There have been several recent studies confirming that playing table tennis regularly can improve Parkinson’s symptoms. As part of my exercise regimen I’ve been playing once or twice a week at Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon, and hope to ramp that up in the fall.
The games at PRO have been conventional ping pong — two players on a table, playing to 11, following international rules.
I recently saw a variation involving 8 players and two tables — click on the image below to see a video.
This game took place in Colorado as a result of an international collaboration.
Josefa (Ju) Domingos, the Presidente of Parkinson’s Europe, is a Parkinson’s and movement disorders physiotherapist, PhD and researcher based Portugal. A specialist in adapting exercise for PD, she was visiting friends in the states who run a Tuesday night ping pong group in Louisville, Colorado. She attended the group, and wanted to see if she could generate more interaction and enthusiasm.
“8-person ping pong” is the result.
As I write this, they’ve only done it once. But Dr. Domingos says it’ll be on the agenda at least once more:
We just tried it this time, and next Tuesday, we will try it again. We plan to start by playing as usual and then bring them together to increase the interactions with this format, and then back to the same usual format to test the impact of chaos on playing efficacy. We had the perception that people were playing better in the usual format after the chaos training.
At our PRO games in Oregon, we have two tables next to each other, with games going on simultaneously. Every now and then, an errant shot will send a ball from one table to another. This causes play to stop — a second ball bouncing in the field of play is a distraction, and we take the point over.
The idea of deliberately creating this distraction intriguing. To my untrained eyes, forcing our brains to deal with balls bouncing from all directions — “chaos training,” in Dr. Domingos’ words –could have some cognitive benefits.
Dr. Domingos told me she’s working on several other table tennis variations, and is considering launching a pilot study in the future.
Am I capable of playing ping pong in an 8-player environment? I hope to find out.
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BONUS FOR THOSE WHO READ TO THE BOTTOM
Two middle-aged Ultra-Orthodox Jews cover “Sultans of Swing” on the streets of Jerusalem — and nail it. Ladies and gentlemen, the Gat Brothers.
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Shakin' Street -- A Parkinson's Blog 
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