Let’s face it: A key attraction of going to university/college is the social life, and with that comes, you guessed it... alcohol. But will this affect performance?

So, the dilemma for us athletes is how to have a good time while also taking our sport seriously. How we approach alcohol consumption definitely needs to be a pretty major consideration. 

Now that you're living your own life, you finally have the freedom to make your own choices without parents offering 'advice'. This is the freedom you’ve dreamed of for years, right? But if your life goals involve sports success, the importance of these choices just got real!! 

You’re now 100% accountable. This includes decisions regarding alcohol consumption.

Before we get going, let’s get one thing straight: we’re not here to tell you “don’t drink”; we’re just not because we know from our personal experiences that the university/college years are to be enjoyed.

So many of us who have already been there and done it think back to those years and wish we’d had more fun, left the house more and been less strict on ourselves. In fact, those of us who ended up quitting sport early (Joe, founder of TAP, included) think maybe we’d still be competing IF we’d allowed ourselves to have more fun… 

But there’s no point thinking there’s a get-around…because there isn’t! Alcohol consumption and good sports performance (sadly) do not go together.

Balance is, as with everything, absolutely key. 

The Science

So here are a few of the science-backed facts to help you put this into perspective.

Alcohol will:

• Dehydrate your body, impacting blood volume and reducing blood flow to muscles.
  
  
• Increase the risk of muscle strains and cramps.
  
  
• Impact your muscle’s ability to grow, get stronger, recover and repair. 
  
  
• Impact sleep, a key player in performance and recovery.
  
  
• Impact your energy levels, making workouts and performance feel harder.

In short, alcohol will affect your performance. FACTS.

Most top athletes will admit to going out 'for a few' once in a while, but the general consensus is to make sure 'a few' means you're not wrecked for your next training session. Not fully showing up is obviously a lost opportunity for improvement, but it can also suggest commitment issues for team selectors.

Timing is clearly a consideration. Deciding to go 'out, out' the night before a key training session or, worse still, a match or competition, or during the run-up for team selections, is utter madness. There's a time and a place.

Drinking Culture

There's no doubt the most lively nights out tend to feature those involved in sports. In fact, a study found that 79.6% of student-athletes admitted to 'hazardous drinking', compared with 54.5% of non-sport students (Partington et al., 2010). That's a big difference.

Alcohol and partying seem to be more common in certain sports. From our experience, athletes from individual sports are far less likely to regularly drink and stay out partying than those in team sports. This could be because individual sports tend to be more data-driven with fine margins, meaning athletes have a greater likelihood of being 'found out' if performances decline due to 'unhelpful lifestyle choices'!!

University teams like rugby, football, or hockey, on the other hand, are often out multiple times a week, especially on Wednesdays, when post-match drinking sessions are renowned for being lively. There's no doubt that the social aspects and the team bonding that results play an essential role in these sports.

On a side note, university team initiations can be brutal when it comes to alcohol consumption. Initiations for teams are ultimately a way to build a culture and community within the team but are often heavily associated with alcohol and doing, quite frankly, sometimes disgusting challenges. If you face an 'initiation', don't be afraid to get stuck in, but by the same token, don't let anyone force you to do anything you're not comfortable with.

Top 10 Tips for Drinking Safely:

1. Don't feel like you have to if you don't want to
2. Eat before and during
3. Don't mix drinks
4. Be cautious of strangers buying you drinks
5. Know your limits
6. Drink slowly
7. Know how you are getting home
8. Don't drink if you're feeling low or unwell
9. Buy your own drinks
10. DRINK WATER

Know Your Limits

At this point, it’s important to remember that everyone is different. We have different priorities, motivations, and ambitions. Now's a good time to take a step back, think about your sporting dreams and ask yourself, “How much do I want this?” This is a sound starting point to help you get your priorities in order. 

Remember, too, that we all react differently to alcohol! You may be a 'lightweight' and feel tipsy from sniffing a vodka shot, whereas your mate may (seemingly) be able to down 7 pints and be fine the next day. There's no one-size-fits-all rule that states how much is 'ok'. You're the only one who knows how you're going to feel after a night out on the Jägers!! 

So, now it’s just a case of weighing up the pros and cons and doing what feels right for you.

Good luck, keep your sporting dreams in mind... and have FUN!

Evidence-Based Research

Our content is supported by:

• Harris, M., Jones, C. and Brown, D., 2023. Alcohol use by Athletes: Hierarchy, status, and Reciprocity. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 47(3), pp.277-300. (View Paper)
  
  
• O’Brien, C.P. and Lyons, F., 2000. Alcohol and the athlete. Sports Medicine, 29, pp.295-300. (View Paper)
  
  
• Partington, S., Partington, E., Heather, N., Gibson, A.S.C., Longstaff, F., Allsop, S., Wareham, H. and Jankowski, M., 2010. Use and abuse of alcohol in UK university sport. Newcastle upon Tyne: Northumbria University, Department of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation. (View Paper)