Author: Sorin Petroj
Benefits of playing table tennis that brings you are important primarily for your health.
Have you ever wondered how well this sport affects you and your mood otherwise?
How does it affect your metabolism, concentration, freshness during everyday life? Find out below the most important benefits of table tennis and why it is a sport that so many people recommend to everyone.
Introduction
The first and most important thing is that table tennis has a positive effect on your health. No matter how old you are or what physical shape you are in, table tennis positively affects coordination, reflexes, and concentration, keeping your brain sharp.
What is more, studies have confirmed that in older people who play table tennis recreational, it also slows down dementia.
Table of Contents
1.Stimulation of the mind and body
Due to the game’s speed at tennis, where you have to be more physically fit and where strength is often expressed, in table tennis, speed and reaction are crucial.
The body is active, and at the same time, the brain is constantly working so that you know how and in what way to react due to the ball’s speed. Because you play fast at the table, the brain must constantly be active and focused on the ball. This means that as a child, you develop this ability to focus and concentrate.
Concentration and reaction to the ball
Unconsciously, you train the brain to follow one thing while playing, and therefore with other things, at work or in private life, you will have that habit. This, in turn, leads to you being more active and agile otherwise as a person.
The body is also active during play so that the metabolism will work differently. If you are an older player and play as a hobby, table tennis will help you be more active during the day.
Simultaneously, playing table tennis, even for an hour a day, improves blood circulation, strengthens the brain’s cognitive functions, and burns calories, making you feel better in the evening.
2.Eye-hand coordination
This is the control of eye movements by hand movements. It’s part of the mechanism you execute every day. There are many examples of how you use this mechanism every day.
For example, while playing an instrument, catching a ball that someone throws at you; However, even at work, if you work in a factory where you have a certain norm for a certain machine, you need to meet. When you play table tennis, whether recreational or professional, you must constantly concentrate on the ball’s trajectory, the opponent’s reaction, and your move at the same time.
Tracking the ball with the eye
Therefore eye-hand coordination is enhanced. Top players know how to use the tactics of looking to one side and playing hand moves to the other. It is a strategy that you decide in a split second, and it is an integral part of every sport how to surprise your opponent.
However, whether for fun or competitive, you unconsciously enhance your cognitive functions and complete eye-hand coordination by the game itself. It has been proven that table tennis players are better workers, drivers. Why do you think that is so?
Their reactions to each situation are different, better, more efficient because they have already practiced it through sports.
3.Keeps the brain healthy
Perhaps one of the most important benefits of playing table tennis. Improves the work of brain cells. You will have a better mood after training or playing as a hobby. So, researches proved that table tennis has an effect as prevention for dementia.
At the same time, table tennis stimulates both mental alertness and mental acuity. This means that when you practice concentrating on the ball and the point constantly, you are adopting those habits and concentrating better in real life.
Well-known doctor and brain imaging expert Dr. Daniel Amen said about table tennis, “the world’s best brain sport.” While playing it, you use different brain areas because you follow the ball all the time, plan strokes, and turn due to the change of the forehand and backhand sides.
Mental benefits of playing table tennis
He also stated that during the situation with COVID-19, walking, smart exercises, and table tennis are habits that we should adhere to during quarantine.
Agility and mental alertness are at their peak when you play this beautiful sport. Also, people who play the puzzle are more successful if they play table tennis simultaneously. Do you think this is a coincidence?
First of all, I wish you to enjoy table tennis and socialize through sports, and these important things will come of their own accord. You will feel progress in every life situation when you are constantly playing sports.
4.Improving reflexes
Since you are constantly forced to react to the ball during the game reflexively, your reflexes will improve over time in real life as well.
Sport is like that by nature, fast and agile. This improves both fine and short muscle movements.
When you constantly practice the ball’s reaction through playing, of course, you will later feel that you are faster. So, more agile, that you react better in everyday activities.
I can guarantee this from personal experience because I spent a lot of time in the car and I was surprised how many times I avoided some traffic situations thanks to reflexes. Even today, when a critical situation occurs, I can react quickly and with quality, and that is thanks to the fact that I have been playing table tennis all my life.
Over the years of playing table tennis, I have noticed that certain people have a predisposition to have good reflexes. Of course, if they don’t practice, it won’t come to the fore.
However, table tennis is a beautiful sport because you can make up for everything with training even though you have no predispositions. Talent in any sport is 10%, and exercise is 90%. Since reflexes are involved, exercising or playing even as a hobby will improve them.
