‘Table tennis helps with our Parkinson’s symptoms’
In 2017, Rob Cook was in a new relationship when his partner noticed he had a tremor. His handwriting had become “very small and rubbish” and he was subconsciously rolling his thumb and two fingers.
He went to his GP three times before he was finally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease two years later in 2019 – and not long after, he read table tennis could be beneficial for sufferers.
“I had played table tennis a lot when I was a teenager, and socially occasionally since then. And it was something I’d always enjoyed but never pursued. So I knew straight away I needed to get back into it,” he says.
“I had trouble finding the right place, and there wasn’t a group like this. So I thought I need to start one and then other people can get involved.”
In 2023 Rob set up Parky Ping! a Leeds-based table tennis club for people with Parkinson’s disease, and earlier this month it received an award for Community Sports Project of the Year from the city council.
The Kirkstall-based club includes people of all abilities. There are more than 50 members, who get professional coaching as well as peer support on living with Parkinson’s.
But it’s also competitive. Rob says he believes it is the only Parkinson’s club in the UK that has a team in a mainstream league.
There are multiple competitions among Parkinson’s clubs, but Parky Ping! also competes in Division Three of the Leeds Summer League.
Rob has won medals in the Ping Pong Parkinson’s World Championships in Italy, as has his team-mate Tony Howgate.
“I quickly heard table tennis was a really good thing for Parkinson’s because it helps with balance, hand-eye co-ordination, aerobically and with very quick thinking and side-to-side movement.
“I saw there was a first-ever UK Open for people with Parkinson’s and I thought I need to go and take part in that, which I did.
“That was actually the first time I’d met other people with Parkinson’s. I got a bronze.”
This summer, Rob also won a bronze at the Parkinson’s Scottish International Open in mixed doubles.
Tony won gold medals in Scotland in the singles and the doubles.
“We play up in Scotland every year, and we’ve got German friends, we’ve got Portuguese friends, we’ve got Latvian friends, we’ve got all kinds of different nationalities, Spanish, French, it’s amazing,” says Tony.
“There are more and more of these championships sprouting up all the time.
“But the best thing has been the social aspect of it all.
“You meet some incredible people. I know it’s a bit of a cliche. There’s a bond of friendship, but it’s completely true.
“About 50% of the people in here play in a proper organised league to different levels but the other people, they come because it gets them out and about and you can have a nice piece of cake in the corner and a cup of coffee with people of the same ilk who think and act the same way.”
Tony played table tennis before his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2021.
“At my first Parkinson’s nurse appointment, that lady said: ‘Mr Howgate, you look like you’re fit. We advise people with Parkinson’s to take up as much sport as you can do. Keep yourself fit. It will help combat the symptoms.’
“She said ‘I don’t suppose you ever played table tennis?’
Tony told her he had played at a high level in the 1970s, and she put him in contact with another of her patients who had just played in the world championships. They met in Huddersfield the next day.
“We played table tennis and we played walking football and he introduced me to it, so I went to see some lads I used to play table tennis with many years ago and they embraced me into the fold and now I play for their team.”
Tony says while Parkinson’s has changed the way he plays the sport, table tennis keeps him agile.
“The ball can sometimes move at 120mph with top players, so if you can anticipate where the ball’s going to go that gives you a great advantage,” he says.
“The one thing that really affects me and it affects nearly all the people is chronic tiredness.
“You get what’s called rigidity, so you can be playing simple tennis, everything’s going well and all of a sudden you can’t move.
“It’s not a permanent thing, it only lasts for a short period of time, but as you can appreciate, it takes away from the workings of the rally and how you approach the game.
“And then at the end of the game, it’s quite funny, you’ll see three or four guys putting their friends’ coats on for them, because we can’t get our left arm in to start. It’s like you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
Tina Dickinson, 67, has been playing with the club for a year. She’s not competitive but she says it keeps her fit and agrees the main benefit is meeting other people with Parkinson’s disease.
“The first time I played in a long session I was knocked out as soon as I got home. I had like a four-hour kip. I pace myself a bit better these days,” she says.
“It’s easier to meet with people who have Parkinson’s and you’re going through the same thing.
“I think it’s hard to understand if you’re not experiencing it.”
She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in July 2022. She says at first she “cried for a week”.
“My first reaction was thinking you’re going to die next week. It did take a long time to come to terms with it.”
Donna Kennedy, 78, is one of the founding members of the club.
“I’m not very good. I can just hit the ball back. But it’s quick. You have to be thinking all the time. And you have to bend and stretch without really thinking about it,” she says.
“You have to use everything all at once. So you’ve got balance, co-ordination, I wouldn’t say speed, but you have to move as fast as you can. It’s got a bit of everything.”
She says the nice thing about playing with other people with Parkinson’s is that you don’t have to worry about “people thinking, ‘oh, for goodness sake’ “.
“Everybody makes allowances for your either slowness or movement or thought or whatever,” she says.
“Most people don’t really understand about Parkinson’s. I didn’t when I first had it. I didn’t know what was going to happen.
“I wish they knew that everybody’s different and that once you have a Parkinson’s diagnosis, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s it to be done with, because that used to be very much the case.”
The Compassionate City Awards are a Leeds City Council initiative to celebrate the positive work people and organisations do to make a difference in their communities.
Rob says it felt “fantastic” to be recognised.
“It’s not just about hitting a ball about, it’s about a community and I’m very into helping develop those communities,” he says.
Tony says the recognition for Rob in particular was very well deserved.
“Rob puts in a hell of a lot of hard work and hours, and his partner Kerry as well, they do a hell of a lot of work, and it does make you feel proud,” he says.
“Without him, it might have got off the ground but it was taking another five years.”
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