Author Topic: Best food to eat before a match (Read 5262 times)

hummer23mm · « **on:** December 28, 2004, 10:23:27 PM »

As tennis players we are often faced with difficult choices. Anna K or Maria, Head or Wilson. one choice we make before everytime we play is waht to eat. what are some good food/snack ideas you guys have for prematch nourishment. do they help? lets have this be a good informational thread so we can learn from one another.

Ill start us off

Dont eat eggs a few hours before you play. especially not sunny side up. my knees were very shaky and i lost my balance during this match quite a bit.

Any sugestions about what to eat?

Arcforce · « **Reply #1 on:** December 29, 2004, 12:42:02 AM »

Lots and lots of carbs and starch, right?

Here, I'll tell you what I eat the night before I play.

Lots of pasta. I usually try to consume an entire box of macaroni and cheese or fettucine alfredo. Something like that.

With that, I add a baked potato for even MORE carbohydrates. Fun stuff, right? Take it easy with the butter tho, no sour cream and add a little salt because supposedly, salt keeps you from getting cramps so I liek to get some in my system.

Throw in a roll for some starch and MAYBE a little tuna if I feel like some protein. Then, I usually wake up about 6am for my 8am match the next day. That morning, I usually just have some dry cereal becuz it usually has about 40% carbs. And I throw in a little more macaroni and cheese with it just to be sure I have enough carbs for energy.

Then, immediatly before I play, I have a few bites of banana just becuz they always tell you to eat those at the jr tourneys.

I never said this stuff tasted good together....lol So I think I eat pretty good. I struggle with lasting through long matches. In fact, I remember a match I had earlier this year against this kid ranked number 11 in the state currently. Well, there's no way I'm supposed to hang with this kid and I'm up 5-2 in the first set. What happens? I run out of gas and lose the set in a tiebreaker then go out 6-3 in the second. Since then, Ive learned my lesson about being lazy and that's why I throw in the extra mac & cheese the morning b 4 my matches now.

CARBS CARBS CARBS!!

Tennis4you · « **Reply #2 on:** December 29, 2004, 07:07:05 AM »

Well, I have found that the 21" pizza I have been ordering on Friday nights does me no good on the court on Saturdays. So avoid the 21" pizza.

I like the pasta too. I try to not over eat it though, just a good portion, with some chicken. I love pasta and chicken.

I usually get hungry quickly, so I always have a small snack in my bag too.

philip · « **Reply #3 on:** December 29, 2004, 07:21:30 AM »

I eat a banana. Does the trick for me!

Tennis4you · « **Reply #4 on:** December 29, 2004, 07:28:25 AM »

A banana does not fill me up.

By the way, some insight to the first post...

Kournikova and Wilson of coarse!

thejackal · « **Reply #5 on:** December 29, 2004, 08:20:38 AM »

Maria and Wilson for me. I once ate 4 plates of meat sauce pasta 30 minutes before my Varsity hockey team's season opener. Didnt't feel too good during the game for obvious reasons.

BTW I think I know why I like Maria so much now, not cuz she's pretty, or talented, or rich

. Actually one of my friends at my old school looked and sounded just like her. I moved before it was gonna work out though.

MC ill Logic · « **Reply #6 on:** January 03, 2005, 01:12:11 AM »

I would try to eat very very little before a match. If I had a morning match, I would wake up and maybe have half a bagel, a bit of fruit, and half a cup of coffee. For a while I tried to drink coffee before every match. It perked me up.

If I were playing in the afternoon, I would have a healthy sandwich. Healthy as in not a hamburger or anything too greasy.

In general I like feeling "empty" when playing.

Arcforce · « **Reply #7 on:** January 03, 2005, 03:19:26 AM »

I had a hamburger once before a match...

no good.

Drains your energy in no time.

Lena · « **Reply #8 on:** January 03, 2005, 05:10:27 AM »

once I ate an hamburger too...I won't repeat it again

I heard that most of the players eat bananas...

