Should It Matter if You Make a Grunting Noise on the Tennis Court?

A girl in Australia has been told she can't continue to place tennis at her club if she keeps up the grunting sounds while she plays. Here's an excerpt from Fox:

(Her father says) "There's no rule against it, so they've made a rule against it."

 

Edwards said the club had asked him for an assurance Lauryn would remain silent on the court.

 

"They told me to guarantee she won't grunt or she can't play," he said.

 

"How can I guarantee that? She's been doing it since she was really little. She's her own person. What do they want me to do? Put Band-Aids over her mouth? They made her cry on the court when they told her."

 

Lauryn, who has attention deficit disorder, has been playing tennis since the age of four, after it was recommended by her school psychologist at Sunbury Primary to burn energy and keep her focused.

 

Dubbed Lauryn Sharapova by an old coach, she said she played better when grunting.

 

"It feels natural to do my noise. I'm not faking it," Lauryn said. "It makes me play better. When I don't do it, I don't play my best tennis. And now people have told me I can't play if I do it."

Oh, PLEASE! If I were really nice this post would read: What!? They're telling an 8-year-old girl she can't make obnoxious grunting noises on the tennis court while she plays?

Her parents should sue them for damaging her self-esteem and some kind of restraint-of-play thing. It's just awful. You can't make guttural sounds on the tennis court when you play? This is against all human dignity. Plus she's got ADD -- you people are just cruel.

But instead, I'm going to say, "Can you make that universal?" Aerobics instructors shouldn't squeal. And tennis players shouldn't grunt.

Do surgeons need to make odd, offensive noises while they operate? Do dressage riders have to grunt when they're asking for a really hard movement (the answer is "no" and they'd be penalized if they did)? Shut up on the tennis courts, okay? All of you. If you get hit in the belly really, really hard, then, okay. You can grunt. But otherwise, how about restoring some class and dignity to the game?

Comments

[Angry]

What a ridiculous notion... banning her for grunting... she’s 9 for goodness sake.

Half the top players would have to leave the court if it became a universal ban. Don’t get me wrong here, I find it very annoying to watch the top players who grunt, and I can’t imagine playing against a grunter it would drive me to distraction (hey wait a minute... maybe that’s why they grunt). So much so that I’d be aiming the ball at their mouth and not playing the right tennis shot.

Leave her be, some people grunt when they exert themselves and others break wind (that reminds me, I must do a post on the time when I saw a man fart with every step as he was carrying a heavy object, it won’t be long and she’ll find something else instead of tennis to burn up energy with... after all she does have ADD.

[Anne]

So, Angry, are you saying that next we should allow people to break wind on the tennis court?

All I want to hear on the court is the sound of the ball hitting the strings and the pitter-patter of really fast feet.

[groovyoldlady]

That's like the health club chain that will boot you out for grunting while you lift weights.

Totally assinine.

Grunting during extreme exertion is normal and natural and powerful.

[Anne]

I guess this really does make me an old fart. I think people should keep their exertion sounds to themselves with the exception of heavy breathing, and then only if they've brushed their teeth (or are calling my name).

I would love to join that health club chain. Which one is it?