Pickleball Overhead Drill (photo by Shireen Kolarik)
On Oct. 8, 10 Parkinson’s patients, their caregivers, and pickleball volunteers gathered at the Quail Creek pickleball courts for a session of the Intro to Pickleball for Parkinson’s study. Mary Riley, former teacher and coach, current personal trainer, pickleball addict, and Parkinson’s patient, talked about her diagnosis, treatments, and benefits from playing pickleball. She discussed the study being conducted by Creighton University, supported by a grant from the Pickleball Foundation through the New Mexico Arizona Pickleball Association. Parkinson’s patients in six communities, including Green Valley, can participate in the study.
For the study, participants will receive lessons from Lenny Friedman (creator of the Green Valley Pickleball for Parkinson’s program) and volunteers on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. for one hour, until June 12, 2025. Participants will be evaluated at the beginning, middle, and end of the study with health questionnaires and senior fitness tests to measure their physical abilities. The study will also evaluate how participants are doing emotionally. Studies have shown that Parkinson’s patients need movement and socialization to control, slow down, and possibly reverse symptoms, and pickleball provides both.
After the study’s background was presented, participants and volunteers went through some pickleball drills. For the study, participants will start with drills to warm up, a new concept will be taught each session, and the teachers follow lesson plans developed for Parkinson’s patients. Riley emphasized that participants will drill the same way as any pickleball player but with an emphasis on multi-tasking to improve the body/brain connection. An example of multi-tasking was a footwork drill involving lunges to different positions in a circle, like a clock. But participants say the clock position out loud as they move to hit the ball. This body/brain connection has been shown to slow, and sometimes reverse, the progression of the disease. Volunteers will also provide extra physical support, when needed, for backup help and safety.
Quail Creek resident Lenny Friedman, Arizona Pickleball Education Ambassador, said he and members of the Parkinson’s Support Group of Green Valley continue to invite Parkinson’s patients to participate in the study. Laura McMurtry, coordinator of Rock Steady Boxing for Parkinson’s and health and wellness personal trainer in the Quail Creek Anza Center, is excited about and supports the pickleball study. If the program is successful, the New Mexico Arizona Pickleball Association hopes to apply for a bigger grant next year so other communities can participate.
All Parkinson’s patients and their caregivers are invited to participate in the program, even though it has already started. Contact Lenny Friedman at [email protected] for more information.