Grunts Too Loud? Internet Device to Control Wimbledon Tennis Shrieks
- Posted on June 30, 2011 at 8:23pm by
Buck Sexton
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All tennis fans have had that moment when we hear a blood-curdling scream come from the tennis court and ask: Is that really necessary?
Well, Wimbledon is finally taking steps to alleviate this irritation for those listening to tennis’s greatest tournament via internet from the comfort of their homes. The Daily Mail is reporting:
“As a result of complaints about ear-piercing screams, the BBC has produced a noise-reduction programme called Wimbledon Net Mix, which allows internet users to turn down howling and increase commentary volume.
Wimbledon bosses have also admitted that the grunting of top tennis stars like Maria Sharapova, whose record-breaking screams often exceed 100 decibels, do make millions unhappy and want it reduced.”
To get a sense of what we are talking about, check out this clip of Maria Sharapova, queen of the grunters:
Is it about power and performance? Or just a nasty habit on the women’s side of professional tennis? You be the judge, but here is a brilliant point with Nadal and Federer… No grunts.






















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Comments (45)
crystlgib1
Posted on July 2, 2011 at 7:23pmI am happy for the option. I stopped watching womens tennis because I do find the grunts annoying. Now if you don’t mind the sound you can have that, but I can also watch without listening to it.
Report Post »Realman30
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 6:19pmI get a thrill when Maria plays. I find the shrieks appealing.
Report Post »desertpatriot
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 2:20pmLet’s face it. The grunts are the only reason most people watch.
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 11:36amman, brittish people sound so arrogant and pretentious everytime they talk.
Report Post »80mesh
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 11:09amfunny after a lifetime workin around loud machinerya nd my ears payin the price …. it sounds just like nanzi peloser
Report Post »cranberry
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 10:59amIt has gotten really annoying. I saw 2 matches where both women were screaming and grunting in the same match. Why they can’t internalize the sound they are making I have no idea. They need to stop.
Report Post »layne51
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 10:57amAnohter reason I’m not a tennis fan!
Report Post »Levinite
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:30amThis is so dumb. It’s a freaking sport. Funny how FIFA/TV stations refused to use audio equalizers to block out the vuvuzelas at the World Cup because it was “culturally relevant” for the host country; an utter load of crap. Here are athletes just being athletes and they want to ruin it. I really love the double standard.
Report Post »eramthgin
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:22amAll those grunts were against the rules and still are. It is a totally unnecessary sound which is only to distract the opponent! Come on folks this is one reason I will not watch tennis anymore.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:04amThank you, THEBLAZE.COM for improving the software!
We asked for it, we got it!
THANK YOU!!!
Report Post »LibzBane
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 8:40amThis is why I stopped watching tennis. It doesn‘t matter whether it’s the men or the women. Pros in the past did not need to do this to win matches. Without question it is distracting. The ITF should have banned this when it first started to appear (Monica Seles). It really makes it quite impossible to enjoy watching a match. Another example of how our crazy, politically correct world will do anything to avoid confronting the real issue.
Report Post »selenesteets
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 4:31amwe must be civilized, now.
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 1:52amI thought it was absurd for her to screech everytime she hit the ball. I wouldn’t call it very professional. Maybe she does it to try and get the opposition distracted, if so how unfair is that. I hate tennis anyways.. how anyone can excited watching a little ball go back and forth a fence is beyond me. Sorta like golf.. who wants to chase a ball around a field. Oh Obama sheesh I forgot
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 1:23amtry the volume knob……
Report Post »Fight for America
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 12:40amStop it now. At the player level. Why bother watching if you hate what you hear. It’s not necessary.
Report Post »HTuttle
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 12:24amFeminism I told women that they can do, say and act anyway they wish and anyone saying otherwise was a sexist oppressor.
Hopefully Feminism II will correct that major flaw.
Report Post »yazoo
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 12:20amAs bad as such screaming, grunting, and yelling is for the fans; it must be really deafening for their amour partners. Especially in a “Doubles Match”.
Report Post »jim
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 12:16amI’m gonna grunt every time I post… UUGHHHH!!!
Report Post »llotus
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 11:36pmThats just part of tennis. shows their strength. Now…. I hear the golfers doing the same thing. Censor their grunts and groans too. How a bout basketball when someone gets the wind knocked out of them. Just silly its all part of the game. Show it as it is. Whos idea was this anyway? Lotus.
Report Post »Restoreamericanow
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 11:30pmSeriously!? This is the most pressing issue? No one watches tennis anyway!
Report Post »@VoteBushin12…you’re just mean. I’ll pray for you.
nomercy63
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 11:08pmI kind of enjoy it LOL!!!!!!!
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 10:06pmTennis is just stooopid. Kinda like golf, LaCrosse, and NASCAR. OOPS, probably going to get the beat-down for the NASCAR listing. Oh well. Now College Football, that’s the way to go. :)
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on July 3, 2011 at 6:57amCollege football? Really! I do like the female cheerleaders, though.
