To Grunt or Not To Grunt

That is the question. One Australian girl appears to have had this decision made for her. The 9 yr old tennis player was recently banned for a month from playing at her local club due to the noise she makes during competition. In other words, she grunts loud.

This has to be the first case of grunting gone bad. Although there is something about the word grunt in general that makes you not like it. When is a grunt a good thing? Even baby grunts are not cute.

Grunting in tennis is just a glorified scream really. Monica Seles has often been dubbed the Originator of the grunt. She even leveraged her grunting into some lucrative marketing campaigns. The most notable current tennis grunter is of course Maria Sharapova. She just so happens to be this little girl’s favorite player. Maybe the reason people don’t have a problem with Sharapova grunting is the fact that she looks a this. Why do I feel like being bossed around after watching one of her matches? In bed.

But apparently grunting is a part of her game. And the question has to be does grunting give an athlete a competitive advantage? I had to get to the truth of the power behind the grunt. And so, in an attempt to create my own episode of Sports Science, the Grunt Experiment was born. Using one of those Drive Slower MPH Detectors parked on the side of the road, I tested the Grunt Hypothesis that shots hit with a grunt move faster than shots hit without a grunt. The results just may shock you.

I managed to hit the tennis ball 125 MPH faster with the grunt. I have since decided to utilize the grunt in all facets of my life. Never before have I typed so strongly. I will be needing a new keyboard however.

So does grunting actually create more power behind the tennis shot? Yes. The answer is a definitive yes. Don’t be the guy to go against science dude.