Best Energy Drink For Golfers: How To Choose The Right One?

When it comes to golf, everyone wants to perform at their best. To do that, you need to be well-hydrated and have plenty of energy. That’s where energy drinks come in. But which one is right for you? Read on to get my tips…..

Before we start, please note that you can view any energy product mentioned or recommended over at Amazon simply by clicking the image of that product.

The 3 Main Types of Energy Drinks

You will see a whole host of energy drinks out there on the market, and it is important to be able to distinguish between the three main types available.

1. Nutritional Energy Drinks

This trend in the energy drink market was started by the Boost brand started by Nestle. Rather than going for a more traditional energy drink that usually is heavily sugar and caffeine based, these energy drinks look to add more nutritional value into the mix. 

Give Nestle’s Boost drink as an example. It comes with 27 key vitamins and minerals included, so it turns into more of an energy drink combined with a vitamin supplement! And they have dialed back the sugar content too. Below is an example of a Nestle Boost energy drink.

2. Raw Sugar + Caffeine Energy Drinks

This is what I call the traditional energy drink style that was first introduced years ago by Red Bull. In fact, this is where the whole energy drink obsession started!

These energy drinks are often given a big dose of caffeine and sugar, and can be seen as the more extreme category of energy drinks. They offer a big boost in energy but often come with big crashes too when they start to wear off!

I will give you an example of when I used these types of drinks. I was trying to watch a soccer World Cup that was halfway across the world from me, meaning the matches were on through the night. I would try to sleep in the day and stay up to watch these matches at night. I would always keep a couple of classic Monster Energy drinks in my fridge to help when I started lagging, especially when trying to watch the later games in the early hours of the morning!

In case you have been living under a rock, below is an example of a typical traditional energy drink by Monster Energy.

3. Clean Energy Drinks

More recently, there has been an increase in the clean energy sector of the energy drink market. These are less chemically based drinks that instead rely on natural ingredients to give you that much needed energy. You will find natural coffee extracts and natural boosters such as ginseng and ginger. Below is an example of a clean energy drink called Runa.

How to Use Energy Drinks in Golf

I am not going to blindly sell you on using energy drinks in golf just so I can make a few bucks out of you! As always, I want to give you an honest and balanced view!

Of course, it is much better to get your golfing energy from natural sources. Make sure to get a good night’s sleep and eat a nutritious meal (with complex carbohydrates) a few hours before playing golf. Stay hydrated on a daily basis! All this will insure you have good energy levels during golf.

However, I know nothing in life is this perfect 🙂 So you can use energy drinks in some situations. This is how I personally approach it.

If I am particularly tired or low on energy for some reason, I would drink a traditional energy drink such as Red Bull or Monster Energy. Maybe I was out late the day before and am mildly hung over. This is when I would use these types of energy drinks. Although the key point to remember is that I don’t rely on these drinks and it isn’t a regular part of my golfing routine. And be aware that the extra caffeine can actually dehydrate you more if you are not careful!

Other than this, I would use a clean energy drink and keep it on hand if I feel low on energy for some reason. Maybe I had a busy day at work and didn’t have time to eat that nutritious meal before playing. I would use these drinks more than the traditional energy drinks, but it still isn’t a regular part of my routine. This would be supplemented by a high quality energy bar to aid with my energy levels.

Personally, I don’t use the nutritional style energy drinks as I prefer the clean energy drinks instead!

Is Caffeine Good for Golfers?

Caffeine has indeed proven to be good for concentration in small doses, something that could be good for golfers. However, if you overdo your caffeine intake, the potential boost in focus will be lost or at the very least greatly muddied! So, in normal circumstances, you should look to limit your caffeine intake.

How your caffeine is sourced is also important. Naturally sourced caffeine (taken from actual plants) is much better for you than the synthetic variety (produced from urea and chloroacetic acid).

With all that said and done, these are the energy drinks I would recommend for golfers:

The Best Energy Drink for Golfers

1. Guayaki Yerba Mate

You know when I said above about those extreme cases where I may have been up half the night or hung over for some reason? Well, if I am unprepared, I will simply buy a Monster Energy or similar from my local convenience store. However, if I am prepared, I will have a case of these Guayaki Yerba Mates at home instead.

It has 150mg of caffeine per can, so it is up there with the likes of Monster and Red Bull for that caffeine kick. The drink is marketed as a healthier and more energy boosting alternative to coffee. Their slogan reads ‘The strength of coffee, the health benefits of tea, and the euphoria of chocolate’. This is all down to the naturally caffeinated Yerba leaves that this product is based upon.

For most people, this drink gives the boost of Red Bull and Monster without the potential for heart palpitations and the typical post use energy crash. And unlike traditional energy drinks, it comes in some great tasting flavors too! My particular favorite is the bluephoria variety, so that is what I have linked below 🙂

2. Garden of Life Sport Organic Plant Based Energy + Focus

If you are looking for that clean energy drink that you can use on a more regular basis, this Garden of Life plant based energy formula is my go to. It has pretty much half the caffeine content of Yerba Mate above, which is better suited to more regular use. It also comes with some natural focus boosting ingredients, such as coffeeberry.

This energy drink will give you a good boost of energy that will last for hours and won’t result in the ‘jitters’ some energy drinks may give you.

The only downside here is the fact that the texture of the drink can be a tad chalky and it isn’t exactly an awesome flavor. But I am willing to trade this in for a cleaner and more natural energy drink. Oh, and some people will get hung up on the natural cane sugar used in this formula, but personally I don’t mind it.

3. Awaken Pre Workout for Men and Women

Yes, I know this product is marketed as a pre-workout drink, but it also works well as a cleaner energy drink for use in golf. And I am sure a lot of people will love the fact it is made in America too!

This product does have a big dose of caffeine up there with some of the well-known energy drinks, but it achieves this through what it calls a ‘matrix’ of three different types of caffeine. It is carefully formulated to give you a clean energy burst for a more extended period of time, and you won’t feel a massive energy crash afterwards, either.

Beetroot powder is another of the key elements of this supplement, something that will help with muscle power and blood flow.

If you are looking for a high quality and clean source of energy for golf, then this could be for you!

4. Pureboost Clean Energy Super Immune

I am going to give another option here for that ‘clean energy’ option stated above when discussing energy drink types. This is because I know some people won’t like the cane sugar in the Garden of Life drink or the amount of caffeine in the Awaken product above. If that is you, take a look at this option.

It comes with 100mg of clean caffeine per serving. Pure Boost claim it can give you up to 6 hours of clean energy after use, coming from green superfoods, vitamins and even green tea. It has no sugar and no sucralose in its ingredients. You will get a steady flow of energy without any crashes afterwards.

Their green mojo flavor includes such ingredients as spirulina, chlorella, kale, broccoli, spinach, parsley, and cabbage.

I also like the small packs that this comes in, making it easy to keep a few in your golf bag and simply add to a bottle of mineral water when required.

All in all, this is an excellent option for those in need of an energy boost whilst golfing, without having to resort to overly chemical energy drinks! And the flavors are not bad either 🙂

So there you have it, my recommendations for using energy drinks during golf. Unfortunately, there is a lot of mis-information out there with people recommending that you go out and use some highly chemical ‘crash and burn’ style traditional energy drinks. I hope that, at the very least, this article can give you a more balanced view and help you decide the best route for you to take.