6 Ways To Improve Hand-Eye Coordination For Table Tennis?
If you’ve ever watched a professional ping pong match, you’ll know there’s not much to see largely because the players are so excellent that the ball is hit too quickly for your eyes to keep up! Ping pong necessitates not only intense concentration but also extraordinary hand-eye coordination. How can you, therefore, improve your hand-eye coordination?
Practicing your juggling skills on a regular basis, zinc consumption, playing video games, relaxing your body, looking at the opponent’s racket instead of the ball when he serves, and practicing ball drops regularly are the main ways in which you can improve your hand-eye coordination in table tennis.
Keep reading to find out other tactics you can incorporate if you want to succeed in a ping pong game. You will also learn the difference between hand-eye coordination and reflexes and the benefits of playing ping pong.
Contents
How Can You Improve Your Hand-Eye Coordination For Table Tennis?
1. Practice Your Juggling Skills
People who used it to train increased their catching, pitching, and batting skills dramatically after just a few practice sessions, according to studies. Not only that, but it promotes brain development, making you smarter.
2. Zinc Consumption
According to some studies, taking roughly 20 milligrams of zinc each day can enhance hand-eye coordination. Animal proteins, nuts, seeds, and beans are all high in zinc. Zinc absorption can be reduced by whole-grain cereals and bread.
3. Playing Video Games
Hand-eye coordination exercises can also be found in video games. Many games demand that players react rapidly with their hands to what they see on the screen. There are even computer programs that offer workouts or games aimed specifically at improving hand-eye coordination.
4. Relax Your Body
Assume you’re floating in mid-air. Mental tension is exacerbated by tense muscles (the opposite is also true). Allow your playing arm to swing freely.
5. Look At The Opponent’s Racket Instead Of The Ball When He Serves
Even before the ball crosses the net, you’ll know where it’s going to go. Jan Ove Waldner, probably the best player in the game’s history, employs this strategy.
6. Practice Ball Drops
You’ll only need a tennis ball and a lot of determination. When the ball bounces back up, you drop it on the ground and race to pick it up. As a result, hand-eye coordination, first-step quickness, and reaction time will all improve.
What Is The Difference Between Eye Coordination and Reflexes?
Reflex is a negative feedback system in general. When you tap a muscle’s tendon, the muscle gets stretched. Sensors in the muscle fire in reaction to the applied stretch, exciting the motor neurons that innervate the muscle, which causes the muscle to contract, compensating for the strain.
Reflex, on the other hand, are not invariably negative feedback mechanisms. Muscles tense in response to a sudden sharp pain; the blink reflex can be triggered by a variety of stimuli.
A reflex pathway contains a fixed number of neurons that cannot be changed, and hence the reflex time cannot be altered unless in exceptional circumstances.
Eye-hand coordination is a difficult skill to master, but it may be improved with practice. Eye-hand coordination requires more regions of the central nervous system than a reflex pathway. It entails visually guided eye movement, visually guided hand movement, and other inputs.
Vestibular inputs are also important in eye-hand synchronization while the head is moving. When you’re playing tennis, for example, you see the ball going towards you.
Your visual system guides your eyes to the target, and the right muscles in your body are triggered at the right time and in the right amount to allow your hand to return the hit. Muscles are controlled by reflex, feed-forward, and voluntary control in this example.
How To Imrove Your Table Tennis Game?
I have an in-depth article about the best 11 table tennis skills you need to master your game so check that out if you want a more thorough answer.
1. Stroke Your Forehand With Your Entire Body
During the backswing, make sure to move your shoulders backward, then forward into the ball as you stroke your forehand. This motion is synchronized with a weight transfer from the back foot to the front foot.
2. Keep a Nice Ready Posture
A good ready position is balanced and ready to move in any direction at any time. Between strokes and when preparing to return serves, use it.
3. Strikes Should Be Practiced Until They Become Automatic
When you play on autopilot and don’t examine your skill, you’ll have the best results. You simply let things happen on their own.
4. Use Your Personal Ping Pong Racket
It is critical to purchase a good quality ping pong racket and use it exclusively. Every racket has its unique feel and playing characteristics, and utilizing only one racket can save you time and effort in trying to adapt to a different/new one.
5. Improve Your Sidespin Serves
A low-to-the-net sidespin/backspin serve that bounces twice on the opposing side of the table is particularly useful. Your opponent’s serve return possibilities will be severely limited if you serve like this.
6. Maintain Low Returns Over The Net
In general, the lower you lay your shots above the net, the less angle your opponent has to work with and the more difficult it is for them to strike it with strength.
What Are The Benefits Of Playing Table Tennis
1. Hand-Eye Coordination Develops While You Play
This makes it an ideal game for young people to improve their reflexes and for older people to fine-tune their strategies.
2. It’s Not Too Strenuous On The Joints
Ping pong is a terrific method to strengthen your legs, arms, and core without putting too much strain on your joints.
3. It Aids In The Burning Of Calories
An hour of table tennis burns 272 calories for a 150-pound person. Given how interesting and addictive the sport is, it can be a fun and simple method to burn calories.
4. Facilitates Socialization
Ping pong is an excellent way to socialize with others. Because the game may be played by both young and old people, it can enhance communication and establish connections regardless of age, allowing individuals to spend more quality time with one another.
5. Improves Mental Sharpness
In ping pong, the ball’s speed, spin, and placement are all important, and experienced players are adept at both constructing and solving problems using these three characteristics. This is a great way to improve your mental skills.
6. Reflexes Are Improved
Because of the sport’s fast-paced, short-distance character, it improves both gross and fine muscle motions. Bursts of exertion and recuperation distinguish the game, resulting in the development of fast-twitch muscle.
