"Steffi Graf hit the ball a ton and she didn’t grunt. There were a lot of players, hard-hitting players, and you never heard a peep out of them.
“I don’t understand the philosophy of it.”
I agree that’s it’s distracting-seems like an affectation as opposed to anything which really gives you a significant edge. Some of the “grunts” are so over the top that I can’t help but chuckle when I hear one. And to be fair yes some men do the same thing (tho typically not at the top of their lungs).
For some, I suspect it’s meant to be some form of intimidation, although I can’t imagine it having any actual effect with athletes at this level.
Personally, I think it’s a bit silly. It was kinda cool when Seles was the only one doing it but now everyone and their mother is doing it and it’s tiresome.
Come one, come all. 
My wrestling coach used to encourage it. He referred to it as the “umph factor,” and believed that it forced just a little bit more effort into whatever it is that you were doing. Whether there’s any truth to that I don’t know, but maybe more and more coaches are buying into it. Then again, he didn’t really encourage us to do it at the top of our lungs either.
I suspect it has to do with the Valsalva Maneuver. It is this maneuver people use to get more strength when shovelling snow (and which is notorious for causing heart attacks).
I think it’s much the same as a kihop in martial arts. I suppose it might be a bit intimidating, but the thought behind it is to tighten your abdomen while exhaling forcefully. When your abdominal muscles are tightened, the energy from your lower body more efficiently moves through to your upper body.
Another point brought up in the video from the OP’s link is that the sound of the grunt masks the sound of the racket hitting the ball. Supposedly at that high level play what sort of sound the contact makes tells you something about the type of hit.
I think it’s obligatory here to link to Tina and Amy Play Sexy Tennis
Other than expressing horror at the proximity of a complete strangers anus to your face at critical moments, I can’t see how this works meself…
On tennis I can understand some exhalation at point of impact when stiking the ball but some of these people would embarrass porn voice over artists as being slightly unconvincing… Is it Azarenko? Sheesh… I was glad Serena wiped her out yesterday…
This is completely wrong. The Valsalva maneuver stimulates the vagus nerve. This is part of the parasympathetic nervous system, causing a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure. This can sometimes cause a loss of consciousness (Vasovagal Syncope). It does nothing however to increase strength- the parasympathetic nervous system doesn’t work like that. It also does nothing to cause heart attacks.
I had always assumed that was the point.
I can understand grunting at times when you’re playing hours and hours of competitive tennis. But with the women in particular it’s definitely forced, possibly coached, and in some cases it’s an intimidation tactic. This gets debated periodically and I’m not sure anything will ever get done about it, but with Michelle Larcher de Brito out there, there’s a new case in point. She’s ridiculously loud, and shrieks even when she’s not hitting the ball particularly hard. You can see her vocalizing on YouTube, but you probably shouldn’t watch at work.
Okay, I’ve been called a liar once too many times around here. Here are some citations concerning the extremely well-known, well-documented, instinctive use of the Valsalva maneuver for increasing abdominal stiffness when engaged in strenuous activity – such as shovelling snow – and its resultant link to heart attacks.
Exercise Physiology for Health, Fitness, and Performance, Sharon Plowman, Denise L Smith
Differences in cardio-respiratory responses to snow shoveling and shovel performance between elderly males and females, Bulletin of Glaciological Research
“Killer Snow”, Family Health Guide, Harvard Medical School
“PULMONARY STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION”, Movement Science 340 workbook, University of Michigan
I found these citations (and hundreds just like them) through the difficult and complex means of typing “valsalva maneuver shoveling snow” into Google. I can see why you’d have found it much easier to just accuse me of making it up out of whole cloth, what with researching it being such a difficult task.
Through the difficult and complex means of clicking on your fourth link I have determined that it’s a worksheet and doesn’t actually provide any information, much less function as a citation for your claim.
In view of the hard work I have just put in, I’m going to call it a day and not bother clicking on the others.
Physiological Consequences of the Valsalva
Give one reason why individuals with heart and vascular disease should refrain from all-out straining exercise such as shoveling wet snow or lifting a heavy weight.*
Yeah, that totally doesn’t support my claim. And completely ignoring the three other citations proves completely that I’m wrong. Troll.
No one called you a liar, and calling other posters “trolls” is not allowed unless you are in the BBQ Pit.
That being said, you really can’t dispute that SmashTheState did in fact provide a prompt list of several reputable citations which agree completely with his assertions.
Really Not All That Bright appears to be deliberately cherrypicking the weakest of the links and is being quite disingenuous by saying the listed references don’t provide information.
From the Harvard site:
I mean, really? I learned about the Valsalva maneuver, complete with watching my own EKG of the phenomenon, in first-year anatomy.
And FWIW, I agree that the tennis grunt appears to be more form than function for a lot of players.
I didn’t cherry-pick it; it was the first one I clicked on. Since he didn’t bother to quote any of the relevant text, I’m not going to bother reading the rest.
The cites definitely look on-target. (Google Books didn’t let me view the first.) But I wasn’t commenting on the strength of his argument.
Frank Deford, possibly my favorite sports commentator, chimed in about this on Morning Edition a week ago today. There’s audio of Michelle Larcher de Brito toward the beginning of the essay:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105827095