Tag Archives: neuroplasticity

Recovery Benefits of Golf Par for the Course

Golfer swinging club at tee during 2016 PGA Championship with crowd watching

The 2026 PGA Championship is now underway in Charlotte, North Carolina. This annual event is, “known for having one of the strongest fields in golf,” according to an AI Overview. It also brings attention to the connection between golf and brain injury, as golf can be used for therapeutic means of recovery. Much like every other sport, though, playing golf can also be perilous, increasingly so in recent years, as golf becomes more physically demanding.

On the therapeutic side, golf provides exercise that can be beneficial for hand-eye coordination: bilateral coordination, fine motor grip retraining, postural balance, and visuospatial focus. The option of golf carts as an ambulation asset also provides exercise that can aid with balance deficits. Physical therapists call it, “a great training tool for the brain and the body to rehabilitate.” Programs such as Saving Strokes – launched in Sacramento more than a decade ago and now running at more than twenty sites across the western United States – use the golf swing as a neuroplasticity workout, recruiting both sides of the brain and body to rebuild balance, timing, and grip. Additionally, and just as importantly, it also allows for social engagement, which can reduce depression.

Warning sign about flying golf balls hazard on a golf course path

However, as with every other physical sport, golf can also be dangerous. In October 2025, the New York State Golf Association reported that approximately 5 million rounds of golf were recorded between 2020 and 2023. While the same report found that only “8 patients presented with golf-related neurological injuries to our level 1 trauma center during that same time,” even one is too many. Another study, from 2024 and available to view on PubMed, is titled, and concluded, Golf cart injuries have similar severity to all-terrain vehicle injuries in children. U.S. emergency departments treat roughly 30,000 golf-related injuries each year, with the head and neck the most commonly injured regions. A separate study reports that 156,000-plus golf cart injuries were reported between 2007 and 2017, many involving skull fractures and intracranial bleeds. In early May 2026, for example, a Utah CrossFit gym owner suffered a subdural hematoma and was placed in a medically induced coma after the golf cart she was riding in tipped over. (This accident is now driving a $500,000 GoFundMe, as the woman will face a long road of neurorehabilitation.)

Bounce, Track, Heal: The Surprising Science Behind Roofball and Brain Injury Recovery

Roofball is exactly what it sounds like: players throw or hit a ball onto a sloped roof, and opponents return it before it stops. Originating in America as early as the 1960s*, the sport exploded in popularity after a 2023 Reddit post showcased the Roofball World Championships, racking up 500,000+ views. In 2024, the Roofball World Championship even aired on ESPN.

The game uses simple equipment: a ball, a roof, and competitive spirit. Players score points based on ball placement, with gutters and roof angles adding unpredictable bounces that demand quick reflexes. It can be played one-on-one or with a team, usually during the warmer months of spring and summer. Now governed by the Roofball Federation of America (RFA), which has a presence in multiple states, from New Jersey to Oklahoma, it features regional tournaments. Recreationally, the sport can be played one-on-one or with teams.

Beyond fun, roofball’s rapid tracking and catching may benefit brain injury recovery. A 2025 randomized controlled trial published in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and available on the PubMed database, found that ball-sport-based exercise therapy significantly improves motor function, balance, and quality of life in acquired brain injury patients. As hand-eye coordination disruption is among the most common deficits after brain injury, the repetitive coordination of handling a bouncing ball drives the neuroplasticity essential for recovery.

Roofball shows that healing can start on your own roof.

*Other reports state that it originated is Oregon in 1998.

“Marty Supreme” Brings Attention to Ping Pong’s Dual Role in Brain Health

As many anticipate 2026 Academy Award nominations to be announced tomorrow, one film, in particular, has gained Oscar buzz for cinematic acumen and, from me, its focus on an often overlooked sport. An A24 Films production Marty Supreme follows a 1950s ping pong hustler through his rise to glory. (Timothée Chalamet, who portrays the star table tennis player, has already won a Golden Globe for the role.) But beyond Hollywood, the sport at the heart of the film has proven transformative for brain injury patients.

Recent NIH research reveals that ping pong has remarkable therapeutic potential for traumatic brain injury recovery. A 2024 study published in Brain Research and indexed in NIH PubMed demonstrated that long-term table tennis training significantly alters dynamic functional connectivity and white matter microstructure in large-scale brain regions – enhancing cognitive function and attention in patients recovering from neurological injuries. This is due to the sport’s simultaneous engagement of visual tracking, motor coordination, and rapid decision-making, which triggers neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewire itself. A 2024 stroke rehabilitation study in the database showed significant brainwave changes in patients practicing seated table tennis, with enhanced activity in frontal and temporal regions associated with sensorimotor integration. This additionally supports broader applications of the sport for traumatic brain injury rehabilitation.

However, the term “ping pong” isn’t singly used to define the sport of table tennis. Ironically, “ping pong fracture” is the term used to describe a very serious infant condition: a depressed skull fracture that resembles a dented ball. These fractures occur in approximately 3 per 10,000 live births, often as the result of difficult deliveries. Fortunately, a 2022 World Neurosurgery systematic review of 228 cases found 96.4% achieve favorable outcomes without lasting neurological damage. Most resolve spontaneously within six months.

As is apparent, science continues to prove that ping pong’s medical connections, whether through the healing effects to the injured brain of gameplay or used to describe neonatal trauma, run deeper than any championship rally.