Recently I came across an Instagram post in which a statement was made. The statement said, “The people who play racket sports live longer.” This basically meant that racket sports provide a slew of health benefits to the person wielding the racket. 

 

This is a statement that caught my attention. As I am passionately into tennis, a most popular racket sport, I decided to dwell more on this statement. 

There are some very obvious health benefits which are gained by a person playing a racket sport such as badminton, table tennis, tennis or squash. I would also place cricket in the same league, although here a racket is replaced by a cricket bat. Strong hand-eye coordination, faster reflexes, better body balance, better concentration and complete body physical exercise are some benefits of indulging in a racket sport which readily comes to one’s mind.   

But the best advantage a racket sport gives you, which is even more relevant in modern-day existence is that it is a great stress buster. A racket sport, if played with the spirit of just enjoying the game can be a great stress buster, as it can take your mind away from anything else running in there. But if you are too much into a competitive game or are worried about the scoreline, then things may not be that beneficial. 

A little research into the subjects threw up some more reasons which make racket sport a very healthy indulgence. 

John Ratey, MD, an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an internationally recognized expert in Neuropsychiatry talks at length about the health advantages of playing a racket sport. In Ratey’s bestselling book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, he details the scientifically proven health benefits of playing a racket sport including:

• Improves learning ability and grows brain cells

• Reduces stress, anger, anxiety, and depression

• Increases focus, attention, and alertness

• Reduces risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other forms of Dementia

• Lowers blood pressure

He points out that sports such as tennis, pickleball, squash, badminton, and racquetball build up your fitness levels, while also requiring complex movements (front to back, and side to side) and quick strategic thinking.

Here I list a few more points to convince you to start playing a racket game 

-Racket Sports require speed, agility, stamina and strength and a pair of strong hands. In a test conducted to test the fitness levels of athletes in various sports, athletes playing racket sports are found to be the fittest.

-Any sporting activity usually needs the athletes to be physically strong but in racket sports, you need much more. Here you need to be a smart player too as you are required to concentrate on the cerebral aspects too. 

-Racket games require greater joint movement. Which means you would have strong joints and muscles. You’re not just working your biceps and forearms, but also your knees, thighs and other major muscles.

-Swinging the racquet improves upper body strength while the lateral movements help condition the lower body.

-while playing racket games you are forced to move in multiple planes of motion which helps you improve body stability, overall coordination and balance.

 -The high-impact nature of many racquet sports helps improve bone density. This becomes very important as you get older.

-Racket sports also help improve cognitive functioning as one must constantly adjust and adapt reactions based on ball placement, velocity and opponent positioning. This is something that we call hand-eye coordination in layman's terms. 

-Most importantly, racket sports give you a sense of achievement. Achieving success in these sports, where you usually play as an individual, gives you a sense of achievement and enhanced confidence in your abilities.

-A game such as a tennis, which is usually played under an open sky, provides added benefits of getting vitamin D from the Sun and some much-needed fresh air. 

So grab a tennis racket, find a playing partner and hit a few balls across the net. You have many good reasons to keep doing this for years to come.