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Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Grunting At The Tennis .....

I’ve been watching a bit of the Australian Open Tennis on TV over the past week or so. There have been some fantastic matches, and some not so fantastic ones, too. I am not usually a tennis-watcher, but for some reason, this year, I have been really interested. However, one thing which I have found really off-putting, is the grunting / moaning / yelling that some of the women do every time they hit the ball (Maria Sharapova is one of the offenders !). What is it with that ?? It is awful. I heard one TV commentator likening it to a form of cheating, as the opponent is unable to hear how the ball hits the racquet, as the person is making so much noise, thus not being able to judge how the ball will fly / fall. Makes sense to me !!! Anyway, I just wish they would stop it … it almost sounds obscene, like they’re enjoying the game a little too much. LOL. What do you think ??

MEOW

10 comments:

Viamarie said...

I am not a tennis fan either but I get to watch it because my husband watches all the matches. The grunting sound can be annoying but I try not to pay attention to it. It's their way of releasing the power they put in their swing.

Btw, thanks for dropping by.

JM said...

It does sound awful and gets on my nerves. However as a tennis player myself (country club style, nothing really competitive) I must say that I've accidently grunted a time or two. It's a mixture between exhaustion and trying to catch your breath. And sometimes the ball is coming so hard that you must hit hard just to get it going in the opposite direction.

JM said...

Oops, I hit the thing too early. I also think that the sound it makes coming off the racket doesn't exactly tell where the ball is going to go. You can usually tell where the ball is going to go based on the position of the racket face and shoulder/stance of the person hitting it. It's much more predictable to look at the racket position.

Jamie Dawn said...

I don't watch tennis, but constant grunting would bug me too.
I have watched some Wimbledon matches in the past, but I don't recall there being too much of that.
You'd think they'd have a sore throat by the end of the match.

Kyahgirl said...

Meow, meow!
This is funny. I hate to hear the continous grunting too. Its seems a bit put on!

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Viamarie, I'm not a regular tennis watcher, and the grunting is putting me off. I spose it is their way of releasing power, but every shot, all the time ... that's ridiculous.

Connie, You sound like a tennis fan. I tried learning once ... guess it's just not me. Nice to watch, though.

Angel, Good on you for being a tennis player, as I said, I am useless at it. Grunting occasionally is ok, I'm sure I would too, but all the time ... as Lleyton Hewitt says ... Come On !!! As for the racquet sound and where the ball is going, I was only repeating what the commentator was saying ... I don't actually know !!!

Jamie, Yeah, I reckon they'd have sore throats, too !!

Kyahgirl, I think it is a bit put on, too. Good on ya !!

Thanks all for coming to visit.

Take care now,
Meow

Michelle said...

The grunting in pro tennis by women especially, has been going on for years. It annoys me too and gets on my nerves, but as a racquetball player, i do the same thing! I don't do it on purpose, it's more of a reflex action.

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Fair enough .... but some of them almost yell - Maria Sharapova is a good (bad !!) example. She is making a real squealing noise ... very off-putting, very weird ... that's not just a grunt !!

Justine said...

Did you watch the Haas/Federer match? Boy that was good! Haas just made his comeback too late - I would have loved to see him win.
He can grunt all he likes as far as I'm concerned (I suppose it assists my imagination!)

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Justine, I sort of watched the match, although I had a newsletter to type for a friend, so was a little bit pre-occupied (bugger!). Shame he didn't win, though ... he's a cutie !!! I guess the grunting sometimes sounds almost orgasmic ... makes the imagination go, doesn't it !!!
Have a great day.