Table Tennis Playing Etiquette

General - see Rule 30

Players are expected to behave with politeness, civility and friendliness at all times. Bad language is not acceptable whether said in the heat of the moment, directed to another player or muttered under the breath.

Shouting out (and thus disturbing other matches) between points as a means of egging oneself on is also not acceptable behaviour.

No one should abuse the equipment by hitting or banging the table, unnecessarily hitting the ball away or in extreme cases throwing their bat as this can cause injury.

The ball should always be retrieved at the end of the game by one of the players and the loser should not "storm off" but be prepared to umpire the next game if required to do so.

It is customary to acknowledge a point won if the ball hits the net and forces an unreturnable ball or getting an edge. The acknowledgement can be in the form of saying 'sorry' or raising the hand at the end of the point.

Players should always shake hands after a set has ended and also the umpire's hand.

At the end of the evening, all players should be available again to shake their opponents hands and thank them for the match.

Umpiring

All players should take turns at umpiring. The usual sequence is for the Home team to begin umpiring at the start of the match alternating with the Away team. Scores should be called immediately or when both players are within good hearing distance but not when the players are ready to play the next point before calling the score although the score may be repeated if there was a delay of some sort. Umpires should speak in a clear audible voice even if score boards are being used.

Mobile Phones

The use of mobile telephones (MOB) on a match court should be discouraged before the start of each match.  Team captains will be asked to advise their players prior to the commencement of the match that all MOB’s are turned to silent (preferably turned off completely) if retained on court and that the use of a MOB even in silent mode in the match court is an unfair distraction to players. In the event of an emergency or where a player feels a call must be responded to, players should leave the court to utilise their MOB in an alternative area of the venue.