Do you have a tea or coffee intentionally or unintentionally right before your "matches"?? How do you feel during the game?

Personally I wouldnt recommend coffee or tea before, during or right after a game. These two beverages are diuritic, meaning they cause you too loose liquids. Liquids you need to prevent dehydration during intense workout/games. I would suggest just regular water or maybe one of those sports drink. :)

Absolutely. I have a coaching session in my lunchtime today (my work is flexible-ish, so I can take longer than an hour) and I steer well clear of a coffee in the morning, just drinking water instead.

If memory serves me right, it is actually the caffeine in the tea/coffee that makes the drink diuretic. Having said that, caffeine does have the effect of enhancing muscular strength and endurance, and it is generally pretty easily absorbed by the body.

So I guess if you are looking for a quick boost, having some tea / coffee in your system will probably help. However, you will need to consume more water and electrolyte to replenish your body's supply. (and oh yes, you will pee more. :D )

-Rick

I would often drink coffee about 20mins before my last dragonboat race of the day last summer and I would feel a surge of energy. However, a single race lasts 2min 30sec, while a badminton game lasts a lot longer than that. That 20mins is my personal feeling and I know other paddlers drank it up to an hour before or 5mins before. Having said that, I think it would be a short term advantage in badminton and might turn into a disadvantage later on in the game (it's hard playing with an urge to pee..)

OMG, coffee stresses me and makes me go to toilet. Tea is fine but water is evern better.

G'day,

I know of players who goes through cans of Redbull (or V-drink) before a game. They seem to reach an amazing performance peak early on during the game but as the match drag on, they become flat as a tack afterwards.

A quick survey of rubbish bin during my last tornament revealed a large quantity of these energy drinks, behind Gatorade (or similar products). Coke cola follows closely in third place.

I personally think it is better to have an even level of performance instead of a Jerkyll and Hyde type.

Basically the way caffeinated drinks works is that caffeine inhibits phosphodiesterase, which is a protein that breaks down cAMP. cAMP is directly involved in the regulation (activation in this case) of Protein Kinase A, which phosphorylates (activates) enzymes responsible for the breakdown of sugars that are stored as energy (glycogen in muscles). In other words, caffeine causes your body to consistently produce energy for an extended period of time upon stimulation or stress (i.e. epinephrine/glucagon signals). Basically all energy drinks are are blobs of caffeine (usually coffee/tea has only 70-100 mg/12 oz, and energy drinks have a lot more) with some carbohydrates for quick energy. Sadly it also means if you drink these drinks you'll stay away for along time, but the carbs will also make you fat since you're not using up that source of energy right away. Glycogen in muscle is automatically restored upon a meal so even though you're burning the energy away you're not burning the right ones away. Bleh... Stupid biochemistry.

What? Too indepth for a simpleton like me! ;)

What? Too indepth for a simpleton like me! ;)

We need cooler to translate to badminton! :D Where are you? ;)

Coffee and Tea is a NO NO to me before and after games. Its not good for health.. Decaf as well.

Er... sorry! I can't help it. All the biochemistry I've taken has brainwashed me :(

Basically... just stick with water. Coffee or Tea before playing would probably stress you out too much. It keeps your body tense.

Err... how is this thread related to equipment anyhow???
Perhaps it should be moved...

Anyhow... if you're looking for a super highly charged energy drink...

There is a caffeine type drink sold in video game outlets, that gamers use to stay up all night, and charges them up big time... it's called... get this...
Ballz :eek:

LOL

It's a huge blast of caffeine, and as Traum mentioned it... you'd probably need to go to the washroom more later on.
But anyhow... if you're looking for a huge boost of energy, try it out.

just watch out for a crash later on... lol.

I've drank a little myself to keep me up and awake, as I do not drink coffee... the drink itself isn't really bad either, it's like a soda.

Anywho...

That's all i have to say about that.

-Kelvin

Actually it's called "Bawls" - It's actually aimed at gamers which is why it's sold at video game outlets.

When I competed in CPL (Cyberathelete Professional League, pretty much world computer game championships for anyone that was wondering) the company had a booth set up there with a ton of promotions and stuff. Let me tell you, I slept one hour a night there for 6 straight days of gaming and didn't feel tired at all. Meanwhile I was drinking 2 cases of these things (like 24) a day. Basically if you're looking for some quick energy I would just drink some sugared water... Bawls is expensive (usually $20 a case or so, but I got them for $10 a case as a promotional thing with CPL) and caffeine is bad for you anyway. Read above for why ^^

Ah good someone knows what I'm talking about LOL..

Hmm... wahhh... how come bawlz (hope that's right) costs so much in the US???

My friend bought me a few bottles and it only cost them like $1.50 each.

Profit margins must be high on the stuff in the US.

We need cooler to translate to badminton! :D Where are you? ;)

LOL, I didnt check this thread until now because i dont drink coffee and only drink the occassional green tea during dimsum. As for caffeine before a big match, it depends a lot on how much, when and each individual. As stated by bobothebadder and a general consensus, caffeine spares glycogen in favor of lipid (fat) metabolism. However, medical studies are inconclusive with results being supportive as well as neutral (ie no glycogen sparing effect). Not discussed yet are caffeine other attributes like decreasing pain perception and euphoria promotion. Data strongly support caffeine promoting the release of plasma Beta-endorphin and cortisol which are essential for enhancing endurance and attributes mentioned above. However, these hormones arent release until after 0.5 to 1 hr of hard exercise so if u must take caffeine, do it about 0.5 to 1 hr before the match. Caffeine is better employed in training because athletes usually train several hours per day so if one trains more, he/she will have better performance on competition day whether caffeine is consume or not during competition. Drinking cokes during a match wouldn't help much except for the sugar intake. Drinking cokes 1 hr before the match is bad too because you mistime the insulin cycle. :p Personally i drink neither tea or coffee before badminton games. I try to avoid soda pops unless i have no other choice.

Tea have more caffeine than tea.. btw if you drink coke during games.. it can damage your stomach tissues..and as well as you liver.

To augment cooler's remarks about the effects of caffine, we have to keep in mind that caffine has a reasonably strong addiction effect. Repeat users can easily develop both psychological and physical dependencies on the drug, and withdrawl symptoms exists.

-Rick

Tea have more caffeine than tea.. btw if you drink coke during games.. it can damage your stomach tissues..and as well as you liver.
How come coke damages our liver? It sounds horrible! Could anyone eliberate this point a little bit more? :eek: