It's fun! Table tennis is a wonderful sport to take
up for life. It's easy to play, yet difficult to
master. You'll always have another challenge to look
forward to, and another mountain to climb.
Oscar-winning actress Susan
Sarandon, puts on a good front.
"I have a paddle and I have a paddle case, which
makes me look very professional," she confessed
to a crowd at New York's American Museum of
Natural History. "But, in fact, I suck."
Sarandon admits that despite co-owning the table
tennis franchise, SPiN, her game is not for
show. But according to one New York professor,
Sarandon could be doing more than just having a
little fun with friends.
"In ping pong, we have enhanced motor functions,
enhanced strategy functions and enhanced
long-term memory functions," explained Dr. Wendy
Suzuki, professor of neuroscience and psychology
at New York University.
According to Suzuki, table tennis works parts of
the brain that are responsible for movement,
fine motor skills and strategy -- areas that
could be growing stronger with each match. While
scientists have yet to study the brain activity
of ping
pong players, Suzuki believes the game
enhances brain function unlike any other sport.
Table Tennis Is the No. 1 Brain Sport,
Scientists Say
Wednesday night, researchers at The American
Museum of Natural History invited Sarandon,
Suzuki and a panel of table tennis enthusiasts
to become part of their latest exhibition,
"Brain: The Inside Story. "
For one night under the iconic blue whale, high
above the museum floor, visitors listened to the
science behind one of America's favorite
basement pastimes. While the ping pong
discussion was limited to one night, the brain
exhibition continues through the summer.
"Table tennis is the number one brain sport, so
we figured this was a great way to get people
interested in the brain because a lot of people
play table tennis," explained Rob DeSalle,
curator for the Museum.
Holding a human brain to get players'
attentions, Suzuki pointed out specific areas
that are stimulated by playing table tennis.
According to Suzuki, there are three major areas
affected by this high-speed game. The fine motor
control and exquisite hand-eye coordination
involved with dodging and diving for the ball
engages and enhances the primary motor cortex
and cerebellum, areas responsible for arm and
hand movement.
Ping Pong, Like Chess, Involves Strategy
Secondly, by anticipating an opponent's shot, a
player uses the prefrontal cortex for strategic
planning. Lastly, the aerobic exercise from the
physical activity of the game stimulates the
hippocampus, the part of the brain that is
responsible for allowing us to form and retain
long-term facts and events.
"There's a lot of strategy and the area that
gets enhanced is the prefrontal cortex, critical
not only in ping pong, but also in chess," said
Suzuki.
That could explain why fellow panelist, Will
Shortz, calls ping pong, "chess on steroids."
Since 1993, Shortz has been the man responsible
for deciding just how much strategy is needed to
solve crossword puzzles for The New York Times.
A self-confessed table tennis addict and puzzle
editor, Shortz says the key to both of his
favorite activities is strategy.
"Crosswords and table tennis go great together,
they're both mind sports," he said.
Last November, 11-year-old Alex Lipan focused
all of his attention on that bouncing ball to
become the top-ranked table tennis player, for
ages 12 and under, in the state of New York.
"You have to constantly change your method and
see your opponent's weaknesses," he explained
after the discussion, when visitors were invited
to try their own strategies on ping pong tables
set up inside the museum.
Lipan makes split-second decisions by
anticipating the other player's moves. By doing
so, Dr. Suzuki believes that Alex is actively
strengthening and changing the way his brain
reacts, possibly affecting the response time of
other decisions.
Suzuki shared her hypothesis about what could be
happening inside the minds of players.
"Given the speed and strategy that they (ping
pong players) are using, you can imagine that
they have developed fast instincts," she said.
If science one day proves a connection between
table tennis and an increase in mental strength,
ping pong could graduate from the basement to
the classroom.
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/secret-ping-pong
DR. OZ Secret of Ping Pong Video
http://saef.us/alzheimers.html ALZHEIMERS
TABLE TENNIS THERAPY PROGRAM
Health Benefits Of Table Tennis
Worldwide millions of people play
table tennis, and with good reason. It is
entertaining, fun, fast and has great health
benefits as well. Because of the low risk of
injury table tennis can be enjoyed by people of
all ages and fitness levels. When played
regularly it improves reflexes, hand-eye
coordination and balance, while toning and
strengthening the core muscles, upper and lower
body. It’s great for working up a sweat and
increasing your heart rate, thus helping to keep
your heart strong and healthy. Not only is it a
good cardiovascular exercise, it is also a great
aerobic workout. When running about the table
your heart rate increases and your body’s
requirement for oxygen becomes much higher,
therefore you breath heavier, faster and deeper,
which increases lung capacity in addition to how
efficiently your lungs use oxygen.
As well as being a fantastic
physical work out, table tennis is also a great
mental work out. You have to plan strategies and
decide what spin to put on the ball, whilst
trying to stay one step ahead of your opponent
and react to the shots they are playing all at
the same time. Decisions have to be made in
split seconds, this increases concentration
levels, short term memory and decision making
ability. All this mental exercise boosts hormone
levels and keeps the brain young, which can slow
the progress of cognitive decline that occurs
with ageing. It is also a sport that is good for
social bonding, with its friendly but
competitive nature, it can be enjoyed at your
local club where you can meet with new people
and form lasting friendships. It can also be
played at home as a great way to spend more
quality time together and bring the family
closer.
Renowned physician, psychiatrist and brain
imaging expert, Dr Daniel Amen, says that 'Table
Tennis is The World's Best Brain Sport!
The following was what Dr Amen
had to say about table tennis:
'You still may think that calling
table tennis a sport is silly, but I think it is
the best brain sport ever. It is highly aerobic,
uses both the upper and lower body, is great for
eye hand coordination and reflexes, and causes
you to use many different areas of the brain at
once as you are tracking the ball, planning
shots and strategies, and figuring out spins.
It is like aerobic chess. Plus,
table tennis causes very few head injuries.
Table tennis, or Ping Pong, is the second most
popular organized sport in the world. What is
even more impressive is that it is the youngest
of the world’s major sports. At the competitive
level, players hit the ball in excess of 90
miles per hour across the table!'
Ward off Alzheimer's & for assist
in the treatment of Dementia!
Numerous studies have found that
table tennis activates various areas of the
brain simultaneously. By playing a game of table
tennis, under any conditions, an overall state
of awareness is stimulated - requiring both
thought and physical alertness at the same time.
It has been also discovered that
people in otherwise sedentary states - i.e.,
living in retirement homes and care facilities
where table tennis tables have been introduced,
have actually become mentally awakened when
playing the game. Incredibly, the game is now
being recommended as a method of warding off
Alzheimer's and for assisting in the treatment
of dementia.
Most notably, Dr Daniel Amen
specifically points out that table tennis:
-
Increases concentration
and alertness
-
Stimulates brain function
-
Develops tactical thinking skills
-
Develops hand / eye coordination
-
Provides aerobic exercise
-
Provides social and recreational interaction
Table tennis, ping pong, wiff-waff: call it what
you will, it's increasingly popular in the UK,
with 2.4 million players. Now there are
suggestions it could even help with conditions
like dementia.
First, he took on my dad, writes
Channel 4 News Online Producer
Jennifer Rigby.
"Let's put money on it," he
said. My dad was a little
reluctant. While his opponent,
Ken Leighton, seemed pretty
confident in his own table
tennis abilities, dad was a bit
less convinced - not least
because Ken is 85 years old.
This turned out to be a fairly
serious under-estimation of
Ken's ping pong skills. Ken
thrashed him. Then, a few months
later, I played Ken. He thrashed
me too.
I reminded him of these games
recently.
Let's put money on it.The
challenge from 85-year-old
table tennis player, Ken
Leighton, to his much
younger opponent.
"I think your dad thought he
wasn't going to get a game... He
went home with his tail between
his legs," said Ken, laughing.
"It's happened before."
Ken started playing table tennis
when he was in the army, in
1945. That was 68 years ago.
"I had a decent bat which I
still use today," he said. "It's
got a mark on the back where my
fingers have been - it's taken
the rubber off."
Ping pong for all ages
Ken, who lives in Lancashire, is
one of a host of older people
who are finding that table
tennis is a game for all ages. Last
year, a documentary made by
Britdoc/Banyak Films called Ping
Pong followed
eight players on their way to
the over-80s world table tennis
championships in China.
The 3,500 competitors may be
elderly, but they are fierce on
the table - and off it.
"This old girl, I don't care how
good she is. I should get her.
She can't move," says one of the
female players, talking about
the oldest player in the 2010
tournament: 101-year-old Dorothy
DeLow, from Australia.
I was playing table tennis,
and I think that saved me.101-year-old
Dorothy DeLow, a competitor
in the over-80s table tennis
world championships
But the film has a serious side
to it as well. Dorothy tells the
filmmakers: "I lost my husband
and my daughter and I was
playing table tennis, and I
think that saved me."
Another competitor, Inge Herman,
who is 90 in the film, stopped
eating and drinking when her
husband died 15 years ago, and
became "confused". Then she
discovered table tennis - and is
shown in the film smashing her
opponents, clearly together, and
seemingly not at all "confused".
Health benefits
Ken would agree that table
tennis has helped keep him fit.
He recently had to have an
operation, which doctors said
they would not have undertaken
on a man of his age if he wasn't
so healthy.
"Without a shadow of a doubt [it
has helped me]. The doctor said
if I hadn't been fit, they
wouldn't have done the
operation. And it's absolutely
helped me mentally as well. I
think it's great," he said.
Now scientists who have seen the
Ping Pong film want to test
whether there is any scientific
basis behind the improvements
some of the characters showed
after playing table tennis. At
the same time, the
filmmakers are taking the film
and "ping pong kits" to care
homes and community centres
around the country to
try and encourage older people
to play - both for the physical
and mental benefits.
Obviously, keeping fit is as
good for older people as it is
for anyone. But in particular,
scientists have shown that
exercise is very good at
preventing dementia and
helping with the symptoms of the
disease. But is table tennis any
better at this than other
sports? Dr Matthew Kempton from
the Institute of Psychiatry at
King's College London wants to
find out.
"You see this film, and you're
quite inspired by some of the
characters there and some of the
changes in their symptoms and
the improvement, and what we
really want to do now is the
science. In the film, it's more
anecdotal evidence, what we want
to do now is test the science,"
he told Channel
4 News.
The power of ping pong
He said table tennis has the
potential to be helpful for
older people with dementia in
particular because it combines
physical activity with spatial
skills, cognition and keeping
social.
"Previous research has shown
that exercise has actually
increased the volume of an area
in the brain called the
hippocampus," he explained.
"This area is very important in
dementia, especially in
Alzheimer's disease. It is
important in the formation of
new memories, and this area gets
smaller in people with
Alzheimer's. So what we'd be
interested in looking at is,
while people are playing these
table tennis games, or are
engaged in more activity, does
this area of the brain actually
increase in volume? Is there
more blood flow and so on, in
the hippocampus?"
Because of your age, they
think you're a pushover.
They said: 'You'll be our
secret weapon.'Ken
Leighton
The team are trying to get
funding now to do the work, but
in the meantime experts say that
it's part of a wider attempt to
encourage older people to keep
active, particularly to prevent
or help with conditions like
Alzheimer's.
George McNamara from the
Alzheimer's Society told Channel
4 News: "Every person
with dementia is different, and
what might be of interest to one
person might be table tennis, it
might be swimming, it might be
talking about the past sporting
glories of their football club.
But one of the things we do know
is that people can live well
with dementia."
And Ken? He's not playing right
now because of his illness, but
he hopes to be back. Just before
he got ill, a local team asked
him to play for them.
"Because of your age, they think
you're a pushover. They said
'you'll be our secret weapon,'"
he said.
But while Ken is still hoping to
keep his talents under wraps,
it's another story for the table
tennis campaigners.
If their message gets across in
the care homes around the
country, they hope potential
health benefits of table tennis
for older people will not be
kept secret for long.
Our bodies were made
to move: Young –
Middle Aged – Old.
Originally
posted in 2011
The trick
is to find out what
movement suits whom,
where, when and how.
For a lot of us:
high diving,
wrestling, fencing,
football, skating,
skiing, boxing, are
somewhat out of
reach, sometimes,
even tennis.
However, batting a
small, white ball
across a green table
and net; ping pong,
or, in its highest
form, table tennis,
is not… All sports,
obviously, involve
the mind as well as
the body, and played
well, the mind is a
strong component of
the game. After you
have hit the ball
you may be able to
pick up hints,
providing you are
watching your
opponent as well as
the ball, as to
their next move by
reading his or her
body language. Ping
pong can be a mild,
pleasant hand and
eye co- ordination
with concomitant
mild, aerobic,
cardiac affects or,
table tennis at its
best, as one of the
fastest sports
extant, the arm,
hand and eye
coordination. with
reflexes so swift
that the ball can be
barely seen, not to
speak of the workout
involved. In other
words, there is room
for all gradation of
players. The game is
a tactical one. The
comparative
proximity of the
opponent makes the
reading of the body
language easier,
than let us say,
tennis, and
therefore the
decision to attack
or defend, the
observation of the
weakness or strength
of the opponent
becomes more
accessible. The
satisfaction of
slamming the ball at
your opponent, and,
therefore willy
nilly releasing a
lot of aggression
(and pent up
hostility) can be
enormous, along with
the knowledge that
you cannot really
harm them with a
little celluloid
ball. By the same
token, playing
defensively can add
to the ego by being
able to save
oneself. In other
words, we have
aggression without
guilt and defense
with pride. For
example: a shy
teenager who would
rather veer away
from being observed
by onlookers doing
anything remotely
solo, can become so
involved in the game
that without
particular
awareness, the body
begins to move
gracefully in the
effort to reach the
ball, even sexuality
may express itself,
and without planning
it the teenager will
have an increase in
self-confidence
despite performing
in front of
spectators. Again,
it can become a good
prescription for
alleviating social
handicaps, and, as
an added bonus,
greatly increased
dexterity. One
gentleman I know
plays table tennis
four times a week.
He stated that the
stresses he
experiences in his
home are so great
that playing
obviates his need
for prescription
drugs to counteract
his attacks of
depression.
In today’s world
quick reflexes are
very important since
we do not know from
where an unpleasant
or mortal blow may
surprise us. The
cardiac benefits, of
course, have been
mentioned. The
satisfaction of
playing well and
winning, offset by
the possibility of
losing but living to
play another day,
and learning more,
reflect a
miniaturized emotion
of life itself. The
rhythm of the sound
of a good volley is
a soothing and
satisfying
accomplishment for
both players. In
time the reflexes
become automatic,
and in the learning
process the body
takes over and,
hopefully, brain and
body work smoothly
as one. After all,
is not that one of
our goals in
life? Because of the
swiftness of the
game (due to the
lightness of the
ball and the
strength of the
hits) total
concentration is
involved. The eye
must be on the ball
and the opponent at
all times. Serves,
spinning balls and
chopping motions
often involve an
almost pre-cognitive
stance thereby
obviating a lot of
troublesome worries,
sending them, for
the while, into
oblivion. We cannot
ask for more from a
sport.
Sally Deng Ping-Pong
as the Fountain of
Youth
By WENDY LYONS
SUNSHINE MARCH 7,
2017 NY TIMES
CreditSally Deng
I returned home the
other night
exhausted,
quadriceps aching,
twinges in my foot,
salty with sweat. My
husband asked me how
my evening was.
Glorious, I told
him.
