Just when Parkinson's disease patients were starting to learn the ins and outs of ping pong and how it could help them in everyday life, the pandemic forced them to put down their paddles for more than a year and a half.  

Ping Pong Parkinson, a non-profit that aims to help people with Parkinson's disease regain mobility and flexibility through table tennis, had opened for the first time in New Jersey last February in Westwood. After a few weeks, however, they were forced to stop meeting due to the pandemic and later lost their venue completely when Wang Chen Table Tennis Club closed.

Now, the group is hoping to pick up where they left off in a new location in River Edge at Ready to Golf, an indoor golf range that recently installed 14 table tennis tables. After months of delays, the group is looking to start lessons in their new space near the end of January.

The group had seen 20 to 35 people per week at the Westwood branch before they had to stop activities in March, said Dr. Elana Clar, a neurologist from New Jersey Brain and Spine and advisory board member for Ping Pong Parkinson. While she isn’t sure how many of those players will shift over to the River Edge location, Clar is confident they’ll see those types of numbers again. 

"We’re so excited to relaunch because we feel like we never really got our footing," said Clar. "We were really only around for eight weeks until we had to stop."

Clar said that some of her patients who participated noted better dexterity and fine motor skills in a significant way. One participant, Linda Ferrari, a former Waldwick resident who also attended sessions in Westwood prior to the closure, ended up loving the game so much that during lockdown, her husband bought a net and the two would play ping pong on their dining room table.

Ferrari has moved to Toms River and she hopes Ping Pong Parkinson's will venture south, too.  

"It helps from the perspective of a social atmosphere with people who are going through the similar that I am," said Ferrari, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019. "It was also great exercise. It helped relieve some of the stress you go through with Parkinson's."

Going forward, Clar would like to put together a scientific study that analyzes the benefits that ping pong can have for those with Parkinson’s disease. She said one hasn't been done, though a few case individual studies have come out of Japan. Those case studies did find improvement for patients.

“The question is whatever deficits you incur as a result of the Parkinson’s disease, can you combat that and get some of those skill sets back?” said Clar. "You're trying a new way of exercising; it's a new way of challenging the brain."  

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While COVID-19 shutting down the Westwood branch was tough, it did give the organization time to take a step back and create a more systematic program that can be expanded more quickly to other areas and nationally, Clar said. Before and after sessions, the group participates in physical therapy and speech therapy that amplifies movement and their voices. The group will also end sessions with a song.

"Basically it makes everything exaggerated," said Clar of the therapy. "In Parkinson’s, everything slows down and stiffens up. Everything that you do, whether it’s how you speak or how you move, is smaller."

Lawrence Wolfin, a River Vale resident who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2018, went to two sessions in Westwood before the pandemic shut everything down.

"I was a pretty good ping pong player as a kid and I noticed I wasn’t nearly as good presently," said Wolfin. "I was hoping to do it regularly to get better and to meet new people. With Parkinson’s, no two cases are alike. You can talk to somebody and learn something, so it also becomes a social thing with the patients.”

Once he heard the group would be restarting, he said he would be happy to rejoin.

"I’m very optimistic that it will help," said Wolfin. "Anytime they have something for Parkinson’s that involves sports, most people want to go to it." He's also taken part in Rock Steady Boxing, another Parkinson's therapy.

Ping Pong Parkinson is the brainchild of Nenad Bach, a Croatian-American musician from Westchester County, New York, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease about a decade ago. Stiffness in his hands made it difficult for him to play his guitar, causing him to stop playing professionally.

After six months of ping pong, however, mobility returned to his hands and he was able to play guitar again. He hopes to create more branches while also working on research that studies the effects of ping pong on Parkinson’s disease.

"There’s also a social aspect to it," said Bach. "People are happy spinning a ball in the air. I’m 50 percent better when I play. If it helps me, I want it to help everyone else."

During the pandemic, Bach found another way to continue his mission: by moving to the virtual world. In April, Ping Pong Parkinson partnered with Eleven Table Tennis VR to hold a Ping Pong Parkinson Virtual Reality World Championship, where players from all over the world could compete via VR headsets.

The venture was a success, with Bach wanting to lobby for VR Table Tennis to become an Olympic sport. In the meantime, a second Ping Pong Parkinson Tournament was held from July 9 to 11.

"A number of people don’t have tables or clubs so it could be a great platform for research for scientists," said Bach. 

For more information about how to get involved, visit pingpongparkinson.org. Sessions in River Edge plan to run on Tuesday nights. 

Stephanie Noda is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.