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Physician explains

Why footballers spit on the pitch so often

Zlatan Ibrahimović
AC Milan footballer Zlatan Ibrahimović spits during the match against Udinese Calcio Photo: LightRocket via Getty Images

October 24, 2024, 2:31 pm | Read time: 4 minutes

Anyone who watches soccer matches frequently will have noticed this: Players very often spit on the pitch with abandon. Is this just a bad habit – or does spitting serve a health purpose? FITBOOK editor Janine Riedle spoke to biologist and sports physician Enrico Zessin to find out.

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Everyone has probably experienced the fact that running and exertion causes the nose to run and the amount of saliva in the mouth to change. But why do soccer stars – and other athletes – tend to spit their saliva onto the pitch? Experts agree that footballers’ tendency to spit on the pitch may have health reasons.

Exertion switches the nervous system to survival mode

There are no studies on why footballers or athletes in general start spitting during competition. Nevertheless, biologist and sports physician Enrico Zessin believes that there is a medical explanation for the spitting.

As soon as the players start to rush across the field and try to get the best out of themselves, the nervous system is signaled to attack or flee. The body then switches to survival mode, which allows you to mobilize all your reserves of strength for a short time. “The autonomic nervous system is very active during sport. The sympathetic nervous system is particularly active during action, i.e. when running and kicking the ball, whereas the parasympathetic nervous system calms the body down again, as in the short breaks during the game. The parasympathetic nervous system also stimulates the salivary glands and leads to increased saliva production,” explains Zessin when asked by FITBOOK.

Nasal breathing switches to mouth breathing

According to the expert, breathing also changes during sport: “As most people resort to mouth breathing due to the increased gas exchange (breathing) during sport, there is increased saliva production in order to keep the oral mucosa moist and prevent dryness.” In addition, the feeling of thirst can be reduced, even though the body actually needs fluid due to sweating.

Increased amount of saliva, annoying beads of sweat

But why do footballers spit on the field if saliva makes breathing easier? For one thing, the amount of saliva – depending on the effort – can become so much that it is unpleasant or annoying. On the other hand, players may also want to get rid of beads of sweat that have run into their mouths.

Also possible: mouth breathing is so pronounced that the mucous membrane dries out despite the body’s efforts. The remaining saliva becomes more viscous and often sticks unpleasantly to the palate. Footballers, runners, and other athletes, therefore, tend to spit out these – now it’s getting a bit disgusting – “chunks.”

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A health necessity or a bad habit?

Spitting is, therefore, only necessary for health reasons to a limited extent. However, due to the inconvenience, it is understandable that people want to get rid of excess saliva or saliva that sticks to the roof of their mouth. However, you also have to take the whole thing with a pinch of salt: Especially at the beginning of the game, the flow of saliva will not yet have changed. So, if people are already salivating in the first few minutes, you can most likely assume that it is simply a force of habit – or there is a psychological reason for it.

Psychological factors

There is another reason for this behavior: If you observe footballers spitting, you can often see that the behavior is accompanied by frustration or anger. For example, if the player has failed to make an important play, spitting helps to get rid of the negative thoughts. Not least because spitting has been exemplified by many stars on the pitch for decades, younger players adapt the behavior – keyword: role model function.

Furthermore, according to a report in Der Spiegel, spitting on the grass symbolizes marking territory – similar to the animal kingdom.

This article is a machine translation of the original German version of FITBOOK and has been reviewed for accuracy and quality by a native speaker. For feedback, please contact us at info@petbook.de.

Topics #Naturtreu
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