What if 45 square feet of fiberboard contained the key to a better life? For centuries, humans have sought ways to optimize their minds, enhance their physical well-being and prolong their lives. It turns out the answer might be right in front of us, in the form of a 9-by-5-foot table. Of course, you need a few other things to get the full benefit: two red paddles and a little white ball.
On today’s episode of “The Athletic Show,” ping-pong takes center stage as writer Rustin Dodd reveals the science behind how the sport helps rewire the brain. Study after study shows that ping-pong (and racket sports in general) improve cognitive function and information processing. For example, researchers found that table tennis players have enhanced brain structures that allow for “neural efficiency,” meaning there is better communication between different regions of the brain. A 2024 study revealed the sport can improve “cognitive inhibition,” which is the brain’s ability to filter out irrelevant or conflicting information and focus on a task. Experts believe the sport can help treat Parkinson’s disease and dementia, and at least one study found a correlation between participation in racket sports and longevity compared to other activities, such as running or swimming.
To fully understand the science, we bring professional ping-pong player and coach Matt Hetherington into the studio to put our hosts through the paces and experience how quickly table tennis can impact your brain.
The episode also features a sport that requires far more space and much more muscle — figure skating, and the debate over difficulty versus execution in Olympic scoring. The men’s medals were handed out on Friday, and before American Ilia Malinin’s stunning eighth-place finish, an argument had been brewing over his dominance in the sport over the past few years. Malinin was a massive favorite going into the Milan Cortina Games, primarily because his routine’s level of difficulty was thought to be so high that even if he stumbled, his score would be higher than a perfect routine from his competitors.
Some contended that Malinin’s ability to ratchet up the difficulty might effectively reduce the competition to a math equation. Before Friday’s result turned that argument on its head, we examined whether risk unfairly outweighs perfection in how figure skating is scored, and what the sport can do when one athlete has a significant mathematical advantage.
Finally, we look at NBA All-Star Weekend. Interest in the All-Star Game and surrounding events has steadily declined this century, to the point where the weekend feels perfunctory to some. Fans don’t care, players don’t give their all, and there are few incentives to change that. Our hosts, along with The Athletic’s Chicago Bulls writer Joel Lorenzi, each serve as commissioner for a day and pitch ideas for how to fix All-Star Weekend — or argue for getting rid of the festivities altogether.
You can watch the full conversation on the latest episode of “The Athletic Show” on Fire TV and wherever you get your podcasts.