Speaking of banning things, I recently learned about a planned crackdown on grunting:
A plan to crack down on ultra-loud grunting in women’s tennis has been “unanimously green-lighted” by the WTA players’ council, representatives from all four majors and the International Tennis Federation, according to USA Today.
“It’s time for us to drive excessive grunting out of the game for future generations,” WTA CEO Stacey Allaster told the publication.
Umpires would use a handheld device to measure the on-court sound and rule whether it exceeds a to-be-determined acceptable level, USA Today reported.
But there’s a catch. The current generation of screamers – like Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka – would get a pass. The plan also wouldn’t apply to the men’s game.
So grunting will be restricted only to younger women? Fascinating.
Whether there’s a First Amendment right to grunt, I do not know. However, much as I would like to ridicule the entire idea of grunt regulation, it is fair to point out that I recently attended a NCAA women’s tennis event here in Ann Arbor, and the grunting which emanated reminded me of the KIAI! noise I know from martial arts. I wondered whether tennis players are being taught to do that. If they are, might there be a clash with the old school that views tennis as a civilized game revolving around good sportsmanship? Or did that go out with McEnroe?
Not that I care all that much about developments in tennis, but I guess anything beats the reality of politics.
Comments
4 responses to “Disgruntlement”
I believe a “grunt” is an “utterance,” and hence protected by the First Amendment.
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And since the restriction is not coming from a governmental body, any 1st Amendment argument is moot.
That said, I hope Sharapova’s boyfriend gets as good at home.
Not when it is emitted by a Williams.
Perhaps they are imitating the behavior of a tennis idol.
Decades ago, I was able to identify pianists who studied music at a particular university. They all had an annoying and unlovely habit of bending back and forth, back and forth, nearly striking the keyboard with their noses. I am sure they all had the same teacher and were imitating their pianist idol.
Similarly, I used to work in a hospital. Many of the younger MDs in a particular specialty had adopted the professional (flamboyant) and personal (rude and abrupt) mannerisms of a famous surgeon. I always thought that some had actually trained with him and that others hoped to be thought to have trained with him.