Table Tennis = Aerobic Chess

Below is an excerpt from the renowned brain expert, Dr.Amen's blog. No wonder most TT players are so smart

I’ve been an avid tennis table player for years and think it’s the world’s best brain sport. Here’s why.

Table tennis is highly aerobic and gets both the upper and lower body moving in every which way “” twisting, bending down low, reaching up high, and shuffling from side to side. Plus, it gives your brain one heckuva workout.

It’s great for hand-eye coordination and reflexes (cerebellum and parietal lobes). You have to focus (prefrontal cortex) so you can track the ball through space (parietal lobes and occipital lobes), figure out spins (parietal lobes and occipital lobes), and plan shots and strategies (prefrontal cortex and cerebellum). Then you have to follow through and execute those tactics successfully (prefrontal cortex and cerebellum).

All the while, you have to stay calm so you don’t get too nervous on game point (basal ganglia). And you can’t dwell on that point you blew a few minutes ago (anterior cingulated gyrus) or blow your top when you make a mistake (temporal lobes).

It’s like aerobic chess.

Do you have a link to this blog?

thank you.. will share thiS in fb.. 

Edited by vader555 - 05/17/2011 at 9:35am

addoydude wrote: TT is not really very aerobic. You don't see players dripping in sweat like badminton players. (Except a few genetically sweaty people like Guo Yue). TT involves quick non-sustained movements interspersed with plenty of rest. Most exertions in TT are probably anaerobic.

I beg to differ. I've seen people at my club leave the table and making the floor look like they just stepped out of a swimming pool. Personally as a defensive player who has to run around to retrieve, I do get a decent workout. But, I've also seen close to table attackers sweating buckets. Its rare to see professional player not toweling themselves on almost every other point.

jt99sf wrote: metallikviper wrote: addoydude wrote: TT is not really very aerobic. You don't see players dripping in sweat like badminton players. (Except a few genetically sweaty people like Guo Yue). TT involves quick non-sustained movements interspersed with plenty of rest. Most exertions in TT are probably anaerobic. I beg to differ. I've seen people at my club leave the table and making the floor look like they just stepped out of a swimming pool. Personally as a defensive player who has to run around to retrieve, I do get a decent workout. But, I've also seen close to table attackers sweating buckets. Its rare to see professional player not toweling themselves on almost every other point.   +1.  I have a guy at my club, when I play him, we don't switch sides because he literally sweats buckets and his side of the floor is wet.  I think it depends on your playing style and how much of a workout you want to have. On the same returned ball, one can stand there and push it back or one can let the ball come off the table and loop it agressively.

+2. Most good players at my club change tshirts at some point, and almost everyone sweats. I myself bench aroun 300lbs and am pretty lean, and never sweat in the gym. But when I play TT, even at home vs a returning board I sweat a lot

don't you guys have air-conditioning? 

i'm a profuse sweater too. But part of the problem is the heat of the playing area. In an air-conditioned or cool environment I still sweat but not excessively. And in any case nothing like when playing badminton. Actually sweating is not the best indicator of aerobic activity. How hard you are breathing probably is. You can play a pretty vigorous and sweaty TT match and never feel like your  lung is going to burst. The same level of fitness that allows you to play hard TT will make you winded playing a really aerobic sports like basketball or football or badminton.

I agree with that. Drill sessions with heavy footwork like falkenberg is aerobic. The actual game is much less aerobic though.

I'm just guessing, but perhaps you're just not very good addoydude.

This isn't intended to be rude or mean, but if you're sitting there pushing for your entire playing session, you probably won't sweat. 

Your picture suggests you're a penhold player and your signature that you only use one side of your paddle.  If that's the case and you played like Yoshida Kaii, you would absolutely sweat a ton while you were playing.

My view is that every ball which can be attacked, should.  As a result, I'm moving my feet a ton in preparation to hit shots mostly with my forehand whenever I can, but even a good strong loop from my backhand still takes ton more effort than a push.

One last thing to what you said:  I hate playing in rooms with a great deal of air conditioning.  I think the warmer the room (to a degree), the less likelihood of pulling a muscle while playing.  If the room temperature is below 70 degrees farenheit, it's too cold.

roar wrote: I'm just guessing, but perhaps you're just not very good addoydude. This isn't intended to be rude or mean, but if you're sitting there pushing for your entire playing session, you probably won't sweat.

Not to be argumentative, but just to provide another interpretation (that gives addoydude the benefit of the doubt)... It could just as easily be argued that he doesn't sweat precisely because he's very good.

I only say this because I know that when I play lower level players I don't get very worked up or sweat at all. It's usually because they have difficulty reading my serves and I just 3rd ball them profusely due to weak returns. Swinging hard does require effort, but it's not the sustained effort that causes me to sweat.

