Between 5 and 7 May 2026, the first BrainSpin Coach Certification Workshop took place in Ljubljana.
It brought together neurologists, kinesiologists, psychologists, table tennis experts, and representatives of people with Parkinson’s disease from the partner institutions of the Erasmus+ BrainSpin consortium.
The three-day meeting was dedicated to developing the professional foundations for the BrainSpin coach certification program, through which coaches will be trained to deliver adapted table tennis exercises for people with Parkinson’s disease.
Connecting scientific knowledge and practical work
Workshop participants addressed medical and scientific foundations, including the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease, the impact of medication and deep brain stimulation on exercise capacity, and a review of research on table tennis as a therapeutic intervention.
Special emphasis was also placed on the experiences and expectations of people with Parkinson’s disease, practical kinesiological assessments, psychological strategies for working with participants, and the planning of adapted exercise sessions. The final part of the workshop included the practical delivery of training sessions, feedback from experienced coaches, and a public TEDx-format lecture delivered by Nenad Bach, founder of the PingPongParkinson initiative.
Next steps of the BrainSpin project
At the conclusion of the meeting, the consortium partners agreed on the key next activities of the project: the design of a six-month table tennis intervention for people with Parkinson’s disease, a shared set of assessment tools, and the certification process for future BrainSpin coaches.
