Top Ten Ways to Be a Professional at All Levels
(By Larry Hodges)

This tip won’t help you win more matches. In fact, it might cost you a match where, by playing unsportsmanlike, you might have psyched an opponent out of a match. But if you do that, did youreally win the match? Here are the Top Ten Ways to Be a Professional at All Levels.

1. Dress neatly.
2. Show up on time.
3. Let both sides warm up in the two-minute warm-up at the start.
4. Play fair. Duh.
5. Don’t act like a baby.
6. Don’t make excuses.
7. Shake hands afterwards.
8. Do not scream at the top of your lungs every point. Use common sense. If you are one of a dozen or more players playing, then every time you scream you are disturbing all those other players. If, however, you are the only match being played, then you have more discretion – but within limits.
9. Keep gamesmanship to a minimum. Some gamesmanship is fine, such as playing a little faster when your opponent is falling apart, or slowing things down to throw a hot opponent off. But others are not, such as talking to the opponent to distract him, or stepping on the ball so as to force a break to get a new ball.
10. Keep arguing to a minimum. If you can’t reach a quick agreement on something during a tournament, call an umpire. If it’s practice, is it really worth arguing over?