The TRUTH About Grunting in Tennis & Why I Don’t Teach It

In today’s tennis lesson, I teach Anna how to breathe properly when hitting her shots and expose the Truth about grunting in tennis and why it should never be taught. It has to be intuitive.

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[IntuitiveTennis]

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[lordbyron]

I never had to grunt ! Just on those rare occasions where I’m overtaken by the ball. But since my cancer diagnosis 8 months ago and chemotherapy treatments, I’m grunting 90% of the time. My tennis buddies were in awe when they saw me playing again because they thought I wouldn’t make it. Hell, , I thought I wouldn’t either. I lost muscle mass and weight, spiraled from a healthy 165 lbs down to a emaciated 115 lbs in 4 weeks. I don’t know how why I survived but here I am, , doing what I enjoy most …. Hitting tennis balls!! 😁😁

[chris]

both Anna's forehand and backhand have improved tremendously. Good work Nik!

[danielmhodges]

Anna’s FH and BH are so much better than some of the first videos. It’s getting more fluid and natural. Kudos

[HartmannTennis]

That’s a good point you made. I think the players new to tennis, and not having been to tournaments, might not realize that pro players make noise when they play, and that’s completely normal! Especially as you improve and start hitting harder, since you want to exhale as you hit the ball, there’s definitely going to be some grunting!

[tennisace]

Anna’s backhand is really good and all aspects of her game have improved.

[naboulsikhalid]

remembring Anna years back, actually her backhand is tremendous.keep up Anna

[zeaol]

That's so funny. I make noise on my serve without thinking about it but now I am curious. I wonder if I breath during my groundstrokes. Food for thought for sure.

[jameskelliher]

It helps me with my timing and confidence

[Yiyan]

Never even thought about when to exhale before. Definitely think I hold my breath at the net as I’m very uncomfortable there. Great video👍👍, something to have a little look at next time I’m on court 🤓

[Joseph-couh]

Wow, Anna is really improving a lot. Good for her.

[konstantinbelinsky]

Again great video! I've been playing for 12 years now (4.0) and still have an issue with exhaling. I am mostly silent and I think I block my breathing during plays. I was trying to force myself to grunt but it was even more difficult than just to exhale because I was either feeling embarrassed or couldn't find natural sound... Still working on it. So the video is a great reminder!
PS Anna indeed was making a sound similar to Azarenko but of course 100 times quieter ))

[SBPkevenka]

i loved it when anna started the fake grunting. Cracked me up LOL

[LudwigMascarenhas]

I'm currently trying to work on this, thanks!
Could you make a video about over the head backhand, I mean a really high ball? I have a one-handed backhand and I struggle to hit it with top spin, often using a weak slice that floats a lot.

[raphaelschmid]

As Nick might say: This video is killer!

I really suck at serving even though I practice it a lot. Inspired by the video I tried breathing while executing the serve today and at first I was disappointed to not see this have any positive effect. Then after a while I realized that I was grunting in a way that was not allowing the air to flow out freely but more in a tense way that eventually even gave me a sore throat. Also rather than inhaling properly before grunting I did so in a flat and unrelaxed way which tightened up my serving motion even more. As a result my serves became even more erratic than they already are!

Then I found something that changed everything: I started filling my lungs with air during the ball toss and the take back at the top of my capacity and exhaling while stroking the ball, but not in an explosive way. Instead I just let the air flow out of my mouth freely, while producing the sound of the letter f, blowing up my cheeks a bit like Louis Armstrong used to do when he played his trumpet. And rather than starting and finishing the exhalation abruptly, I let it build up gradually, reached the climax at the point of contact and let it fade out to zero while swinging through. I know I just got carried away a bit, but I’m so excited, so I just had to share my discovery. I‘m really delighted to have found this technique because right away it transformed my serve into something way more consistent.

Thank you so much Nick and Ana, I would never have found this technique without your inspiration!!!

[lamprosgiannopoulos]

Good job coach visible improvement in Anna!

[DonYang]

She has improved a fair bit, her wrist is no longer limp and she handles her racket much better now. Strokes are cleaner and simpler. Good job Anna and Coach Nick

[formica.]

Anna's backhand is perfect! But her running forehand is one-footed. Shouldn't she try to plant both feet first? 6:41

[cesarfernandezlopez]

Anna is like a ballerina running on the tip of her toes 😂😂😂, she is one of a kind ❤️🎾

[AlittleOfEverything]

@IntuitiveTennis I was wondering when I am loading the serve if I should begin breathing out or should I be breathing in, or holding my breath?