The Benefits of loud grunting/yelling while hitting.

HunterST

HunterST

Hall of Fame
There have been studies showing that grunting allows players to hit harder without more effort. I have never really tried this because it's annoying for the opponent and a little obnoxious. Plus, I never really thought it would help much. Today, I gave it a show on some groundstrokes and serves. Surprisingly, I saw pretty marked improvement on the shots. Especially on serve, I think it allows you to be relaxed at impact. The bad part is, I only really felt the improvement when I really almost yelled. A little grunt didn't cut it.

This reminds me of a Malcolm Gladwell piece. He had research that showed underhand free throws, almost like granny shots, are actually superior to normal shooting. In fact, Wilt Chamberlain, who struggled with free throws, switched to underhand for a time and saw huge improvement. However, he was ultimately too embarrassed to continue with that technique and settled for sub-par free throw shooting. The same is true for other players who struggle with free throws. Even though they would benefit from the technique, they can't get passed the stigma.

What's your take on grunting while playing? Can it be beneficial? If so, should we be mavericks and ignore the stigma?
 
S&V-not_dead_yet

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
It would probably help me as I have a tendency to hold my breath during contact, especially the serve.

As for the maverick part, only you can answer that: are you more of a Wilt Chamberlain or a Rick Barry?
 
user92626

user92626

G.O.A.T.
I love a small grunting and I do it when I'm serious. I know precisely its benefits. Rhythm, concentration to name a few.

Sometimes I talk to myself and make sound effects to entertain and motivate myself. Today I rallied with an inconsistent player. It would have been very boring if I stayed quiet. :)
 
TagUrIt

TagUrIt

Hall of Fame
I don’t personally do it, but definitely see how it can be helpful. It goes to the theory of martial arts and a “Kiai”. When you make contact and simultaneously exhale there is an increase of energy expelled. It’s a little annoying when some pros do it, Simona Halep for example. She’s amazing, but I definitely have to to turn the sound down when I watch her play.
 
Curious

Curious

G.O.A.T.
Not sure about grunting but blowing the cheeks (like pronounced exhalation) seems to be very common among top players on groundstrokes . Two examples: Federer, G.Simon.
 
P

Pete Player

Hall of Fame
Exhaling will better the flow of effort for sure and is natural phenomena in making an effort like in doing the weights as well.

Holding our breath will exhaust us in long rallies faster.

I do grunt on serves, but not often on groundies nor volleys.

Once I remember having a conversation with my other coach cross the side fence and played few of my best rallies ever. Somehow concentrating to other things and the ball intensly got me off the fear of misshitting and the shots landed right, where I wanted.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Rafaboy

Rafaboy

Semi-Pro
definitely does help but its not a panacea.

a trending form if the grunt, is to imitate the phonetic grunts of a top player. eg. the amateur immitates the grunt of nadal, while listening to himself. so the biofeedback from the grunt itself tells his mind, that he is hitting like nadal. very effective, yet very hilarious from the onlooker or opponents.

another popular trending of the grunt, is instead of just an animalistic heave, the grunter actually pronounces the letter "A"

it imitates one of the pros, but i cant say which one. chung? nishikori? i believe its an popular asian grunt.

lastly, there is the subdued grunt, almost a supression, yet an effective, quieted release.
i can only describe it as trying to stifle a sneeze or a fart.

the player gives a good effort to not be offensive, yet at the last moment, there is the natural, almost inaudible release of expression.

i recently had the privilege to watch bouchard courtside. on tv you can barely detect any audible grunt, but in person, you can hear her sweet effort for a natural release.
 
Last edited:
J

justinnum1

New User
I was taking a clinic the other day and one of the coaches noticed i wasn't really breathing when the point started(i guess holding in my breath) so he said i should try grunting on each shot to force myself to breath
 
D

Dolgopolov85

G.O.A.T.
It does help get into a rhythm and that's why you see players start to grunt in a long rally. I am not sure it directly adds to your power output but it CAN make you embrace the aggression and swing hard without hesitation. Same deal with the serve. When I do a sort of Connors grunt (not intentionally) on the serve, I am putting in more effort and get a better outcome. So I think it's a psychological aid. On another note, from my admittedly limited experience of watching pro tennis live in the stadium, I didn't even find it all that annoying. And I DID watch female tennis players. I guess it's the on court mics that amplify grunts too much and make for annoying viewing.
 
FiReFTW

FiReFTW

Legend
Just exhale as you swing, usually I just breathe out with no grunt, from time to time when im really putting alot of effort with my body and also maybe in a not optimal position so I have to put more, I might get some quite grunt out.
 
F

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
HunterST said:
What's your take on grunting while playing? Can it be beneficial? If so, should we be mavericks and ignore the stigma?
Click to expand...

Chris Rock once offered the sage wisdom along the lines of, "I can drive a car with my feet. That don't make it a good idea!!"

Routine grunting or shrieking during play is a hindrance. Players can do fine without any of that hollering. Officials at the higher levels could grow up, start calling code violations, and it would disappear almost overnight.

Monica Seles wasn't squashed back in the day by the powers that be, the screaming has been popularized, and the WTA has been in a tailspin ever since. I can't stand it and I can't watch it, at least without turning down the volume on the TV. At the rec level, it's classless, disruptive... oh, and it's a hindrance. There's a rule against it.

Shut yer cake-hole, thank you.
 
