DALLAS, TX – Pickleball gets a lot of criticism for being too loud with the plastic balls and carbon fiber paddles that make a “pop” sound, but tennis has an entirely different issue in terms of noise complaints – the grunt. 

Tennis is famous for obnoxious grunting that caused some major waves internationally when pros were criticized by fans and members of the media for being too loud.

Legendary players like Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Victoria Azarenka have all been criticized for grunting during matches. 

And given that there’s quite a few former tennis pros in pickleball now, grunting has entered America's fastest-growing sport as well. 

With that in mind, is grunting actually helpful?

Why do pickleball players grunt?

Annoyance aside, grunting actually benefits athletes. 

Tennis coaches often encourage players to audibly exhale when they hit the ball as a means of breath control. 

It was also discovered that high-level university tennis players enjoyed a 3.8% increase in groundstroke hitting velocity when they grunted. And for serving, grunters experienced a 4.9% enhancement in velocity, too, resulting in an additional seven kilometers per hour in serve speed. That’s a major advantage. 

Especially when grunting came at no physical cost. It can actually be a performance-enhancing activity for athletes. 

Grunting can be good. 

How does grunting impact opponents?

Players have their own unique quirks and strategies for getting inside their opponents’ heads. 

But, grunters have been criticized for shrieking so loud that it’s actually distracting to the game itself. 

On the pickleball court, Ben Johns even shushed Rachel Rohrabacher during MLP DC following her loud celebrations after winning a point. Clearly, noise levels during and after winning a point can be impactful and distracting to opponents.

 

 

 

 

 

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Grunting can also be distracting to spectators and opponents. However, it is accepted in a variety of other physically demanding sports like boxing and gymnastics.

Honestly, though, grunting is a nuisance in the gym. I think some of those weightlifters just do it for the attention.  

At the rec level, grunters in pickleball can be just as annoying, and they are often tesed on social media for being the worst kinds of players.

However, this must be noted:

The criticism for grunting in tennis was directed at Azarenka, Sharapova, and Williams – the women. Meanwhile, the male players were never ridiculed. Azarenka even addressed this point at a press conference during Wimbledon in 2015.

“It’s annoying as guys grunt. I was practicing next to [Rafael] Nadal and he grunts louder than me and nobody noticed it,” she explained. “Let’s put aside the noise and look at the game.”

It is an unfortunate fact that some of the men have louder grunts than the women, but because the women’s grunting is at a higher pitch, it’s naturally more irritating on the ears.

After all, nobody bats an eye when Novak Djokovic and Nadal battle in singles with deeper pitch grunting.

When does grunting become too much?

While there are certainly some theories and rumors about grunting in tennis being used to distract an opponent, that can never truly be confirmed. 

Pro pickleball has its fair share of grunters, but grunting appears less frequently and audibly. It's only noticeable when tensions are running for critical points, for example.

There are a few players who consistently grunt every time they hit the ball, but those decibel levels have nothing on the tennis pros. 

And yet, people complain pickleball is too loud? I think those grunting tennis players have us beat. 

Is grunting obnoxious? Or does it demonstrate serious effort? Let us know on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).