My friend, mysterious?
Have you ever spent time in a locker room or on a sideline?
It’s stems from the team mindset of ‘oneness’ and It’s all about keeping yourself and your players heads and spirits in the game. The adrenaline and testosterone on the sideline, bench, dugout etc. can be immeasurable during the height of a contentious game/match. These hormones and even endorphins are needed to get through the truly big plays, or say the really formidable opponent so players and coaches are constantly engaging each other in these ways. It cuts the other way too, if an otherwise good player seems to be having an off game a coach shouting at a player to “GET YOUR ASS IN THE GAME” followed by a swat on the ass might be what jolts that player into action.
Aside from all this, there’s the practicality of the ass as a non-working muscle. In no sport would you want to run the risk of hurting someone’s arm, shoulder, leg or other needed body part. This again makes the ass prime real estate to give that excited pop of enthusiasm without hurting a player.
Back to that ‘oneness’ - it extends to the locker room too. You show me a team that executed well on the playing field and I’ll bet you there is plenty of playful, non-sexual ass slapping, towels popping on bare skin, spontaneous nipple tweaks, jokes and off-handed comments made about each others naked bodies and all other manner of locker room hijinks. If players don’t bond well on a personal level it would be that much harder to connect on the field. Coaches are at the helm of this fraternal order.
And even in wrestling, which many of the photos on this thread are based. Though they are individual matches, they are all trying to win their match to advance the entire team. They know the how hard each of their players has worked in practice and during those intense moments a swat on the ass before a match either for encouragement or to after a match denote a job well done reinforces the bond and keeps that adrenaline high.
So it’s really not a mystery at all. Least not to me. An enthusiastic slap on the ass means exactly the same thing as a high five from your coach or two players excitedly jumping in the air and bumping chests. Except it’s just way hotter to folks like us on this thread.
