Demi Lovato has lived a lot in her 27 years. A former child TV star, Lovato has spent the latter half of her life establishing a serious music career. She has overcome many of the demons which plague young people in show business and emerged the stronger for her battles. Now, amid the greatest public health crisis in a century, she is marching forth with her positive message. To promote her new line of sportswear, Demi4Fabletics, she got a good workout while observing social distancing protocols. She picked up a ping-pong paddle and engaged in what looks like a playful rally with an unseen opponent, who at the opposite end of the table must have been at least nine feet away. It is to be hoped that Lovato's hordes of fans are inspired by her obvious enthusiasm for the game, but not necessarily to emulate her questionable technique. With her tentative grip on the handle and no grasp of the base of the blade, it would be difficult to execute even the most basic strokes. To her credit, however, the clustering of the powder marks from the new ball suggest an aggressive striking pattern near the outermost extreme of the striking surface, where the velocity is greatest. This is a refreshing contrast to the scattershot polka-dot pattern seen on most amateur's blades (provided they are even tacky enough to hold the plastic powder), which if anything tend to cower near the base of the blade where there is greater control. This is not the first time that Lovato has promoted table tennis in her work. A ping-pong table makes a cameo at the 2:34 mark of her video for "Sorry Not Sorry," which has tallied 440 million views and counting. Lovato acknowledged that the timing of her launch was questionable, given the COVID-19 pandemic which has her and the rest of the world in quarantine. "Recently, we've watched our world change and have thought hard about holding off on the launch," she wrote. "We've decided to share it with you soon-- with a twist," she continued. "$5 for every item sold will provide crucial gear to frontline workers-- pledging up to $125,000... to support the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization." With her commitment to her own health and that of her fans, Demi Lovato has already inspired millions. Through her charitable donations to fight the greatest crisis of our times, she is helping those in greatest need. Now, she can make use of her quarantine time and work on that shakehand grip.

More at The Blast