50 Words or Less
DriveForce DF-18 is a pre-round drink mix formulated to improve hydration, focus, and stamina. Extensive array of ingredients. Interesting concept, but as with any supplement, results may vary. Flavors may not be agreeable to everyone’s tastes.
Introduction
DriveForce DF-18 is a pre-round supplement developed for golfers to “own the back nine like never before.” The drink mix formulation focuses on three key aspects: hydration, focus, and stamina. As someone who lives and plays in the Southeast, staying hydrated in the sweltering summer is critical. Like myself, many of my playing partners add some sort of hydration mix to their water prior to teeing off. Is DriveForce DF-18 a good or better choice compared to other mixes? Let’s find out.
Key Ingredients
DriveForce DF-18 is offered in 10, 20, and 30 stick boxes, with two flavor options: citrus breeze and tropical blast. The list of ingredients is extensive, and honestly made me a little leery. Whether there are too many ingredients I’ll leave to nutritional experts. And to be clear, DriveForce does not purport to be created by doctors or scientists, nor does it make extravagant claims.
As for those DF-18 ingredients, DriveForce does break some of them out on their website according to the three focus points of the formulation. Pink salt, potassium, taurine, and glycerol are intended to address hydration. L-theanine, ashwagandha, and N-acetyl-L-tyrosine are added to the mix for focus. Agmatine sulfate and arugula extract are intended to support stamina. That covers 9 of the 24 listed ingredients. The DriveForce website provides informational particulars for 22 of the ingredients, and each sounds beneficial on its own. I get the premise, but I’m still struggling with the validation. Somehow, “We only do what science says is safe” doesn’t make me feel better about that many ingredients in combination.
Ease of Use
Each stick of DF-18 has a perforated notch for tearing open, but I found it only opened to the heavy seam. I ended up using scissors to more easily pour out the dry mixture. Shaking with 16 ounces of water – the minimum recommended amount – dissolved the mixture fairly thoroughly. I found using a Radian Blender Bottle [support Plugged In Golf, buy it HERE] with its wire whisk ball way more efficient than shaking in a Yeti type cup or stirring with a spoon. And I highly recommend a vessel with room for ice. DriveForce recommends drinking the mixture in the 30 minutes prior to teeing off.
Effectiveness
Drinking a pint of DF-18 while warming up to play golf took some effort. It required making a few dedicated trips to the golf cart to take a couple of big gulps to complete ingestion in the recommend 30 minute window. The good news was the mixture entered my system quickly based on visual observation of my pre-tee off bathroom visits. I’ve always strived for light straw color to gauge proper hydration, so the vibrancy that the DF-18 added was unmistakable.
For any nutritional product, it’s hard to gauge effectiveness with all the variables of life that can impact observations. Did I feel hydrated throughout my rounds? Yes. But I also continued to drink water frequently as normal. I didn’t notice any appreciable uptick in focus, nor change in stamina. Did I like the idea that DF-18 was keeping my mental game sharp or energy level sustained towards the end of the round? Absolutely. I’m always looking for a competitive advantage.
Conclusion
One major detractor for me was the taste of the drink mix. I simply didn’t care much for either flavor of Driveforce DF-18. At first, the Tropical Blast was the most tolerable, but I then discovered that the Citrus Breeze was decent when more diluted. Taste is very subjective, and any readers who have tried DriveForce DF-18 are encouraged to share their experiences. For reference, the 10 packs featured in this review retail for $39.99 on the DriveForce website.
I didn’t find DF-18 to be any better for hydration than other products I’ve tried, but again, that is based on basic observations. As for focus and stamina, I know plenty of golfers who could use a boost in those areas. Is DF-18 worth a try? It might just give “your body the edge it needs.”
Buy DriveForce DF-18 HERE
Senior Writer at Plugged In Golf
Matt – aka ‘Meeks’ – lives in the beautiful Lowcountry of South Carolina with his wife who allows his golf obsession to stretch the limits of normalcy.