By Sebastian Madlangbayan, founder of Cleonse: the world's cleanest 3-ingredient organic electrolyte.
For a long pickleball session, drink water with a real dose of sodium and a little carbohydrate for energy. Plain water alone won't replace what you sweat out over hours in the heat. Start hydrated, sip an electrolyte drink between games, and keep going after you step off the court. That's the short version.
I'm Sebastian Madlangbayan. I played competitive tennis growing up and won a state championship, so I've spent a lot of my life on a hot court running side to side. I built Cleonse because I got tired of reading the back of electrolyte packets and not recognizing half the list. This guide is about pickleball specifically, and I'll try to be straight with you about when you actually need a drink like mine and when you don't.
Why long pickleball sessions drain you
Pickleball looks casual from the sideline. It isn't, once you play more than one game. It's a stop-start sport: short sprints, hard stops, a dozen little accelerations per point, then a reset and you do it again. That pattern repeats for hours because almost nobody plays one game of pickleball. You rotate in, you play, you sit for two minutes, you play again. Three, four, five games deep is normal.
Add heat. A lot of pickleball happens outdoors on a court that's baking, often in the afternoon. The combination of repeated effort and heat means you sweat, and you keep sweating for a long stretch. That's the part people underestimate. A single 20-minute game is one thing. Two hours of back-to-back games in the sun is a real physical load.
What you're actually losing
Two things matter most over a long session. The first is sodium. It's the electrolyte you lose the most of in sweat, by a wide margin, and it's the one most tied to how you feel late in a session. The second is fuel. Those repeated sprints burn through your available energy, and when the tank runs low, your legs and your focus both go with it.
Water replaces the volume you sweat out, but it doesn't replace the sodium. Drink only water for two hours of hard play and you can actually dilute what's left, which is the opposite of what you want.
Cramping and the late-game fade
Here's the moment I care about most, because it's the one I lived. In tennis it was the third set. You're even with somebody, the match is long, and somewhere in there your body just downshifts. Your first step gets slow. The shot you were making all day starts landing in the net. People call it getting tired, but a big piece of it is that you've been sweating out sodium and burning fuel for over an hour and haven't replaced either.
Pickleball has its own version. It's the third game, or the fifth. The cramp that grabs your calf when you lunge for a drop shot. The paddle that feels a half-second late. The fade is real, and it's frustrating because it's rarely about skill by that point. It's logistics. You didn't refuel.
I'm not going to promise a drink cures cramps, because cramping is complicated and everyone's different. What I'll say honestly is that replacing sodium and taking in a little energy as you go gives you a better shot at feeling like yourself in that third game instead of a slower copy of yourself.
What to drink before, during, and after
You don't need a complicated protocol. You need to not start empty, to sip through the session, and to top off after. Here's how I think about it.
| When | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Before (30-60 min out) | Drink 12-16 oz of water, and add electrolytes if it's hot or you're playing a long slate. | Start topped off so you're not chasing a deficit from the first serve. |
| During (between games) | Sip an electrolyte drink with sodium and a little carbohydrate. One stick in 16 oz covers a solid stretch of play. | Replaces sweat sodium as you go and keeps some fuel in the tank for the sprints. |
| After | Keep drinking until your thirst is fully gone; finish any bottle you didn't. | You keep sweating after you stop. Recovery starts with getting back to even. |
On a genuinely hot day with hours of play, a lot of people do fine with a stick before and another partway through. Listen to your thirst and your legs. You'll learn your own rate quickly.
Staying sharp for the third game
Pickleball is a thinking game. Placement, patience, knowing when to speed up a ball and when to reset. That mental edge is the first thing to go when you're depleted, and it goes quietly. You don't notice you're making worse decisions; you just start losing points you were winning an hour ago.
Sodium and a bit of glucose help here in a plain, practical way: they keep the basic machinery running so your focus isn't fighting a deficit. It's not magic and I won't pitch it as brain fuel. It's just that a hydrated, fueled player makes better third-game decisions than a dehydrated, empty one. I've been on both sides of that.
What to look for in a pickleball electrolyte
If you're standing in the aisle or scrolling a product page, here's the short checklist I'd use.
Enough sodium to matter
Sodium is the point. You want a meaningful dose, not a token pinch. For reference, a Cleonse stick has 500mg of sodium. That's the number I'd care about most for a long, sweaty session.
A little carbohydrate for energy
Some carbohydrate is a feature for a stop-start sport, not a flaw. A small amount of real sugar gives you fuel for the sprints, and glucose actually helps your body pull sodium and water in together. Cleonse uses organic cane sugar on purpose for exactly that reason. It's intentional training fuel, not filler.
