Spitting

[dibble1]

This has almost certainly been asked before and if it has I apologise, but could somebody tell me why footballers need to spit all the time? You never see this in any other physical sport or am I wrong? It does annoy, me personally I think it's disgusting.

[ummmm]

A lot of other sports don't play for 45+ minutes without a drink break.

[aelmpvw]

it's just a disgustingly silly habit, some of them spit as they're about to come on ...

[Ken4155]

^
Best answer

[Flonska]

You occasionally saw it in Pro Golf - Tiger Woods being the chief exponent - but maybe he has calmed down a bit since those days. I remember too that on TV some years ago, there was a parody on MOTD called "Gob of the Day."

[Ken4155]

^
Ummmm for best answer, that is. Running around for 45+ minutes dehydrates the body and spitting is a way of re-hydrating the mouth, at least. Just so happens that players are often caught in close-up when they are doing it.

[Flonska]

A perception of the "gob close up" was that it inevitably occurred just after a "referee's decision" went against them or they had missed an opportunity to score or they had conceded a free kick, penalty or a goal. It often appeared to be a calculated - dare I say - even deliberate act of expression of negative emotion rather than an autonomic response at "re-hydration."

[Sqad]

It's a habit......a very bad habit which has no physiological basis.
Rugby players play 40 mins each way and they don't spit and how does spitting improve your dehydration.
Many footballers spit when they come off the bench as has been mentioned above.
Golfers don't spit......tennis players don't spit.
It is just for affectation.

[New Judge]

Marathon runners run for over two hours. Yes, they might snatch a drink on the way but I don't recall seeing wholesale spitting. It is an obnoxious habit, especially bearing in mind that their team mates and opponents may well end up rolling around in the stuff.

As with almost everything else on "Planet Football" they seem to exist in a different world.

[ummmm]

I do think it's a habit. A habit born from lots of exercise. I used to jog and saliva becomes thick and you feel the urge to get rid of it. Then it becomes a habit. So they're spitting without thinking about it.

[Sqad]

Excess salivation........why not swallow it?

[KARL]

I agree with ummmm. I find that if/when I am going through continuous exertion which quickens the breath very noticeably, the higher rate of evaporation arising from breathing rapidly through the mouth causes the fluid in the mouth to thicken. Swallowing it can become tricky and expelling the lot by spitting is a more effective "cleansing of the palate". Whether that is always the reason for footballers spitting is something I am not in a position to comment on but it is the reason why I sometimes find I really want/need to spit - and I do so, usually somewhere out in nature and most of the time entirely on my own.

[ummmm]

Sqad....they need a drink to swallow it.

[Sqad]

ummmm who do?

[Arksided]

I agree with Ummm and Karl on this... when I used to play football, I would feel the need to spit out all the excess saliva not as disrespect to anyone watching or the opposing team, just to get rid of it.

[jambutty]

I agree with Sqad on this. Disgusting habit.

[10ClarionSt]

I don't know if they are told to do it, but when I played football, I never did it. I think it's a disgusting habit carried out by uncouth, petulant, overpaid hypocrites.

[ABerrant]

"Rugby players play 40 mins each way and they don't spit"

Not to football levels, but it's not uncommon for players of both rugby codes to spit on the pitch.

https://inews.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/dylan-hartley-spitting-video-wales/

And only a few hours ago I witnessed said act during the live coverage of the RL New Zealand v England match in Colorado - often before penalty kicks (e.g. time-codes 53:02, 1:33:03) although Gareth Widdop also expectorates without need of a penalty (45:07) and James Graham even while benched (53:53).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0b8g0zj/rugby-league-2018-1-new-zealand-v-england

[Butterbun]

Some tennis players spit constantly. Lendl was the worst.

[Arksided]

Athleticism seems to be shy here amongst some members of AB.