Knowing what to eat before golf

[MarkC13276]

Hi All,

Looking through this thread one thing that comes to mind when talking about golf fitness is what you should eat before and during the game. The reason I am commenting on this, is that I played on Wednesday this week and while all my mates had a belly buster breakfast of bacon, eggs & the works, I decided to have the continetal one (ie. cereal, toast and fruit). I also had taken a few ceral bars, 2 water and 3 bananas for during the round.
Now you might say so whats your point. Well I noticed by the 11th tee my mates all started to feel tired and though it might sound funny to blokes, they had bad burps with tasting of their breakfast again. Also I noticed that one of my mates lost concentration on putts and was 3 to 4 putting on occasions. Were as me, I felt great and apart from feeling hungry at the 9th tee but 2 bananas cured that. My game was in great condition especially my short game. As on average my puts for the day was around 1.6 with me having some great long putts.

Just thought I share that info with you as the next time I am out I will be going for the healthy option again to see if my game improves because of what I eat before hand.
Cheers
Mark

[Iktomi]

Re: Knowing what to eat before golf

Hey Mark,
First let me commend you on making healthier choices in your diet. You have made a great choice in making breakfast healthier. I'm wondering if you are eating too much during a round. Strictly from a calorie standpoint each banana is about 100 calories. Each cereal bar (I'm averaging the amounts) is about 130 calories. So you are taking in about 500 calories per round. Now even if your walking, and at a rapid pace you probably aren't buring nearly that many calories per round. I have been playing early morning rounds pre-breakfast for about 2 months. I've been able to lose about 13 pounds by increasing my daily walking milage and cutting down on my breakfast. I would love to see a study done on energy expenditures while playing golf. Or if golfers needs to eat during a round and if that increases performance. If anyone has results of such a study I would be very interested in it.

[golfinglad]

Re: Knowing what to eat before golf

Hi,

Roughly a round of golf walking requires approx 1700 cals plus you have your own individual Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) to add on for the day. This is dependant on the amount of muscle you have as apposed to fat but lets say the average person (regular golf palyer/resonabley healthy) will be 1600-1800 cals per day. Therefore if you play golf 4-5 hours - that day you will require 3300-3600 calories of which 1700 will need to be consumed by the end of the round.

The issue is more to do with blood sugar levels and the effect this has on the decisions you make in the last third of your round - blood sugar tends to feed the brain if you like. Do you pull that 5 iron in a cross wind or do you lay up?

Also check out the new stuff on Glycemic loading - too much sugar intake has your blood sugar levels leaping up and down throughout the round but try foods witha low GI to keep those fluctutations to a minimun.

Hope this helps.

[cyc53870]

Re: Knowing what to eat before golf

This is an important but neglected topic indeed. Many golfers tend to sit down and eat halfway (after the 9th hole) and a light snack would be best. Notice how other athletes eat bananas during break time? Water intake is also important. The bigger picture also includes vitamins and minerals if you don't have a balanced diet...

[dannyra]

Re: Knowing what to eat before golf

You can't talk about golf and what you eat without including the most important calorie intake...The empty calorie. What's a round of golf without the important snickers bar and the even more important beer.

Did I mention beer.

Of course this is a joke, but don't forget the beer.

[cyc53870]

Re: Knowing what to eat before golf

a little wine might help... but just a glass or two only.

[thorirg]

Re: Knowing what to eat before golf

I found a great article on this topic, check it out here: 4 tips on what to eat before and during your round of golf

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: Knowing what to eat before golf

A before round meal should consist of foods that release their energy slower into a golfer's system . A slower release of energy means the energy release will last longer. Same with a mid round snack. Foods that release their energy quickly into a golfer's system will stop supplying energy in a shorter period of time. Candy bars (high sugar content) deliver quick energy, but do not last very long. A food like oatmeal will deliver energy over a longer length of time.

A problem that comes into play is one person's metabolism is different from another person's. The individual needs to know what foods to eat, and how much that will work with their metabolism to delivery energy over a longer length of time. They also need to know how far in advance they need to start replenishing their energy, so that they don't "crash" between meals/snacks.

Anyway, that's my story, and I am sticking to it. GJS

[rogue]

Re: Knowing what to eat before golf

as golfjunkiesnr said above, its all about slow release energy. Looking at the glycemic index (or maybe glycemic load) of foods is good to work out what to eat, the lower the better. But here are a few of my tips

• use low gi foods
• have a medium size meal 1-2 hours before going out
• graze on food throughout the round, avoid bingeing, keeps blood sugars steadier and avoids the dreaded insulin spike from too much food in one go (or too much fast release sugar)
• a round of golf burns roughly 500 cals EXTRA, so aiming for 700-1000 cals through the round is good enough to cover natural energy loss (basal metabolic rate) and golf exercise loss
• basically if you aim for consuming 50 calories of low gi food per hole you will be fine.
• avoid sports drinks. go with low calorie ones like g2 or lucozade hydroactive over the high sugar ones.

i tend to drink water every hole, and eat a jaffa cake or some peeanut butter. Jaffa cakes arent low GI, but im eating one a hole so i never get the insulin spike. if you were to eat a whole packet at half way, then you would get the sugar high then crash effect.

Slow and steady wins the race

[GolfGurl]

Re: Knowing what to eat before golf

I try to keep it simple. If I eat too much I know it later in the round. A bowl of cereal with some fruit is good, cup of coffee for sure, and then I pack a couple of nutrition bars which I can eat as I play (usually at the turn)... peanut butter crackers work for me. No cheese please.

[simonpeterch]

Re: Knowing what to eat before golf

Hi folks,

Nice to be here and hope all doing great..! How about setting a goal, to be a good golfer .. and Kinda food you take before the game ? Is it pretty much important..? I hope if you are fit enough you could do it in a corner of my eye I'm saying it...

Regards,
Simo.