The Role of Nutrition in Improving Your Game
Table tennis is the ultimate recreational sport. So it makes a lot of sense to classify players into two very broad categories:
-The casual, once a week table-in-my-basement players that only really play semi-competitive games with family and friends (which are the super majority of all people who ever play ping pong), and…
-The more serious that play in external communities focused on competition based tournaments.
The second group is still quite wide in scope; it can include anyone that competes at a club level to a regional level to a statewide level or even to a national or international stage.
Something as focused as nutrition and its impact on performance is much more targeted towards the latter than the former, but both types of players can benefit from paying attention to what they eat and when.
The only real difference is that in the case of the competitive player, the reward could be hundreds or thousands of dollars in prize money, while the recreational player might gain boasting privileges for a while.
The recreational player wants to avoid the type of food you might find at the social gatherings where he or she plays table tennis. At this level of intensity, it might not seem like a big deal, but the difference between eating a handful of almonds and a handful of potato chips ten minutes before game time can mean the world between two evenly matched players.
Additionally, expect to feel a lot better if you choose a glass of water as your in-game drink rather than a can of coke.
Competitive players need to use nutrition not only as vehicle to put them over the proverbial hump, but to not get killed in their matches.
High protein, easily digestible food is key before, during and after matches.
Players headed to tournaments can bring a bag of almonds for continued filling munching that is friendly to the quality of their game. Fruits can also be eaten at breaks during games and after them for the taste, nutritional benefit and quick digestion.
If you have a ten or fifteen minute break and are hungry, a protein bar (I’d suggest Zone but there are all sorts) is very filling and digests well.
