Is the cure for cancer… pickleball?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science saying… service!
Recovering from chemo is tough – there’s fatigue, muscle loss, and just plain loneliness. How can we find comradery?
Enter Project Rally!
Nathan Parker and team at the Moffitt Cancer Center tested a Y-M-C-A–based pickleball program designed for cancer survivors.
Over three to seven months, twenty-one survivors and seven loved ones played pickleball. Researchers tracked attendance, physical activity, and muscle endurance.
And? Participants exercised thirty minutes more per day and improved endurance by fifteen percent. They also felt closer to their community.
Could a paddle and a wiffle ball be the key to recovery? Project Rally suggests yes!
Pickleball: not just a game… but a game changer!
Reference: Parker, N.H.; de Cerqueira Santos, A.; Mintrone, R.; Turner, K.; Sutton, S.K.; O’Connor, T.; Huang, J.; Lael, M.; Cruff, S.; Grassia, K.; et al. Feasibility, Acceptability, and Outcomes of Project Rally: Pilot Study of a YMCA-Based Pickleball Program for Cancer Survivors. Healthcare 2025, 13, 256. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13030256