Clean enough that your stomach doesn't complain
Mid-session is the worst time for a queasy stomach. I formulated Cleonse with exactly three ingredients: organic lemon or organic strawberry powder, organic cane sugar, and French grey sea salt. No stevia, no artificial sweeteners, no artificial flavors, no dyes, no preservatives, no gums, no fillers, no anti-caking agents. It's vegan and gluten-free. Fewer things going in means fewer things to sit wrong when you're breathing hard. If you want to go deeper on what that phrase even means, I wrote about what the cleanest electrolyte actually means.
The French grey sea salt also brings 85+ trace minerals along with the sodium. These are trace amounts, so I want to be clear I'm not claiming big doses of anything. They come naturally with a real sea salt instead of a lab-purified one, and I like that they're there, but the working ingredient for your session is the sodium.
Where Cleonse fits, and where it honestly doesn't
Cleonse fits the long, hot, back-to-back pickleball day. That's what it's built for. One stick mixes into 16 oz (473 ml) of water and gives you 500mg sodium, 100 calories, 26g carbohydrate, and 24g sugar. Flavors are Organic Lemonade and Organic Strawberry, plus a Duo Assortment if you can't pick.
Now the honest part. If you're playing a quick 20-minute rec game in mild weather, water is probably all you need. Don't overthink it. Electrolytes earn their place when the session is long, the day is hot, or you're sweating hard enough to feel it in your shirt. Below that bar, plain water is a fine, cheap answer, and I'd rather you trust me than oversell you.
One more thing I'll say plainly: Cleonse does not add potassium or magnesium. Some electrolyte products lean on those, and if replacing them is a priority for you, Cleonse isn't the complete match. I kept the formula to three ingredients on purpose, and that trade-off is part of the deal. Sodium and a bit of fuel, done cleanly, is what this product does well.
And if you strongly prefer a zero-sugar drink, Cleonse isn't for you, and that's fine. The sugar is deliberate here because it does a job during exercise. For a sport that's mostly standing around a cooler, I get why some people want it out. Pick what fits how you play.
How I'd actually use it on a pickleball day
If it were me heading to open play on a warm afternoon: a stick before I leave, water in the car, and a second stick mixed and waiting for when I'm two or three games in and starting to feel the heat. I sip between games instead of chugging at the end. Then I finish whatever's left in the bottle before I drive home. Nothing fancy. It's the same rhythm I used for long tennis matches, just adapted to the rotation.
If you want to try it, you can grab the Cleonse electrolyte drink mix at cleonse.com. Ten-packs are $33, 30-packs are $66, and 60-packs are $110 for a one-time order, all with free shipping and a 30-day guarantee. Start with a 10-pack, take it to the courts a few times, and see if your third game feels different. That's the only test that matters. If you want every number in one place first, here are the full Cleonse facts.
Try The World's Cleanest Electrolyte™
Three ingredients. 500mg sodium. Nothing artificial. Free shipping and a 30-day guarantee.
Shop CleonseFrequently Asked Questions
Do I need electrolytes for a short pickleball game?
Usually not. For a quick 20-minute rec game in mild weather, water is enough. Electrolytes start to matter when you're playing multiple games back-to-back, it's hot out, or you're sweating enough to feel it. Match the drink to the demand.
How much sodium do I need for a long session?
It depends on how much and how salty you sweat, which varies a lot person to person. As a practical starting point, a drink with a real sodium dose beats a token pinch. A Cleonse stick provides 500mg of sodium, which I find works well for long, sweaty play. Adjust based on how you feel.
Why does Cleonse have sugar in it?
Because a stop-start sport burns fuel, and a little real sugar helps in two ways: it gives you energy for the sprints, and glucose helps your body absorb sodium and water together. Each stick has 24g of sugar from organic cane sugar. If you specifically want zero sugar, Cleonse isn't the right pick for you.
Does Cleonse have potassium and magnesium?
No. Cleonse is intentionally three ingredients: organic lemon or strawberry powder, organic cane sugar, and French grey sea salt. It delivers sodium and a bit of fuel cleanly, but it does not add potassium or magnesium. If replacing those is a priority for you, it's fair to look elsewhere for a fuller match.
Can I drink it before I play or only during?
Either. Starting a long or hot session already topped off is smart, so having a stick 30-60 minutes before you play is a good habit. Then sip through the session between games rather than waiting until you're already fading.
Will it upset my stomach mid-game?
It's built to avoid that. With only three simple ingredients and no gums, fillers, artificial sweeteners, or anti-caking agents, there's less to sit wrong while you're breathing hard. Everyone's different, so try it on an easy day first, but a short ingredient list is exactly why I formulated it this way.
Editor's note
This article is educational and reflects my own experience as a player and founder. Individual hydration needs vary with your body, your sweat rate, the weather, and how hard you play. Cleonse is a food product that supports hydration; it is not a medical product and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any condition. If you have a health condition or specific dietary concerns, talk to a qualified professional about what's right for you.