Tennis Grunters Gain Advantage

In most venues, including health clubs and tennis courts, grunting is considered bad manners. But in tennis matches where the stakes are high, it might be worth sacrificing social points for match points, which, according to research conducted at the University of British Columbia, is what grunting can get you. A university news release reports on a study for which UBC students viewed videos of a tennis player hitting a ball to either side of a tennis court. Half of the shots were accompanied with a brief, 60–decibel sound at the same time as contact, comparable in volume to the grunts of such tennis stars as Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal. When the students were asked to indicate the direction of each shot in as quickly and accurately as possible, the researchers found that the “grunts” significantly slowed the response times and accuracy of participants. The scientists estimate that a tennis ball struck along with a loud grunt can travel an extra two feet before the opponent is able to respond, and could increase the likelihood that opponents are wrong-footed, or out of position, and make returning the ball more difficult. They point out that the effects of grunts would be even greater on faster surfaces, such as the grass courts of Wimbledon or hard courts of the Australian and U.S. Open.

Read more from the University of British Columbia.