Why Do Table Tennis Players Wear Wristbands? (3 Motives)

Amazingly, playing table tennis allows you to enhance your winning potential in several ways, even though you need to be strategic with your moves. That’s why you often see different players having different styles in their gameplay. For instance, you might notice some players stand too close to the table almost leaning on it, while others are too far from the table. But why do table tennis players wear wristbands?

Table tennis players wear wristbands to prevent sweat from reaching their paddle palms since this can lessen the grip on the paddle. It is also a way to advertise different brands. You can also use it to create awareness for multiple issues, like pink wristbands for breast cancer.

If you do not know what wristbands do, you may think they are just beautification structures because of their colorful looks. Read ahead for more details on the importance of these wristbands.

What Is the Best Table Tennis Wristband?

The best table tennis wristband is the WILLBOND Wrist Sweatbands. It comes in an appropriate length for your wrist and also has the best absorbent material. You also don’t have to handwash it since you can always machine wash the wristband, without worrying about overstretching it.

Have you ever wondered why table tennis players flaunt their wrist bands matching with their sportswear? Sometimes we are averse to admitting our innocence in some situations, so we remain silent about them.

But you don’t have to worry about this. Here are some of the reasons for wearing these wristbands to a table tennis match are:

• Sweat Prevention: – In table tennis, one of the repeat activities you will have to engage in is consistently serving and returning serves. So your hand will probably sweat, so you need to avoid getting sweatdrops on your paddle’s palm. Unless you prevent it, you can easily lose your grip on the racket.
• Branding:- As you progress through your gameplay, you gain brand recognition promising you great sponsorship deals. Have you ever thought about how these deals benefit them? Well, here it is. The brand is fully aware that once you become a star, all cameras will focus on you. So the wristband you’ll wear will have served as an effective promotional tool for their brand.
• Raising Awareness:- A lot of killer issues threaten innocent lives every day. Therefore, sport managers utilize their players to raise awareness of a variety of issues in life. If you see players wearing pink wrist bands and matching them with pink forehead brands, that’s the breast cancer awareness color.

So the best table tennis wristband other than those used for branding purposes is:

WILLBOND Wrist Sweatbands

There are several wristbands you can find on the net or your nearest shopping mall. It is always important to consider the wristband’s material, length, and absorbent capacity.

The WILLBOND Wrist Sweatbands assures you of all these:

You should know cotton alone does not withstand sweat, which is why WILLBOND’s sweatbands guarantee you 80% cotton, 12% Spandex, and 3%Nylon.

Other features are:

• It has non-slip double layers.
• Excellent absorbent and very comfortable
• Washable by hands or machine
• Elastic to any size.
• This is multipurpose; you can use them for any other activity such as running or playing any other games.

What are the Best Wrist Techniques for Table Tennis?

The best wrist techniques for table tennis are backhand and forehand wrist techniques. However, these techniques require utmost intelligence and practice because you can easily injure your wrist. So it’s good to practice frequently for your arm to get used to the techniques.

When you are just starting your table tennis practices, you often encounter different advice from different experienced personnel. There are times when the guides you get can be so contradictory that you are unsure which one to follow.

Suppose a trainer tells you that you can use your wrist, and another tells you you ought to use wrist techniques. Which one should you follow?

To avoid confusing you, even more, check out the following techniques;

Backhand Wrist Technique

You have to skillfully rotate the axis of your wrist for a backhand flick or a backhand topspin, to spin any ball in front of you.

For the backhand flick you will need to:

• Lift and put your elbow forward. (slightly far from your body)
• Turn the back wrist toward your body so that the blade points you
• Take in a breath, step towards the table, and hit the ball when it’s in its highest position

Forehand Wrist Technique

This technique tends to scare off many beginners and even intermediate players in the game.

However, the trick about it is always to use your leg to support your rotating hip and waist. Then rotate your shoulder and forearm, slightly twist your wrist, and hit the ball.

You, however, have to know that the forearm alone can’t generate the power to hit the ball. So the power is from your shoulders and gaining support from your legs.

The wrist technique, no matter how easily you see someone doing, needs extensive practice. Failure to practice the same can cause you a wrist injury. So you need to master the basics of wrist-twisting before using it.

Read also: How Many Levels Are There in Table Tennis? (Sneak Peek)

What are the Warm-Up Exercises for Table Tennis?

The warm-up exercises for table tennis are 2 to 3 laps of slow jogs, 15 to 20 minutes of dynamic stretches, and shadow playouts. The playouts should be mimics of the activities you are used to doing while playing the game.

Table tennis can be so deceiving to any lazy player because one can assume the game hardly needs exercises. So to avoid severe muscle attacks from constantly moving to different directions following the ball and standing for quite some time.

 As much as the game takes a short amount of time, it has some intense activities within that short period that will require you to be physically fit.

Therefore to warm up for table tennis you will need to:

• Slow jog for a few laps. The number of laps is based on the area you will choose to jog in. so you should jog for at least 3 laps.
• Take 15 to 20 minutes of dynamic stretches. Try out shoulder circles, wrist stretches, and lunges.
• Perform shadow layouts for different stroke plays you use in your tennis games. Make sure you include backhand and forehand techniques.

Read also: Does Table Tennis Burn Calories? (Truth Revealed)

Who Is the Best Table Tennis Player In the World?

The best table tennis player in the world is Ma Long, a Chinese-born player. Ma Long is the immediate captain for the Chinese National Table Tennis men’s team. Other high-ranked players are Liu Guoliang and Wang Liqin.

It is always a good idea to take time to watch some of the best individuals in the industry pull off their plays when practicing for any activity. And table tennis too is not excluded from these.

Some of the best players whose techniques you won’t get tired of watching are:

• Ma Long

His current role as captain of China’s men’s national table tennis team dates back to 2014. He has won five ITTF World Tour tournaments and 28 ITTF World Tour titles. Also, he is the best player in the fifth position who has played the entire Grand Slam.

• Liu Guoliang

He is the best table tennis coach with major winnings in all World Tournament Titles. He is the second player to win 3 Grand Slam Tournaments. His Gold Medal winnings in 1996 to 1999 world doubles championships gave him the best presidency of the Chinese Table Tennis association in 2018.

• Wang Liqin

He’s been playing for the Chinese Men’s team since 1993 and has been the world’s best table tennis player. He’s also won gold in the 2000’s summer Olympics game and a bronze medal in the 2004 and 2008 summer Olympics.