Batman Brian

1 April 2022

Many of you will know I started playing Table Tennis last year and quickly caught the “bug” enjoying the game not only for the fun and challenge it gives but also because it helps me manage some of the symptoms of my Parkinson’s Disease.

I have got to a point where TT is a key feature of my weekly exercise regime along with Walking Football, Pilates, PD Warrior Classes, Cycling, Badminton, and more recently short tennis (Bennis!). Shout out to Jon Clement who keeps adding sports to my portfolio 👍.

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of blogs about Parkinson’s Disease and how regular activity is a major part of the treatment regime for this disease. These blogs will mostly concentrate on table tennis as I have a few travels and events planned for this year all involving TT and most, if not all of these events are specifically for People with Parkinson’s (PWP). Other activities will be included as things develop.

I hope to spread the message of how PWP cope and manage with this condition in general but also highlight how participation in regular activity/ exercise helps not only with the physical aspects of the disease but also supports positive mental health. Depression, anxiety, and apathy are just a few of the non motor symptoms PWP may have to deal with.

The intention is not to preach or seek sympathy but to inform and share experiences (possibly to entertain but no promises) and maybe even encourage more PWP to take part in activities, or exercise, or increase their levels if they are already active.

Apologies in advance if you are not interested, however reading these is not compulsory. If you like them let me know, if you don’t like them keep it to yourself 😵‍💫.

Today, 1st April 2022 (this is not an April fool prank) I arrived in Altea in Spain to participate in a “top-class Table Tennis Camp”. This is a TT coaching camp specifically for players who have Parkinson’s’s Disease. The camp will be run over 5 days from Monday 4th April with morning and afternoon sessions each day. The coaches for this camp are:

Marcus Sjoberg ( former National coach for men in Sweden and England).

Anton Åkesson (previously head coach for some of the top clubs in Sweden).

Pelle Hagglund (currently coaching players with Parkinson’s Disease in Sweden).

During the camp players from the top league in Spain will be having a game for us to watch and learn.

There will be 21 players with Parkinson’s at the camp from various countries, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway, Israel, and not forgetting Scotland.

As you can imagine I can’t wait to get started and play and learn from these European coaches and players, building on what the fantastic coaches in Scotland have done to develop my game. The end game for me is not only to have a great experience, improve my game, meet new players and have fun, but also to give me some tools and skills that I can use to help other players with Parkinson’s that I play with weekly at Parkinson’s sessions at Drumchapel and Mossblown. Note: this is not about making me a coach, that comes later in the year through other opportunities that will become clear nearer the time.

I now have a couple of days to relax and enjoy the sunshine before we get started. I will publish short updates regularly throughout the week on Facebook and issue a new blog about the whole experience when I get home to Scotland.

Brian Carson

Thanks to Robyn Carson for helping with the title (Batman Brian, well I like it!) and Leona Braund for creating the graphic.