The science is clear: nutrition is the single most controllable variable in tournament recovery (Louis et al., 2020; Desbrow et al., 2019). Yet most players still treat it as an afterthought — grabbing whatever is available at the hotel buffet or tournament café or nearest greasy spoon. for masters athletes, the demands are even sharper:

• slower glycogen restoration

• increased inflammation

• reduced anabolic sensitivity

• higher dehydration risk

• impaired sleep architecture

• reduced gut tolerance under stress