Does Grunting Improve Your Sports Performance? | STACK

Does Grunting Improve Your Sports Performance?

				Does Grunting Improve Your Sports Performance? Find out whether grunting during tennis matches and other sports actually increases performance.
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If it does, it should be banned, right? Seriously, I've worked games where an opposing coach wants the softball pitcher who "excessively" grunts is distracting his hitters. I usually suggest he does a better job coaching his hitters so they are not so easily distracted, but whatever.

from STACK:
http://www.stack.com/2014/07/02/grunting-sports/

Some think it’s a tactic of deception—attempting to distract the opponent and hide the sound of the ball. Others think it actually impairs breathing and oxygen consumption.

 However, a recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that grunting may actually have tangible performance benefits.

Researchers from the University of Nebraska had five male and five female NCAA Division-I tennis players participate in two standardized practice sessions—one with grunting and the other without. Each athlete wore a portable metabolic unit to measure oxygen consumption, and each shot was measured with a radar gun.

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The finding: grunting increased average groundstroke velocity by 3.8 percent. It also did not impair oxygen consumption—which came as a surprise.

.....

The researchers theorized that an increase in trunk stability when grunting produces the added velocity. The core can more efficiently transfer and produce force without wasting energy, which translates to more powerful groundstrokes.

This caused an instantaneous improvement among the tested athletes, which is remarkable given that NCAA athletes are already near the top of their game, so small improvements are hard to come by.

Did the study have limitations? Certainly. The athletes were only measured over two-minute periods, and a long tennis match can last upwards of five hours. Also, each athlete reported feeling more tired when grunting, even though physiological data indicated otherwise.

However, the study provides a pretty compelling reason to give grunting a try next time you play tennis. Also, it may also apply to other sports skills involving quick bursts of power, such as a baseball swing or a slap shot.

'via Blog this'

In the gym, I'm sure they get many complaints about excessive grunting.

Maria Sharapova turned it into an art form in tennis I suppose, but that's a post for another blog.

Oh what the heck, here we go. Gosh darn it if there isn't a thing called a "grunt-o-meter" and a formal ranking of the female tennis players -- never the males -- what's up with that?

http://www.businessinsider.com/loudest-womens-tennis-shrieks-2013-6?op=1

RANKED: The 10 Loudest Grunters And Shriekers In Women's Tennis

				RANKED: The 10 Loudest Grunters And Shriekers In W... Guess how high Maria Sharapova scored.
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WARNING: 

Don't let your spouse or boss (same thing, right?) catch you watching these (turn down the volume) or you'll be banned for a week from something you love to do, just like Stephen A. Smith. Apology or no apology.