You’ve remembered your racket, balls and water bottle. But what are you actually drinking during your padel match?

For a casual game in cooler conditions, water may be perfectly adequate. Start playing for longer, increase the intensity or step onto court in warmer weather, though, and hydration becomes a little more important.

When you sweat, you don’t just lose water. You also lose electrolytes, including sodium and chloride. That’s why more padel players are turning to electrolyte drinks before, during and after playing.

But what should you actually look for in an electrolyte drink for padel?

Why Hydration Matters in Padel

Padel involves repeated accelerations, changes of direction and short bursts of higher-intensity movement throughout a match.

You might not feel like you’re doing continuous endurance exercise, but that stop start nature can be deceptive. Add a warm indoor court, summer conditions or several matches in a tournament and you can end up sweating considerably.

The longer you play, the more important it becomes to replace the fluid you’re losing.

Research into padel has found that players can spend much of a match working at a meaningful cardiovascular intensity, while sports hydration guidance recommends replacing both fluid and electrolytes when exercise becomes longer, harder or involves significant sweating.

That doesn’t mean everyone needs an electrolyte drink every time they pick up a racket.

But there are plenty of situations where it makes sense.

Water or Electrolytes for Padel?

If you're playing a relaxed 60 minute game, you're already well hydrated and conditions are cool, water is often enough.

Electrolytes become more useful when you're playing for longer, sweating heavily, competing in warm conditions or playing several matches close together.

Tournament days are the obvious example.

You may be on court several times across the day and have limited time to rehydrate between matches. Simply waiting until you feel thirsty after the final match isn't the best strategy.

Instead, think about hydration throughout the day.

Arrive hydrated, drink regularly while playing and continue replacing fluids afterwards.

What Electrolytes Should Padel Players Look For?

There isn't one perfect electrolyte formula for every player because sweat rates and electrolyte losses differ from person to person.

However, there are a few minerals you'll commonly see in a well-rounded hydration product.

Sodium is particularly relevant because it's one of the main electrolytes lost through sweat. Potassium also plays an important role in normal muscle and nerve function, while magnesium, calcium and chloride can form part of a broader electrolyte blend.

The important thing isn't simply finding the drink with the longest ingredient list.

It's finding something you enjoy drinking, that fits the length and intensity of your padel sessions and that you'll actually use consistently.

What About Sugar?

This depends on what you need from the drink.

An electrolyte drink doesn't necessarily need to contain a large amount of sugar. If your main goal is hydration, a low or no added sugar electrolyte product can be a useful option.

For longer matches or tournament days, however, carbohydrates can have a separate role because your body also needs fuel.

That's why hydration and fuelling shouldn't always be treated as the same thing.

At Padel Nutrition, we separate the two. Our HYDRATION range focuses on electrolyte replacement, while INTRA CARB is available for players looking for carbohydrate support during longer or more demanding sessions.

That allows you to tailor what you're drinking to the type of session you're actually playing.

Padel Nutrition HYDRATION Electrolytes

Padel Nutrition HYDRATION Electrolytes were developed specifically with padel players in mind.

Each 5g serving contains coconut water powder alongside chloride, potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium.

Rather than turning your hydration into another complicated part of match preparation, it's designed to be simple. Mix it with water and use it around your padel session according to the product directions.

There is also a single serve HYDRATION stick sachet, which makes it easy to keep one in your padel bag for matches, tournaments or travel.

Should You Drink Electrolytes Before, During or After Padel?

The answer can be all three, depending on the session.

If you know you're going into a demanding match or playing in hot conditions, arriving well hydrated is better than trying to catch up once you're already on court.

During the match, use breaks between games and sets as an opportunity to drink rather than waiting until you're extremely thirsty.

Afterwards, replacing the fluid you've lost becomes particularly important if you're playing again later that day or the following morning.

For most recreational players, hydration doesn't need to become overly technical.

The main goal is simply to stop treating it as something you only think about when you're already thirsty.

What Should You Drink at a Padel Tournament?

Tournament days are where having a plan really helps.

You could be playing several matches with relatively short recovery periods between them. Your first match might feel easy, but poor hydration early in the day can become much more noticeable later.

Bring enough fluid to last the day and make sure you can easily prepare another electrolyte drink between matches.

You'll also need to think about energy.

If you're playing for several hours, hydration alone isn't going to provide the carbohydrates your body needs for fuel. This is where something such as Padel Nutrition INTRA CARB can be considered separately from your electrolyte drink.

We'll be covering tournament fuelling in much more detail in a dedicated guide.

Don't Forget That Everyone Sweats Differently

This is probably the most important thing to remember.

The player next to you may finish a match looking almost completely dry while your shirt is soaked through. Your hydration requirements aren't necessarily going to be the same.

Conditions matter too.

A relaxed evening match in winter is very different from playing three tournament matches on a hot summer day.

Pay attention to how much you sweat, how thirsty you become and how you feel during longer sessions.

Your hydration strategy should match your game.

So What Are the Best Electrolytes for Padel?

For padel players, the best electrolyte drink is one that provides useful electrolytes, is easy to drink during play and suits the length, intensity and conditions of your matches.

Water can still be perfectly suitable for shorter and less demanding sessions.

But as your playing time and sweat losses increase, adding electrolytes can become a useful part of your match routine.

That's why we created Padel Nutrition HYDRATION.

Simple hydration support designed around a sport we're just as obsessed with as you are.

Explore Padel Nutrition HYDRATION