I, like lots of viewers have been watching the tennis on television, beginning with Brisbane in early January, then Sydney and now the Australian Open, where I have enjoyed many hours of brilliant tennis.
In that time I began to think about the mannerisms of tennis players - there's the continuous bouncing of the ball before serving, which I think would be very irritating to the opponent and certainly is to me, the viewer. Currently, Djokovic has been known to bounce the ball up to 25 times before tossing it into the air.
Not to mention the screeching and squealing of some of the female players, which seems to have reached an epidemic, with Sharapova leading the way. But lets not forget the men, Nadal seems to be doing alot of grunting of late, which leads to the question - should these unnecessary sounds be erased from the game either by forfeiting of the match or a heavy fine?
Similarly, Maria Sharapova tucks her hair back behind her ear before each serve.
Then there's Andy Roddick who continually pulls up the shoulders of his shirt.
Lleyton Hewitt continually wipes his face with both wrist bans and don't forget the 'Come On' and the associated hand sign.
Roger Federer and Kim Kjlisters stand out as the most placid of all the current players, with only a clench of the fist on a good point. Roger sometimes shakes his head and twirls the racquet before receiving serve.
Have you noticed the ritual of some players removing a new racquet from the plastic bag? This was introduced by Andre Agassi who demanded the ball boy/girl loosen the bag and expose the grip so that he could reach in and pull out the racquet.
However, past players are not without fault. Who can forget Ivan Lendl, who sprinkled sawdust on his grip before serving as well as rubbing and pulling at his eyebrows? Of course, we are always reminded of McEnroe and his 'you can't be serious' as well as many expletives and tantrums on the court.
But all in all, would tennis be too mundane without some of the above and are the noises and quirky actions just part of the game?
I would love to hear your opinions!
Hi Maz! Good points indeed.
ReplyDeleteI think like other elite athletes that put their outfits on in a certain order before each game, or eat the same meal pre-match, these 'quirks' like pulling at the shirt, or tucking hair behind ears might be just part of what they do to get in their 'zone' for the game.
I do understand exerting some noise behind a physical activity, as sometimes in my training when it is really hard, I can hear everyone in the from grunting and groaning away to try and get through whatever we are working on - sit ups, or lifting weights etc. But I will admit, I find that squealing and shrieking a little bit tiresome, and knowing those girls do it on every hit, I don't know how you would have sat through watching the game with the volume on.
I have heard it said that there is a bit of controversy over all the noises the girls make as the shrieking can mean the opponent can't hear the sound of the ball connecting with the racket, and that a good tennis player can often tell what sort of spin etc is on the ball by the sound it makes, so it can help them to gauge where the shot might end up.
Anyway, that's just my 2cents on it all. Looking forward to reading some more of your blogs!
Kate x
I have really enjoyed the Australian open this year. Some great battles.
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