7 Tips For Playing Table Tennis In A Hot Or Humid Playing Hall

Playing in a hot and/or humid hall can make for a terrible table tennis experience. 

If you’re not prepared properly, playing in these extreme situations can be miserable and even dangerous for your health. 

Fortunately, there are certain measures we can take and items we can bring to the training hall to make the situation much more bearable. If you ask me, I very much prefer playing in the heat than the cold.

I’m from Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. In the summer, we frequently get temperatures of up to 38°C (100°F), and humidity is also upwards of 80-90% on many days. We’ve even trained with 100% relative humidity a few times this year!

Over time, we’ve come up with ways to deal with these situations. I’ve been playing table tennis for more than 8 years in these conditions, so let me share my top tips and tricks for playing in hot/humid conditions.

1) Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

In such extreme high-heat, high-humidity situations, we’re going to sweat a lot, there’s no way around it. Because of this, we have to drink as much water as possible. 

In addition, when training, we’re going to lose essential electrolytes, so we have to try to replenish them by drinking sports drinks or taking electrolyte supplements.

For a 3-hour training session, I usually aim for a 1L sports drink plus 2 liters of water. Commercial sports drinks usually have lots of added sugars, so it isn’t good to drink large amounts of these drinks.

On a separate note, my doctor recommends that I do an EKG test and heart stress tests once per year. Training in the heat and humidity strains our bodies quite a bit more than resting conditions, so make sure your overall health is in check, especially if you’re going to train in tough conditions such as these.

2) Keep Everything as Dry as Possible

Our second tip is to dry everything you’re using.

In high humidity conditions, you may find that the tables at the playing hall have a small layer of water, kind of like dew!

If this happens, make sure to dry the table with a towel before training. I assure you it’ll make a huge difference. 

If you don’t, you’ll find that the ball will start falling off your rubber in the middle of every point. This is because once the ball bounces on the table, it’ll get moist, and your rubber won’t be able to grip it.

Once your table is all dry, you’re ready to practice. When playing, you have to make sure you’re constantly drying the ball with your shorts/shirt/towel. 

If you’re playing a match, make sure to dry the ball before every point as you don’t want to hinder your opponent (or yourself!).

And, make sure you’re drying your rubbers with your hands or your shorts. Both rubbers should be as dry as possible. If you’re drying your rubbers with your palms, you should run your hand vertically across each of them until you hear a screeching sound. That means the rubber is dry.

If you can’t hear a sound when rubbing your hand across your rubber, it means that there’s a very small layer of moisture between your hand and the rubber. This layer of moisture will prevent the rubber from gripping the ball.

I can’t emphasize the importance of drying your rubbers enough. If you don’t do it regularly, even when humidity isn’t as high, your rubbers won’t spin the ball to the level they’re supposed to. 

That’s why you see professional players do it all the time! They want to make sure their rubbers are perfectly dry before playing every single point, and you should do the same.

To keep your hands dry, use your towel or dry them on the table. Make sure to also dry your serving hand, as you don’t want to get the ball wet before serving.

3) Bring Extra Shirts and A Towel

Bringing the correct equipment is key to playing in these circumstances.

We recommend you bring extra shirts and a towel to the training hall. And, if you sweat more than average, you should consider using a headband and/or wristbands.

If you’re going to train for 2 or 3 hours, make sure to bring at least 2 shirts. We recommend using 3-4 shirts for that duration. 

You’ll feel a massive difference in your body temperature and you’ll feel much more comfortable if you change your shirt once it’s drenched in sweat. 

You can use your towel to dry yourself before putting on fresh new shirts – it makes a world of difference.

4) Adjust Your Playing Style

A more strategic tip is to adjust some parts of your playing style.

What I usually do is I play a bit safer: if your rubbers aren’t gripping the ball the way you’re used to, it may not be wise to go for too many difficult shots such as counterloops.

In addition, when it’s very humid, I usually push long more often. This is because my opponents will probably miss more open-ups, and, if they do, they’ll probably start complaining about the humidity and play even worse.

When playing in humid settings, getting the ball on the table is your friend. 

If your opponent wants to attack everything as hard as possible, they’ll be shooting themselves in the foot. That means you can afford to play slightly more passively. Pushing and blocking a bit more than usual isn’t a bad thing.

And, something my friend u/anadraps, a very good player, mentioned in a Reddit post regarding this topic, said:

“Serve long more often and play close to the table, take it early or at the top of the bounce(…). Source: born and raised in a coastal city with 80% humidity year-round”

I hadn’t thought of serving long more often, but it’s also a great idea. 

You’re basically forcing your opponent to attack a long spinny serve when they can’t fully trust their rubber, and if they push or block it, you get a chance to attack yourself. It follows the same principle as pushing long a bit more often.

And, as for his second piece of advice, taking the ball earlier, it’s something I find myself doing subconsciously.

Due to the reduced spin you can impart on the ball, it’s harder to get the ball to fall back down onto the table with looping shots. Letting the ball drop will translate into more unforced errors as the ball floats long.

It’s better to play a more direct style rather than a very spin-focused one, and, for that reason, taking the ball a bit earlier can go a long way when there’s high humidity.

5) Make Sure Your Rubbers Aren’t Worn out And Use Non-Tacky Rubbers if Possible

Since rubbers have less grip in high humidity conditions, it’s extra important to ensure your rubbers aren’t worn out.

Worn out rubbers struggle a lot more in high-humidity situations because they don’t have as much grip to begin with. So, when humidity levels are high, your rubbers will start to feel like they’re more like Antispin rubbers.

New rubber sheets won’t struggle nearly as much, so (if you can) try to change your rubbers before they’re too worn out.

In addition, the rubbers that struggle the most when playing in high-humidity situations are tacky rubbers.

Tacky rubbers rely on the rubber sticking to the ball to generate spin. When there’s high humidity, that stickiness gets wet, the tackiness wears off, and your rubbers won’t grip the ball as they’re supposed to. 

6) Take More Time in Between Points and Take More Breaks

In high heat, high humidity scenarios, it’s normal to get tired a lot faster because of the conditions. Hence, it’s important to take more breaks to allow our bodies to rest.

If you’re playing matches, make sure to take more time between points and to use every towel break. 20-30 seconds between points to breathe and give your body time to cool down will help you maintain intensity during the match.

If you play a very long rally, you can even consider using your time-out if you’re too jaded to play the following point.

I’d say I’m in good shape and I’ve done this in a recent match. I had to loop 12 balls in a row in the fifth game and I was feeling exhausted after playing it, so I used my time out. Take a look for yourselves!

7) Have a Door or Window Open

Our last tip is to have a door or window open at all times. 

The heat of the people playing in the hall really makes a difference when it comes to humidity. 

One day, we were playing a league game in our club. Games were being played at two tables and around 20 people were watching on the sidelines. 

We were playing in a relatively small room on a hot summer day, and it was very humid as well. 

I remember I wanted to buy a bottle of water, so I opened the door and went into the main hall, which was empty. The difference between both rooms was hard to believe. 

The air was much drier and colder, it was a lot better. It felt like it was 20% less humid and at least 5°C colder.

Having a door or a window open at all times will ensure your playing hall doesn’t end up like the one I just told you about because fresher air from outside will be coming in at all times.

It will be hot, humid air coming in, but it’ll still be colder and drier than the one inside.