I know many players wear sweat bands, but what are the other kind of band that pros wear? I saw Sun Jun put one on when he had a cramp or something (against Peter Rasmussen). How does the band work? He was also spraying something on his leg (same match against Peter Rasmussen, game 3), what is that and what does it do? More often I see players' legs, arms, or back taped up. What kind of tape is that and how does that work? For example Lin Dan had his waist taped up in AE2006 finals.
Well, I can't tell you what he _might_ be wearing if I don't know where he used it. There are several kinds of bandages for some injuries etc. (e.g. special bandages for "tennis ellbow"). So tell me where he used it (knee, arm, ellbow,...) and I could tell you. I assume his leg hurt/he had a minor injury and just cooled it with ice-spray. If he had a small wound, it could also be spray-on plaster. That's usually a special tape used for sports. Usually physiotherapists or docs use it to "tape" a injury, e.g. a slightly sprained wrist or ankle. It's supporting yet not hindering the player in movement. You see that quite often with the chinese players, maybe they use it as a kind of protection. I remember half of the chines players being taped at the Olympics, but no one of them was really injured as far as I know. There are also some plasters/tapes available that increase the bloodflow in the region they are attached to, so they warm the player there. Hope I could help you, if you got any further questions, feel free to ask.
Thank you, that was very helpful. When Sun Jun played against Peter Rasmussen, I think he suffered a cramp on his thigh (his muscles didn't look normal). I don't believe there was a wound or a cut, but the person taking care of Sun Jun sprayed something at the thigh muscles, then got him to wear a band on his thigh. When Lin Dan fell after a jump smash in the AE2006 Finals, he put a band on his knees. That's the band I was talking about. Can you give me further insight?
Hmm... *scratches head* I still can't make myself up about this "band" thing. Could you tell me how big it is? I.e. covering his whole thigh or is it just 2 inches wide etc... Maybe a picture from the vid would help. If it's rather big (like 2-3 hands in width), it should just be a thigh-bandage. These are usually made out of some neoprene-like material and do nothing more than to compress the thigh. The thing Lin Dan put on his knee could be a knee-boss if it covers the whole knee. These devices offer some compression (as above) and sometimes have a hole right above the patella, to kind of "guide" the patella. Often worn after knee-injuries or operations on the knee. Some people need to wear them all the time when doing sports.
it's an AT-700. i think there was a thread on this topic already about the tape that LD uses or something like that
