Last week I posted a news story about the Westchester Table Tennis Center’s Parkinson’s Night. This week I went.
There were about ten Parkies in a separate room from the main part of the Center. The evening began with some yoga stretches to loosen us up, make us more aware of our bodies, and promote better posture. Then we paired up and played ping-pong!
My first partner was Nenad Bach, who was featured in last week’s video. Nenad is a Croatian American musician and recording artist who has performed with Luciano Pavarotti, Brian Eno, Ellen Burstyn, and John Malkovich. He’s been playing ping-pong two or three times a week, and both he and his doctor have noticed a reduction in his Parkinson’s symptoms.
I also played with other Parkies, and with Will Shortz, the center’s owner. Will is additionally the crossword editor of the New York Times and the puzzlemaster for NPR, and he very kindly gave me some pointers on how to stand better and hold the paddle.
I hadn’t played ping-pong since I was a child. I was worried about my hand-eye coordination, but that was a non-issue. However, I tended to hit the ball harder than necessary, sending it sailing into the opposing team’s outfield. I had a swell time and came home dripping with sweat. And everyone seemed so nice!
Interestingly, the New York Times just published an article written by a woman in her late 50s (early 60s?) who returned to ping-pong after a long absence due to multiple health issues. She loves the workout, and titled her article “Ping-Pong as the Fountain of Youth”!
I’ll end this post with some quotes from her article:
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.
And:
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.
Let’s hear it for those research studies!
