FAQs

Ordering/Shipping

Tax rates vary and are calculated based on the state the order is shipped to.

We’ll send you two emails once you make your purchase:

Order confirmation : We’ll send this email as soon as our system accepts your order, usually within minutes of placement. Please contact us if you haven’t received this email and we’ll double check to confirm your order in our system.

Shipping confirmation : We’ll send this email as soon as your order leaves our warehouse. It will come with tracking information so you’ll be informed of the shipping progress of your order. Depending on the shipping option you choose, it may take a few days to receive this email. If it has been a few weeks and you have not received your order OR this email, please contact us and we’ll look into the order issue for you.

If you have an account set up, click here to track your order and check your order history. Sign in and hover over your account settings drop-down in the upper right-hand corner of the page (next to the cart icon). Click on “Orders” and you’ll see all of your pending and fulfilled orders. From there you can see the status of your order : processed, shipped, or delivered with tracking information.

Once your order ships, we’ll send you a shipment notification email, including a package tracking number from the requested parcel company*. Click the tracking number to visit the courier’s website where you can keep track of your order.

* Once a package has been picked up at Sword Performance, we no longer are able to guarantee accurate delivery, timing, and package arrival condition. We trust the courier service to handle the delivery, and any questions or concerns regarding a package in transit should be routed to that specific courier. If a package is deemed undeliverable or damaged during transit, Sword Performance reserves the right to collect any fees from the customer associated with the return cost of the package and is not held liable to replace lost, stolen, or damaged product in transit. While extremely rare, you may file a complaint and request a refund for the value of the product with the courier if you feel you have encountered any of these unfortunate situations.

The cart is at the top right corner of the page. After adding a product, the number will tell you how many items are in the cart. You can edit quantities of the items in your cart by pressing the + or - buttons next to the item you are editing in the cart drop-down or at checkout. If you want to remove an item completely, press the ‘X’ button on the right of the item you want to delete or change the quantity number to 0. When you are ready to checkout, select the “Proceed to Checkout” button at the bottom of the cart drop-down.

We currently ship throughout the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. We do ship to P.O. Boxes and APOE addresses. We do not ship internationally at this time.

USPS Ground, 5-7 business days based on weight. Free flat rate shipping for orders over $50. Shipping based on weight is applied to your total at checkout based on actual cost.

Please email us directly with your inquiry.

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Product Information

Yes. SWORD® products are certified gluten-free from finished manufactured goods.

No. SHIELD products are not certified gluten-free as they contain a small amount of real Cane Sugar to enhance flavor and speed absorption.

Sword Performance utilizes the phrase, "Best By" to describe the quality date of production. This date indicates when a product will be best flavor or quality; it is not a purchase or safety date. Due to the all-natural ingredients found in our products and adherence to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards, Sword Performance products are still safe for consumption after the "Best By" date if properly handled and stored.

Per guidelines recommended by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), manufacturers can provide dating to help consumers and retailers decide when a food/beverage product is of best quality. However, these dates are only recommendations ; dates are not required by Federal law nor are they indicative of the product's safety. The USDA estimates that 30 percent of the food supply is lost or wasted at the retail and consumer levels. One source of this waste is due to confusion about the meaning of dates displayed on a food/beverage product. To help reduce waste, FSIS recommends that manufacturers and retailers utilize product date phrasing such as "Best if Used By." If a product is not displaying signs of spoilage, it should considered wholesome and may, purchased, donated, and consumed beyond the labeled "Best By" date.


 

Absolutely! Our SWORD® products are a great option for kids and young adults who are active. With 60% less sugar than traditional sports drinks and flavor from real fruit combinations, our drinks are great options for practice and games, especially during the summer heat. To note, our drinks are much less sweet than other drinks they might be used to, but with none of the excess ingredients like preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial coloring agents, or artificial sweeteners, you can rest assured they'll feel great and have happy tummies!.

No need to be alarmed! When first mixed, they will be cloudy but will become clearer within a minute as the ingredients mingle with the water. Your body has to work harder to process added coloring agents that are found in other sports drinks - which is why you won't find them here.

In general, we recommend consuming one 20-ounce serving of SWORD® per hour of strenuous activity. This ratio can vary by individual, however, and we encourage you to always drink to your personal thirst. The amount of fluid you require will depend on not only the conditions (like temperature and humidity) but also length and intensity (how long, how hard, and how far) of your activity.

One easy way to check if you’re drinking enough is to weigh yourself before and after a workout. If you’re losing more than 3% in total body weight, your performance is almost certainly suffering and you probably need to increase your fluid intake

Yes. Many athletes have shown that SWORD® can be mixed anywhere between half strength all the way to double strength in 20 ounces and still taste great with a happy stomach. Because SWORD® provides 140 calories and 470 mg of sodium in one 20-ounce serving, it can be applied to meet the needs of athletes who require a specific nutritional regimen for their sport-specific applications.

When adjusting the strength of SWORD® to your nutritional regimen, we encourage you to do so on training days and listen to your body.

1. Add approximately 10oz of water to your sports bottle.

2. Add your desired amount of powder (1 SHIELD® Powder Single, 1 SWORD® Powder Single, or 1 scoop from SWORD® 30-Serving Resealable Bag).

