Talking in Table Tennis

I complained to another (perfectly friendly) player who talks whilst serving. I admit that I was over-stepping the mark instead of letting the umpire correct him, but he did go quiet after the second complaint. After the match I had a quiet word with him, and his view was that he thought he had finished his comment before the ball left his hand, therefore it wasn't a problem.

From my point of view the whole service action before that release is still important for me to focus on - so it was an unfair distraction. His comments weren't aggressive, but were on the lines of "right, what serve shall I try this time".

He is also quite happy to remind me when he is 2 games down, that he's beaten me before from that position. Does that sort of comment (when changing ends) cross the acceptable behaviour line, too?

Sometimes, the opponent can throw you off balance without saying anything. I have an opponent that chuckles at me and condescendingly smiles at me whenever he executes a trick or lucky shot. Previously, I could become angry and irritated. I solved this issue just by avoiding to look at his face at all and pretending I'm deaf unless he talks something related to course of the game.

Hi Peter and Ilia,

I don’t think the talking or sledging is acceptable at all. We see it used in other sports but Table Tennis should not cross that line.