Why do people talk to themselves so much?
Discussion
M V Asked 12 years ago
hi Coach,
Just curious to know, why all the players talk to themselves so much in table tennis? this is very very unique and you know in most of the sports like cricket, tennis etc. player murmur, but in TT players talk and scream at themselves. i am a very quiet person, dont know why and when i started doing this too. and the intention was not to copy anyone, it just came from within.
i have heard players and top seeded players in india, saying things like 'what are you going', 'come on fight', 'get it right', 'hang in there', 'hit that ball', ' watch the ball'.
why?
regards,
Manish Vaidya
Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago
Hi Manish,
That is an interesting question. I think it is something that comes from the close intimacy of the players to each other. It doesn't happen with everyone. I don't think it is necessarily a good thing for everyone. In fact it can be detrimental to some players.
Thoughts on this question
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M V Posted 12 years ago
just out of curiosity,what about you and jeff? did you do this (talking to yourselves) in your playing days?
Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago
Martin Elliget Posted 12 years ago
I realise the above discussion was on talking between points but talking during a rally is against the rules, is it not? Can someone point me to the ITTF rule this comes under? Also, in the situation where an opponent is talking to themselves excessively, is a player within their rights to ask them to quieten down? I had a situation where I beat one opponent in the first encounter (it was a close and hard fought match). The next time I played him, he started talking to himself almost non-stop between points and I found this very distracting, lost my concentration and went on to lose the match. I know he was probably just trying to gee himself up and I should have tried to block out the distraction and concentrate more - but afterwards I wondered if I should have asserted myself and asked for less noise.
Thanks.
Martin
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago
Hi Martin,
I don't think there is a rule about talking in between points. As for talking during the point that would be classed as distracting the opposition. I can't find the exact rule though.
Martin Elliget Posted 12 years ago
Thanks for clarifying, Alois. I think you're right about the distracting.