What happened to penalizing excessive grunting?

[zebedee]

What's happened to penalise the screamers? Why, the punters are turning away in droves.

The WTA is having a hard time hanging on to its sponsors presently. More fool them if they hang around waiting for the nth generation to cease the practice.

[bjsnider]

The only player I can watch on the women's side is Aggie Radwanska. I have to mute audio most of the time for the other players, or they seem to quit easily, or they're ridiculously out of shape and so on.

[rajah84]

Originally Posted by dje31

I thought they were going to warn and penalize excessive grunting at the beginning of the 2012 season. Here it is a year later, and grunting / shrieking is just as bad, if not worse.

I seem to recall some dopey exception for the older players, as there's no way they could control or alter it (unless they're on the practice courts). So only the younger guard would be warned or penalized.

I find myself either a. not watching matches with grunters; b. rooting for non-grunters; or c. muting the tv.

I know I'm not alone.

Don't you know already? In today's times, to talk about something is to do it.

[dje31]

Oops...I must not have gotten the memo.

Honestly, I'd much rather they enforce the grunting / shrieking rule than the 25-second stalling rule.

[dje31]

Azarenka, in addition to the ridiculous panic attack / faux MTO, is particularly egregious in her shrieking. During the semis, she was at net---shocking in itself, I know---and hit an easy, even classic-style volley---even more shocking---instead of the swinging topspin driving volley that have become the norm.

Virtually no effort required, besides holding out the racquet...and still shrieked like a hoot owl on crack.

At the risk of repeating myself, I'd much rather they enforce the grunting / shrieking rule than the 25-second stalling rule.

[AtTheNet]

Originally Posted by bjsnider

The only player I can watch on the women's side is Aggie Radwanska. I have to mute audio most of the time for the other players, or they seem to quit easily, or they're ridiculously out of shape and so on.

Muting the audio is probably the way to go. When watching a match with a "shrieker" playing, the sound is just about intolerable to me. I think that it goes way beyond acceptable behavior, and in many cases is a deliberate technique to distract or annoy one's opponent.

[Bobby Jr]

I just don't know why a few players who don't do it don't start doing major, excessive whails whenever they hit the ball as if to take the mickey out of their opponent. If/when the umpire says anything they can claim it's involuntary.

Either that or, what happens if - after every single point - someone like Radwanska walks up to the umpire and complains? I mean EVERY single point - claiming that it distracts her own play. Surely it would make enough of a scene that it would attract tons of attention from the media - the likes of which the tour doesn't want.

The non-abusers haven't complained enough in the past about this and, without continued public mention of players complaining, the tour wont ever get to the point where they're embarrassed enough to actually get serious about it. If it became the main story about women's tennis during major events they would start getting serious imo. Sponsors would have a fit and commentators would have a field day.

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

Originally Posted by Bobby Jr

I just don't know why a few players who don't do it don't start doing major, excessive whails whenever they hit the ball as if to take the mickey out of their opponent. If/when the umpire says anything they can claim it's involuntary.

Umpires are not stupid, and players would be warned for disrupting play. Aside from that, its just plain childish.

Either that or, what happens if - after every single point - someone like Radwanska walks up to the umpire and complains? I mean EVERY single point - claiming that it distracts her own play.

She's not going to do that, as it would make her appear like a weak child--particularly as she's played so-called "screamers" for so long without complaint. Further, whining about star players has as much chance of changing anything as flapping your arms and expecting to fly. She would not to call attention to herself.

without continued public mention of players complaining, the tour wont ever get to the point where they're embarrassed enough to actually get serious about it.

..or players could do their job and defeat so-called "screamers" to end the possibility of hearing it for another day.

[Bobby Jr]

Originally Posted by THUNDERVOLLEY

Umpires are not stupid, and players would be warned for disrupting play. Aside from that, its just plain childish.

They can say it's their new hitting technique. Umpires wont be able to warn them for disrupting play without it attracting negative press which is the point of the exercise. It just takes someone ballsy enough to make it stick. Perhaps they could limit their wailing to just under the amount needed to get warned but enough that it's obvious what it is: a parody of the opponent.

Originally Posted by THUNDERVOLLEY

She's not going to do that, as it would make her appear like a weak child--particularly as she's played so-called "screamers" for so long without complaint....

I think if enough bad PR was attracted and someone had the balls to speak out when asked the WTA/ITF would be on the back foot more than they like and avoiding the issue would not be an option. Again though, it would take someone ballsy enough to make it happen.

[Relinquis]

A- They do it on purpose because it distracts players or messes with timing. It works. It wins them points.
B- The phenomenon got worse over time. In the beginning people thought it was cute/sign-of-effort/not-a-big-deal/turn-on. By the time Sharapova started doing her multi-tonal shrieking it was an established part of women's tennis.
C- Do mainstream fans of women's tennis fans complain about it? i doubt this is the case. Commentators don't count. They just use it for filler in their conversations.
D- No one will/should do anything about it unless the non-shrieker players complain about it. They won't because they're too afraid of looking weak in front of their fans/opponents.

Solution: Teasing and ridicule go a long way in lending moral support against the practice. Not watching women's tennis can help with symptoms. Who wants to watch tennis on mute without hearing the ball?

[Moose Malloy]

I just don't know why a few players who don't do it don't start doing major, excessive whails whenever they hit the ball as if to take the mickey out of their opponent.

Tarango did that vs Muster at the '97 French. Muster didn't shake his hand afterward.

Either that or, what happens if - after every single point - someone like Radwanska walks up to the umpire and complains? I mean EVERY single point - claiming that it distracts her own play. Surely it would make enough of a scene that it would attract tons of attention from the media - the likes of which the tour doesn't want

Navratilova & Tauziat both complained about Seles' grunts to the umpire at '92 Wimbledon which attracted tons of attention from the media. Nothing really came of it after the tournament. Funny that this is still an issue 20 years later.
Capriati also complained about Seles' grunt at a tourney in '01 or '02.

[mellowyellow]

Think if its normal for player through match entirety thats fine to a point, but I believe it is so common on the circuits that its only the ones that are a little displeasing to the ear that attract so much attention. It bothers me whe someone like a Serena suddenly starts in a match after 20 -30 minutes and only does it for a few points when things get tight.