The sound of the summer has arrived. <\/p>
Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane? No, it\u2019s the sound of your favourite tennis player in full flight.<\/p>\n
With another year of Wimbledon underway, a burning question for the armchair tennis fan remains\u2026 why do tennis players grunt?<\/p>\n
Grunting has become a signature element of many players\u2019 games, adding both drama and debate to the sport. Maria Sharapova (possibly the game\u2019s most famous grunter) famously reached 101 decibels.<\/p>\n
But the soundtrack to the worlds most famous racquet sport is not without its controversy, with discussions about its impact always at play, with some arguing it\u2019s not in the spirit of the game, and some legends of the game even going as far as to say it\u2019s cheating.<\/p>\n
RadioTimes.com<\/a> explores the history, science, and impact of Tennis grunting, and just why it\u2019s a unique aspect of the game.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no definitive answer for this, however, there are a few key theories that we explore below:<\/p>\n Some of the game\u2019s greats put it down to something as simple as releasing all the energy that builds up during a grueling match. One of the game\u2019s most famous coaches, Nick Bollettieri, claims grunting allows for a \u2018psychological and physiological release of tension\u2019 and was coincidentally responsible for training three of the game\u2019s biggest grunters, including Sharapova.<\/p>\n The most popular theory is one of gamesmanship. Many think that players are deviously letting out grunts to ensure their opponents can\u2019t hear how hard the ball is being hit, thus slowing down their reaction times. Former Australian Open champion and world number one Caroline Wozniacki backed this theory, stating: \u201cIf you grunt loudly your opponent cannot hear how you hit the ball. Because the grunt is so loud, you think the ball is coming fast and suddenly the ball goes slowly.\u201d<\/p>\n This has caused on and off-court issues across the men\u2019s and women\u2019s game, with several men\u2019s players taking to social media to indirectly fire criticism at some of their competitors.<\/p>\n Some players, both past and present, have argued that grunting is simply another part of the mechanics of hitting a tennis ball. One to watch out for over the next fortnight is two-time grand slam champion Victoria Azarenka, who grunts to synchronise breathing precisely with hitting the ball.<\/p>\n One (slightly) further-fetched theory is that grunting improves hitting performance for players. A study found that players were found to hit with a 3.8% increase in speed when grunting.<\/p> Check out more of our\u00a0Sport<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/b><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n The sound of the summer has arrived. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":54165,"template":"","categories":[1,7,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/why-do-tennis-players-grunt-during-matches-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/why-do-tennis-players-grunt-during-matches-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/why-do-tennis-players-grunt-during-matches-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/why-do-tennis-players-grunt-during-matches-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/why-do-tennis-players-grunt-during-matches-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/why-do-tennis-players-grunt-during-matches-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/why-do-tennis-players-grunt-during-matches-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The sound of the summer has arrived.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/54164"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why do tennis players grunt?<\/h2>\n
Releasing tension<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Confusing an opponent<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Improving rhythm<\/strong><\/h3>\n
More power<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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