How do you feel about "grunting" in professional tennis?

[Bonobo]

Poll question: How do you feel about "grunting" in professional tennis?

I kept this poll rather straight, but I am interested in people's answers.

[Mojambo]

1. I think it's pretty much the ONLY interesting thing about tennis. n/t

[imdjh]

3. That's because pro-tennis became nothing but kill shots.

I'm not much of a sports fan, and I wouldn't know the solution since the object is to win, but tennis seemed to have more volley to it back when I was a kid. Now it's all done on the serve.

[Bonobo]

8. Well men always played like this, but women used to be nothing but long base line

shots back and forth. Nacritolava changed that to my memory.

[imdjh]

2. Was it Steffi Graff? The one who started this? CLoser to barking than grunting.

[Bonobo]

4. I think it was, umm... the one that got stabbed.

I wonder if there's a connection?

[imdjh]

5. justice cannot be avoided forever

[11 Bravo]

7. Monica Seles. She used to drive me nuts.

[Bonobo]

9. Thanks.

[imdjh]

12. Yeah her. Aroof! Aroof!

[TahitiNut]

30. Just a short putt.

And "nuts" isn't a bad thing, either. :dunce:

[me b zola]

53. Yes, it was Monica Sellus

I thought that Monica was treated badly by the tennis community.

[Chipper Chat]

6. About the same way I feel about 'spitting' in baseball.

Or overly-tight speedos in swimming. No, wait.....

[imdjh]

14. Spitting anywhere. How is it that I make it through the day without spitting?

But others seem to have a cultural habit of spitting for punctuation, amusement, or on some kind of timed interval?

[tridim]

10. Grunting is fine, but the screaming is a bit excessive.

[kenny blankenship]

11. It's better than "farting" in professional tennis.

On second thought, if they amplified all the queefs and farts it might make the game funny enough to watch.

[PCIntern]

13. it's nauseating...

literally makes me sick to my stomach...I either turn the sound down or leave the room...I play frequently and my group would be kicked off the court if any of us did that...and well that we should be.

DIS-gusting and unsportsmanlike and AFAIC, it's like cheating in golf, moving change in your pocket as your opponent is taking his or her shot...BAD!!!!

[imdjh]

15. I love you. Do you know why?

[PCIntern]

17. Do tell...

Enquiring minds want to know!!

[imdjh]

20. Because you know the difference between nauseating and nauseous.

[PCIntern]

23. Yes...

I do...

Great H.S. English teachers...really literate...

[11 Bravo]

18. I think Serena Williams, in particular, uses it to distract opponents.

Listen to one of her matches. On big points she fucking screeches! When she's cruising, (or playing her sister), not so much. Serrena clearly uses the grunt selectively.

[TwilightZone]

34. She's acknowledged that it's fake.

She said that she watched Monica Seles as a kid and saw that Monica's grunt annoyed everyone. So, she adopted it.

[Cetacea]

35. Venus is even worse. n/t

[City Lights]

45. Agreed.

And when she does scream, she sounds like she's being murdered. It ruins the match.

[kentuck]

16. I wonder if they would be that wild in bed?

:-)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. Farting would be more entertaining...on TV.

[LWolf]

21. Other: Why is someone grunting while playing tennis

worthy of my time or attention to make a judgement?

[jesus_of_suburbia]

22. I've played tennis all my life.. and I grunt when I serve (of course I'm not a professional player)

Grunting with every stroke bothers me somewhat... but I know plenty of people who do it.

I only do it with the serve (and I'm NOT doing it to distract my opponent, I just do it).


If someone asks me not to, I try my best to not do it while I'm playing with them.

[Edweird]

24. You exhale on exertion. Anybody that wants to maxmize their effort does this.

I suspect the only reason it seems to obnoxious is due to the fact that tennis matches demand funeral parlor silence.

[Cetacea]

36. Federer doesn't "grunt".

What you described is what a grunt should be. What many of these players are doing is either screaming (William sisters) or making other sounds mostly to throw off the timing of the opponent. It should be banned.

[NashVegas]

52. The Complaint Is That It Masks The Sound of Racket Hitting the Ball

Listen to this woman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gpVtVz0Bm4&feature=player_embedded

(Although the sound of racket->ball is obvious to us, we're not on the opposite side of the court from her.)

What it comes down to is what ticket-buyers will put up with, IMO.

[rucky]

25. Without grunting in tennis, what else is there, really?

[Cetacea]

37. Artful grace?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kof5ETD4-4

slo-mo : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUutxJwAEoc&feature=related

[seabeyond]

26. i hear the grunt is before hit to distract opponent. chickenshit and weak. grunt as hitting

i dont care.

