Professional tennis players and their grunts

[t-bob]

Anyone with The Tennis Channel, listen to Azarenko's "grunts". She sounds like she's having an orgasm every time she hits the ball. I don't understand. If the crowd has to be silent, why can't she, and others, shut the fuck up.
I played with a guy who grunted a little bit years back, and it distracted me. I asked him to stop, and he did. Classy guy.

[Russell Letson]

Mar 27, 2011 20:12:10 GMT -5 t-bob said:

If the crowd has to be silent, why can't she, and others, shut the fuck up.

Follow the money.

[omaha]

Well, the above description got my attention...and sent me to youtube to discover the orgasmic nature of these grunts.



Reaction? Well, I guess I should start by saying I've never been with a woman who made that sound! Sounds more like she is making laser-beam-photon-torpedo sound effects to me.

:-)

[t-bob]

Jeff, I know it's not exactly the right sound, but it was even longer today. She barely had time to finish it before the ball was back and she had to start all over again.

[millring]

It drives me crazy. I can't watch women's tennis with the sound on.

[John B]

I didn't hear anything unusual. But why didn't they scare off that crow? It was very distracting.

[Deleted]

Have you checked out Michelle Larcher de Brito's noises. They're funny.

The fellas are pretty funny sometimes too -

[frazer]

This is one of the reasons I don't watch tennis at all now. I prefer just to play. I swear a lot but I don't grunt.

[theevan]

Hell, I grunt when I tie my shoes.

Tennis is out of the question, I guess.

[Don Clark]

[Deleted]

If it's really some kind of issue (hard for me to imagine), it'd probably be pretty easy to impose some kind of rule against a player making some kind of loud noise during play. I think what you'd see is a pretty distinct division between players and spectators regarding the rule, or enforcement. Very few players, I suspect, are seroiusly bothered by the noise-- they have other things to think about, and won't notice it. Spectators/linesmen may be troubled by it. Kind of like the "dress in white" rule that used to exist in the same sport. Spectators/fans probably really thought it important, the players... not so much.

Athletes are known for some behaviors that seem pretty strange. So, I really don't comprehend the "why" as to the noise. Perhaps, at a lower level of play, the noise might distract or disturb a casual amatuer opponent, and the player is trying to get any edge (s)he can. Or, the player feels the noise is part of his/her timing on each stroke. Once a habit, the grunting continues, even when the player is facing professionals who wouldn't even hear a cannon going off next to the court. I KNOW for sure if I was in a competitive match, and an opponent asked if I'd stop--- he'd be hearing a MUCH louder noise for the rest of the match. If it's a friendly match, maybe knock it off. So, perhaps it starts as kind of a deliberate distraction, and then becomes a bad habit. So, the question is: Should spectator/fans make such rules, or players?

[theevan]

Those are some funny/maddening videos.

[Deleted]

Aren't we all glad that there is a volume control on TV? I don't watch tennis much, and never noticed the grunts before. EVERY time I watch that sport, the volume is at zero. Not because the grunts bother me. There used to be some announcer that worked major tournaments (Bud something) that was a total, wretched idiot who could not resist saying something incredibly stupid EVERY TIME he spoke. Now that he's gone, I'll have to adjust the volume and see if the grunts are as bothersome as a that dickhead announcer.

[patrick]

Mar 27, 2011 20:12:10 GMT -5 t-bob said:

I played with a guy who grunted a little bit years back, and it distracted me. I asked him to stop, and he did. Classy guy.

Obviously, he wasn't having very good orgasms when he was playing with you.

Just an observation.

[t-bob]

Bud Collins is the guy. Amazingly enough, the players mostly all liked him. But probably because they didn't have to listen to his match commentary. Very knowedgable about the game.

The noise they make still baffles me. Many top-ranked players have made it through their whole career without grunting. Exhaling on stroke impact is very helpful, especially on the serve when one controls everything about the shot.

I need to accept this. It's not going away.

[Supertramp78]

next up we will tell football players or karate experts to be quiet when they do their thing too.

[omaha]

That reminds me of something I heard Lyle Alzado say during his (sadly, all too brief) broadcasting career. He was complaining about the "crowd noise" rule, and said (dripping with sarcasm, obviously) "Yeah, lets keep it down! Those guys are trying to play football here!"

[Supertramp78]

oh man, don't get me started.....

Do they still have the excessive crowd noise rule? Stupid. Almost as stupid as the excessive celebration rule. The best way to keep a team fom celebrating excessively is to beat their ass.

[t-bob]

Mar 29, 2011 13:20:20 GMT -5 Supertramp78 said:

next up we will tell football players or karate experts to be quiet when they do their thing too.

It's not the same, and you know it. The quiet rule is observed at all levels of tennis. If it gets changed, fine. Until then...
I played a league match against a guy who walked to the court from home - a farm - and one of his effing roosters followed him, and crowed practically non-stop. I quit the match trailing badly, and won by default awarded by the tournament director, but not the way I wanted to win, so we re-played w/o the rooster. I won.

[John B]

Other players have complained when playing against the "grunters." Apparently it is a distraction for the other player, regardless of skill level.