Report Post »Supporting those academically under-acheaving blacks who happen to be good at a sport, are we?
If you can read and think, you would know that football/basketball are the two sports that most enable black youth to continue to remain in a holding pattern as to improving their lot in life.
Do you even comprehend what I’m saying?
I know guys who coach in our local midget football league. Some of those black ‘kids’ already have police records. That is tolerated because they can play football.
They then play HS football. Some of those kids (with police records) wear bandana’s under their helmut that are related to the gang they are in. A local HS had a kid playing football who had an ankle bracelet due to a crime he had committed. He was allowed to play! I know this because a kid who played with him dated my grandaughter and told me the truth of what was/is going on. That ‘kid’ with the ankle bracelet just recently was involved in a shooting. The kid my grandaughter dated was found ‘not guilty’ of domestic abuse in a subsequent relationship, though my grandaughter saw the girls leg bruises. The punk was street-wise enough to hit her legs, knowing she played field-hockey, and those bruises could be attributed to that sport.
These kids then go on to college where, if you read the sports section, they get into more trouble, even after recieving a free ride for, you guessed it, playing football.
wordweaver
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 10:02pmWhy not apply the same device for the normal television broadcast?
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 10:07pmWORDWEAVER, I agree 100%.
Report Post »booger71
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 10:15pmDidn’t Ugly Nancy get some law passed to do just that?
Report Post »MAJORMINOR
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:14amCould not agree more…football crowd noise does not help make the announcers be heard. I wish I could turn off the field microphone.
Report Post »rose-ellen
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 10:00pmThose screams exude sex and sound deliberatily [perhaps subconsciously] intended to sexualalize the game for the audience.very bizarre..
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 10:09pmROSE-ELLEN, I usually do not agree with a single thing you post, BUT, this time you may on to something. CHEERS
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 10:11pmI hear the same screams coming from the oval office when Bwaney Fwank and Jim McGreasy , Elliot the Spitzer and that Weiner Dog visit Barry Soetoro. The screams seem to come from the girlie man with the long delicate fingers, and the crisply creased golf shorts
Report Post »VoteBushIn12
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 10:50pmYou’re dumb.
Report Post »touch
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 2:39amRussian women, WOW, what a grunt on that (Sharapova) girl.
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 4:09amInteresting take…
Report Post »I stopped watching professional tennis when the grunting started–too distracting and annoying.
Monica Seles was really on to something– screeching and grunting distracts your opponent, improves your power, and now perhaps subconsciously attracts viewers thanks to the sexual undertones.
This WOULD explain why they decided not to disallow it….
GETLIFE
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 4:14amFor once I wanted to reply to ROSE-ELLEN, But The Blaze won’t let me! Just kidding Blaze. I imagine this is not the way things are going to work, but if it is — I don’t get it.
Report Post »kaydeebeau
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 6:04amYou have obviously never hit a tennis ball in a full on game….kind of like trying to sneeze with your eyes open – can’t be done
Report Post »CalvinandHobbes
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 1:48pmYes..they do! Now…if they only played topless…the attendance would just skyrocket!
Report Post »windycitywoman
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 9:29pmI am starting a prayer group on Facebook for Glenn Beck fans. I will post a prayer request everyday and discuss topics from GBTV. I think it is imperative for us followers to be doing all we can to uplift Glenn and his follower’s in there up coming endeavors. If you have not checked out GBTV it’s amazing! Join me in a group I have started for like minded followers, minus the TROLLS! Find me ~ Sharon Leigh Papucci on Facebook.
Report Post »VoteBushIn12
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 10:48pmStop spamming, no one cares about your dumb facebook group.
Report Post »fastfacts
Posted on June 30, 2011 at 10:59pmNOTE: DID YOU SEE GLENN BECK’S LAST SHOW
Here is a link to see his farewell show: http://tiny.cc/el30m
Report Post »John-Mary
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 12:14amWe care about your facebook group, but we couldn’t find Sharon Leigh Papucci on facebook.
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 2:55amThank you Windycitywoman, I will look it up if I decide to get back on Facebook. God Bless Glenn Beck for what he does, and I will be there on GBTV for sure!
As for on topic…Who cares if tennis players grunt or not…It sure beats hearing them blazing horns from SOCCER (I refuse to call it football) that goes on during their games.
Report Post »fgda1
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 3:10amSharon Leigh Papucci, is not found :(
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on July 1, 2011 at 9:03amI would like to thank THEBLAZE.COM for the software improvements!
We have been clammoring for these enhancements, and voila! Here they are!
THANK YOU!
Report Post »davidm313
Posted on July 2, 2011 at 8:20amWindyCityGirl: GBTV doesn’t need your prayer group to succeed, believe me. Your use of the term “followers” is revealing. Glenn Beck is a MAN, not to be worshipped or revered. If GBTV succeeds it won’t be in the hands of your prayer group — it will depend solely on whether or not his “fans” are willing to pay a $4.95 or $9.95 monthly subscription fee.
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