Does anyone think tennis players aren't working?

women and men do grunt with equal frequency!

or quit going to her matches.

I thought it was the crowd making the noise, but it is sort of bizarre--almost Tourette Syndrome-like shrieking. But, I surely don't like the WTA going after the issue. It needs to be gender-neutral or not at all.

I find this even more annoying given how they are going about addressing it. Maybe they just need to hand out earplugs for those who find it so distressing.

they have been talking about this for years. a couple of both genders have used it and they say it is not all about exertion. but, the noise this woman was making is stupid.

Sharapova has served at 120+mph. no one is going to tell Sharapova what she can or can't do vocally on the court. moreover, women playing at that level are well accustomed to the noise, if they weren't they'd not be champions.

what they *are* going to do is train the girls and young women coming up in the sport using VU meters and penalizing for noise above a threshold. and help me out if i'm wrong... i'm not seeing where there's a similar initiative for young men and boys. so this is sending the message to young women that they must silence themselves...and that is sexist.

if they don't apply these same standards to boys and men, it is undeniably sexist.

cause there was a particular man that was excessive. i remember reading about it

but, what this woman is doing is not a grunt of exertion. and i have not heard any man use this sound.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but the fact that a man hasn't made a similar sound is no barometer IMO.

If they were wanting to do it before, than that's even more reason why any of this now should be applied to both or neither.

i think both gender use noise to effect the others performance.

having been in so many sports, and competitive for so many years, i am looking at it from that perspective. i think it could be as harmful to the person that is trying to use it as what they are trying to accomplish. so to me, as an athlete, i think it is silliness. but, i know athletes get these things in their heads.

if it is a natural thing for her, it is beyond odd. but, ok.... i would not want to make any adjustments. i do not know this woman, and i have not watched enough to make a judgment.

on the whole issue of making noise to have an advantage? i think it is unsportsmanlike. i was never into the games.

i dont think it is something that can be weighted on if done purposely or if natural so i think it cannot be something regulated.

this is just yelling.

Big difference.

Also the WTA is headed by a woman (she made this call). And male tennis players don't seem to do this.

Oh and in men's sports (I'm not sure about tennis specifically) there are lots of penalties if you just start screaming at another player.
Do that and you can be ejected from the game.

Some of her Whooos came after she hit the ball. Certain things do help with physical exertion and are even natural like grunting - you never hear an Olympic weightlifter be silent when doing a lift. I don't know what she thinks her whooos accomplish.

If she wants to do this, she should be made to break it up and throw in different noises like, "Hai-keeba!," "Hotcha!," and "Boogedy!" Maybe she could be the first athlete to endorse products through her vocalizations. Maybe companies would pay her to yell, "Audi!," or "Cheerios!" after each hit.

TlalocW

I wonder if the purpose is to psyche out her competitors? Seems to be working in this clip.

Neither gender should make unnatural obnoxious noises. I've inadvertently fallen asleep with my TV on and tuned to a channel that airs tennis early Sunday mornings. Nothing like being woken up by the grunts of some tennis player - male or female - especially when trying to sleep in.

....and she's hardly a tool of the patriarchy. The most disturbing thing to me is that many of the women who do "excessive grunting" do it most on big points (see: Williams, Serena); they can be playing at a normal noise level throughout most of the match, but on a break point, for example, they amp up the volume to unconscionable levels. That, to me, indicates that they see it as a kind of competitive advantage and that it distracts their opponents, who can hear the sound of the ball hitting the racquet far less clearly than otherwise.

...sport "should look like".

Other sports allow for progress, skis and bindings change, for example.

And swimmers began shaving their bodies and wearing custom low-drag suits.

Did anyone gripe about how these were unfair advantages???

I saw bring on the hoots and woots, and even the "Ki Ayes" and "Boogedys".

In contrast, conventional (old school) tennis is a bit TOO quite anyway, like golf.