Ping-Pong Power Play

I’ve started attending the weekly Parkinson’s Ping-Pong night at the nearby Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville.  It’s really a wonderful service they provide.  Typically about ten Parkies are there, plus five or six instructors.

The program’s mission is to help Parkies slow the progression of the disease by playing ping-pong regularly.  Ping-pong involves hand-eye coordination and quick decision making.  You’re also moving your body around a lot, twisting and turning your torso, and carefully trying to control how you strike the ball.

Each night begins with stretching exercises.  We stand in a big circle and rotate our heads, stretch our necks from side to side and front to back, and do related exercises with our arms and shoulders.

Then two of the instructors (last night it was Fred and Art; Art seems to run the program) demonstrate some basic techniques for beginners.  For example, did you know that you don’t really want to hit the ball head on, but instead hit it on an angle from below or above, getting it to spin in the air as it flies back over the net?  It’s not like whacking a baseball!

Fred (left) and Art (right) demonstrate some basic techniques.

Then it’s time to play!  Parkies are matched up with instructors, sometimes one-on-one, otherwise two-on-one.  There’s a dual focus:  have fun, and improve your technique.  You get immediate feedback from the instructor about how to hold the racket better, how to swing your arm better, how to generate spin on the ball.

At the end of the evening, everyone gets videotaped so they can see how they improve over the weeks.  I’ll post last night’s video as soon as it’s uploaded on YouTube.

Meanwhile, here are some stills!

Here’s the end-of-the-evening video!  The person facing the camera (on the far side of the room) has Parkinson’s.  The person with her/his back to the camera is an instructor.

I appear last, at 4 min. 33 sec.  Dressed in beige…(I’ll wear something with more flash next time!).