Sign the GRUNTING in Tennis Petition #2

photo credit:alphababy 

Is GRUNTING good for the integrity of the game or is it turning more people and sponsors away?

See part 1 by clicking this link -> Sign the GRUNTING in Tennis Petition #1.

Once noise hindrance by grunting it is added to the code, players who grunt would be subject to the usual code of conduct process. This outlines that a warning is issued for a 1st offence, 1 point penalty for 2nd offence, losing a game for a 3rd offence and being defaulted from the match for a 4th offence.

The grunting has gotten so out of hand that people post tennis players grunting on You Tube because they think the grunting is so ridiculous and extreme, that it is funny. Surely, this does not add to the integrity of the game.

If you click the following link you can view an example of Maria Sharapova (pictured above) and Venus Williams going too far http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRb5niH5GSw

The rules of tennis give the umpire the power to award a point against a player if the umpire believes that player has hindered his or her opponent. This power is supplied via the hindrance rule. 

When a grunt lasts into their opponents’ preparation of their stroke then the receiving player’s shot is certainly being hindered. Grunting loudly enough through the collision of the ball and racquet to disguise the telltale sound of the ball coming off the racquet gives the grunter an unfair advantage. 

Not being able to hear the ball off the racquet throws off your timing and makes it harder to judge the ball for your own stroke. Try playing with headphones on so you cannot hear.

For those tennis coaches who are teaching their players to grunt in order to intimidate their opponent, we challenge you to use your coaching skill to get results for your players rather than reinforcing this unsportsmanlike conduct.

Coaching players to deliberately grunt is stupid and if you are being taught to grunt then you should look for a new coach, as your current coach is most likely all talk and no substance.

There is a physiological advantage to exhaling rather than choosing to grunt. Exhaling during the exertion phase of any exercise means you will preserve energy, reduce anxiety and tension and be able to perform the movement more effectively.

The longer, slower and closer to full exhalation you achieve the better off you will be because your movements are more likely to be long and smooth, just like Roger Federer. Federer served 50 aces in the 2009 Wimbledon final and he doesn’t grunt.

When all is said and done, the greater good of the game needs to come before individual players and what they choose to do.

Everything should be done to maximise the number of people who watch broadcast tennis and their level of enjoyment in doing so. Many sponsorship dollars are going begging as so many people find the grunting to irritating, so cannot bear to watch when it occurs too much.