My PD Story

Dan Rothschild is a Fairport, NY, resident along with being a Parkinson’s Foundation New York Chapter Board member, a Parkinson’s Foundation Ambassador and a Research Advocate. He has found his passion for ping pong improves his Parkinson’s symptoms and enables him to travel and share his game and PD experiences with amazing and inspiring people. Check out his story “How Parkinson’s and ping pong help me to see the world” below:

Six years ago, when I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD), I never contemplated that the diagnosis would result in opportunities to see the world. Nevertheless, in one of my life’s great ironies, my diagnosis has resulted in travels to far flung and interesting destinations and encounters with inspiring and wonderful people, all because of the disease and a love for one of America’s least followed sports: ping pong.

Like many Americans I played ping pong as a kid, in the basements of friends’ houses, at camp, and in dorms. Most of my “training” occurred in the 1970s during my sophomore year at the University of Rochester.

Adjacent to the laundry room located in one of the dorms was a single ping pong table. My roommate, Steve, and I, would carry our laundry to the dorm, strip to our skivvies, and play for hours while the machines did their work. The larger the loads the longer we played and, despite both of us being hackers without formal coaching, we developed some pretty good ping pong skills in the process.

Fast forward to 2020 and my PD diagnosis. After absorbing the somewhat earth-shattering news, I asked my doctor how I could best help myself deal with the disease. His answer was exercise. 

So, I set about filling my exercise dance card with activities that I had always enjoyed and was already engaged in such as tennis, paddle tennis, cycling, hiking, cross-country skiing and ping pong. 

Why ping pong?  Ping pong is a "whole-brain activity" that not only engages motor activity (e.g., agility, balance, stamina, hand-eye coordination) but also requires the brain to engage in motor planning, visual attention, visuospatial processing, strategy formation, and executive functioning.

The game also fosters social connections among players. PingPongParkinson® (PPP), founded by Nenad Bach, helps promote ping pong as a PD therapy, and now operates more than 400 chapters in 31 countries.  PPP also holds an annual World Championship, six of which have been held to date. 

Together with my wife, I was fortunate to attend the two most recent World Championships, in Lasko, Slovenia in 2024 and Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy in 2025. The 2025 tournament hosted approximately 1,700 matches between more than 300 players. While play was vigorous and often intense as even players with PD want to win, players socialized and bonded with others from 26 countries, supported and encouraged one another, and were inspired and awed by one another’s abilities, heart and perseverance. Each player gained new partners to support them on their PD journey. 

The magic of the World Championship experience was perhaps best expressed by Steve Welling, a participant in the 2019 and first PPP World Championship held in Westchester County, who wrote: “The ping-pong center was a place where persons with even highly visible symptoms were not judged; where persons with hidden, secret pain were finally understood; where we conversed openly, without shame, about our conditions.  But mostly, where we were free to follow two of the simplest human instincts: to make new friends and play with them.” 

Steve’s sentiments were embodied in each of the World Championships that I attended, and I also experience them weekly at my local PPP chapter sessions. Together with the physical, cognitive and social benefits of the game, they motivate my play and my desire to attend future World Championships, as long as health and resources permit.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that my PD journey would include smacking a little white ball all over the world with wonderful and inspiring people!

Dan is a co-founder of the Rochester (Fairport), NY chapter of PingPongParkinson®. For more information visit www.pingpongparkinson.org. Players with PD at all skill levels are welcome. The Parkinson’s Foundation is a past sponsor of PingPongParkinson® through its Community Grants program.

Exercise is essential for people living with Parkinson’s. Find your nearest Parkinson’s Foundation Chapter to explore exercise and wellness PD exercise classes near you.