The Responsibility Project^®. Exploring what it means to do the right thing

Should Tennis Players Cut the Racket?

21 Comments

August 24, 2009 by Kathy McManus

Wimbledon is over, but there’s still a racket being made.

About grunting.

Tennis officials are considering a crackdown on high-decibel player grunts increasingly heard on courts from Paris to London, trying to determine if the exhalations are natural or naughty.

"Chief grunter non-gratis is 16-year-old Portuguese tennis star Michelle Larcher de Brito," who was so noisy during the recent French Open that her opponent complained and an unofficial warning was issued.

Unlike tennis’s early grunters—including Monica Seles and Jimmy Connors--Larcher de Brito’s shrill sounds are seemingly unprecedented in volume and duration, extending well after she hits the ball over the net, leaving opponents sometimes struggling to hear anything else. “You depend on the sound that the ball makes when it hits your racket, and then you see it,” explains tennis great Martina Navratilova, who objects to the unfair advantage and spreading vogue of mega-grunting players. “They’re making noises as if they’re lifting…300 pounds,” she says. “The ball is not that heavy.”

A British sports writer observed, “I went to watch Michelle Larcher de Brito, aka, ‘The Princess of Wails’ practice the other day, and she was quiet as a mouse.” "So," the writer wondered, "is the gist of her grunting “a form of gamesmanship or is it simply a release of tension?”

Larcher de Brito’s wail has been measured at 109 decibels, a whisker beneath a lion’s roar of 110 decibels. Tennis champ Maria Sharapova, also the subject of grunter gripes, clocks in at 101 decibels. “Noise hindrance” is being considered by The International Tennis Federation as an addition to its code of conduct, and grievous grunters could find themselves forfeiting points, a game, and possibly an entire match.

Larcher de Brito insists she’s not being irresponsible, and that rules prohibiting grunting would be too restrictive. “I don’t think it would be fair if you’re not allowed to shriek or scream or grunt,” she said. “It’s part of the game.”

Tell us what you think: Does excessive grunting give tennis players an unfair advantage over opponents? Does pro tennis need a no-grunting rule?

21 Comments

What do you think? Leave a comment

• August 27, 2009 by Jamesj1

  While a sharp exhalation of breath at the moment of impact (whether it be tennis, karate,boxing,etc.) does increase the power, the vocalisms that some tennis players display is absurd. A conscious effort has to be made to expend the energy necessary to "scream" at the level some do. I suspect the ' see how loud I can yell attitude' is done for entirely different reasons.

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  • September 10, 2009 by Jett

    I've watched some of her matches. The ball has left her racket when she starts grunting and she doesn't stop until it's back in her side of the court. Some of them are that long. I watched one video where the guy taping it was laughing at her ridiculous noises. It didn't improve her game at all. She lost.

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• August 30, 2009 by theresa holman

  What suit one person may not suit another let peopple exercise their right to make sounds without biases. Theresa Holman

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• September 25, 2009 by Sinjun

  This i happen to think is a little too much. We have been pushing towards a very sensitive society for quite sometime now, and i fear we are getting into the absurd oversensitive range, if we are not already there at the moment. If I were to play against someone who grunted when they hit the tennis racket, you know what i would do? Adapt.. I would adapt to the situation and continue to play. Sometimes we should just stop complaining and learn that well the thing to do is get over it and get on with your life.

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• October 4, 2009 by Ben

  I feel that it is ironic for this to be of an issue. The game of tennis was meant to be one that is civilised, victory is based on skill, experience and endurance. There's no need to grunt to intimidate or make the game more exciting. Good tennis players like Federer (exception for Nadael) seem more sophisticated without the grunting.

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• October 23, 2009 by Bob42

  Johnson Controls where he talked about this. ,

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• October 23, 2009 by King Jake

  I am very appauled by this article and confused why this is a problem. Science has proven that when an athlete grunts, or exhales that extra strength has been gained. Other women sports including softball(the pitcher) or volleyball(the server) usually involves loud grunts and never has been a problem. Even some men grunt in tennis and that has never been a distraction. I don't think that any changes should be made, or they would have to improvise on all athletics. A perfect example would be a football game, the away quarterback has so much distraction with noise in the stands and sidelines, but it is a part of the game.

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• November 16, 2009 by joe jackson

  tennis grunting is like a woman having a babby.when a woman is having a babby you can not tell them ,not to grunt.it,s like telling them to have the babby with out, the pain .for some people it,s in possible.please let them have there grunt.god have mercey.please it,s only a game.

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• January 28, 2010 by Richard E. Maloon

  I believe the grunting should be banned. I never liked John McEnroe's posturing in the 1970s for the men and I don't like women or men grunting in tennis today. It is a sign of weakness. A full diaphram adds to core strength. Exhaling, especially through vocal cords, does not enhance strenth. To me it is just a silly, temper tantrum like symptom. It SHOULD be banned. Yelling is not necessary. Sometimes it happens. But not every match, game, set. Just because people do it does not make it right. It is poor sportsmanship. I think too many people are saying it is okay just to appease players to get on with the game because there is no rule in place to hold someone "in contempt". True strong athletes, even precise ones at maximum exertion, don't grunt like the what I have heard lately.

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• February 22, 2010 by Tyler Batchelder

  Tennis players like myself wail to get our opponents distracted and keep their minds off of the tennis court.

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• May 29, 2010 by anna lightner

  Grunting should not be allowed in professional tennis. Period. End of story.

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• July 1, 2010 by BL Bryan

  It seems reasonable to put an objective limit on the volume of exhalations, and to declare that by rule anything beyond that is objectively a distraction. Certainly a level dangerous to the ears, if sustained, is objectively distracting. Even though it isn't reasonable to expect a person to be totally silent when hitting a tennis ball as hard as she can, a player can surely learn during practice to keep her noise level below 85 or 90 decibels!

  While it might be challenging to measure what is the player's contribution and what comes from the crowd, I think it is possible for an umpire aided with a measuring device to decide when the grunt goes too far above background noise. It is worth looking into.

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• August 19, 2010 by Eduardo Palacio

  Of course NOT !!, you take away of focusing in what they are doing so well,it becomes natural for them ,go for it,specially Maria Sharapova and every body else...

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