There aren't many game for which some players show up with two or three shirts to get them through an hour-long match, but squash is one of them. How do squash players make sure their liquid inflow equals the outflow? Writing in Squash magazine, Shireesh Bhalerao, a licensed chiropractor and tournament director of the Portland Oregon City Squash Open, combines the advice of the American College of Sports Medicine with some of his own. On the day of a big match, Bhalerao says, players should pregame with two large glasses (about 17 oz. total) of water. During matches, he says, players should drink a lightly flavored drink, one that tastes better than plain water so that they are likely to drink more of it. For those matches that last less than an hour, Bhalerao sees no advantage to drinking electrolyte enhanced drinks, but for longer, more grueling matches, he says we should go with the electrolytes. And when the match is done? That's the bad news: Bhalerao says the very common practice of having a beer after a squash match is "not recommended."
he moment of opportunity in a squash match is the 90 seconds between games. If you think about it, a squash player can, at most, rehydrate only four times during a match. Most other sports allow the player to drink water at more regular intervals. Therefore, regardless of how strenuous your match is, you should drink as much water as you can tolerate between games. This practice should adequately replace the water lost through sweating.