consumption of 150ml (4oz) of fluid roughly every 15 minutes or per hole would assist in the maintenance of hydration during the round, as we look to keep fluid loss to less than 1% of total body weight ^[7].

3. Post-round: We should look to rehydrate at a rate of 1.5L (50oz) per 1kg (2.2lbs) of fluid loss ^[12,13].

4. Other: The available evidence would suggest that an electrolyte/carbohydrate beverage would be advantageous to optimize rehydration ^{[7, 14]}.

It would be prudent at this time to reemphasize the weight and quality of evidence to support golf golf specific hydration, with O’Donnell’s recent systematic review ^[3] highlighting the scarcity of hydration for golf research, and that the guidelines are pulled from a combination of general guidelines and those of other sports. Therefore, we can be reasonably confident in the evidence-based findings, however, more research is required, especially in larger population studies that assess on-course performance across a variety of the skills required for golf.

References

1. Goswami, C. L., Shepherd, A. J., Langdown, B. L., Knight, J. M., & Maguire, A. J. (2025). Acute Effects of Different Warm-Up Protocols on Junior Golfers’ Drive Performance. International Journal of Strength and Conditioning. 5(1). https://doi.org/10.47206/ijsc.v5i1.343

2. Gunawan, Alexander & Brandon, David & Puspa, Velinda & Wiweko, Budi. (2018). Development of Urine Hydration System Based on Urine Color and Support Vector Machine. Procedia Computer Science. 135. 481-489.

3. O’Donnell, A., Murray, A., Nguyen, A., Salmon, T., Taylor, S., Morton, J. P., & Close, G. L. (2024). Nutrition and Golf Performance: A Systematic Scoping Review. Sports Medicine, 1-15.

4. Stevenson, W., Zabinsky, J. S., & Hedrick, V. E. (2019). Effects of Dehydration on Cognitive and Physical Performance in Female Golfers: A Randomized Crossover Pilot Study. J, 2(4), 496-507.

5. Riebl, S. K., & Davy, B. M. (2013). The Hydration Equation: Update on Water Balance and Cognitive Performance. ACSM’s health & fitness journal, 17(6), 21–28.

6. Savoie, F. A., Kenefick, R. W., Ely, B. R., Cheuvront, S. N., & Goulet, E. D. (2015). Effect of Hypohydration on Muscle Endurance, Strength, Anaerobic Power and Capacity and Vertical Jumping Ability: A Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine, 45(8), 1207–1227.

7. Berlin, N., Cooke, M. B., & Belski, R. (2023). Nutritional considerations for elite golf: A narrative review. Nutrients, 15(19), 4116.

8. Smith, M. F., Newell, A. J., & Baker, M. R. (2012). Effect of acute mild dehydration on cognitive-motor performance in golf. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 26(11), 3075-3080.

9. Magee, P. J., Gallagher, A. M., & McCormack, J. M. (2017). High prevalence of dehydration and inadequate nutritional knowledge among university and club level athletes. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 27(2),158–68.

10. Stevenson, E. J., Hayes, P. R., & Allison, S. J. (2009). The effect of a carbohydrate-caffeine sports drink on simulated golf performance. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism. 34(4), 681–688.

11. Thompsett, D. J., Vento, K.A., Der Ananian, C., Hondula, D., Wardenaar, F. C. (2022). The effects of three different types of macronutrient feedings on golf performance and levels of fatigue and alertness. Nutr Health. 28(4), 509–14.

12. American College of Sports, M., et al., American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2007. 39(2) 377-90.

13. O’Donnell, A., Dunne, D., Close, G. L. (2023). Nutrition, Hydration and Golf. Aspetar Sports Medicine Journal. 12. https://journal.aspetar.com/en/archive/volume-12-targeted-topic-sports-medicine-in-golf/nutrition-hydration-and-golf

14. Maughan, R. J., Watson, P., Cordery, P. A., Walsh, N. P., Oliver, S. J., Dolci, A., Rodriguez-Sanchez, N., & Galloway, S. D. (2016). A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 103(3), 717–723.