How to deal with the heat?

I have my first big tournament coming up called the Hotlanta Open, and it will live up to its name. Its a two day, 4 round tournament scheduled in the middle of August. Here in Atlanta today it reached 96 with humidity always in the 90% range if not 100%. I am from Cleveland Ohio and even though I have lived here for about 6 years I am by no way use to it. How do you deal with the heat and not let it affect your game? I know to take water, but are there any ideas on how to keep it cold? and how to take enough without giving yourself something heavy to carry extra? What can i do to keep it cool? LOL

[Ben Calhoun]

freeze a 32oz gatorade or nalgene, take it out first thing in morning so it's drinkable during first round but still icy, if gatorade the ice chunks all round really help
take out some discs and crap from your bag and replace with water it's worth it
you don't need 'that disc' if you pas out from dehydration right?

[Donnie Reece]

just one reply in 2 days cmon people, help me out.

Thanks Brian solid advice, problem is, I dont know which discs to take out LOL I only carry 10 or so.

[Drew Merino]

From it being your first big tournament it sounds like you will be playing intermediate/advanced. This should mean, you end up starting somewhere around holes 8-10ish after rd1 depending on how many open/advanced groups there are and how you personally play. Park in the lot on hole 1 (or wherever you find convenient for your start position) and leave a cooler in the car. Just make sure to find a shady spot and half way through your round to stop and drop off empty water and pick up cold ones.. Leave a fresh t-shirt or two, and maybe even another pair of socks. There is nothing worse than playing in a wet heavy shirt in the heat of a day.

[Disc Player Sports]

Say hello to the boys in Atlanta.

Living in Florida, found that it is helpful to go synthetic in your clothing.
Under Armour, Nike, Reebok, Starter, Huk Lab........ they all carry it.
Wear these light wicking clothes. The sweat is absorbed in the clothing and evaporates.
Don't wear cotton anything. This goes for shorts too. Big baggy basketball shorts work great.
And DiscPlayerSports carries the best wicking hat in the business......

Drink water, stay away from those fake sugar drinks (gatorade etc.). They have high fructose corn syrup, which is very bad for you. Eat a good healthy breakfast, no dairy, put snacks in your bag (you'll need energy to beat the heat). Proteins like peanuts and or a trail mix are a good bet.

GOOD LUCK, and have fun!

[ben taylor]

one way to help in the GA august heat is to starting playing a round a day or try to get two rounds in a row in the heat of the day and stay hydrated and you will get used to the heat (i have lived my whole life in ga and still havent gotten used to the heat) but drink water none stop and after the round drink a flat coke or sports drink get the sugar levels back up then drink more water eat good hearty food. but water is the key (when i ran cross country in high school (august september) i would drink close to 6 20oz bottles of water a day (pissed alot) but i was hydrated and ready for the afternoon practice) o yea i signed up for hotlanta yesterday

[mark ellis]

I agree with Ben Taylor. You have to get acclimated to the conditions. So go out in the worst of it. In severe heat and humidity it is hard to breathe. The better your aerobic condition the better off you are.

I hate heat and humidity. The only thing that makes it worse is adding bugs. That's the triple whammy. I would rather play in hard freezing rain in February than in heat, humidity and skeeters. The year Pro Worlds was in Minnesota (2001?) we arrived a week early to learn the courses. It was terrible. You would get out of your air conditioned car and immediately your sunglasses would completely fog up. Wipe the glasses off and they immediately fogged up again. Walking the first 50 feet made me dizzy. It took several minutes for that dizziness to fade. I carried a gallon of water for a round, drank it all and wanted more. Then the second round I slammed another gallon. Didn't piss all day. I soaked towels with sweat. It was so humid they wouldn't dry out even when I wrung them out. It was freakin terrible. I blame it all on Chuck Kennedy.

Nah, really I love Chuck Kennedy.

[Disc Player Sports]

Couldn't wait to get out of the heat of the "Florida" summer.Into what I thought would be cool weather in Minnesota. That was the year a Minnesota Viking player died in training camp a week before the Worlds! I do miss the snow and cold some.
Visualize cold helps. I like watching "Deadliest Catch" (Alaskan crab fishing) to see the cold when it is hot here in muggy FL. You can't beat the heat, survive it.

[JC]

Everything so far is good advice. Especially the hydration part. Hydration is first, second, and third priority in the heat.

I'll echo Ben's suggestion of freezing a bottle of gatorade or water. In fact, freeze at least two. Take one, wrap it in a towel, and keep it in the bag (I usually use one of the side pockets on my Revo Texas bag). If you reach a point in the round where you're waiting (back-up, slow group in front, whatever), take it out and use the towel to cool your face and the back of your neck. Wrap it back up when done and it'll be there for you again as needed.

Some other things I do...

...wear light breathable clothes and light colors as well (whites reflect sun/heat, dark absorbs)

...be deliberate in all actions. Not to say take too much time, just don't rush anything. No need to jog down the fairway or run ahead to check your lie. Just relax and take your time as much as possible. Unless you know you're away after everyone tees, there's no need to be the first one walking down the fairway.

...seek shade when possible. If it's a matter of standing in the sun with the group waiting for others to throw or taking a few steps off to the side or behind to stand under a shade tree instead, do it.

...utilize towels. They're not just for discs. I like to wrap my throwing hand in a towel between throws. It keeps the sweat off and keeps them from getting too sticky in the heat/humidity. I'll also throw it around the back of my neck to keep the sun off for a few extra moments.

...sunscreen. Ample amounts on your legs and especially the back of your neck and face. Just be careful applying it on your arms so you don't get your hands all greasy from applying it or having it run off with sweat. Another good use for the extra towel.

...be as light as possible. That goes for clothes, golf bag, everything. Only carry the discs you know you'll absolutely need during that round. If a disc is just in there as a "in case I'm in a jungle surrounded by gorillas, I can thumb-roll between their legs and around a tree" disc, it's not an absolute necessity. Utilize any free space by carrying extra water/ice and snack foods.

Good luck with the tournament, and hope for an unusual cool spell to hit that weekend (cool being 65-75 and low humidity, of course).

[Kyle Plotzka]

Hey bro, My idea to keep it cold is to freeze a couple bottles so that during the round your drinking freshly melted cold water, and I don't know what kind of bag you carry, but my buddy actually fit the bladder of a camelback int the side pouch of his bag. I don't know if any of that helps but good luck

[ben taylor]

one other thing i have found out is not to drink any sports drinks when playing (i know many people that do) but it can acutally be worse for you (it is for me makes me have an upset stomach) i always wait until after the round to get a sports drink or a flat coke (same think as a sports drink when it is flat) or inbetween rounds (when you have the hour lunch break) but about 2 weeks before start eating alot of carbs and protien then after the tournament do the same thing and do not drink any alcohol 2to3 days before becuase it will dehyrate you

i think that is all for now that i can think of (o yeah augusta is normally 5 degrees hotter and more humid that the ATL so be lucky)

[BeckyT]

Ben and JC....thanks for the great tips. I played in Lakeport CA last weekend in 95 degree heat and survived. The frozen towel idea is pure genius.

[Nick Peters]

I like to take a small towel and soak it with water the night before, put it in a zip lock bag and freeze it overnight.