I think the point of the traction thing is....
Imagaine hypno on ice (possibly a show there?) its never going to put all the energy in as it skids away.
now nail it (prit stick, blu-tak, whatever) to the floor so it cannot move no matter what, the hits are bigger, so more energy transfer.

the more grip you have, the more energy you can transfer before you are moved away by the impact. the ultimate demonstration of this is vertical spinners that cannot move trough the floor, look what they do!