Why do table tennis players touch the plate?

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If you have ever watched a table tennis game - be it live or on TV - then you may have noticed that the players keep hitting the plate with one hand grasp. That happens less in amateur sport than when "professionals" play. Why do the table tennis players touch the plate? What's behind it?

There are many tricks in table tennis.
There are many tricks in table tennis. © Jürgen_Treiber / Pixelio

Table tennis is a popular leisure sport. On the other hand, once you watch the "pros", it can be difficult to follow the process because the players proceed very quickly. You also seem to develop some quirks - like touching the plate.

Why are the players reaching for the plate?

  • Perhaps you have also asked yourself: "Why do some table tennis players touch the table, that is, the plate, while they are playing?". Sometimes this happens right after the rally and most of the time the players touch the front right part of the table near the net. Here the ball hardly hits, so it cannot be a manipulation of the trajectory of the ball.
  • So the opponents just go to the net, wipe your hand there and then go back to their actual "location" behind the plate. This phase is used on the one hand to have a short break and to be able to think for a moment which moves are then useful.
  • On the other hand, touching the plate serves to wipe away sweat. Because even if the players don't have to walk a lot, the fast movements are the poor very exhausting and sweaty.
  • The palms of the hands quickly get wet and the club can no longer be held so well. When the opponents are sweating, the clothes are usually already a bit wet, so that the hands cannot be cleaned on them. Instead, the table is used.
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  • Why don't the table tennis players use a towel instead of the plate? A towel may only be used after a certain number of rallies. The distances are simply too long for some players.

Table tennis players can also be superstitious

  • Why do some table tennis players only briefly touch the table? Some athletes do not touch the table properly, but just tap it briefly. Especially when you are actually holding the club with your other hand, it is less about wiping it off and more about superstition.
  • Because wherever performance and luck play a major role, ideas about what can contribute to success develop. This quickly leads to superstitious rituals, such as carrying mascots, going through certain actions before the game or even touching the record.
  • For example, if a player was able to make a very good move after tapping the table, then he can happen that he performs this ritual more often, even if he rationally knows that the two are not interrelated has to do.
  • The question "Why do table tennis players touch the table?" so can from different angles answered because there are several reasons that are not always straightforward to outsiders are understandable.

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