For many people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), pickleball has become a new way to infuse exercise with socialization.

Exercise is a vital part of Parkinson’s disease management. It helps maintain balance, mobility, flexibility and overall quality of life. Research shows that consistent exercise — at least 2.5 hours per week — can slow symptom progression and improve physical and emotional wellbeing. 

Pickleball is a paddle sport played indoors or outdoors on a court smaller than a traditional tennis court. It is played in singles or doubles with a light, plastic ball. USA Pickleball sets official rules and supports programs nationwide. One reason the sport is popular is because it is easy to learn but challenging, and is accessible for people of all ages and abilities.

When it comes to Parkinson’s symptoms, Pickleball is an aerobic workout that strengthens balance, agility, builds muscle and cognitive function. A player’s ability to think and respond quickly while playing pickleball can boost brain activity. Additionally, it is a great way to socialize, an important part of living well with Parkinson’s as isolation following a diagnosis can lead to depression, a common PD symptom.

Trying a sport like pickleball can make staying active feel social and motivating. Setting a small, achievable goal, such as playing pickleball once a week, can help turn exercise into a habit you look forward to rather than a chore.

Here are 10 tips for playing Pickleball to stay active with Parkinson’s:

1.  Get clearance from your neurologist.
   Before starting any new exercise, talk to your neurologist or PD doctor to make sure starting a new sport or exercise is safe. They may recommend seeing a physical therapist to prevent injuries.
2. Work with a physical therapist (PT).
   Telling your physical therapist that you are playing pickleball or plan to start can help them customize your sessions to improve movement and mobility. PT can address stiffness and help you train to keep on-court movements safe. PT can also help build strength and improve coordination.
3. Incorporate other exercises to up your pickleball game.
   Pickleball is a great way to evolve your exercise routine. Explore other exercises, like PD Health @ Home on-demand videos that address PD-specific balance, agility and movements between games.
4. Warm up before playing pickleball to prevent injury.
   Before playing, develop a pickleball warm-up routine that works for you. This is a great opportunity for your physical therapist to weigh in.

5. Don’t play hurt.
   Rest when your body needs more recovery time. Parkinson’s symptoms can change from day to day, listen to your body and don’t push yourself on days you need more rest.
6. Play during “on” times, when symptoms are most manageable.
   Medications like levodopa, commonly used for PD, help manage symptoms. As PD progresses, the brain's response to these medications may change, which can lead to symptom fluctuations, known as "on" and "off" periods. If possible, schedule pickleball games during "on" periods, when medication is working well.
7. Use pickleball to build community and bond with a family member or spouse.
   Playing doubles can also help reduce court coverage and build relationships. Joining a pickleball league could be a great opportunity to start a new pastime with your adult child or spouse.
8. Always stay hydrated.
   On or off the court, being dehydrated can make some PD symptoms worse, including constipation, swallowing issues and low blood pressure. On the court, not drinking enough liquids can bring muscle cramps and dizziness. Hydrate whenever possible.
9. Modify the game as needed.
   Adjust game lengths, build in more breaks or stick to playing doubles. Joining a PD league or playing with others who have Parkinson’s is a great way to build in modifications.
10. Explore Pickleball for Parkinson’s events.
    

    

    Join an upcoming Pickleball for Parkinson’s event or start your own. For qualifying events, the pickleball paddle manufacturer Selkirk offers a sponsorship. Learn more.

Pickleball can be more than a game. For people living with Parkinson’s, it can be a powerful tool for movement and connection —essential elements of living well with PD.

Exercise Resources

The best way to see benefits is to exercise consistently. People with PD enrolled in exercise programs for longer than six months, regardless of exercise intensity, see significant gains in functional balance and mobility compared to shorter programs. Explore our exercise resources:

• Find a PD exercise class near you through our Parkinsons’ Foundation Chapters or contact our Helpline at 1-800-4PD-INFO (1-800-473-4636) or Helpline@parkinson.org.

• Explore Fitness Friday on-demand exercise classes through our PD Health @ Home program.

