long tournaments and losing energy & focus

center pocket

center pocket

It's just a hobby, but a fun one.
Silver Member
Well I have placed 3rd in two tournaments in a row this past month. I played even better in last weekends tournament, making tough runouts and securing a lead early in every set. My problem is by the time the hot seat match came about it was 6 and a half hours after the tournament started and I was getting hungry and losing focus. I usually try to eat fruit and drink a protein shake and that works well for about 6 hours but then i need some food. I hate eating cause then I get uncomfortable in my stance and I rush the shot or get lazy and start one stroking. A friend recommended a beer, 1 beer, for the calories and a little bit of alcohol will loosen you up a bit.

Maybe some of you guys have some good suggestions?
 
Start riding bicycles, jogging or swimming, get your stamina up and breathe. I think cold water and some fresh air can do wonders, do not do like I do and drink every type of energy drink the place has, green tea, gatorade and 5 hour energy in a big pitcher because it will not work out well. :eek:
 
lol thats funny. I think physically I am keeping up its the mental strain of concentrating for so long. I am playing soccer now and that has wooped my butt in to shape quickly and sorely. So I just need some sort of mental break i guess.
 
When you find out about the focus part let me know since I need deep help there, but as far as the food stuff goes I started carrying around some small bags of trail mix and Fiber One bars. If you eat some of that and drink some water or soda (diet of course) I think it will help the energy part, at the Derby it was crucial since there is much time waiting for matches to be called.
 
thanks fuji. I have been considering the trail mix option since that is what its made for.
 
it is extremely important to time your eating during tournaments. The key is to have the majority of your digestion completed before you start the next match. If you have something that is high in fat and protein you are going to take longer to digest it. Light complex carb snacks are good as they break down quickly and don't give you the sugar high then low like candy and the like. When your body is digesting food it is directing more blood to your stomach, and thus less blood to your brain. This makes it much harder to concentrate. You also do not want to be hungry because this can affect you as well. If you are in a bind then a quick sugar drink or energy drink right before a match will be immediately helpful (powerade, gatorade, etc.) but you will probably pay for it later.

DO NOT sit an eat a big burger while you are playing or just before, this is going to ruin your focus.

Focus is a very tough thing to keep during a tournament, but find routines that get you in focus... i like to sit alone with some music playing on headphones. Read the Inner Game of Tennis and it will give you some tips on better focus.
 
Thats a book that I havent gotten yet but hear it is great for your game. If I eat a big breakfast before the tournament it helps out a whole lot with my energy. One of the issues is I have to squeeze in breakfast between my driving time and the tournament starting. I drive anywhere from 1-3 hours to the tournaments.
 
One thing I've done that keeps me locked up after 7 hours of tournament play is to focus on my stroke. If I make the shot I REALLY focus on the result, trying to enjoy it as much as possible so I remember that feeling for the next shot. It's like... a carrot to a donkey. Or more accurately, crack to a crack addict. It's my reward. It's my fix lol. It keeps me going when my body and brain are exhausted .
 
I was doing some searching in the forum and ran across this thread. This is a subject that always interests me. Sorry I missed it the first time around.

While I didn't find much on "LIGHT" complex carbohydrates I did find a list of complex carbohydrates.

Also, a list of simple carbs which apparently isn't as good for you as the complex carbs.

I just thought some of you might want to have a list of actual goods that some refer to as complex carbohydrates.

Some examples of healthy foods containing complex carbohydrates are:

Spinach Whole Barley Grapefruit
Turnip Greens Buckwheat Apples
Lettuce Buckwheat bread Prunes
Water Cress Oat bran bread Apricots, Dried
Zucchini Oatmeal Pears
Asparagus Oat bran cereal Plums
Artichokes Museli Strawberries
Okra Wild rice Oranges
Cabbage Brown rice Yams
Celery Multi-grain bread Carrots
Cucumbers Pinto beans Potatoes
Dill Pickles Yogurt, low fat Soybeans
Radishes Skim milk Lentils
Broccoli Navy beans Garbanzo beans
Brussels Sprouts Cauliflower Kidney beans
Eggplant Soy milk Lentils
Onions Whole meal spelt bread Split peas
Tomatoes

Simple carbohydrates are more refined, are usually found in foods with fewer nutrients, and tend to be less satisfying and more fattening.

Some examples of foods containing simple carbohydrates are:

Table sugar
Corn syrup
Fruit juice
Candy
Cake
Bread made with white flour
Pasta made with white flour
Soda pop, such as Coke®, Pepsi®, Mountain Dew®, etc.
Candy
All baked goods made with white flour
Most packaged cereals

-------------------------------

I eat a cereal called Go Lean Crunch. It is a Kashi cereal with Honey Almond Flax. I think it might qualify as a complex carbohydrate food and EASY to transport and EASY to prepare. No milk is necessary. You can actually use water and the taste is quite tolerable. Hot water is better but you can actually eat it with non-heated water which makes it great for the hotel room.

I'm not so sure the cereal above is a complex carbohydrate o simple carbohydrate food but it's portable, easy to prepare, fairly tasty. One cup contains 37 grams of total carbohydrates. I think I'm going to start carrying this with me to pool tournaments in a zip lock bag maybe with a plastic bowl and spoon.