Of course, if I play people a lot better than me, the converse is true. They 3rd ball me all day and I don't exert myself enough to perspire, either. This latter point is (I think) the point you were trying to make, but I'm just saying it goes both ways and assuming addoydude is bad because he doesn't sweat seems hasty.

When I play someone who is very close to me in skill level, then that's when I usually sweat balls.

roar wrote: One last thing to what you said:  I hate playing in rooms with a great deal of air conditioning.  I think the warmer the room (to a degree), the less likelihood of pulling a muscle while playing.  If the room temperature is below 70 degrees farenheit, it's too cold.

I agree. Air conditioning is (for the most part) the enemy of all athletic endeavors, in the form of increased cramping, increased injuries, and less opportunity to build endurance.

Of course, I also currently live in a place that is not humid and rarely gets above 32 centigrade.

addoydude wrote: well roar, you're right. I'm not very good at all. but I actually sweat relatively more than some of the very good players. I think it's genetic. when I play I sweat to the point that my hair looks like I just got out of the shower. In comparison, none of the pros in the WTTC had their hair messed up and wet at all. forget about sweating. What about my point about breathing hard.

Anaerobic exercise makes me breathe harder than aerobic.  I use an elliptical machine every morning for an hour at a fairly high intensity and I'm not out of breath at any point.  Conversely, after 12 squats at 1.5x my body weight, I need to catch my breath.

With pro players, just keep in mind that they're only playing a single match at a time.  I'll bet they'd look like train wrecks if they played back to back for a few hours at tournaments.

metallikviper wrote: addoydude wrote: TT is not really very aerobic. You don't see players dripping in sweat like badminton players. (Except a few genetically sweaty people like Guo Yue). TT involves quick non-sustained movements interspersed with plenty of rest. Most exertions in TT are probably anaerobic. I beg to differ. I've seen people at my club leave the table and making the floor look like they just stepped out of a swimming pool. Personally as a defensive player who has to run around to retrieve, I do get a decent workout. But, I've also seen close to table attackers sweating buckets. Its rare to see professional player not toweling themselves on almost every other point.

maybe you don't sweat a lot because you play at a lower level. I hate when someone who plays table tennis put his own sport down saying things like oh table tennis is not aerobic, you dont move  your feet at all and even a 90 yr old player can be good at it. I play 2 hours a  day. 3 times peer week and during every sesion I change my shirt 3 times in a row. my ratings is just below 2000 which is rather low but  just enough to realize hot much sweat and effort I put on every point while playing.

addoydude wrote: ikaros and yogi, you're making points I already conceded. I'm not a good player. But I am a profuse sweater. TT drills are much more aerobic than actual matches.  at least roar doesn't dispute that pro players don't sweat a lot. They towel off more to slow the game down than to wipe dry. All relative of course. I'm sure they still get sweaty. But not to the same level as badminton or basketball which was my point.

Well hold on a sec....

Pro players DO sweat a lot.  I was responding to your post where you said that you sweat so much that your hair gets messed up.  Pro players only play a single match and then have a break for at least an hour so they're not building up a sweat for nearly as long during a tournament.  Most of the players in the WTTC were playing one singles match per day...if the format were a round robin where they were playing 8-10 matches every day (that's how I'd organize the event), then they'd look a hell of a lot more exhausted than they do now.

I suspect that part of the marketing of top players now a days involves keeping them looking good during a game for publicity reasons...that's why they do their hair now and so on...

Here's an example of LGL and Ma Lin both looking like they've been hit by a fire hose in their match (look at how drenched their hair is):

If you ain't sweatin', you ain't playin'.

I'm not sure what type of exercise it is.  I do know, however, that your heart rate is kept up at a certain level.  Having your heart rate above a certain level (I think mine is 140) for a certain amount of time is going to make you sweat.  Whether it be from physical exertion, or your nerves during a point, heavy sweating is inevitable.  Branching off of this idea, aerobic exercise doesn't need to make you loose your breath in order for you to sweat.  It's all based on heart rate.  I especially wondered about this phenomenon because when I would play against the older players in my club (who were way better than me at the time).  I wasn't a good enough player to exert myself to the levels that I play now, but I would still drench a storm.  Back then, I think what happened, my heart rate was up because I wasn't comfortable playing the matches.  In the begining, we all tend to over-think it. I was trying to execute perfect strokes unto no avail (still the case now, of course).  Now it is different, I have a little more playing savvy and nerve calming, but I exert myself greatly because I'm a close to the table CPEN Looper.

Supporting this nerve theory,  I remember when I was a baseball pitcher in little league (obviously, not too much physical exertion), but my cap at the end of the game was nearly dripping in sweat.

So, if anything, I believe it is a combination of both elements: Nerves + Physical Exertion.


Edited by Omega740 - 05/18/2011 at 2:44pm