Water and Exhaustion

Watching players compete intensely on the Omega Tour for the last 4 years, the most important thing I have witnessed is how exhausted the players get towards the end of the tournament.

At that point, it truly is about who is less exhausted.

Here is the situation on the Omega Tour:

On Saturday, the day is chalk full of matches and waiting around for matches.  You can be there for 8 hours and play only 2-3 matches if you stay on the winner's side.  If you get on the one-loss side, you get to stay even longer on Saturday and play even more matches - easily 12 hours some times.

That is exhausting - either playing a lot or waiting, both are tasking both physically and mentally.

Then here comes Sunday.  We start at 10:30am and usually finish around 10:30pm.  If a player stays on the winners side, it would go like this:  Play for an hour or hour and half then about an hour break; play for an hour or hour and half then about an hour break ..... and repeat all day until the finals.

If you are on the one-loss side, there are no breaks.  You play back to back to back.  If you make it to the finals, you have just played pretty much non-stop for 12 hours (a few breaks of 10 minutes between matches, but nothing more).

One stop this past season a player told me after he lost the hosteat match, "Man, I am exhausted."

I shared, "You know, at this point every single player is exhausted.   You've all been playing all day. What I witnessed and learned is the player who is the least exhausted does best."

He looked at me, taking in my words and agreeing.

Then I shared even more, "what I have seen is drinking water wakes a player up a little bit and gives them energy."

He ran immediately to get water.  And he won the tournament, too.  I'm not saying I helped him win, but I AM saying that the refreshing feel of water in his system helped him feel better and less exhausted with a clearer mind.  His opponent did not hydrate himself and was just as exhausted as he had been in the last few matches.  So, the player who was the least exhausted won.

We have all heard the benefits of water and hydration.  

And as most people know, hydration is key for thinking clear and being able to compete well.  The important thing of course is recognizing you are exhausted and then remembering water can help invigorate you and your senses.

Drench on, people!

Just Give Me Some Water!

One of the things I have learned that really helps me is to drink water when I play pool.

Diet sodas only dehydrate me, and water keeps me hydrated best (obviously).  And as most people know, hydration is key for thinking clear and being able to compete well. 

So, right before my scotch doubles match at ACS with my partner Marty Jones, I tell him I need to go get some water, "I'll be right back."

I take a $20 bill from my purse and walk to the concession stand.  As I walked down the hall, I see a vending machine.  It has water in it, for a $1.

I still go up to the concession stand, to see how much their bottled water is.  Since I only had a $20 dollar bill, I couldn't put that in the vending machine.

The sweet, kind lady says their bottled water is $2.  Dang, I read it wrong.

I respond as nice as I could as I whisk away (we were about to start our match), "well, at the vending machine water is only a $1.  Sorry!"

Hey, saving a dollar all weekend for each bottled water would be smart, right?

I walk all the way around and get to our table.  As I replace the $20 with a $1 bill from my purse, I explain to Marty proudly that I'm saving a whole dollar, lol.  I walk away quickly and get to the vending machine and put in the dollar.

No water.

What?

OH CRAP!  The soda is $1, but the water is $2!

Well, I've already invested a $1.  So, I walk BACK to our table, get another dollar, and Marty is looking at me funny.  "Sorry, I'll be right back, it's really $2 in the vending machine."

I get to the vending machine quickly, put in the other dollar, and... STILL NO WATER!

OMG, it's OUT of water!

Sh!t.

So, I go BACK to my purse.  Get BACK OUT the $20 (now I'm out of one dollar bills), run quickly around the hall to the concession stand and ask for water.  LOL.

The lady looks at me funny and I give in, "It's really $2 for the bottled water, and they are out of water.  So, what was suppose to be a one dollar bottle of water has now cost me FOUR dollars."

OMG......

The things we do for water!  lol.

Save the Day with a Drink!

The other night one of our friends was gambling.  We weren't paying too much attention to his match as we were kinda sidetracked with a tournament going on in the same pool room.

At one point, a couple of hours later, we noticed he was struggling.  He didn't have the same look on his face or the desire in his eyes as when he started, and he looked kinda tired now.  And he was prolly embarrassed because he was playing bad.

My boyfriend asked if he wanted something to drink, "Man, I'd love a Diet Coke."

He goes and gets the drink and as he does so, he tells the people who were WATCHING, "Didn't you notice he needed something to drink?"

Then he shares with me that the guy is prolly feeling down because he's playing badly, and showing him some attention might pep him up. 

Sure enough, his eyes got brighter, he felt "loved" (so to speak), and he started to play better.  I would find out the next day he got ahead two sets (he was down when we got him the drink) and his opponent then quit, lol.

Also the next day, a friend of mine was playing in the tournament I mentioned.

She was struggling a little bit and the score was close.  I could tell she was frustrated, too.

I then noticed she lifted her water bottle almost upright, which meant she was out of water!

I ran to the counter, ordered a cold bottle of water, and brought it to her.

This accomplished several things:  She was no longer out of water (dehydration is no good in sports/competition), she felt "loved," and she knew someone was supporting her (obviously, because I noticed the water bottle being empty).

Yes, she won her match, also. 

But that's really not the point.

Even if both of these players would have lost, the point is:  the feeling of support and someone on your side goes a long way! 

It's tough to be the fish out of water and everyone wants to defeat you.  And if you are struggling anyway, makes it all worse even if you are the favored.  To have that kinda of support even from simple water and a diet coke means someone cares and is looking out for you.  Means you aren't alone.  Means, you can go back to focusing on pool instead of struggling.