As we age, we become more vulnerable to health issues and there’s a need to bring back sturdiness. Playing games can prove beneficial for our physical as well as mental health. Games help us improve memory and enhance brain functions. Man is a social animal and social interaction while engaging in such activities helps to reduce depression and stress. Interacting with people, sharing thoughts, and expressing yourself promotes feelings of compassion, empathy, and intimacy. Playing helps to widen your imagination, adapt to new situations, solve problems, and be more creative. Playing games together is an excellent way for people to socialize and connect.
What is a Shuffleboard Game?
Shuffleboard is a game that is played on a long, narrow board, usually made of wood, with a series of lines and scoring zones marked on the surface. It can be played outdoors or indoors. Players may slide their pucks with their hands or use a cue. The players try to land their pucks in the highest-scoring areas. Shuffleboard has a lot of variations. There are no rigid rules and players can alter different aspects of the game to make it more interesting and fun every time they play it. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the benefits of playing shuffleboard and how to get started.
Benefits of Playing Shuffleboard Bowl Game
Popular Game Among The Elderly
Shuffleboard has been a popular game among the elderly for many years. Being a low-impact activity, it provides physical as well as mental stimulation. It’s easy to learn and can be played indoors or outdoors. As a person starts to age, several changes take place. Even performing basic day-to-day tasks may be problematic. These changes occur due to loss of function in multiple brain areas. The neuro-muscular communication keeps getting weaker. Motor skills of a person also decline slowly. Shuffleboard is mainly played to provide entertainment. One can spend leisure time building social connections and communicating.
Excellent Way For Seniors To Stay Active
Shuffleboard is a low-impact activity requiring minimal physical exertion. It does not put much physical strain on the body. Playing shuffleboard is an excellent way for seniors to stay active while being gentle on their joints and muscles making it suitable for aged people even if they have arthritis. It also helps in burning calories, which reduces the risk of obesity and similar health problems.
Keep Maintain Mobility, Balance And Coordination
Though the game isn’t a proper cardio workout, it involves moving the body, causing increased blood flow. It can also prevent joint stiffness and other age-related conditions that may result from a sedentary lifestyle. While playing this game one has to stand, walk, and reach which can help the elderly maintain mobility, balance, and coordination.
Shuffleboard Helps To Refine Balance And Stability
Balance is keeping yourself steady while putting equal weight on each side of the body. While aging, being steady or stable while walking also becomes a demanding task for people. The key to maintaining balance is training yourself through movement every day. Shuffleboard helps to refine balance and stability. Players stand and shift their weight while playing during which they use proprioceptive sense (which refers to the body’s ability to sense its position in a given space). Shuffleboard is a fun way to improve balance and keep away from sticks or canes.
Shuffleboard Is An Excellent Activity For Leveling Up
Coordination is the ability to control your body movements properly. Shuffleboard requires coordination while playing. As we start aging, our bodies start becoming less active, and the ability to perform our tasks with the same precision and speed declines in comparison to earlier. Shuffleboard requires a lot of coordination between hands and feet. Hands are used to control the cue and push the weighted shuffleboard pucks or discs along the table. Feet are used to maintain balance and adjust stance as we play. Therefore, Shuffleboard is an excellent activity for leveling up hand-eye coordination, balance, and fine motor skills.
Hand-eye coordination is the ability to perform tasks that have a simultaneous need for hands and eyes. Two important elements of hand-eye coordination are reaction time and dexterity. As we age, these two factors decline. Playing shuffleboard helps to improve hand-eye coordination, balance, and blood circulation.
The players also need to use their visual and spatial perception to aim and target the pucks. After deciding upon the target, motor skills are put to use when sliding the puck or disc along the table. Pushing or sliding the puck or disc involves movement in the upper body which particularly helps in overall coordination.
Shuffleboard is often played in groups and is a great way to socialize and interact with people. It is an ideal game for the elderly and a perfect way for them to be active and healthy. Thus, playing shuffleboard may help people prevent loneliness and depression.
The game also requires strategic thinking, decision-making, problem-solving, and planning which helps to enhance cognitive functions and mental acuity by stimulating the brain. Shuffleboard players need to remember their opponent’s score as well as their own. They need to remember strategies from one turn to the next, making it a good mental exercise for memory.
It’s a relaxing game that may help reduce stress and anxiety. It is an enjoyable game that promotes a sense of well-being. This can improve mental health in the elderly. Successful execution of a strategy or winning the game provides a sense of accomplishment and boosts self-esteem in aged people. When you are happy, endorphins are released which help us relax both mind and body. This lowers blood pressure and heightens one’s mental awareness.
Hand-eye coordination is the ability to perform tasks that have a simultaneous need for hands and eyes. Two important elements of hand-eye coordination are reaction time and dexterity. As we age, these two factors decline. Playing shuffleboard helps to improve hand-eye coordination, balance, and blood circulation.
The players also need to use their visual and spatial perception to aim and target the pucks. After deciding upon the target, motor skills are put to use when sliding the puck or disc along the table. Pushing or sliding the puck or disc involves movement in the upper body which particularly helps in overall coordination.
Shuffleboard is often played in groups and is a great way to socialize and interact with people. It is an ideal game for the elderly and a perfect way for them to be active and healthy. Thus, playing shuffleboard may help people prevent loneliness and depression.
The game also requires strategic thinking, decision-making, problem-solving, and planning which helps to enhance cognitive functions and mental acuity by stimulating the brain. Shuffleboard players need to remember their opponent’s score as well as their own. They need to remember strategies from one turn to the next, making it a good mental exercise for memory.
It’s a relaxing game that may help reduce stress and anxiety. It is an enjoyable game that promotes a sense of well-being. This can improve mental health in the elderly. Successful execution of a strategy or winning the game provides a sense of accomplishment and boosts self-esteem in aged people. When you are happy, endorphins are released which help us relax both mind and body. This lowers blood pressure and heightens one’s mental awareness.
How To Get Started Shuffleboard Game
Places To Play Shuffleboard Game
It’s important to find a place to play shuffleboard. Shuffleboard courts are usually available at community centers and for retired communities. If there’s no court available, shuffleboard tables are easily available. The equipment can be set up in your backyard or on any flat surface.
Equipment Required For Shuffleboard Game
The equipment required includes a shuffleboard table, pucks or weighted discs also called biscuits, broom, wax, wax applicator, scoreboard, and cues. A cue is used to slide the pucks along the table. Wax is used to smoothen the surface of the shuffleboard table and is applied using an applicator. A scoreboard isn’t necessary but helps keep track of the score.