Lift Those Spirits: Indoor Sports You Can Play In The City

This fun sport, also called ping-pong, is great for those who want to improve their flexibility. Table Tennis was born back in the 1880s with the urge to develop an indoor version of lawn tennis. Played on a table with paddles, it’s an indoor variation of tennis. While many of us have gone doe-eyed watching some great matches on TV, you can master some form of it and get that daily workout too.

Where: JLTTA (Jayesh Lakhani Table Tennis Academy), which was established in 2000 is the top academy for table tennis in Mumbai. They offer multiple types of coaching options. If you're a beginners go for the Level 1 course where you'll learn the basics. 

Centres: Juhu, Santacruz, Ghatkopar, Andheri, Malad, BKC

While most of us are familiar with the term, not many of us have actually played it. It’s a great workout, with two or four players who strike the ball with their rackets and hit it against the walls of the court. Apart from it being a lot of fun, it helps you stay fit, improves your cardiovascular strength and helps you remain flexible. Also, who knows? You could end up making new friends too.

Where: NSCI Mumbai, Garware Club, The Club (only members)

Centres: Worli, Churchgate, Andheri respectively

However, if you want to learn this indoor game, you can head to Indian Squash Professionals, an NGO which promotes squash in India. Apart from organising tournaments, they also have coaching camps for those who want to learn Squash. 

We’ve all done this as teenagers and have actually forgotten how much fun this can be. Go along with a bunch of friends and make a fun evening of it, followed by dinner. While the fun bit is ensuring that the resin ball enters and sticks to the right lane, you also get a great muscle workout with it.

Where: Smaaash, The Game 

Centres: Lower Parel, Worli

Apart from these gaming zones, you can also head to multiple malls which have bowling alleys within them. 

We keep cheering our Indian team and know enough about this sport for us to go on and describe it. What makes it special is that it is more of a community game and can be played in turns and with different players. A good one-hour of this is the best exercise you can get. You can actually play this anywhere, as long as you have some decent area to run around.

Where: North Indian Association Mumbai (for amazing coaching classes), Andheri Sports Club (for simply playing the sport)

Centres: Sion, Andheri

There are many more badminton courts in which you can learn, practice and play the sport. Here's a handy list.

Think of kick boxing as a mixture of martial arts, karate and boxing. Gradually gaining importance in India, this sport literally lets your inner aggression out and diverts it to energize the physical and mental health. While it can be practiced as a regular sports, more and more youngsters are seeing this sport as a useful skill of self defense. 

Where: Priyadarshani Park

Centres: Nepean Sea Road