Water Abuse

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
I was playing outdoor social doubles today in the oppressive heat. My routine is that I bring two insulated water bottles full of ice and water, and I bring a bottle of room temperature water to add to the ice. Works for me.

One of the players (let's call her Becky) brought only one room temperature bottle of water with her. She was expecting there to be a water fountain, but there wasn't one.

It was crazy hot, and Becky ran out of water pretty quickly. She said, "I'm out of water. Does anyone have some water?"

I didn't really want to part with my water because I knew I would run out if I didn't replenish my iced bottles. The two other ladies had big Igloos, and they probably didn't want Becky sucking out of their water. I couldn't let Becky get heat stroke though, so I offered up my room temperature bottle. Becky took it and walked to the fence by the shade . . .

. . . And then dumped it on her head.

OK, is that weird? Of course I ran out of water and was left with just ice. I never would have given my water to Becky had I known she wasn't going to drink it, but then again, maybe once I hand it over Becky can do whatever she wants with it.

Cindy -- who may go buy an Igloo
 
D

Deleted member 23235

Guest
that's hilarious.
i'm pretty sure i'd i have given a big "WTF"... then hopefully collected myself, laughed, and said, "i guess i'm done... i quit when my water is done"
i wouldn't be surprised if Becky was suffering from early stages heat exhaustion when includes becoming confused...
i played in a social dubs, with some older and definitely out of shape folks... hot day, and on the change over the guy sat on my portable chair, and started drinking my water... i realized he really was not doing well, so i didn't say anything (ie. didn't want to embarass him in front of everyone - he quit soon after anyway).

on hot/humid days i usually bring a 2 gallon jug... plenty to share with everyone (just make sure they don't try to dump it on their head).
 

Dartagnan64

G.O.A.T.
i guess she doesn't understand the water:cooling ratio of internal vs external application of fluids. The ratio strongly favors ingestion of liquids over external application unless you are in late stages of heat exhaustion to the point you are no longer sweating. If you are still making sweat, water should be taken internally. Feel free to text her this post.
 

OrangePower

Legend
1. Becky is a 'taker'
2. No restrooms with tap water?
3. Understand why the ladies with large igloos would not want others drinking directly out of them, but couldn't they just refill your water bottles?
 

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
I didn't want their sucked-on, backwash Igloo water. Yuck.

I took to shaking my empty bottles vigorously in an attempt to break the ice block and dislodge some chips. This didn't work well.

Those who have given birth perhaps understand just how unhelpful ice chips are when your mouth is dry!

Cindy -- who is still thirsty and wouldn't say no to an IV
 

DailyG&T

Rookie
I pour water on my head in heat and it does work but would never do this with someone else’s “real” water!!!! (Like if the home team has bottles out, I wouldn’t take one and pour it on my head.) Duh! That said, it really does work to cool myself down on a hot match day. People do act weird in the heat. It’s like temporary insanity.
 

Max G.

Legend
Oh that is so weird!!! And kind of rude. Like, I can understand forgetting water for a social match and not having any, and then bumming some. But then dumping it out for cooling off? Then you've got nothing to drink!
 

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
I live in Seattle where I’m either playing indoor during the wet winter or outdoor in summer in perfect room temperature conditions. But when I travel and play in 90-degree plus climates ( for example, I played last weekend in Miami ), pouring water on my head is part of my standard routine at every changeover to stave off heat stroke. More effective at cooling your body temp than drinking ice water.
 

Dartagnan64

G.O.A.T.
I live in Seattle where I’m either playing indoor during the wet winter or outdoor in summer in perfect room temperature conditions. But when I travel and play in 90-degree plus climates ( for example, I played last weekend in Miami ), pouring water on my head is part of my standard routine at every changeover to stave off heat stroke. More effective at cooling your body temp than drinking ice water.

