This weekend temp expected 105-108.

[SoftSocDad]

How does Gatorade dehydrate you?

It doesn't. One of the reasons some people make this statement is because of the number of people who believe that Gatorade is an adequate substitute for water. In fact, many think it is better than water. Commercials have a powerful influence on soft minds. The result is that they'll drink Gatorade, etc and take in less free water than the body needs.

The players aren't dehydrated from sports drinks, but neither are they operating at optimum efficiency.

 

[treeguy]

Definitely lots of water. One other thing that helps is the Frogg Togg Chilly Pad. You wet it down like a rag and put it around your neck. It evaporates water differently than a regular towel. It stays cool as long as it is wet. You can pick them up at Dicks or most other sporting goods places. They work, and the girls love them.

 

[Taylor0131]

Don't let your girls wait until Saturday to start drinking water. They should begin Friday if not Thursday preparing for the heat on Saturday.

 

[BaldNBeautiful]

Two little tricks that we use:
1. My elder daughter (the catcher) carries cotton pads or baby wipes that she adds rubbing alcohol to. The alcohol evaporates quickly cooling her forehead (as well as cleaning up the grime) or arms, face etc. She swears by this. Consequently I started periodically using a hand sanitizer on my bald head occasionally for the same effect.

2. A small hand sprayer with cool (not cold) water in it. A one gallon sprayer is fairly light, and makes you a "Deity of Coolness."

We were in Savannah Georgia last weekend. I am soooo thankful that it wasn't this weekend. But I did note something interesting, the teams from the northern climes used racerback jerseys, some of the Florida teams used jerseys with sleeves, and in one case white underarmour. Makes sense as my long-gone farmer Uncle (always wore longsleeves even in the heat of a TN summer) used to tell me "what keeps out cold will also keep out the heat."

 

[bcasper10]

Frog Toggs are a definite. You can also look into Cytomax. Sold at GNC stores. Marathon runners and cyclist use it. It is in powder form and you can add it to bottles of water.

 

[burlap1980]

How does Gatorade dehydrate you?

Tons of sodium in that stuff so just gatorade is bad but a mix of water and gatorade is much better

 

[softballphreak]

One of the most beneficial and comfortable things players can do between games is take their cleats and socks off. Instant relief!

 

[PEPPERS]

It was horrible this weekend 107 where daughter was playing, her team had ice water, towels, and I sent to commercial fans and another parent bought another fan they had on the bench with them. Even with all that our team had 4 kids not feeling well, my daughter said she saw 6 girls that had to be taken from the field from other teams. Teams were dropping out; daughter’s team had 2 teams to forfeit games. I did not go because of medical problems I knew I could not take the heat. Those poor guys behind the plate I cannot imagine how it was for them.

Up the road they had Dizzy Dean Baseball little kids like 5-6 and up. I noticed when I rode by they had 2 ambulances and a Haz-Mat evacuation bus next to the fields.

 

[dropball1]

One thing we have done for those hot days and tournaments is mix up some "Instatnt Chill" in a cooler with ice, water and towels. Once the players return to the dugout, they put the towels around their neck and wipe off their foreheads and wrists. Really helps.

 

[undergroundga]

Our team did a great job dealing with the heat. With the exception of one inning at then of a pool play game(they wilted, literally) our girls played their best softball of the year this weekend. We were around 105 Saturday and 102 Sunday. Sunday morning a girl on another team collapsed at about 9 in their first game. It was hot by then but I from what I "hear" it was a combination of other things also.
Fortunately, a storm blew in right as the championship game was starting and dropped temps almost 20 degrees. Got to watch two teams play a good game instead of one mared by the heat.We one our first tourney, and in extra innnings too.
All the teams did an excellent job this weekend rotating out players, having limited warm ups. We started hydrating our dd with water Thurs. And over the weekend gave her about 3 of the large powerade zeros mixed with gallons of water. We had a couple girls during games have to go to the bathroom so I think we did a fair job as a team.
We also didn't let them sit in the ac for too long during long breaks. I think this throws the body out of sorts.
Our tourney did a great job also having cooling stations and waving the "no cooler" policy despite there not being a gate fee and it was designed as a fund raiser. We did frequent their stands too to support them.
The frog toggs are awesome. Especially, draped over a catchers neck!
Some one mentioned the alchohol thing to me this weekend. I don't like that idea, but only because alchohol dries things out.
Hope everyone was safe. It was scarey watching that girl crumble at short stop.