Warm Weather Reminds Us Of The Need For Proper H-Y-D-R-A-T-I-O-N

By Paul Lubanski

The beautifully warm summer weather finally arriving here in Chicagoland and throughout the Midwest has once again reminded me to bring up the topic of hydration in today's blog. Specifically, just how critical it is to insure that your youngsters are ingesting as much water as is appropriate throughout practices and games--regardless of the sport.

So here we go...

Obviously, I am not holding myself out as a certified medical professional, however, my experience and extensive dialogue with physicians and sporting-specific training personnel has convinced me that proper hydration cannot and must not be viewed as a luxury.

In other words, in order for the body to both maintain and perform at peal levels, it must fueled consistently by water.

How much?


Your players should not be leaving bench without having replaced the fluids burned on the previous shift (at bat etc.)--or feeling thirsty to any degree, for that matter.

You see, while there is no exact scientific answer to provide you with precisely how much is required, there are several contributing indicators to weigh.

For example, size/weight and possibly what the player had eaten before competition are all factors. My advice would simply be this: Pay close attention and insure that each individual athlete is absolutely replenishing his/her liquid "Burn" post each shift on the surface.

Suggestion: Take notes on the bench as to just how much water your club has gone through during each game for a solid month.

Then chart the team's overall effort/achievement against the intake and develop your own methodology for encouraging and making certain that your players get into a comfortable and patterned routine of ingestion.

Finally, just as you may enforce no-exception-type rules that apply to executing offensive and defensive tactics on the ice, the drinking of water to promote the best-possible individual/team effort(s) must be made MANDATORY.

The team's physical and psychological health hangs in the balance--that is FOR SURE.

Best of luck.



BONUS TIPS

1.)    Feel free to utilize the acronym that I devised (see below) to again--consistently reinforce the MUST DRINK WATER concept with all of your respective players/teams. It goes like this:

H-elping
Y-outh
D-rink
R-egularly
A-t
T-he
E-vent

2.)    And please do know that the "punishing" of youngsters for poor play or perceived bad or lazy penalties by forcing them to skate/run/crawl endlessly without fluid intake is neanderthal, ignorant and criminal. I do not care if we are talking AAA, Junior, High School or House, do not do it! It displays ridiculously poor judgement and illustrates a total lack of culpability on the coach's part. I honestly would suggest prosecuting those that still engage in that sort of banality.

Not-to-mention, the obvious reinforcement of poor skating/striding habits that emerge throughout the course of such a colossal waste of time. Parents--these coaches are still out there--so do keep your eyes open and report such abuses immediately.

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