Playing table tennis may build better balance in Parkinson’s, per study
12-week program leads to walking gains, fewer depressive symptoms
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- Playing table tennis was seen to improve movement, balance, and walking endurance in people with Parkinson's.
- A 12-week pilot study tested a program dubbed NeuroPong, finding benefits and no adverse effects.
- Participants also self-reported fewer depressive symptoms by the study's end.
Taking part in a structured table tennis program may help improve movement, balance, and walking endurance in people with Parkinson’s disease, according to a small pilot study that found participants were able to walk about 20 feet farther after completing the program.
Participants also self-reported fewer depressive symptoms by the study’s end than at its start, the researchers noted.
The pilot study tested the 12-week NeuroPong program, which combines table tennis instruction with exercises tailored to people with Parkinson’s. Most of the participants completed the program, with no adverse events reported.
Researchers say the positive findings support further testing of this approach in larger, controlled clinical trials.
“The multidimensional motor and cognitive demands of table tennis may contribute to these observed benefits,” the team wrote, adding that “these findings contribute to a growing
body of evidence suggesting that task-specific, cognitively engaging, and socially interactive physical activities may be effective in treating Parkinson’s.”
The study, “A Pilot Table Tennis-Based Neurorehabilitation Program to Improve Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms,” was published in the journal NeuroRehabilitation.
Parkinson’s is caused by the progressive loss of nerve cells that produce dopamine, a chemical messenger that allows nerve cells to communicate and, among other functions, helps regulate movement. Along with motor symptoms, such as tremor, slowness of movement, and balance problems, many people with Parkinson’s also experience nonmotor symptoms such as depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and cognitive changes.
Testing out the benefits of table tennis in Parkinson’s
Although different treatments can ease symptoms, exercise is considered an intervention that can influence the course of the disease. Despite this, there is no universal agreement on the type, frequency, and duration of exercise that provides the greatest benefits.
Table tennis has attracted growing interest because it combines physical activity with rapid decision-making, hand-eye coordination, balance, and motor planning — skills that are often affected in Parkinson’s. However, its effects in Parkinson’s have been tested only in small studies using different training methods, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions.
“Unlike traditional exercise modalities that often target isolated domains (e.g., strength or endurance), [table tennis] simultaneously engages motor, cognitive, and adaptive processes in a
dynamic and unpredictable environment,” the researchers wrote, adding that “these characteristics make [table tennis] particularly well-suited to address the complex, multidimensional impairments observed in [Parkinson’s].”
To test this, a team led by researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine evaluated NeuroPong, a standardized table tennis-based rehabilitation program designed specifically for people with neurological disorders and adapted for Parkinson’s.
The pilot study enrolled 30 Parkinson’s patients, three-quarters of them men, with an average age of 70. A total of 26 completed the program.
The participants attended supervised two-hour sessions twice weekly that ran from warm-up exercises to instruction in table tennis strokes and guided play. The activities were adapted to each person’s motor abilities, balance, and fatigue level.
Attendance averaged about 90%, and no adverse events were reported during the program.
After program, players able to walk much longer distances
The researchers specifically assessed participants’ Parkinson’s symptoms, mobility, cognition, mood, and quality of life before and after the program using several standardized tests.
Motor symptoms, measured with Part III of the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS III), decreased by an average of 5.73 points after training. The MDS-UPDRS III is considered the gold standard for clinical assessment of Parkinson’s motor symptoms, with lower scores indicating less severe impairment.
“Reductions in MDS-UPDRS Part III of 3-5 points may reflect perceptible improvements in motor symptoms in individuals with PD [Parkinson’s disease],” the researchers wrote.
Participants also showed improvements in several measures of physical function. Scores on the Berg Balance Scale, which assesses balance and fall risk, increased by 3.08 points.
In the Timed Up and Go test, which measures how quickly someone can stand up, walk a short distance, turn around, and sit back down, participants were faster by 1.04 seconds. Walking endurance, measured with the Six-Minute Walk Test, increased by 66.8 meters (about 20.4 feet).
The faster times for standing and increased walking endurance “are both metrics [that] represent clinically relevant improvements,” the researchers noted.
According to the team, “these findings parallel reports in Tai Chi and dance interventions, which similarly incorporate multidirectional movement and coordinated weight transfer.”
[These findings show] a structured [table tennis]-based intervention is feasible and associated with improvements in motor function, balance, and walking endurance in individuals with [Parkinson’s].
Self-reported depressive symptoms also decreased modestly, the researchers noted. However, measures of cognition, anxiety, daytime sleepiness, and overall quality of life did not change significantly over the 12-week program.
Overall, these findings show that “a structured [table tennis]-based intervention is feasible and associated with improvements in motor function, balance, and walking endurance in individuals with [Parkinson’s],” the researchers wrote.
Importantly, the researchers noted that the study’s small size, single-center design, lack of a comparison group, and short intervention period were limitations.
Still, the high attendance rate and lack of adverse events suggest the program is practical and well tolerated, supporting future “larger and more prolonged blinded interventional trial to evaluate whether additional impacts require longer intervention, and whether the changes identified in this pilot are sustained over time,” the team concluded.
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