I had spent 90
minutes in a gym
crammed with 10
Ping-Pong tables and
assorted players,
all coaxing and
smacking a little
ball over the net.
By 9 p.m., I was
exhilarated,
depleted,
triumphant. I had
beaten two young men
half my age and lost
battles against
worthy opponents. To
a casual observer,
the night was
unremarkable. To me,
it was a miracle.
I had taken up
Ping-Pong during
college, and in my
30s dove in more
deeply, climbing the
long stairway up to
a table tennis
center in Westfield,
N.J., where I
watched Olympic
hopefuls and took
lessons. Arthroscopy
for torn knee
cartilage soon
sidelined me.
Shortly afterward, a
distracted driver
made an illegal turn
at a pedestrian
crossing and drove
directly into my bum
knee.
Joint replacements
are a poor bet for
30-somethings. The
surgeon did his best
to repair my crushed
knee, inserted a
titanium screw,
recommended I stay
slim, advised
against afternoons
of power shopping,
and told me never to
jog or run again.
Three months in a
cast left my
atrophied foot
floppy and useless.
Standing was
excruciating. I
hunted for shoes
that could cushion
my knee and set my
sights on walking
and climbing stairs
again. Years later,
I tried to play
Ping-Pong and limped
for a week. I put
the game out of my
mind.
When I was 53, a new
challenge arrived. A
dimple in my right
breast proved
malignant, so I
underwent
lumpectomy, followed
by chemotherapy and
radiation. By
treatment’s end,
clothing felt
intolerable, and a
stroll around the
block winded me. My
old knee injury hurt
anew; flesh around
the scar felt
fragile as old
rubber bands.
But I wanted to
start fresh. I quit
eating barbecue,
shunned dairy,
embraced kale. I
attended therapy and
a support group. At
a $450 course in
mindfulness-based
stress reduction, I
learned to befriend
painful stretches
and breathe new life
into atrophied
muscles without
injuring myself.
One day my bad leg
was working slightly
better. The knee
hadn’t been
oppressively swollen
in a while. I felt a
flicker of hope.
Could Ping-Pong be
feasible for me, now
— in my condition,
at my age?
Ping-Pong, or table
tennis as it is
officially known, is
one of the fastest
racket sports,
requiring muscular
and
cardiorespiratory
endurance. Players
need nimble footwork
and upper body
flexibility to
return balls that
can fly over 60
miles per hour,
demanding faster
response times than
tennis or badminton.
While energy
expenditure tables
list the sport as
requiring four METS
of energy, about the
same as archery or
bowling, skilled
players can peak at
11.7 METs during a
match, said
Alessandro Moura
Zagatto, a sports
physiologist and
researcher at São
Paulo State
University in
Brazil. That’s a
workout comparable
to intense
racquetball or
moderate rowing.
Ping-Pong’s unique
visual and spatial
demands, strategy
requirements and
vigor may even offer
benefits for the
brain. A study of
164 Korean women age
60 and older showed
that table tennis
improved cognitive
function more than
dancing, walking,
gymnastics or
resistance training.
Other research
suggests Ping-Pong
may ease
attention-deficit
hyperactivity
disorder.
“The great thing
about our sport is
it can be played by
anyone,” said Jimmy
Butler, a four-time
national USA Table
Tennis Association
champion who
overcame a
debilitating muscle
condition in his 20s
and 30s to reclaim
the title at age 44.
“I see 90-year-olds
and 10-year-olds.”
Four years after
completing radiation
therapy, I set out
to make my own
Ping-Pong dream a
reality. First
requirement:
clothing that didn’t
irritate
hypersensitive skin.
Silk shell and
organic cotton
sports bra, check.
Second requirement:
footwear that didn’t
accidentally torque
a damaged knee.
White bowling shoes,
check.
My performance goals
were realistic: Just
be good enough that
other players were
willing to rally
with me. No diving
for crazy shots.
Remember how to
sweat.
