Handshaking

[Michal_Z]

Hello everyone!
I always wanted to talk about this with pingpong interested people..
What do you think about pro´s handshaking after match?
How do you shake with hands with opponents after game?

I spotted one thing:
Most of players give hand for shaking like dead fish..
No real handgrip, no eye contact.. just.. here is my hand you ass ..
It seems to me like that.. Makes me wondering!
How.. I mean.. why?
They are mostly nice personalities, why do they do this?
Timo has a good handgrip or.. better - he claps with opponent with good eye contact..
Or european players that know each other.. they even clap the winner on his back tellin him what a good match..
But.. for example - Ma Long after closely beating Bojan Tokic, who made great entertainment and was really dignified opponent .. and the handshake.. he gave him hand like he was complete amateur and it was pain for eyes to play him..
Why??

So .. what do you think about handshaking ??

 

[Rhydian]

Hello,
for me, Handshaking is a sign of respect after a match. Of course, if the person in front of you is completely mad or something like that then the handshake can be different but most of the time, I shake hands with my opponent and we usually say "thanks" (normal match) or "wow, what a game!" (epic match^^).
I think in China, Handshaking is nothing more than a "must". They know it is worldwide, so they do it but they don't bring the message that should be brought... Maybe the poor handshake and the avoiding of eye contact is to not embarass or to show your superiority just because you won one match! Perhaps I'm wrong ...

I like Timo a lot because he handshakes very well, I mean, it doesn't matter if he wins or looses, he shakes the hand of the opponent and looks at him and really tries to get "into" the opponent. He's a really nice guy!

 

[PandaMike]

Good topic....I was raised to give a good firm handshake....so after a loss or win (More often loss than win ha) I give them a good firm handshake and thank them for playing or complement them if they did good ect. Basically I believe it is polite to say something and give a real handshake.

 

[dici]

for me, it is kind of doesn't matter...errr... or I don't know.

well, it is not only in TT. Nut usually when we play the pickup basketball in our school, at the end of the game, everybody just kind of do a "slap" handshake and says "good game", that's it. Even it is in football (not NFL), volleyball and some team work games, we seldom firmly handshake with opponent at the beginning and end of the game.

 

[chughtai]

nice never noticed that maybe chinese players think that they are all that thats y they dont shake hands in a dignified manner

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Interesting topic. I have noticed that often, one of the two players does not really want to shake hands and is doing it out of some sense of obligation. I do know that when I am finished with a match, whether I win or lose I am never thinking about shaking hands with the person I played with. And I know there are some people I play who really come over to me to shake my hand afterwards, like they were looking forward to that and are into it. I don't know, it always seemed weird to me.

 

[WiWa]

It is what you are used to. In the Netherlands we always shake hands, everyone does it. Like if a young player walks away angry after a match the first thing he gets to hear is go shake your opponents hand. But if you are not raised with it I don't think it is shameful to not do it. I mean, none of the Chinese players really do it, and I don't believe that all those players individually are the most arrogant assholes in table tennis. It is not really in their table tennis culture to give a firm handshake after every match. They do the same to their coach and teammates after a match. I can live with that, doesn't really seem disrespectful to me.

 

[azlan]

Actually I noticed this for quite a while now. It's different compared to tennis and badminton. The players always give a proper handshake. When Roger or Rafael loses, they would always shake the hands of their conqueror and they would always say a few good words. Even badminton world number 1 Lee Chong Wei does that. As a sportsman, winning and losing is part and parcel of the game, you just have to take it graciously. In women's tennis, the players even kissed over the net!! How about that!

And another thing that I hate most are players giving excuses when they lose. Such as their shoes are too tight, the floor is too slippery, their underwear keep getting caught in their crack, bla bla bla....just say your opponents played better on the day, and they deserved the win, and you did try your best. Give them the credit they deserve. There will always be other competitions.

 

[Michal_Z]

Well I will never kiss opponents cheak .. Unless I play a girl, hehe
But I still think the handshakes should be made with full respect..

 

[YosuaYosan]

Most players now, esp. the Chinese team only do the hand-slap..
For me handshaking is very important to show respect towards your opponents..
I usually say thanks and don't avoid eye contact, and yeah if the game is epic I will say something more of course..

For some REAL handshakes, you can see Timo Boll and Joo Se Hyuk..
For half-assed handshakes, you can see Ma Lin and almost all of the Chinese main team..

 

check out this video how timo squeezes ma long's dead fish handshake until he almost breaks his hand....

 

[Rhydian]

Haha, Love that one! ^^
First, Timo wins and second he destroys his dead fish hand, haha

 

[YosuaYosan]

LOL !!
Now thats a correct terminology : dead fish handshake

 

[YosuaYosan]

If you notice at 5:51 Ma Long freeze for a second..
He should be ready for the return of the ball even though his attack previously is awesome..

Now thats a leason I need to learn to..

 

[Rhydian]

Yeah, maybe he was impressed that his ball touched the table and that Timo managed to bring it back or he thought that the ball would go out ^^
I have the same problem, sometimes, when I play, I'm so impressed when I play a very difficult ball on the table that I freeze. Fortunately, at my level, these sort of balls come back with a ratio 1/100

 

[WiWa]

I think the Chinese handshakes at the China - World were pretty normal right? I think they read TTD!!

 

[Stian]

I think its just mean to give a Handshake like a dead fish if u lose a match, i usually give a nice handshake after eachmatch i play, even if i win or lose

 

[Rhydian]

@WiWa: maybe yes ^^ Did you see the handshake between Ma Long and Timo Boll? ^^ I think Ma Long didn't want his hand to be crushed again by Timo and so he gave a good handshake! This one was good! haha ^^

 

[TTD Team Manager]

I reckon its more of a culture thing than respect as I expect the chinese would have some respect for a player of the calibre of Timo Boll and others, so they must just be taught the handshake means very little whereas the western way seems more about respect. Would love to hear views from any east asian players or players who have played in these countries.

 

[YosuaYosan]

This is how gentlemen handshake