I

Irrefutable

New User
Rafaboy said:
definitely does help but its not a panacea.

a trending form if the grunt, is to imitate the phonetic grunts of a top player. eg. the amateur immitates the grunt of nadal, while listening to himself. so the biofeedback from the grunt itself tells his mind, that he is hitting like nadal. very effective, yet very hilarious from the onlooker or opponents.

another popular trending of the grunt, is instead of just an animalistic heave, the grunter actually pronounces the letter "A"

it imitates one of the pros, but i cant say which one. chung? nishikori? i believe its an popular asian grunt.

lastly, there is the subdued grunt, almost a supression, yet an effective, quieted release.
i can only describe it as trying to stifle a sneeze or a fart.

the player gives a good effort to not be offensive, yet at the last moment, there is the natural, almost inaudible release of expression.

i recently had the privilege to watch bouchard courtside. on tv you can barely detect any audible grunt, but in person, you can hear her sweet effort for a natural release.
Click to expand...

I would love to hear Bouchard's sweet grunt.
 
S&V-not_dead_yet

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
TagUrIt said:
I don’t personally do it, but definitely see how it can be helpful. It goes to the theory of martial arts and a “Kiai”. When you make contact and simultaneously exhale there is an increase of energy expelled. It’s a little annoying when some pros do it, Simona Halep for example. She’s amazing, but I definitely have to to turn the sound down when I watch her play.
Click to expand...

Halep does not rank high on my annoying scale: the top tier are Sharapova, V. Williams, & Muguruza. I blame Seles.

I don't mind Cibulkova [who sounds like a martial artist] or Azarenka [who sounds like a very loud owl].
 
S&V-not_dead_yet

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
Pete Player said:
Once I remember having a conversation with my other coach cross the side fence and played few of my best rallies ever. Somehow concentrating to other things and the ball intensly got me off the fear of misshitting and the shots landed right, where I wanted.
Click to expand...

Try that with your opponent during the next match!
 
S&V-not_dead_yet

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
fuzz nation said:
Routine grunting or shrieking during play is a hindrance. Players can do fine without any of that hollering. Officials at the higher levels could grow up, start calling code violations, and it would disappear almost overnight.
Click to expand...

I saw a player [Haase?] get penalized not because he grunted all of the time but because he grunted once. His opponent was grunting like mad and Haase was not. Then Haase decided to grunt, probably as a "right back atcha" gesture and was immediately penalized.
 
F

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
S&V-not_dead_yet said:
I saw a player [Haase?] get penalized not because he grunted all of the time but because he grunted once. His opponent was grunting like mad and Haase was not. Then Haase decided to grunt, probably as a "right back atcha" gesture and was immediately penalized.
Click to expand...

I think I saw that, too. Reminded me of the way it goes too often in the NHL where one guy takes a cheap shot and the other guy goes to the sin bin after he retaliates.

I've generally always liked Haase. For some reason I get the impression that he's hilarious on a regular basis. Maybe the hair...
 
S&V-not_dead_yet

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
fuzz nation said:
I've generally always liked Haase. For some reason I get the impression that he's hilarious on a regular basis. Maybe the hair...
Click to expand...

I like Haase also although I don't seem to see him much in the YT videos.

There was one time he was playing Federer and a woman yelled out something like "Will you marry me, Roger?" and Haase yelled back "My name's 'Robin'!".
 
TagUrIt

TagUrIt

Hall of Fame
S&V-not_dead_yet said:
Halep does not rank high on my annoying scale: the top tier are Sharapova, V. Williams, & Muguruza. I blame Seles.

I don't mind Cibulkova [who sounds like a martial artist] or Azarenka [who sounds like a very loud owl].
Click to expand...


That’s actually a really good description of those players. (y)

Like everything in the board, everyone will have their opinions about to grunt or not grunt. You have to do what’s best for your game.
 
S

snoflewis

Legend
I played a doubles set two courts down from sharapova when she was practicing. The grunting/shrieking is pretty distracting
 
WestboroChe

WestboroChe

Hall of Fame
HunterST said:
There have been studies showing that grunting allows players to hit harder without more effort. I have never really tried this because it's annoying for the opponent and a little obnoxious. Plus, I never really thought it would help much. Today, I gave it a show on some groundstrokes and serves. Surprisingly, I saw pretty marked improvement on the shots. Especially on serve, I think it allows you to be relaxed at impact. The bad part is, I only really felt the improvement when I really almost yelled. A little grunt didn't cut it.

This reminds me of a Malcolm Gladwell piece. He had research that showed underhand free throws, almost like granny shots, are actually superior to normal shooting. In fact, Wilt Chamberlain, who struggled with free throws, switched to underhand for a time and saw huge improvement. However, he was ultimately too embarrassed to continue with that technique and settled for sub-par free throw shooting. The same is true for other players who struggle with free throws. Even though they would benefit from the technique, they can't get passed the stigma.

What's your take on grunting while playing? Can it be beneficial? If so, should we be mavericks and ignore the stigma?
Click to expand...
It helps me when I’m tight or starting to get tired at the end of a match. I certainly don’t do the Sharapova shriek but I let out a little “unhhh” when hitting and it definitely helps.
 
WestboroChe

WestboroChe

Hall of Fame
S&V-not_dead_yet said:
Halep does not rank high on my annoying scale: the top tier are Sharapova, V. Williams, & Muguruza. I blame Seles.

I don't mind Cibulkova [who sounds like a martial artist] or Azarenka [who sounds like a very loud owl].
Click to expand...
There was a Portuguese teen named DeBritto that let out the longest shriek after each shot. Thank god she wasn’t good enough to stick around.
 
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