5.Lose weight
In any case, you will burn calories in a friendlier and more fun way than exercising in the gym. You will burn an hour between 300 and 500 calories depending on the game’s level, beginners less while professionals more.
For people who have had certain injuries during their lifetime, table tennis is the perfect sport. So, if they have had a back problem or knee surgery, they will play table tennis without any problems, unlike other sports where the risk of injury is much higher.
To see how much a simple workout requires movement, take a look at one of my training sessions with my friend, a math teacher.
Playing table tennis is generally an easy way to burn calories. Many people go to gyms, ride bikes, and try to lose weight in various ways. But, this is one of the ways that is not boring. You don’t have to measure the exact playing time.
You feel the benefits of table tennis through a fun game, so enjoy the game and be concentrated. However, you will lose weight unconsciously along the way.
People think that with table tennis you can’t lose weight because you are close to the table. But if you play really concentrated and follow every ball, you will believe me, move much more.
You can watch my other matches in the first league of Serbia on my YouTube channel.
I play in the first league of Serbia, as you can see on the About Us page (from tabletennistop.com). My friend plays recreationally, but he is very dedicated, despite a lot of work, and we go to competitions together.
6.Table tennis is a social sport
Any sport connects people, especially table tennis. So, this is another of all benefits of playing table tennis.
It is an excellent opportunity for your children to socialize and make friends through sports. The competitions and the positive team spirit manifested through this sport, which are extremely important.
Firstly, children will learn to be part of a team. They will also learn some rules that they must follow in the training. Secondly, and most importantly, they will become good people because they will learn to socialize and respect others through play, victories, and defeats.
Older people can also create table tennis as a form of recreation and communication with various people, and through games and entertainment, they can create relationships and friendships. In general, people from all over the world play this sport for several reasons.
Therefore, friendships are made at competitions and also within clubs where they train together. The most important thing here is to say that the atmosphere is pleasant, people like to watch table tennis.
If you play in your house and have your own table, table tennis will also be fun and enjoyable, which greatly affects you and your friends’ health and mood.
7.Prevent dementia
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) recordings have shown that table tennis can improve long-term memory. It helps those who have Alzheimer’s disease to prevent cognitive decline. And as a preventive measure, it has been proven that playing table tennis can delay the onset of the disease for as much as 5 years.
The charity Bounce Alzheimer’s Therapy (BAT) has a table tennis program for Alzheimer’s disease for home care across the UK. BAT Director Andrew Battley said:
“In those living with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, the hippocampus is shown to be smaller, but activities such as table tennis have been shown to help blood flow to the brain and stimulate that part of it.”
BAT in partnership with King’s College London
There is research on “How to live young?” by the BBC. Two groups of people over the age of 60 were assigned to the walking and table tennis groups. They were tested 10 weeks, and it was found that both groups improved cognitive performance.
The group that plays table tennis had an increase in cortical thickness, which is the part of the brain that deals with complex thinking.
Another thing, they have been shown to have fewer negative emotions than walkers. The mood is significantly increased by playing table tennis.
Summary
Is table tennis easy? It is not an easy sport, and you need to work hard and improve to be successful, especially for children who want to achieve excellent results in this sport. But on the other hand, table tennis benefits are so many that will mean to you later in life.
That is the beauty of this sport. You can play for the rest of your life. In many sports, people end their careers earlier.
In table tennis, you can play professionally, recreationally, in addition to work, as a coach, sparring partner, everyone will find the best for themselves.
All in all, these are 7 important reasons to play table tennis, not everyone can become a champion, but every game will surely improve their overall health.
We don’t even consciously pay attention to some things, but when we think about it, table tennis gives us health, happiness, and social connection, in short.
Benefits of playing table tennis in short
In conclusion, improving eye-hand coordination, keeping the brain sharp, improving reflexes, burning calories, socializing through sports, treating and preventing dementia, and so on are just the benefits this beautiful sport provides.
All in all, this beautiful sport can only help people of any age.
No matter what your primary job is, if you additionally play table tennis when you have time you will feel better, you will work more effectively, not to mention how you will live longer and happier. It is not so sensitive when you are young, but as you get older, you will see that many other things will improve in your life.
The benefits of playing table tennis were recognized mainly by older people. So, they said that they do not regret at any moment that they took the time to have fun at the table tennis table.
Finally, we can for sure say that the percentage of injuries in table tennis is very small. You have no contact with your opponent. The only important thing is to warm-up well before every training session or game.