3. Add the remaining 6-10oz of water to your bottle. If you'd like to add ice to your drink, now's the time to add - or you can always put it in the refrigerator to cool down, if you have time.

No, the formulations are identical. Our ready-to-drink versions are mixed at recommended strength.

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Nutrition and Ingredients

SWORD® is a natural product unlike the big brands you might see on television. Your body simply doesn’t need artificial colors and flavors. SWORD® will stay with you longer and you won’t get the sugar spike and crash that can occur with other sports drinks. You will also get less stomach distress as SWORD® is quickly absorbed into your bloodstream due to its low osmolality.

Yes, we’ve experienced it ourselves and heard from individual people, athletes, industrial workers, and the medical and athletic professional community on a regular basis. The reason why muscle cramps occur during exercise has been a hot topic of debate in the scientific research community for well over 3 decades now. The three major theories behind why a muscle cramps are muscular fatigue, an electrolyte imbalance, and dehydration. The formulation of SWORD® addresses each of these three areas.

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Company Information

Professional experience and subject expertise. We create solutions to real issues that athletes face because we’ve been there ourselves, treated it professionally, and where there wasn’t an adequate solution, we made one. Sword Performance is a culmination of our founders’ passion and experience to push the boundaries of human performance, one athlete at a time.

Our passion is to help hard working people like you perform stronger, longer. We believe the unique challenges you face shouldn't be a roadblock, but more an opportunity to learn what each of us are able to overcome. We're here to provide an advantage using hydration as a tool, not just another thirst quencher. Innovative hydration products that are scientifically designed, researched, and field tested by. Along with our products we've built a community of like-minded people proud to push their boundaries. If that's you, welcome.

When Dr. Shawn Stasko, Ph.D. and Dr. Scott Black, M.D., our founders, worked with amateur and professional athletes on improving their performance, the most common complaint was that their sports nutrition was far from adequate. From products that were too sweet that left a bad taste in their mouth, to sluggish performance on top of an upset stomach, it was clear to Shawn and Scott that there was reason to dig deeper and innovate. They looked to primary scientific research, medical best practice, and personal athletic experience to find clues on how to solve these nutritional issues.

Putting their research into practice, our founders didn’t head to the lab, but to the kitchen, using real ingredients and what nature had to offer. Taking advantage of local experts in natural flavor creation, they gradually refined their formula and offered it to their athletes as a solution. Friends, family, and training partners of these athletes began to hear about the story and saw the performance success. A local running store in Lexington, KY called Shawn and asked if we sold our drink mix as many athletes were now searching for it. Until that point, their famous zip lock ‘white powder’ drink mix had not yet been sold and needed a name. A month later, a brand based on humble beginnings and athlete demand was born.

[For more information, check out Our Story page]

Yes! Our main office and retail store is located at 2156 Young Drive in Lexington, KY. We’re open Monday through Friday 8am-4pm ET. Feel free to give us a call (859-523-4738) with any questions prior to your visit.

The name “SWORD” originally was an acronym coined by our founders when searching for a name to call their drink mix. SW.O.R.D.® is what they eventually decided on which stood for (SW)eat (O)ral (R)ehydration (D)rink, paying tribute to the extensive research on how humans sweat and World Health Organization [WHO] Oral Rehydration Solutions (ORS). SW.O.R.D.®, along with our SWORD® mark used today, is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office under parent company Sport Geeks, LLC registration #5064626 and #5110628 respectively.

Yes, but like the principles of our products themselves, only with a purpose. When we do offer a product on sale, it is meant to give you a unique opportunity to grab your favorite or limited-release products before your competition does.

Sponsorship is evaluated by our team on a case-by-case basis. Typically we’re looking for an individual / group with a strong following in their respective discipline with a desire to share their experiences with our products and show how you #pushyourboundaries. The unique stories about your passion for unrelenting hard work and how Sword Performance plays a role are what inspire us. We want to share those stories with others to inspire them to take up the challenge and pursue their next goal.

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We make hydration products that work. Like, actually work.

Hydration is about more than just good flavor - it's also about feeling good and getting it done. That's why we use clean, simple ingredients that are scientifically proven to be gentle on the stomach and rehydrate you faster than water alone.

OUR STORY: It Started With Cancer

Sword Performance co-founders, Dr. Shawn Stasko, Ph.D, and Dr. Scott Black, M.D., were partners in a research study exploring how to fight fatigue experienced by cancer patients. By understanding how the body works, what it needs and when, they found an effective way to combat fatigue through hydration and innovative fuel.

As amateur athletes outside of work, Shawn and Scott devoted themselves to perfecting their electrolyte hydration formula and bringing the benefits of healthy hydration to everyone. After countless hours in Scott's kitchen, 7 burnt-out stand mixers, and a house coated in fine powder, they finally cracked the code: Great tasting, effective hydration made from clean, simple ingredients and nothing extra or artificial.

After countless hours in Scott's kitchen, 7 burnt-out stand mixers, and a house coated in fine powder, they finally cracked the code: Great tasting, effective hydration made from clean, simple ingredients and nothing extra or artificial.

We are proud to offer healthy hydration: SWORD® and SHIELD®. Two different hydration lines to provide exactly what the body needs to replenish and refuel, at work, in sport, or anywhere life takes you.