Last Updated on April 24, 2024 by Alex Horscroft
I see it all the time when I’m watching the pros play. The camera zooms in on a player preparing to serve or receive and you witness said player blowing on their paddle or the ball. While this does seem like a strange thing to do, there’s a reason so many players do it.
1. Sweaty Hands
Players mainly blow on their paddle because their hands are sweaty. Excess sweat is bad as it reduces the security of your grip, making it harder to make small adjustments in how you hold your paddle during a rally. The usual solution is to towel off. But you can only do this every 6 points.
As a result, players who sweat a lot need to use another method to improve their grip. Blowing on your hands is one of the most common methods. The coolness of blowing helps to dry up some of the sweat and also provides a small sense of relief in hot and stuffy gyms.
That being said, simply blowing is a poor method of drying your hands and paddle. A much better solution is to wipe your paddle/hands with your shirt, and then towel down every 6 points. Of course, heavy sweaters will likely have very saturated shirts, so blowing on their hands is just about all they can do!
Top Tip
Playing in humid conditions can make your rubbers slippery, therefore wiping your rubber regularly helps to maintain a grippy surface.
2. Wet Ball
It’s not just your hands and paddle that can get wet. The table tennis ball does on occasion too. It’s not usually an issue, but if either you or your opponent sweat a lot, it may well be.
There’s one player at my club who sweats a tonne! Him simply holding the ball can make it wet, but more commonly it’s an issue when it hits his shirt. While in theory I’m not overly bothered by a bit of a sweat on the ball, in practice, it is quite troublesome.
This is because the sweat on the ball prevents your rubber from gripping it, which will cause you to miss your shot by a large margin. There’s no mistaking when a wet ball is the cause for a missed shot, especially if you go to loop. The ball will go straight down and not clear the net.
This is why some players blow the ball. This helps to dry off any moisture. Of course, it’s not particularly effective. Again, I’d use your shirt if it’s dry or a towel if possible.
3. Routine
The final reason players blow on their hand or ball is simply because it’s part of their routine. Most players in sports have some kind of routine before a rally begins. It helps them to relax and hone their focus. I, for one, throw the ball against my paddle to produce spin and then angle my paddle so the ball goes straight up in the air. Whatever you do is up to you.
Closing Thoughts
The reason table tennis players blow on their paddle and the ball is to dry off sweat, which can be a real problem for the grip of both your rubbers and hands. The best way to remove sweat is to towel off every 6 points. However, this is too long for very sweaty players or very humid conditions. As such, blowing to cool off is a popular practice among players.
Find this article interesting? You might like my write-up on why players breathe on their rubbers too!
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I've been playing table tennis since the age of 14 and have competed against some of the top players in England. While I love playing, I also really enjoy coaching too!
Blade: Butterfly Timo Boll ALC | Rubbers: Nittaku Fastarc G-1