I arrived at my
local table tennis
club cautiously, a
breathtakingly
out-of-shape woman
in a sea of men,
some in their 20s, a
handful over 80. A
man with a kind face
invited me to hit
with him. After 20
minutes I wilted,
but went home happy.
My knee didn’t
implode.
I returned the
following week, hit
balls, lost matches.
I fumbled with
scorekeeping, but
who cared about
points? Just by
playing I felt like
a winner.
It soon became
obvious that I
needed to remember
mindfulness while at
the table. I got too
easily distracted by
shouts from my
opponent or stray
balls flying wildly
from other tables. I
had to stay focused
on the little ball.
Keep alert to spin.
Don’t rush the
attack.
Months passed, and
almost
imperceptibly, my
stamina improved.
Opponents started to
compliment my shots.
I won a game. I
assumed it was a
fluke. Then it
happened again.
These days, slamming
aces feels
wonderful. I keep a
water bottle nearby
as sweat rolls off
me. I stop when
tired and praise my
flimsy knee for its
good work.
Some nights I play
so joyfully, I can
almost believe this
sport is the
fountain of youth.
Pingpong and
Parkinson's
Peter D. Kramer
The Journal News
The
first International
Table Tennis
Federation
Foundation World
Parkinson's Table
Tennis Championship
takes place Oct. 11
to 13 at Will
Shortz’s Westchester
Table Tennis Center.
Singer-songwriter
Nenad Bach is one of
the masterminds of
this weekend, the
Pied Piper of Ping
Pong Parkinson,
if you’ll permit all
that alliteration.
Bach, who traded
Croatia for Croton,
surrendered his
guitar to
Parkinson’s years
ago, the disease
sapping him of the
ability to play with
syncopation.
Then he took up ping
pong and, within six
months, he says, the
practice of moving
from side to side,
gliding his paddle
through the air to
meet a spinning ball
had a remarkable
effect: It gave him
back his guitar.
“Either I’m making
new neurons, or
rewiring old ones,”
he says. “Something
is happening.”
Last
month, he went into
the studio and
recorded a catchy
song, “I Love Ping
Pong,” the video of
which includes
plenty of friends
from his weekly
Wednesday night Ping
Pong Parkinson’s
sessions.
'Opening a new box'
“My
hope is that the
world should start
to pay attention to
the 10 million
people who couldn't
perform or compete
in any sport,” Bach
says. “People with
Parkinson’s couldn't
compete in any sport
because there was no
classification. So
we are opening a new
box here. Hopefully,
there’s a nice
present inside, but
if it’s Pandora,
we’re ready to open
that one, as well.”
Role
models
The
guest list includes
Bach’s countryman,
Zoran Primorac, a
two-time World Cup
winner and one of
only three table
tennis players to
have competed at
seven Olympic Games.
In April 2018,
Primorac
introduced Bach to
the ITTF president
and CEO at the World
Championships in
Sweden.
Leandro Olvech,
director of the ITTF
Foundation, the
social-responsibility
arm of the
international body,
explains: “We were
amazed at his story.
We were supposed to
have a 15-minute
meeting with him and
we spoke for one
hour, about life and
our sport.”
Bach, who speaks
softly in a charming
Croatian accent, has
plenty to say, on a
range of topics. His
blue eyeglasses are
etched with the name
of one of his pet
projects: "World
Peace in One Hour."
(His website is worldpeaceinonehour.com.)
Olvech says the
meeting sparked an
idea.
“Why don't we
organize something
to spread the news,
so that people with
Parkinson's
worldwide they know
that they could, if
they played, improve
their life quality?”
he says.
As the ITTF promoted
the event, they
learned there were
Ping Pong
Parkinson’s groups
in Sweden. And
Germany. And Japan.
Players from each of
those countries will
be in Pleasantville
this weekend.
Olvech says the
outcomes of this
weekend’s matches
are unimportant.
“It
doesn't matter who
becomes world
champion for us,” he
says. “To them, the
competitors, it
matters, but not for
us. These are role
models to show
people that table
tennis can improve
your life.”
