Nicola is a neurophysiologist who focuses on the intersection of neuroscience and physical performance—and the best exercises are ones that challenge your body and mind. “There is this sub-category of exercise which falls under cognitive exercise [called] proprioceptive training,” she shares on the mindbodygreen podcast. “It involves all of your senses: light, sound, touch…everyone should be involved in this type of exercise.”
Basically, proprioception is the sense of where your body is in space; your body uses cues from the outside environment to send to your brain, then your brain tells your body how to react. Your proprioceptive function declines as you age1, but training those abilities has been shown to improve functional mobility, balance, gait, and risk of falls2 in older adults.
“You cannot achieve anything without understanding where you are in space and time,” Nicola notes, whether you’re an elite athlete hoping to enhance performance or someone who just wants to improve cognitive longevity. No matter your specific fitness goals, she encourages regular training exercises that strengthen your body awareness.
For example, she recommends a “really easy drill” in which you throw a tennis ball against the wall and catch it. “You’re training [your] visual acuity, because you have to see where the ball is going. You are training depth perception, which is part of the visual system. You’re training reaction time and hand-eye coordination,” she explains. “You’re doing so many different things just with this easy ball.”
Now, where does pickleball come into play? Well, the sport doesn’t train your visual acuity the same way as the aforementioned tennis ball drill, as catching a ball with your hand requires much more precision than whacking it with a paddle. But in pickleball, “you do have to have hand-eye coordination,” says Nicola. “You have to know where you are in space and time, which is a huge thing for proprioception.”
