It's no secret that playing sports has a very positive impact on both our mental and physical health. Regardless of age, sports bring an array of benefits to the table, and tennis is no exception. Tennis is a high-tempo, two or four player game that is very entertaining to watch and especially to play.
There are several advantages of playing tennis that range from feeling better to higher performance on and off the court. According to Dr. Ralph Paffenbarger, people who play a minimum of 3 hours of tennis per week cut their risk of death from any cause by half. Therefore, we compiled the best health benefits, both physical and psychological, the game of tennis has to offer.
Physical Health Benefits
Playing tennis involves high-intensity, constant back-and-forth action that results in a full body workout. It tones your muscles, aids flexibility and keeps you looking and feeling your best. In addition, tennis requires a tactical thinking and high alertness, so it keeps your brain sharp even as you’re aging. If you are interested in enjoying all the physical benefits tennis has to offer while enjoying a luxury vacation, the High-Performance Training Program might be a great solution for you.
Improved Flexibility, Balance, and Agility
Tennis requires constant moving on the court, which involves quick sprints, running, stretching, jumping and sometimes even sliding. The constant change of direction and muscle activity aid your body’s balance and coordination. Your agility and flexibility are also increased because of the demanding physical activity of playing tennis. Flexibility, balance, and agility are important to prevent injuries on and off the court, and will make your body feel like a fine-tuned machine.
Increases Motor Skills
Playing tennis seems like a strictly muscular activity, but it also has a positive impact on your hand-eye coordination and other motor skills. The level of alertness and tactical thinking required for tennis force your brain to work harder. This may encourage your brain to generate new connections between nerves and receptors. According to the scientists from the University of Illinois, playing tennis may help build new connections between nerves, and promotes a lifetime of continuing development.
Anaerobic Capacity
Anaerobic capacity is not a well-known measurement in sports and exercising, mostly because it’s a strictly theoretical concept. However, it's designed to measure the amount of energy that comes from anaerobic sources, in other words, sources that do not rely on oxygen. Anaerobic energy sources are characterized by being explosive. The more tennis you play, the more explosive your first step and other areas of your game are going to be. Needless to say, tennis is a great idea for cross-sport training because it gets your body used to explosive energy bursts.
Muscle and Cardiovascular Development
Tennis is a high-tempo sport and requires muscles to be explosive and powerful. Playing tennis on a regular basis will strengthen your muscles and increase your cardiovascular performance. Tennis is an awesome way to stay in shape because it works out your upper and lower body, as well as your core. Your legs, bum, abs, shoulders and back muscles are the most exercised areas, and your overall stamina is also increased at the same time.
Burning Fat and Calories
Playing tennis burns more calories than cycling, aerobics, and inline skating, so it's a great way to lose weight and keep your body in prime physical shape. Anyone who has ever played a set of tennis knows how grueling a match can be, so it's no surprise tennis helps you burn a huge amount of calories and fats every time you play.
Psychological Benefits of Tennis
For humans to live a healthy lifestyle they must find the perfect balance between physical and psychological health, and tennis helps you find exactly that. Most sports have physical benefits, but not all of them have the same mental benefits as tennis. Tennis offers a perfect combination of mental and physical advantages that allow players to be successful on and off the court.
Decreases Stress
Tennis is a proven way to reduce stress as the physical activity causes your brain to release endorphins, which relieves daily stress build-ups. In addition, tennis burns excess adrenaline levels that end up having a negative effect on your body if not burned. In addition, the emotional and physical rollercoaster that tennis will put you through will increase your ability to handle stress efficiently. At World Tennis Travel we offer tennis holiday packages revolving around both performance and a relaxing and luxurious experience.
Fights Depression
Tennis can alleviate and even prevent symptoms of depressions, due to chemicals released while playing. Although the amount and the reason why exercise helps depression are a not one hundred percent understood, studied point out that frequent exercising causes chemical changes in your brain that alleviate depression .
Helps Develop Social Skills
One of the best parts about tennis is that it allows you to develop social skills and strong communication devices that can be used in everyday life. Regardless of age, all tennis players need to develop social skills because it’s a two or four player game. Especially if you play doubles (2 players playing against another 2 players on the same court) you need to learn how to communicate and listen to your peers. A great skill that helps you in other social situations like school, work, and everyday life.
Positive Impact on Personality
According to Dr. Joan Finn from the Southern Connecticut State University, tennis players scored higher in vigor, self-esteem and optimism in a study conducted. The study also reflected that tennis players scored lower on depression, anger, anxiety, tension, and confusion than other athletes and non-athletes. This is true in both young athletes and adults, so tennis is a great way to encourage socializing in any age group.
Aids Strategic and Creative Thinking
Tennis requires both physical and brain power, so it exercises neural connections as much as your legs and upper body muscles. Tennis requires quick planning, tactical thinking, coordination, and agility, all of which help you develop more strategic and creative thinking. In addition to creative thinking, tennis can also help your brain's memory, social skills, behavior, and learning.
Bonus: Dietary Habits
Lastly, tennis players usually develop very good dietary habits, dropping carbohydrates and increasing protein and vitamin consumption. This has a very positive effect on overall health: from skin appearance to immune system enhancement, your health levels are positively affected by good dietary habits.
Playing tennis can be the life-enhancer you’ve been looking for, and can become your best tool to live until you're 100 years old. Physical benefits, psychological advantages and good dietary habits all combine to give you the longevity all of us are aiming for.
If you are interested in arranging and booking tennis vacation for yourself, your family, or even with a group of friends, check out our available tennis holidays packages and featured locations. Our experts will be more than glad to help you plan the holiday of a lifetime. Contact us today!