For many Northeast Ohio and Erie, PA homeowners, entertaining friends and family is a key priority in their lives. One of the most popular crowd pleasers in the region is an activity that anyone can do from the comfort of their home: a challenging game of billiards, or pool, with friends and family. Billiards can provide entertainment, as well as health benefits, for people of all ages. If you have a game room in your home, are thinking about adding a game room, or just simply want to invest in a billiard table, there could be more value than you even know.
What is Billiards?
When you think of billiards today, you likely think of the game of pool. While the terms have become used interchangeably, they weren’t always the same thing. Pool is actually a type of billiards game. While the term “billiards” refers to all the games played on a billiard table, with or without pockets, some people take billiards to mean “pool” only.
According to the Billiard Congress of America, billiards was originally played with two balls on a six-pocket table with a hoop similar to a croquet wicket and an upright stick used as a target. During the 18th century, the hoop and target gradually disappeared, leaving only the balls and pockets.
The word “pool” means a collective bet, or ante. Many non-billiard games, such as poker, involve a pool; however, it was pocket billiards that the name became attached to. The term “poolroom” now means a place where pool is played, but in the 19th century a poolroom was a betting parlor for horse racing. Pool tables were installed so patrons could pass the time between races. The two became connected in the public’s mind, but the connotation of “poolroom” came from the betting that took place there, not from billiards.
To put it simply, billiards can refer to any kind of tabletop game played with a cue stick and cue ball, while pool largely means a game with pockets. Now that the history lesson is out of the way, let’s get on to how billiards can provide entertainment and health benefits for all of your friends and family, regardless of age.
Billiards for Entertainment
For many people, billiard, or pool, tables are far more than a gathering place for a certain game. They bring people together by offering something for beginners and experienced players alike: excitement, companionship, and the sheer joy of friendly competition. Not to mention, they can be a great way to pass time and offer entertainment.
There are a variety of billiard table options available, and which one you select will likely depend largely on your particular needs and price range. Some may prefer a smaller size due to the size of their game room, while others may envision a larger table equipped with more features that will serve as the staple piece of their entertainment area.
Billiard tables and their surfaces are constructed of many different kinds of materials and are generally surfaced with cloth, which come in a wide range of brands and materials. Ultimately, players choose tables according to their levels of expertise and budget. Regardless what billiard table you decide to add to your space, if you add one, it is sure to bring you, your family, and your guests, entertainment for years to come.
Health Benefits of Billiards
In addition to being entertaining, offering family-friendly fun, and being rather affordable, a billiard table can also help people of all ages improve their mental and physical health. With a billiard table, without even knowing it, people can get a work out in.
- Physical Benefits: Think about how many times you walk around the table during a game of billiards or pool. Think about the amount of stretch you may put into just hitting one ball. Playing billiards helps people build arm, back, and leg strength and improve flexibility and balance.
- Calorie Burning: As we referenced above, there is a surprising amount of walking involved in a game of billiards. A typical 2-hour 8-ball or 9-ball session often provides 100 trips around the table’s perimeter, which is about equal to walking nearly three-quarters of a mile. Playing multiple games of pool will stack up these distances without the player even realizing it.
- Toning: The physical benefits of playing pool include low-impact toning of the back, hip and leg muscles pertaining to continuous bending and reaching to facilitate arm/hand setups and the exercises found in cue-stroking movements.
- Stretching and Balance: Playing billiards requires a lot more stretching than a person would not normally do. Having to bend across the table to reach the cue ball at a desired angle requires a player to be rather flexible, especially with complex shots. Billiards also helps with balance because you may need to stand on one foot from time to time, promoting stability.
- Mental Benefits: Playing a game of billiards or pool doesn’t just benefit people physically, it also offers many mental health benefits for people of all ages. It can help children gain hand-eye coordination, it requires problem solving, and involves a great bit of focus and control.
- Builds Focus and Control: Playing pool requires a lot of focus and concentration. Studies have shown that individuals who play sports like billiards are less likely to panic amid crisis. People who play games that require much concentration are able to think more clearly and logically. This enables them to slow down and examine the most pertinent facts and details.
- Sharpens the Mind: Playing billiards can help to sharpen the mind. Billiards requires performing mental mathematical estimates and calculations, such as basic geometry and physics. These skills are necessary to calculate precise angles and trajectories and to determine how much force to apply during a strike. Having a sharp mind enables one to think on their feet faster and pick up on little details, keeping their mind razor-sharp.
- Improve Hand-Eye Coordination: Think about those complex shots that you may face in a game of pool. When playing billiards, a person needs to understand how each angle works and how to hit the ball perfectly to make an impact. This not only helps with hand-eye coordination, it can help with improving and building on a person’s attention span.
Are you Ready to Add a Billiards Table to your Home?
Billiard tables add flare to an array of game room designs, and can be fit into a variety of other recreational activities as well. We have only reviewed a few of the ways billiards can provide entertainment and health benefits for people of all ages; however, once you have a billiard table, the possibilities can be endless. If you are ready to add a billiards table to your Northeast Ohio or Erie, PA home, visit us at Litehouse Pools & Spas. We don’t only have billiards tables, we also have a large selection of other game room furniture, game tables and games, bars and bar stools, and more.