Nutrition during a tournament

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by freeheeler, Feb 11, 2003.

  1. freeheeler

    freeheeler Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2003
    Messages:
    85
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    store manager
    Location:
    california
    Just come across this site and i am really impressed with the amount of in formation available. I have just taken up badminton again after a 12 yr absence from the sport, I started at the age of 5 with a silver gray wooden racket ( still have it ) and continued until I was 30 and then due to taking up other interests I left the game completely, now at the ripe old age of 42 and after moving to California have taken it up again and am loving every minute of it.

    Whilst still reasonably fit it is very hard work playing against the young guys of today and perhaps against better judgement I have entered a tournament which is starting in 2 weeks time in both the singles and the doubles.

    Now when i was younger and playing in Ireland, nutritional information was lacking and chocolate and coke were the main diet between games, I now know enough to know that is not a good idea.

    What should I eat before and during a tournament, let's just say I have a good run of say 3 or 4 matches, should I stock up on carbs or proteins between matches.

    Any advice would be really appreciated as I will need all the help I can get

    Thanks
     
  2. Yodums

    Yodums Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2003
    Messages:
    973
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    I heard something like pasta or pizza are real good meals before a game because it is very healthy.

    I only tried Power Bar once or twice but do they actually work?
     
  3. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 20, 2002
    Messages:
    10,096
    Likes Received:
    15
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    New York, US
    Pizza??? I only know it surely taste good (chicken salad topping), :D

    Healthy? really... I thought that's the ones produce fat. :eek:
     
  4. eagle84

    eagle84 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2002
    Messages:
    16
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    i'm not sure about pizza but i know pasta is a good meal to have the day before a tournament.
     
  5. bigredlemon

    bigredlemon Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2002
    Messages:
    2,096
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    T.O.
    I think it depends on the Pizza.. you'll want one without any cheese and minimum meat, otherwise it'll slow down your metabolism and make your body feel "slow" the next day. Pasta, wheat, grains, brown rice, etc are a good source of energy the day before. I wouldn't eat anything 3 hours before the tournament except two hours before tournaments starts where I'll start eating lots of fruits: lots bananas, kiwis, some apple and oranges, etc. Even tomatos, carrots etc if you want. That's the "breakfast" or lunch or whatever meal you just skipped. Eat lots of it. Sports drink during matches and while resting.

    During matches, have a light sports drink with lots of electrolytes but no protein and not much carbs (gatorade, powerade, etc.) Ideally, the potassium content will be 60-90mg (or was it grams) per 500 ml, with some calcium. Most sports drinks at local convience stores fall under here.

    In between matches where you have a 30+ minute break, have a medium sports drink with high carbs and medium protein (try to stay below 10g protein per 500 ml of drink.) Nutrion stores, pro shops, and some convience stores will carry these. Make sure you don't get the ones with both caffeine AND other stimulants (a few people have died from this, so i don't think they sell those anymore.)


    This is what I would ideally want to do for a 3 hour tournament. Orange juice is a great substitute for either, though you should also drink water in addition to OJ since it is not as diluted as the sports drinks.
     
  6. Nanashi

    Nanashi Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    649
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    damn, you really know your stuff buddy!

    assuming this is all correct information of course :)


    hell, i just eat what i usually eat....


    oh yeah... apparently, it's actually better to drink things like gatorade instead of water during matches because your body loses sodium through sweat, and by drinking water, you aren't replacing it, thus you'll feel sluggish.... (dunno if that's really true though...)
     
  7. bigredlemon

    bigredlemon Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2002
    Messages:
    2,096
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    T.O.
    true as far as I know, which is why so many people either get gatorade or eat bananas during break :) The electrolytes ultamitely results in causing the muscle to contract, kind of like a signal.

    no electrolytes = no muscle movement
     
  8. Joanne

    Joanne Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 2, 2002
    Messages:
    1,338
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Getting thrashed on court.
    Location:
    Petaling Jaya, S'gor, M'sia
    Wow. Special food? I play on a not so full tummy. lol. It'll be dangerous if I'm FULL.........:D :D I usually just drink some 100 plus.....or Excel.....or....isogan. lol.
     
  9. Nanashi

    Nanashi Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    649
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    i try not to drink too fuch fluids during and before... i find that if i drink too much, i get a stomach ache that takes a little while to get rid of....
     