• Celebrate movement with your local PD community. Sign up for a Moving Day event.

• Read Fitness Counts: A Body Guide to Parkinson’s Disease.

Explore tips and learn more about exercise and Parkinson’s research on our Parkinson’s and exercise page.

At The Kensington in White Plains, NY, compassionate care for people living with Parkinson’s disease (PD) isn’t just a promise, it is a practice grounded in training and personalization. 

Through expert-led training and measurable outcomes, the Parkinson’s Foundation Community Partners in Parkinson’s Care educates and prepares care staff working in senior living communities and home care agencies to provide optimal support for people living with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The program focuses on practical, day-to-day strategies on how Parkinson’s affects movement and mood — and how PD care can improve quality of life. 

As a community partner, The Kensington ensures residents with Parkinson’s receive individualized, person-centered support. In this article, The Kensington Associate Executive Director Joanne Hubbard shares how her team puts these practices into action every day. 

How prevalent is Parkinson’s disease at The Kensington?  

Joanne: It fluctuates but about 15 to 30% of our total resident population are living with Parkinson's. In New York, there's a special license for assisted living communities called an enhanced license that allows our residents to age in place. The Kensington has that license, which enables people to remain in our community while receiving higher acuity care as their condition progresses. 

Our promise is to love and care for our residents like we would our own family. Parkinson’s care is more than managing symptoms, we aim to preserve dignity, purpose, voice and quality of life at every stage.

Why did you become a Community Partner?  

Joanne: Community Partners in Parkinson’s Care training equips our team to do more than share information — it builds a shared understanding that allows residents, families and team members to navigate Parkinson’s together. Our team and most residents recognize how Parkinson’s can affect daily activities and symptoms related to Parkinson's. Because of our commitment to excellence in Parkinson’s care, and our partnership with Community Partners in Parkinson’s Care, we support more people with Parkinson’s. The Community Partners provides our team, residents and families with information they need to succeed now. 

What are some examples of how staff provides specialized Parkinson’s care?

Joanne: Our THRIVE with Parkinson’s program for residents with Parkinson’s and other movement disorders and their family members stands for: Therapeutic, Holistic, Revitalizing, Inspiring Independence, Vocally Vibrant and Empowering. When it comes to Parkinson’s, our team staff is trained to be intentional with time. They know to slow down, allow medication time to take effect, and adjust communication so instructions are clear and manageable. They know to give residents extra time for a response if they're having an off episode.  

 When you see these strategies making a difference, it reinforces that Parkinson’s training truly works. Anyone coming into this work is doing it because you love people and you want to help. These strategies enable you to actualize that goal. 

How do you train staff to provide better Parkinson’s care?  

Joanne: We use the Community Partners Portal, which staff can complete at their own pace, but I'm an advocate of the classroom approach so we watch the courses together. When a new team member starts, they participate in a full day of Parkinson's training. I also advocate for experiential learning — if you're not doing it yourself, you are less likely to apply it. I want people to feel scenarios in their bodies. We practice in real time and discuss scenarios. We also have some of our residents with Parkinson’s join the training for a Q&A, which is highly impactful. 

As a Community Partner we are given educational resources for our team like the Experiential Toolkit. The kit includes heavyweight shoes with Velcro that especially resonate with staff because they get stuck to the carpet. So, when they get up from a chair wearing these shoes, they can’t take that first step. They can really imagine what a freezing of gait episode feels like. And they can apply that feeling to helping a resident who freezes when going through a threshold or walking into the elevator.  

Our team also customizes routines for residents with Parkinson’s. We promote independence. For example, we schedule time to help Ben complete his night routine while seated, or if he wants to stand, we will stand behind him. Our goal is to not do things for residents they can do for themselves. 

The Kensington is known for its ability to deliver Parkinson’s medication on time. How and why is this a goal for your center?   

Joanne: Providing Parkinson’s medication on time is a major key of the Community Partner program. It was the main area that made me start digging into what do we need to do differently to improve our Parkinson’s care. 