This all depends on how much you sweat. If you sweat a lot, evaporative cooling will happen from the sweat and water on the skin is unnecessary. My cap gets soaked in sweat usually so no need to wet it from water. If I had a dry cap then yes making it wet will add evaporative cooling.

If you are sweating adequately then it is far more important to take those fluids internally than externally. It will replenish water for continued sweating, cool your internal organs directly and keep your blood volume up. Far, far more important in preventing heat stroke.
 

MRfStop

Hall of Fame
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No it’s becky
 

snvplayer

Hall of Fame
I was playing outdoor social doubles today in the oppressive heat. My routine is that I bring two insulated water bottles full of ice and water, and I bring a bottle of room temperature water to add to the ice. Works for me.

One of the players (let's call her Becky) brought only one room temperature bottle of water with her. She was expecting there to be a water fountain, but there wasn't one.

It was crazy hot, and Becky ran out of water pretty quickly. She said, "I'm out of water. Does anyone have some water?"

I didn't really want to part with my water because I knew I would run out if I didn't replenish my iced bottles. The two other ladies had big Igloos, and they probably didn't want Becky sucking out of their water. I couldn't let Becky get heat stroke though, so I offered up my room temperature bottle. Becky took it and walked to the fence by the shade . . .

. . . And then dumped it on her head.

OK, is that weird? Of course I ran out of water and was left with just ice. I never would have given my water to Becky had I known she wasn't going to drink it, but then again, maybe once I hand it over Becky can do whatever she wants with it.

Cindy -- who may go buy an Igloo

I do this in order to cool down. My thick short black hair heats up too much from the sunlight.
 

OnTheLine

Hall of Fame
Being a desert rat ... one goes no-where without water. I mean you don't drive to the grocery store without a bottle of water. Who only brings one bottle (little bottle?) of water to a tennis match?

IDK Cindy, it really sounds like you need a little less Becky in your tennis world. She sounds like a total pill.

I too would be a little annoyed if someone asked for my water and dumped it on their head.

I have a freezer full of half-full gatorade 34oz bottles. I grab 2 or 3 of them and fill the other half with water. In our heat (tomorrow supposed to hit 114) they are 100% liquid but still cold by mid 1st set, cool at end of set and tepid by end of match.
 

NTRPolice

Hall of Fame
That's rude. If I give someone water because they ran out, I expect them to drink it.

You should show up to the match ready to play. This means you're not hungover, you're well slept, rackets in playing order, and you have enough hydration.

I personally use room temperature water and sports drink in tandem. The sports drink will help keep you hydrated if you run out of salts and the sugar in the sports drink will give you quick energy. This is especially important in high heat where water can go out as fast as it comes in and matches run really long.
 
Keep a bottle of pickle juice handy for such moochers--when they dump it on their head they won't ask you for water again.
 

GatorAuthor

New User
i guess she doesn't understand the water:cooling ratio of internal vs external application of fluids. The ratio strongly favors ingestion of liquids over external application unless you are in late stages of heat exhaustion to the point you are no longer sweating. If you are still making sweat, water should be taken internally. Feel free to text her this post.

I always assumed this was the case but never looked up confirmation. Drinking cold fluids is the top priority, but pouring ice water over my head certainly seems to help during the dreaded Summer afternoon matches down here in Florida.
 

Dartagnan64

G.O.A.T.
I always assumed this was the case but never looked up confirmation. Drinking cold fluids is the top priority, but pouring ice water over my head certainly seems to help during the dreaded Summer afternoon matches down here in Florida.

Humidity does make a difference. If it’s too humid like in Florida, you don’t evaporate your sweat to cool your body at a fast enough rate. So your body just tries to sweat more and loses more fluids. To counter this in humid situations you need to mix fluid rehydration with direct cooling. Ice water to head and armpits where there is a ton of blood flow will help cool.

In dry heat it’s far more important just to rehydrate as sweat evaporation will cool you if you can keep sweating.
 

