Stop the Grunt

I find this article appearing in today’s newspaper is practical and yet amusing: A loud grunt as a ball is served down the court has almost become as part of the Wimbledon fabric. But that could all be about to change as tennis officials are considering a ban on emitting too much noise. Something needs to be done to govern the level of noise on the courts: “There is a need for some sort of regulation.”
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Used to watching badminton games on Television, we see that the players hardly utter any sound when the games are played. However, in tennis, especially the women’s players, every hit is accompanied with a loud scream. That was how I described the action until another runner friend corrected me that the right description is “grunt” or “grunting”.

Unfortunately, my tennis idol, Maria Sharapova, is the Queen of Grunt. As I said before, I got to love what my idol is doing. Here is the statistic:

The Grunters (in decibles)

Lion’s roar = 110
Maria Sharapova = 101
Monica Seles = 93.2

Imagine for every shot when Maria hit, we hear a lion roar in almost similar loudness. That is not easy to get use to. As for Minica Seles, she groans so loud that she is not far from Maria. Imagine for every shot, you would hear Minica Seles emitting a long, low sound just like she is experiencing a strong pain.
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Do you think the players are taught grunting? Well, the coach says: “We have always taught the proper ways to breathe in and out. Players grunt because it helps them release energy and keep focused.” On the other hand, certain opponents complain that the disturbing and distracting sound made them loosing focus, and lost in the games.

Well, if you like to hear players grunt, do enjoy the games before the grunting is being regulated.

click here for all postings on Maria Sharapova (scroll down the pages).

Photos of Maria Sharapova are extracted from the official website.

Written by KC
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