After joining the Parkinson’s Foundation Community Partners program, we created an additional nursing position to administer Parkinson's medication. Many of our residents with Parkinson’s require up to eight medication passes a day. That level of frequency made it an impossible task for one nurse to get to all residents on time.  

Today, our residents with Parkinson's get their PD medications within a 15-minute window. We recognize that many care centers do not have the same level of resources available. That is one of the reasons I am so proud to work at The Kensington, our leadership understands it's always about the people. Our promise is to love and care for our residents as if they're our own family. And when there is a need, we look at how we can solve it. 

What’s your favorite Kensington program?  

Joanne: We offer programs that serve the body, mind, spirit. Our music therapy program is led by a therapist with a background in neurologic music therapy. He encompasses a lot of neurology-based approaches — a mix of coordination, range of motion and movement. He also does a lot of breathing, meditation and relaxation exercises. Our residents experience a lot of stiffness and anxiety, so it’s a win if we can give them tools they can then use in their own time.  

I also run our vocal gym that focuses on our vocal structure, monotone speech, issues with breath support and voice control. I educate attendees about dopamine and how we need it to have coordination and movement. I talk a lot about Parkinson’s in the vocal gym and what's happening in the brain and the body. This helps the residents understand what is happening and gives them a sense of control.  

Learn more about Speech & Swallowing Issues in Parkinson’s

One way Kensington is unique is that it educates residents about Parkinson’s too. Why?  

Joanne: We keep our Parkinson's programming open for everybody. Our residents were noticing when their friends’ symptoms were interfering with something they were doing and would bring it up to staff, saying “hey, I'm noticing Joanne's having a harder time at breakfast with her utensils.” We provide a context and understand about Parkinson’s in how maybe Joanne’s experiencing an “off” time to help them understand what is happening rather than feel concerned or confused. 

How does Kensington offer emotional support for residents?  

Joanne: We offer Parkinson’s and movement disorders support groups for residents and a separate one for care givers and family members. They help residents better understand their own experiences and relate to others. We meet monthly and they run the group; I just facilitate it — it's an amazing group. They find support in one another.  

What has surprised you about Parkinson’s disease?  

Joanne: My support group told me I can share this, but I was surprised to learn how isolated people in the group felt because of Parkinson’s. They felt misunderstood and judged, some were told they were making their Parkinson’s up. For them to be able to come to this group and be able to talk has given them a community within the community.  

Just last month I brought up delusions to the group, a topic we don't hear a lot from the residents about. Like an onion, the group unfolded. Some people were very aware they had experienced delusions, while others were realizing it during the group. It was a powerful session to say the least.  

Can you share a resident story that inspired you?  

Joanne: We have a resident that was unable to walk unassisted. Right away he expressed his goal, which was to walk his daughter down the aisle for her upcoming wedding. It was helpful for staff to know his goal. With hard work, steady Parkinson’s care and therapy, he walked her down the aisle. He danced with her at her wedding, and he even gave a speech. The impression we got is that these things weren’t even on his radar when he joined us. We were all so moved.   

Do you have any advice for family members of people with Parkinson’s considering community living?  

Joanne: When looking at potential senior living communities, always ask questions. I would start with these topics and avoid feeding staff answers: 

1. Ask all the PD medication questions: How are medications managed? Who manages them? Can the person manage their own medications or does a nurse or a medication aide administer it? What is the window of time that they'll get medications?  

2. What kind of specialized programs do you have for people with Parkinson's? 

3. What support opportunities do you have for residents? And for the families?  

4. Ask about their training in Parkinson’s care. Look for the Parkinson's Foundation Community Partners badge, which shows they’ve completed additional Parkinson’s training.

The Parkinson’s Foundation is grateful to Acadia Pharmaceuticals and the Edmond J. Safra Foundation for their support of Community Partners in Parkinson’s Care.

Learn more about the Community Partners in Parkinson’s Care program and find a community partner site near you.