Tennis4you · « **Reply #9 on:** January 03, 2005, 09:12:55 AM »

Dang, there is the banana again. It just does not fill me up. I eat a ton and get hungry pretty fast. I usually eat about 1.5 hours before my match and usually eat when I get home. if I get hungry on the court I will be in trouble. I am worth nothing on the court or even at work if I get hungry!

gary2414 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 03, 2005, 09:47:15 AM »

When you see the professionals play on TV if the have a match starting at 1:00 PM local time when do they try and each lunch before the match? To me it seems if they have a match at 11:00 AM local time they would have lunch after the match. I also remember when the Williams sisters were scheduled to play a semifinal match at 6:00 PM local time in California one of them defaulted at the last minute and a doubles match that was scheduled at the same time on another court was moved into that court. A men's quarterfinal that was scheduled after the Williams sisters match was not moved up so ESPN could show a live singles match because I assume since that match was scheduled for 8:00 PM local time the players might have been having an early dinner before that match and it would not be fair for him to play on a full stomache. I can also remember the WTA tour chamionships in 2001 when Jennifer didn't feel very well and asked to have quarterfinal match that was scheduled for 2:00 PM local time on Thursday moved to last quarterfinal on Friday. In that tournament play started each day at 2:00 PM local time with a live match on ESPN2 each day for Tuesday to Friday which was in the morning in the US. She was able to give them plenty of time and they were able to change the order of play so you still were able to get a live match for ESPN2 just the same because the other players agreed to the swith in time and the players were able to each lunch earlier enough so they didn't have to play on a full stomache.

Tennis4you · « **Reply #11 on:** January 03, 2005, 09:49:22 AM »

Interesting... The thing I find the most interesting though is that whiney Jennifer was able to moved the schedule around...

I am getting hungry talking about all this food.

gary2414 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 03, 2005, 10:01:17 AM »

Jennifer wasn't the only player to get the order play play changed in 2001. In earier years at the Lipton final on Sunday in Florida it happened twice. One player didn't feel well for the final and he asked that has final be delayed whcih was supposed to start at 1:00 PM local time but was not scheduled to be seen on TV until 4:00 PM local time. Instead they simply had the doubles finals played first and when that was over had the singles final. It was not delayed the full three hours so it would be seen line on TV but only to the doubles was over so the audience could see play at the scheudled time. TV probably didn't have a provision for going over the alloted time if the match ran long so they wanted the option of being able to delete part of the match rather than cut the end off. The first time the player that asked for the delay won the match but the second time he defaulted after three games.

Tennis Freak · « **Reply #13 on:** January 03, 2005, 01:41:18 PM »

I do not really think about what I eat before a big match, I guess I eat whatever is inthe refrigerator.

hummer23mm · « **Reply #14 on:** January 03, 2005, 04:04:29 PM »

they say salty foods help you keep from dehypdrating. teh reason being, throgh celular diffusion, the water tries to tarvel down the concentration grandient and equal out the osmotic pressure on both sides of a semipermeable membrance. adding salt to your body, which is quicly absorbed by your cells raises the amount of solvent in your body, thus making it less possible for water to escape your cells. in other words, keep a tube of pringles handy and eat some before a match on a hot day. not too much though, or you will dehyudrate your cells and you will feel light headed and dizzy.

Thomas · « **Reply #15 on:** January 04, 2005, 01:00:19 PM »

Pasta sounds good, but leave aside the Alfredo sauce.
I go with Cashew nuts (better if they´re salted) huge amounts of proteine. Bananas, grilled chicken (no sauce, again) Steak only if the match is at least 48 hours away (that´s how long it takes an average person to digest it)
During the match eat a couple of bananas in small bites.

Tennis4you · « **Reply #16 on:** January 04, 2005, 01:27:21 PM »

I love Alfredo sauce, but you cannot get it fat free. That stuff we get is like 70 grams of fat per jar, and the jar is really not that big. It says it is 7 servings, but maybe for a small child.

I used to love Steak, but I worked at Ponderosa through high school as a cook. I ate soooooooo much steak it was crazy. Now I just eat chicken, I am not a steak lover anymore

hummer23mm · « **Reply #17 on:** January 04, 2005, 04:23:30 PM »

come on scott, everone knows red meat is good for you!!! Steak is the way to go. a little A1 and some cole slaw and a bowl of mashed potatoes. thats my heaven.

Tennis4you · « **Reply #18 on:** January 04, 2005, 04:40:39 PM »

Are you my grandpa? He loves hitting the meat and potatoes. I guess I burned myself out in high school ripping through 2 steaks per night for 4 years of HS and then evern 2 summers of college.

hummer23mm · « **Reply #19 on:** January 04, 2005, 05:04:06 PM »

maybe you should go back to that to burn off teh extra 10 pounds. tehy have a name for that nowadays. its called ATKINS DIET!!!![/b]

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Author Topic: Best food to eat before a match (Read 5262 times)

Thomas