This action is probably to wipe the sweat. During the competition, athletes need to be very focused, and large-scale competitions are inevitably a little nervous. At this time, athletes' palms will sweat easily, so they need to touch the table frequently to wipe off the sweat from their palms.
Otherwise, the sweat on the palm will touch the table tennis, and the table tennis will become slippery and difficult to control, and the quality will also change, which is not conducive to the player's control of the direction of the ball, affecting the player's play, and may directly affect the result of the game and lead to the change of the outcome. Therefore, the athlete's move is for the smooth progress of the game.
This action may also be to relieve the nervous mood. When athletes face important competitions, they often even bear everyone's expectations. This tense atmosphere will make athletes at a loss, and they may not find their usual practice state at once, so making this action at this time is to calm themselves down and adjust their mentality quickly.
Table tennis competition rules
Serving, receiving and the choice of one's own side should be decided by drawing lots. The winner can choose to serve or receive the service first, or he can choose to be on one side first.
When one player chooses to serve or receive the service first, or choose to stand aside first, the other player should have another choice.
After each score of 2 points, the receiver becomes the server, and so on, until the end of the game, or until the scores of both sides reach 10 or the rotation service method is implemented. At this time, the order of serving and receiving remains unchanged, but each person only serves one point in turn.
In the first game of doubles, the server decides to start, and then the receiver decides to take it first. In the next game, after the first starter is confirmed, the first receiver should be the player who served him in the previous game.
In doubles, every time the service is changed, the former server becomes the server, and the partner of the former server becomes the receiver.