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
Humidity does make a difference. If it’s too humid like in Florida, you don’t evaporate your sweat to cool your body at a fast enough rate. So your body just tries to sweat more and loses more fluids. To counter this in humid situations you need to mix fluid rehydration with direct cooling. Ice water to head and armpits where there is a ton of blood flow will help cool.

In dry heat it’s far more important just to rehydrate as sweat evaporation will cool you if you can keep sweating.

What's the word on the temperature of what you're drinking? Ice cold feels great but doesn't it take more energy to assimilate?
 

CHtennis

Rookie
What's the word on the temperature of what you're drinking? Ice cold feels great but doesn't it take more energy to assimilate?

If you are playing in hot weather it is best to drink cold water as it will cool you down most as well as hydrate you but does take slightly more energy to assimilate. From the science of it I have read that that energy is pretty negligible and you benefit a lot more from the cooling aspect of the cold water. However if it is not hot maybe go with cool water instead of cold.
 

J_R_B

Hall of Fame
Here are two tips. On super hot days, I bring a little cooler. In the cooler, I have ice water and bottles of a non-water drink (usually Revive flavor Vitamin Water) and a towel. I drink the non-water. No one will ever ask you for sticky non-water fluid to dump on their head. I put the towel that is sitting in the ice water around my neck on changeovers. That is the best way I've found to cool down quickly. No one will ask you for your extra water with a sweaty towel sitting in it, either.
 

mmk

Hall of Fame
Humidity does make a difference. If it’s too humid like in Florida, you don’t evaporate your sweat to cool your body at a fast enough rate. So your body just tries to sweat more and loses more fluids. To counter this in humid situations you need to mix fluid rehydration with direct cooling. Ice water to head and armpits where there is a ton of blood flow will help cool.

In dry heat it’s far more important just to rehydrate as sweat evaporation will cool you if you can keep sweating.
And Cindy lives in the DC area, as do I, and it can be very humid. I pour water on my head when playing outdoors in the summer, but my club has lots of water barrels between courts.
 

NTRPolice

Hall of Fame
High humidity, sweat, and sunscreen = skin covered in slime.

Cant wait to get it off with a cold shower after a match.
 

Dartagnan64

G.O.A.T.
And Cindy lives in the DC area, as do I, and it can be very humid. I pour water on my head when playing outdoors in the summer, but my club has lots of water barrels between courts.

I live out West so it's usually a pretty dry heat where I play and rarely really hot. So rehydration is all I generally need. But I get needing to cool your head in high humidity regions.
 

wings56

Hall of Fame
I was playing outdoor social doubles today in the oppressive heat. My routine is that I bring two insulated water bottles full of ice and water, and I bring a bottle of room temperature water to add to the ice. Works for me.

One of the players (let's call her Becky) brought only one room temperature bottle of water with her. She was expecting there to be a water fountain, but there wasn't one.

It was crazy hot, and Becky ran out of water pretty quickly. She said, "I'm out of water. Does anyone have some water?"

I didn't really want to part with my water because I knew I would run out if I didn't replenish my iced bottles. The two other ladies had big Igloos, and they probably didn't want Becky sucking out of their water. I couldn't let Becky get heat stroke though, so I offered up my room temperature bottle. Becky took it and walked to the fence by the shade . . .

. . . And then dumped it on her head.

OK, is that weird? Of course I ran out of water and was left with just ice. I never would have given my water to Becky had I known she wasn't going to drink it, but then again, maybe once I hand it over Becky can do whatever she wants with it.

Cindy -- who may go buy an Igloo


Was this person your partner?
 

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
I was playing outdoor social doubles today in the oppressive heat. My routine is that I bring two insulated water bottles full of ice and water, and I bring a bottle of room temperature water to add to the ice. Works for me.

Cindy -- who may go buy an Igloo

Are in actually in Phoenix AZ? Then a large Igloo is mandatory this time of year. But yeah...pouring on their head I would have said something.
 
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