PingPongParkinson Archives - Parkinson Journal

PingPongParkinson World Championship in Wels 2023

September 29, 2023/0 comments/in Exercise, Non-drug therapy, Therapies/from John

On Tuesday I entered exhibition hall 6 in Wels and was immediately overwhelmed by the energy and enthusiasm. Surrounded by almost 300 other athletes from all over the world who are just as passionate about table tennis as I am, I immediately felt at home. Now, on Friday, I'm proudly in the round of XNUMX in both the men's doubles and the doubles mix. This isn't just a competition; it is a testament to the unwavering spirit of all of us - athletes who, despite Parkinson's disease, push our limits and show what is possible. The following article from Oberösterreich Nachrichten gives a comprehensive and impressive insight into this World Cup, and I would like to share it with you.

Table tennis as a self-help

23 May 2023/0 comments/in Exercise, self-help/from Jürgen

Today I, Jürgen Zender, am back in our sports hall in the east of Munich and, like every Monday and Thursday, I take part in table tennis training. Almost a dozen players meet here and together we warm up for a few rounds.

What is just a leisure sport for many has a very special meaning for all of us here. We all suffer from Parkinson's disease, a disease that prevents us from properly controlling our muscles and limbs. But that's exactly why we play table tennis. The complex and fast sport helps us to relieve the symptoms of the disease.

PingPongParkinson German Open 2023

22 May 2023/0 comments/in Exercise, Video/from Jürgen

From May 18 to 21, 2023, one of the largest and most spectacular table tennis tournaments in the world took place in Düsseldorf: the Quooker PingPongParkinson German Open 2023. 200 players with Parkinson's from all over the world fought for medals in the ARAG CenterCourt Hall, and if not everyone could win, so obviously everyone had a lot of fun at the successful event.

International PingPongParkinson VR Championship

18 January 2023/0 comments/in Exercise, Non-drug therapy, self-help, Video/from Jürgen

After more and more "Parkies" joined our project PingPongParkinson-VR and we already have our own ranking list, the step to the first tournament was only logical.

In the future, the "International PingPongParkinson-VR-ChampionShip" will take place on the first Sunday of each quarter.

We start unscheduled on Sunday February 5th at 18pm. Anyone with Parkinson's disease and who has the technical requirements for the TT simulation "ELEVEN TT" (VR glasses Quest1 or 2) can take part.

The tournament will be broadcast live on twitch and youtube. Interested parties should please apply as soon as possible, since only 20 starting places can be allocated in the first tournament.

The rewiring of the brain

10 January 2023/0 comments/in Exercise, Non-drug therapy, Therapies/from Jürgen

“I think of my Parkinson's disease as a kind of brain injury – specifically to small parts of the midbrain. I imagine the total volume of the damaged area is about the size of a golf ball. That means I can use the rest of my brain to come up with workarounds.

Parkinson's and virtual table tennis

12 December 2022/0 comments/in Exercise, Non-drug therapy, self-help, Video/from Jürgen

But with the increasing application possibilities of VR software (virtual reality), combined with a falling price of the necessary devices, we are currently experiencing a paradigm shift. From the very beginning of computer games, sports simulations have emerged today that have reached an unprecedented level of realism in the virtual world.

First and foremost is the table tennis simulation Eleven TT, which is unparalleled in terms of its realism and is gaining more and more recognition as a “real” sport on both a national and international association level.

Parkinson's at a young age - about help and self-help

7 December 2022/0 comments/in Exercise, Non-drug therapy, self-help, Video/from Jürgen

largely unnoticed by the public, the people who develop Parkinson's are getting younger and younger. It is now no longer uncommon for the neurodegenerative disease to appear even before the age of 30.

This naturally poses a particular challenge for the medical profession, given the variety of symptoms in younger people, Parkinson's is least likely to be suspected.

Parkinson's, table tennis and what really matters

21 October 2022/0 comments/in Exercise, Diagnosis, Therapies/from Jürgen

Thorsten Boomhuis: You all know that I am also a very ambitious person at the table tennis table. So if I'm going to a world championship, I'll hopefully have a hard time leaving the field to my fellow competitors for a long time to come. That's why my previous posts focused on the sporting competition.

But I always emphasize one thing: the tournaments, including the World Championships, are a means of public relations for PingPongParkinson! It's about becoming better known to those affected by reporting, in order to get even more of them to the table tennis tables.

Frank Elstner: "My backhand is still good"

14 October 2022/0 comments/in life paths/from Jürgen

In the myTischtennis.de interview, the 80-year-old presenter legend talks about how his passion for table tennis came about, to what extent the fast ball sport slows down the course of his illness, what points of contact the former show host had with Hans Wilhelm Gäb and why he once put it on the cover of managed 'ping pong'.