By Ethan Hartley

To the casual observer, a group of older individuals playing pickleball at Centre Court Tennis Club in Riverside on an early Monday afternoon would look pretty ordinary — especially as the low-impact sport continues to explode in popularity among American senior citizens.

But this was no ordinary pickup pickleball game, which featured a skilled pickleball veteran and volunteer instructor standing in the middle of the nine people who had gathered, going over the proper form and how to efficiently position themselves to be ready for an incoming ball.

Many of the participants of the clinic had been recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, the progressive neurological disorder that affects an estimated 1 million people in America, and upwards of 4,000 in Rhode Island.

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