"I sometimes train for 3 hours, freely, without realizing that I am tired. It's great," smiled the 69-year-old retiree. Since 2015, she has been living with this neurodegenerative disease that restricts her ability to move.

Playing table tennis decreases her tremors and makes her movements less painful, she says. "And in the evening, I sleep better," Krippner adds over the sound of bouncing bullets.

Since last year, Luci has been training twice a week with a dozen members of the association "Ping Pong Parkinson", which promotes the therapeutic virtues of the discipline.

For World Parkinson's Day, April 11, table tennis players have chained smashes without sparing their efforts.

"I need less medication when I play regularly," said coach Andreas Moroff, 54. Wearing a "Team Germany" t-shirt, he occasionally checks to make sure everyone is feeling good.

"Everyone can stop whenever they want," he explains, "to drink a little or take their treatment," based on dopamine, which temporarily eliminates symptoms.

World Cup

Between two matches or after training, table tennis players sometimes discuss the disease. "Here, we know better than anyone what we experience on a daily basis, the sorrows and the anxieties," says Andreas.

"It's very nice to play with people who share the same fate," agrees Michael Siegert, 65.

The latter easily lets out his joy after a point won. "It's not just fun, it's also a form of therapy."

Several members of the team, including Andreas and Luci, will participate in the next ping-pong World Cup for Parkinson's patients, in September in Austria. The goal will be to "play hard-on," repeats Andreas, who spends about 10 hours a week with racket in hand.

Established in Germany since 2020, Ping Pong Parkinson has 170 clubs in the country and a thousand members.

On its website, the association relies on a 2021 Japanese study according to which regular ping-pong practice for 6 months can reduce physical symptoms of Parkinson's, such as tremor or stiffness.

Some six million people are living with Parkinson's disease worldwide, including 400,000 in Germany, according to the association. Incurable, it can also cause expression and sleep disorders.

Over the years, the patient gradually loses his ability to move and may, in the final stage, need a wheelchair or remain bedridden.

© 2023 AFP