To grunt or not to grunt..
That has been the question of a lot of tennis players and fans alike for some time now.
I mean, does it really help? Or is belting out a loud yelp or scream just something that players like Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova do to be annoying?
Well, science says it’s both. Thanks to a new study published in the journal, Public Library of Science ONE, we now have at least some concrete evidence that suggests that a “grunt” could actually give the aggressor a strategic and competitive edge and really do some damage to the receiving player’s game.
Two psychologists, from both the University of Hawaii and the University of British Columbia, recently conducted a survey which showed that making “extraneous sound” while a player is awaiting an oncoming ball can cause their response/reaction to decrease both in the speed and accuracy departments.
The findings of the experiment also gave support to the idea that grunting could compromise the receiver’s judgment when attempting to read and analyze the spin and speed of a ball as well.
How did they come to this conclusion?
The two behind the study, Dr. Scott Sinnett and Dr. Alan Kingstone, took 33 students from western Canada and showed them 374 video clips of a player hitting a ball to either the left or the right. In half of those clips, the player added a loud grunt while hitting his ball, and in the other half he remained silent.
Then, upon hearing the ball hitting the player’s racket, the students had to decide on the direction it would take. And they couldn’t sit there all day trying to decide. It was imperative they come up with an definitive answer right away.
And what happened? Well, what was noticed was that the scores of those students suffered a significant drop off when viewing shots where the player made extra noise or became very vocal.
It quickly became harder to distinguish the ball’s trajectory and destination – much more difficult than it was when they viewed clips where no outside noise was provided (…when they only had to deal with the ball hitting the strings).
After this observation, Dr. Sinnett gave his obvious conclusion of the results when players are forced to analyze the shot of a grunting opponent. “They were basically slower and could actually be wrong-footed, if you could extend that to a real-world tennis court.”
OK, so they’re slower. But now you’re probably wondering exactly how much slower and how much longer a player would have to wait to make a movie, right?
Well, based on the findings, it suggests that a tennis ball struck along with a loud grunt can travel a whopping 2 extra feet in the air before the opponent is able to respond. Wow, that’s a lot of lost time, isn’t it? You bet!
Now, this is shocking, sure. But not surprising at all, if you ask me. If you think about it, these results truly make a lot of sense. How so?
Well, I’ve always believed that the sound exerted during racket-ball contact can be a great indicator of what type of shot will be generated and where the ball may actually land inside (…or outside) the court.
For example, a player hitting a hard flat-bomb (…right in the sweet-spot) is going to sound much different than a backspin, slice shot, or even a mishit.
Hearing these sounds can assist you in understanding the proper positioning and stance you’ll need to acquire, in order to complete worthwhile return – two concepts extremely critical in the world of tennis strategy.
| Examples include: A. The Flat Bomb (loud bang) = Stay back, execute a neutral or even defensive shot in return… Very quick and possibly short/contracted back-swing B. The Slice (knife cutting an apple) = Be patient, advance or stay neutral, multiple options on the reply (…topspin, slice, flat). C. The Mis-hit or Broken String (BOOINNNNG) = Up the aggression! Prepare to advance forward to possibly put the ball away. |
And with that, there comes an extra moment of indecision. The receiving player is forced to wait a fraction of a second longer and (…24 inches of ball flight) to make his move. So, he’ll find himself a step behind, when he could have been well on top of things.
It’s the same thing in baseball. Time is incredibly crucial there as well. You need to be able to react within a split-second of contact. The sound of that ball hitting the end of the bat is going to give you a big clue as to which area of the field the players should cover.
And heck, now you have multiple players (…more than 5) involved. So, it’s importance is magnified. Make the wrong move there, and you’ll run into one another and fall flat on your butt.
But when the volume of the crowd reaches a certain decibel, it becomes much harder to know where that thing is going (…grounder, left-field-right-field, or center field). Again, you lose that second and forced to wait. The only difference in tennis is, the player can control the noise. He can release it or silence it on a whim.
So, if you want to slow down your opponent in your next match, go ahead and grunt. Feel free to open up those vocal chords! But hey, you don’t want to make it a point to be as loud as possible or overdo it. That’ll displace your focus.
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Now before I head out, let me ask you… Is this strategy a fair one? Many people, like Martina Navratilova, have believe grunting is awful and should be banned from tennis or at least be made punishable by the commission.
But if you ask the legendary tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, who has coached many “grunters” like Andre Agassi, he says grunting is natural and no action should be taken.
So… With all that said and the new evidence provided… Should grunting be banned from the tennis? Is there a significant enough of an unfair advantage in play here? Or should we all just forget about it and play tennis, because all is fair in tennis warfare? What do you think?
Have a great week guys!
Brian
TennisMindCamp
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