Playing pool can be a lot of fun.
Whether you’re just playing the game casually or you’re a league player who takes the game more seriously, every game presents some excitement as you try to out-play your opponent to score the final ball.
But pool can be much more than meets the eye. There are a lot of health benefits to be derived from playing this table sport. It is a game where you’re very active physically and even mentally.
In this article, I’m going to list just 10 ways in which playing pool can be beneficial to your health.
1. Improves Cognitive Skills
Every time you break an 8 ball rack, the balls are scattered across the table presenting you each time with an infinite variety of patterns.
From the point where you’re choosing between solids and stripes to where you’re shooting the 8 ball into your called pocket, is like figuring out a puzzle. You’re using your cognitive skills to reason and solve a pattern where each ball connects to the next.
Pool, just like chess, sudoku and other mentally stimulating games, is great for improving your cognitive skills particularly in the areas of reasoning, problem solving, visualization, memory and focus.
2. Slows Aging in Men
Regular exercise throughout your lifetime has been known to slow the aging process. Older men who play pool on a regular basis can get regular exercise from playing pool.
In a study by the University of Copenhagen’s Center for Healthy Aging, researchers found that drinking beer and playing pool helped older men stay active and enhanced their quality of life.
Billiards is considered suitable exercise for persons living above the retirement age as it helps them use their muscles, remain active and brings them enjoyment. The aging process is slowed down as a result.
3. Tones Muscles
When you’re playing pool, you’re constantly using your legs, bending your back and flexing your arms as you reach around the table to make shots.
These active moves mean that you benefit from low impact toning of the leg, arms, hip and lower back muscles making it great exercise for everyone.
4. Helps To Build Focus
Taking a shot involves more than just aiming the cue ball at an object ball and trying to pocket it successfully.
Along with the fear of missing the shot, you have to decide where you want the cue ball to go so you can get an easy shot on the next ball. How soft or hard you play the shot, whether you use top, center ball or sidespin, and making sure you do you pre-shot routine are all factors you have to consider when making just one shot.
This takes a lot of focus and concentration. Doing it repeatedly helps to build focus in pool players.
5. Fun for All Ages
It doesn’t matter what sex or age you are, pool provides fun for everyone and is usually played casually by all members of the family.
Whether you’re of grade school age or you’re a grandparent, you can enjoy the excitement of a game of pool. As we already know, the game provides the right type of exercise for older folks and is a way for them to have fun and keep their mind off their illness.
Children enjoy the game as well and as long as they can hold the cue and reach onto the table, it’s a fun way for them to build friendships, learn geometry and learn skills they can enjoy for the rest of their life.
They’ll also benefit from everything mentioned on this page including sharpening the mind, learning to focus and improving their cognitive skills.
6. Burns Calories
You probably won’t be out of breath during a game of pool or sweating rivers but you can definitely burn a fair amount of calories while playing the game.
Although it isn’t strenuous exercise, pool involves stretching and a good bit of walking. In fact, if you spend an hour or two (or more) at the pool table, you’d be surprised at the distance you’ve walked during that time.
You would certainly burn a lot more calories while at the pool hall than sitting on the couch binge-watching Netflix.
7. Sharpens Your Hand-Eye Coordination
Hand-eye coordination plays a huge part in winning a game of pool.
Bridging and having an accurate stroke go hand in hand with where your eyes aim the shot. You use your eyes to accurately line up a shot and your hands to execute it so repeating this process over and over again fine tunes this skill.
Without good hand eye coordination, it wouldn’t matter that another point mentioned in this article is beneficial to the pool player – that pool sharpens the mind.
8. Enables Stretching & Balancing
There is a lot of physical workout involved in playing pool. Two common movements you’ll encounter from time to time are stretching and balancing.
You’ll constantly have to reach over the table to make shots which means you’ll have to stretch a lot and you will also have some shots you’ll have to play while balancing on one leg.
Of course, you’ll still have to remember to maintain a solid stance that allows you to have an accurate stroke without moving too much.
9. Sharpens Your Mind
People who play pool often usually have sharper minds.
Pool is a game where you have to quickly perform mental mathematical estimates and calculations. Basic geometry and some physics are needed to calculate angles and trajectories and also to determine how much force to hit the cue ball with so you can control the speed of the shot.
A sharp mind can enable you to think on your feet faster and pick up on little details.
10. Helps Build Control
Beyond friendly competition, pool hides a surprising benefit: building precise control. Each shot demands steady aim, clever angles, and sharp focus. This mental-physical dance spills over into your life, making you smoother in your movements.
Imagine weaving through crowded streets with newfound ease, your body dodging like a champion athlete. Or picture parking your car with surgeon-like accuracy, replacing panic with cool composure.
Pool trains your brain to see cause and effect, to predict how your actions play out before you even make them. This superpower seeps into everything you do, making you a master of your own moves.
So next time you hear the satisfying click of balls, remember – you’re not just playing, you’re building a fortress of control, one well-aimed shot at a time. Now go out there and show the world who’s boss (of their own body, of course!).
No matter your age or gender, you can enjoy the fun of playing pool and also enjoy the health benefits that come with it.
It’s interesting that you mention that playing the game of pool can enhance your cognitive abilities. I want to make sure that I give my cognitive abilities proper exercise this year, so I’m considering buying a pool table for my home next week. I’m going to look for a good business that can sell me a pool table.
It’s awesome that this article explains how playing pool can improve your ability to focus. My son has a hard time concentrating at school, so I’m considering buying a pool table this week so that he can learn to play the game. I’m going to look for a good business in the area that sells pool tables.