[BlooInBloo]

27. It passed normalville about 6 years ago, and will be through freakishville in another year...

I'm curious to see what town is next - bloodcurdlingscreamville?

[frebrd]

28. Hate it!

It's the main reason I stopped watching tennis matches.

[JBoy]

29. Sharapova grunts at over 100 dB.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4118708.stm

[Warpy]

31. Why not just eliminate the close microphones?

Yes, you'd hear less of a ball smack, but the grunts would be reduced, too.

I don't think up close and personal sound adds that much. There's a perfectly good reason for any athlete to grunt, but I don't particularly need to hear it full blast as though I were playing doubles with them.

[Chulanowa]

32. Slippery Slope, man... Slippery slope!

Today it's grunting, but tomorrow it's some dude shouting FIFTEEN-LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! like a mexican soccer announcer!

[Cetacea]

33. The greatest tennis player in the history of the game doesn't "grunt".

These players just do it to throw off the timing of their opponents. It's basically cheating, or at the very least, gamemanship.

A grunt is what you hear Federer doing as the air naturally escapes as he is serving. These other players are screaming.

[cwydro]

39. Nadal grunts quite loudly.

I'm not sure Federer gets the "greatest player in the history of the game" title either.

[Cetacea]

40. He also violates time limits routinely when he serves.

Most former greats would agree that Federer is , but his career is hardly over. It's always nice to meet a Nadal fan. You think he has a shot at the Open this year?

[cwydro]

47. Yes, if his knees hold out.

Big "if" there.

Plus I'm not so fast to count out Roddick on hard courts.

[Cetacea]

49. Roddick has a huge chance. Wimbledon was sooo close. n/t

[cwydro]

51. I just hope for a good match, whoever wins.

I would like it to be someone other than Mr. Mongram.

The women...I guess it'll be a Williams.

[City Lights]

46. Nadal also digs in his ass before each point. nt

[cwydro]

48. That has nothing to do with the subject at all.

But whatever.

[redqueen]

56. I thought they were referring to Martina.

:shrug:

[spin]

38. It could be similar to the Kiai used in martial arts...

In martial arts, the term commonly refers to a short yell before or during a strike or technique. Korean martial arts may call this sound a Yatz or Kihap (기합). In bujutsu (Japanese arts of war), it is usually linked to an inner gathering of energy released in a single explosive focus of will. Students of martial arts such as aikido, karate, kendo, taekwondo or judo (or related arts such as taiko drumming) use kiai when executing a technique. It also refers to the shout that accompanies some techniques when performing kata. Kiaijutsu is the Japanese art of using kiai when performing martial arts.

The proper use of kiaijutsu involves concentrating on the use of one's ki more than it does shouting. A sound is just an audible indication of good kiai (aligned body structure, focused intent, and good breathing). Kiai can be a silent;<1> coordination of breath with activity. A relaxed and powerful exhalation can add power to movement. This may be more accurately referred to as kokyu power. Kokyu and kiai are sometimes used interchangeably. The term kokyu, most often translated as breath power in English, is essentially the same as Chinese nei jin. It is the ability to coordinate breathing with the execution of a jin movement which is important.

The noise from a kiai is said to arise from the hara or dantien: it involves the abdominal muscles and diaphragm and should not be sounded merely from the throat.<2>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiai

[alfredo]

41. Wasn't it a TV actor that found the grunts by women players

"stimulating"?

[DailyGrind51]

42. It shows determined effort.

[Kickin_Donkey]

43. The thing is, they aren't grunting ...

Grunting involves the expulsion of air upon exertion; there's no, or little, vibration of the vocal chords.

What I hear in women's tennis are squeals or yelps that pierce the air.

I have no problem with real grunting. It's the yelps, a la Seles, that I find objectionable.

[Blue Diadem]

44. What is it with grunting? I heard a runner go by last week grunting.

With each step he grunted.

My husband and I looked at each other and said he must be watching too much tennis.

[Canuckistanian]

50. It's a tactic to unnerve the opponent

And it's a form of cheating if you ask me.

AND it's annoying to the spectators as well.

Michelle Larcher De Brito's "grunts" have been measured at 110 dB. That's not grunting - that's screaming.
http://newslite.tv/2009/06/24/grunting-tennis-star-wont-be-s.html

[me b zola]

54. Love it

I know that some would like to return to the day when women played daintily, but I love the hard hitting women players and their game. Venus may have the name of a goddess, but imo it is Serina who is the goddess of tennis.

[Condem]

55. Hey, mods.

Could you send this fucker back to where ever it came from?