  10. bigredlemon

    bigredlemon Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2002
    Messages:
    2,096
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    T.O.
    I know what you mean. I've drank too much a couple of times and could felt the water in my stomach "swooshing" around during the game... not a great feeling! The pain isn't too good either. I found a good way to tell how much to drink though: if i'm thirsty, then drink; if i'm not thirsty, then don't:D ;)
     
  11. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2002
    Messages:
    17,757
    Likes Received:
    1,078
    Occupation:
    Semi-Retired
    Location:
    Singapore Also Can
    Hi freeheeler,

    Welcome to BF! Ripe old age at 42? Then I wouldn't know how to describe myself. To me, you are middle-aged, still very strong since you are into competition again - perhaps men's singles?

    But your wooden Silver Gray racket. Yes this tells something. Did you have our maestro's, Wong Peng Soon, signature on it? He used to endorse this racquet.

    Looks like you are getting good advice from BRL.
     
  12. Grover

    Grover Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2002
    Messages:
    16
    Likes Received:
    0
  13. bigredlemon

    bigredlemon Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2002
    Messages:
    2,096
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    T.O.
    Thanks for the link Grover. I don't like some of the information they give though, but there's no glarring mistakes, aside from the fact that it says there's no need to worry about electrolyte loss, even though that's probably the second most important thing to keep your body full of in order to perform well in competition (water is first, energy is third, imho.)

    Sorry about the long sentence... it's not a run-on sentence as far as I know since it's fully punctuated :D :cool:
     
  14. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    23,818
    Likes Received:
    4,791
    Occupation:
    wannabe badminton phototaker
    Location:
    Outside the box
    Tend to agree with you there BRL.

    Like drink a litre of water the night before a match??
    You'll have to get up in the night to go to the toilet!!

    Using the term carbohydrate is a bit misleading. White sugar is a carbohydrate....so is glucose...

    Maybe they should put a diet up with Asian food:D:D:D

    Actually, what's wrong with a McDonald's so long as you don't gorge yourself (say eat only half a Big Mac) and drink plenty of water to balance out the higher salt content?

    A bit empirical but you could get by an afternoon on something like that I guess. If you played the whole day, that would be a different matter.
     
  15. Slanter

    Slanter Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    296
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Wiltshire, England
    Increasing numbers of players at Opens in England, myself included, are using the SIS drinks. There is a website - if you search this forum with 'sports drink' you should find the link, I have forgotten it. They do three types - a high carb for warm up, an electrolyte for during play and a total recovery for after play. I have used the first to and they seem to do a good job. I think that it is important to drink normal water alongside with these sports drinks to ensure that you are fully hydrated.
     
  16. bigredlemon

    bigredlemon Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2002
    Messages:
    2,096
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    T.O.
    I just across THE perfect pre-tournament food. It's something I loved and ate all the time when I lived back East. It's extremely easy to prepare (took me 30 seconds) and very inexpensive (got mine at 30 cents a pound.)

    Baked sweet potato/yams! It's very high in carbs and potassium (what you want) and very low in protein and fat (what you don't want.) And it tastes sooo good. Finally, the mighty banana has met its match :D

    The banana is still more ideal for fueling up during tournaments, but baking sweet potao is the way to go if you want a warm meal before a tourney. Btw, just bake it whole, plain. Most of the recipes on the net cuts it into cubes and slathers butter and sauce before baking them. You dont want butter or anything with much fat on it sa it'll make you tired during the tournament.

    Oh yea, by baking sweet potato, I'm refering to the orange skinned sweet potato with moist orange meat. The red sweet potato with dry white meat (for boiling/steaming) is not what I'm talking about. I presume the boiling (red) sweet potato will work too but I didn't bother checking its nutritional value.

    Long live the mighty sweet potato!
     
  17. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    23,818
    Likes Received:
    4,791
    Occupation:
    wannabe badminton phototaker
    Location:
    Outside the box
    I've come to the conclusion that if we are not highly trained professionals, it doesnt matter what we eat on the day of a tournament so long as we exercise some common sense.


    what principles should we adhere to?
    1) don't eat too much food
    2) don't drink more than one cup immediately before you play (otherwise you get the stomach splash effect)
    3) if it tastes sweet, it has too much sugar
    4) have a bit of savoury stuff to replace the salt you lose in your sweat.
     
  18. gerry

    gerry Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2002
    Messages:
    133
    Likes Received:
    9
    Location:
    UK
  19. Yodums

    Yodums Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2003
    Messages:
    973
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    We're doing health in gym and I have to do an essay about nutrition. I found this site to be rather useful:

    http://www.foodandsport.com/

    I followed it for my tournament. I ate baked potatoes, ate apples which has 100% carbs etc. I drank lots of water but I did it 30mins before my matches.
     
  20. JChen99

    JChen99 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    1,048
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Realtor
    Location:
    Vancouver

Share This Page