'Gotta
Keep Moving'
One
of those role models
is Pleasantville’s
Margie Alley, who
leads stretching
warm-up exercises
before the Wednesday
night sessions.
At Wednesday’s
session, Alley
stares across the
net at Alan Abt, of
Bedford. Both are a
study in focus and
physics, flicking
their wrists to send
the nearly
weightless ball
spinning at top
speed and impossible
angles.
The importance of
the weekend is not
lost on Alley.
“It means the world
of Parkinson's
pingpong players
have an opportunity
to be all together
as a community in a
place where pingpong
is celebrated,” she
says.
Like Alley, Abt —
who plays like a
human backboard,
returning shots with
an economy of
movement — has also
been a tennis
player. They agree
that pingpong is
harder, requiring
quickness and
rapid-fire
decisions.
“I have really good
reflexes and
reactions,” she
says. “That’s
something I was born
with and I haven't
lost it with
Parkinson's.”
Both say that their
Wednesdays, and
other exercise, are
keeping the
Parkinson’s at bay.
Says Alley: “It's a
way for me to work
out and keep my body
and brain active. I
think it's
therapeutic. And I
know that with
Parkinson's, if you
can, you have to
exercise every day.
I’m committed to
that.”
Abt says the sport
builds eye-hand
coordination and
balance.
“It's not just good
for people with
Parkinson's. There's
all kinds of
evidence that it's
good for people with
learning
disabilities and
attention deficit
disorder," he says.
“It's
good for the brain
because in table
tennis you need to
adjust for so many
things at once: the
speed, the angle of
the ball coming in,
the spin. And it
happens so quickly.
I'm sure that the
brains of table
tennis players are
different than the
average person.”
A
social good
Art
Dubow, of Stamford,
Connecticut, a
retired psychologist
who helped found
Ping Pong Parkinson,
says there's science
at work behind the
tok-tok-tok of the
bouncing balls on a
sea of tables in
Pleasantville.
“The research,
especially within
the last 10 years,
has proven that the
brain can regenerate
to some extent and
they call that
neuroplasticity,”
Dubow says.
"They get better on
a lot of fronts.
It's not just motor
functioning. I don't
mean the stiffness
and the slowness and
the tremors. It's
not just that. They
get better by being
more alert. They're
able to hold
attention. They
focus better.
There's a lot of
cognitive
improvement.”
When he and Bach
started the group
nearly three years
ago, Dubow didn’t
expect it to be such
a social support.
“For Parkinson's
patients that's
especially important
because, if you
think about it, a
lot of these people
they stay alone.
With their illness,
they don't get out.
But if they're
forced to get out
that's a good thing.
“Pingpong has a
singular virtue in
that it is complex
neurology. There's a
lot involved. That's
the good thing,
because if it's not
challenging, then
it's worthless.”
Each Wednesday
session starts with
Parkinson's-specific
stretching
exercises, then
moves on to pingpong
tips, then to
matches. There's
also a juggling
segment. (Dubow is a
fan of juggling as a
neuron builder.) It
ends in a song,
which helps
Parkinson's
patients, whose
voices tend to
soften as the
disease takes hold.
Dubow says pingpong
has one more major
thing going for it.
“If the exercise is
not fun they're not
going to do it, and
that's one of the
values of pingpong.
It's fun. So if they
come here because
they're going to
have fun and get the
exercise at the same
time, then that's a
real plus.”
Dave Hill, who lives
in Pleasantville, is
a tournament
organizer, one of
dozens of volunteers
who keep Ping Pong
Parkinson’s going in
Pleasantville.
“The social aspect
of it is great,” he
says. “I've just
seen a lot of people
get happier in the
two years I've been
doing it. You
immediately hear the
room get happy.”
The mission of Ping
Pong Parkinson is
stated clearly on
its website, www.pingpongparkinson.com.
To
help anyone with
Parkinson’s disease
through pingpong
(primarily) – and to
have fun while doing
it.