This cereal also has lots of fiber. :wink:

I'm thinking about making some peanut butter protein balls: The exact ratio of ingredients will depend a little on the kinds of protein powder and peanut butter you use, also taste. I used Designer Protein, French Vanilla flavor, for this basic recipe, but chocolate and other flavors work fine as well. If the peanut butter has more oil (natural peanut butters will vary quite a bit in the amount of oil), you'll probably need more protein powder. Also, the amount of sweetener is obviously to taste. Note that these balls are soft at room temperature so you can't throw them in a bag and expect that they will hold their shape.
Ingredients:
•1 cup sugar-free peanut butter
•4 scoops (or 1 and 1/3 cups) whey protein powder -- most are low in carbs, but check -- any flavor
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•Artificial sweetener to taste, about 1-1½ cup sugar equivalent
Preparation:
Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix all at once. A mixer works great for this, but a food processor would probably be fine as well, or just a spoon. Then roll into balls. If you like, roll in crushed nuts. I've mixed almond meal with powdered erythritol and that worked well as a coating.
For sweetener, I use the most concentrated liquid sucralose (Splenda). In the past, I made the mistake of trying to add too much liquid in the form of Da Vinci's syrups for flavoring. To my dismay, it is possible to turn the whole thing into a ropey, gluey mess. I never figured out what the chemical reaction was, but it happened to me more than once. On the other hand, protein powders are fine added to shakes, so it couldn't have been just the liquid. It must have been the exact combination of fat, protein and liquid. If any food chemists have an idea about what might have happened, let me know!

I think powdered erythritol would work as a sweetener with the chocolate flavor.

Makes approximately 16 balls about one inch in diameter.

Nutritional Information: Assuming zero-carb sweetener, each ball has 3 grams effective carbohydrate plus 1 gram fiber, 9 grams protein, and 118 calories.

Does anyone bring particular foods with them to pool tournaments? If so which ones?

JoeyA
 
It's your pre-tournament preparation that we need to look at here CP.
Do like my good friend Bob "Skidmarks" Johnson does. Get yourself one of those twenty-five pound blocks of government cheese and begin eating it three days before your first match. Just the cheese and nothing else.
The good news here is you won't think a thing about food during the entire tournament. The bad news is, of course, you won't be able to crap for a month. Good luck. :D
 
center pocket said:
Well I have placed 3rd in two tournaments in a row this past month. I played even better in last weekends tournament, making tough runouts and securing a lead early in every set. My problem is by the time the hot seat match came about it was 6 and a half hours after the tournament started and I was getting hungry and losing focus. I usually try to eat fruit and drink a protein shake and that works well for about 6 hours but then i need some food. I hate eating cause then I get uncomfortable in my stance and I rush the shot or get lazy and start one stroking. A friend recommended a beer, 1 beer, for the calories and a little bit of alcohol will loosen you up a bit.

Maybe some of you guys have some good suggestions?
Click to expand...

6.5 hrs? You better toughen up!;)

That said, protein/ fruit is a damn good way to go, but you need something more complex to digest...you know, something that burns a bit slower.

I usually make oatmeal and keep it in a ziplock FREEZER bag in my pocket. When I get even the faintest hunger/ weakness feeling I stick my hand in my pocket and eat a handful. Sometimes oatmeal gets on the equipment but that is just too bad.

Oatmeal is kidding. Try energy bars that have a blend of protein/ fat carbs. I like ratio of calories to be 30/20/50...but that is a ballpark, not a rule. MAke yourself eat every 3-5 hrs and have water w/ em.

I do think a beer or 2 can make for better pool, but they are so tasty, you gotta be careful not to get into the fog, instead of the zone.

And, physically...stretch your muscles (everyone should do this a couple of times a week anyway), sit when possible and go outside regularly.

Remember why you are there, and AIM!
 
I have found something that works fairly well. Every 2-4 hours I go to my car (cant bring food inside) and eat a piece of fruit, a kashi bar and or a handful of trailmix. This mix is helping alot. I am lasting about 12 hours now before being exhausted. Also I try to drink lots of water.

The only time I forget about this is in gambling sessions. I need to remember to do this when gambling as well.
 
Black-Balled said:
These bars are friggin awesome (beware: chocolate melts!:sorry:).
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=hpc&field-keywords=Clif+Mojo+Bar
And your Kashi has both complex and simple carbs...cold cereals generally not healthy, but you could do worse. Lots worse.
Click to expand...

I carry a couple of similar snack bars in my cue case. Cliff Bars are normally kind of large and so I don't generally carry more than one of those with me but I haven't found the MOJO Cliff Bars yet. I normally get the Cliff Bar Crunch Peanut Butter and it is OK.... advertised as "Nutrition for Sustained Energy"......

Thanks,
JoeyA
 
I posted this stuff in another thread a while back. The thing is not to let your blood sugar level go up and down. You want it consistent. So like the other posters have said, eat consistantly throughout the day. Not to heavy. I also eat a nice pasta meal the night before and I feel that carries through the next day. All this will help keep your focus when you're nearing the end of the tournament.

Christian
 
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