Screamers, you're on notice.

[darius]

Tennis players should be dis-gruntled.

There's no worse example of bad sportsmanship than grunting during tennis matches.

Well, except screaming during fencing matches. 102dB? Sharapova's got nothing on any given women's sabre fencer.

darius

[Sabresque]

check out "Sound Familiar Folks?" thread

Oh yeah and... I resemble that remark

[Katman]

Oh hey, deja vu.

[FriendlyMonkey]

Yea, screamers are uncivilized and annoying. The biggest problem for me with screamers isn't neccesarilly when the person I'm fencing does it, but when people on OTHER STRIPS scream and DISTRACT EVERYONE AT A TOURNAMENT.

Hate it.

[lefty_monster]

I kind of groan/grunt/growl loudly when i'm getting mad at myself. But that's just at practice. Haven't done an epee tourney yet so i don't know if i'm brave/stupid enough to act out like that there.

[Epee_Pox]

Yeah, just rude childish annoying immature and stupid.

Nothing wrong with an occasional mmph or ah, involuntary exlclamations of effort. But shrill loud vocalizations with every freaking action are just wrong.

[Sabresque]

Why are they "just wrong"?

[Monkeyboy]

Sorry, but I'm guilty as charged. In fact, I'm very likely the LOUDEST person you will ever hear at a tournament. I do it to keep myself pumped, and I truly develop a feeling of blood-lust during a hotly contested bout. At that time, I don't care if it bothers anyone, I'm just thrilled to feel the touch. If I fence "nice", I suck. In fact, if my opponent congratulates me on a particularly good touch, I try to ignore them completely. I DONT LIKE the person I'm fencing, and until the bout is over, I don't care if they know this. At the last tournament I went to, I fenced a real nice lady (Wife and Mother to some fantastic fencers) and she beat me because I tried not to be TOO ugly since they're all my friends. Lesson learned--she wouldn't have minded if I fenced the way I usually do because she knows thats just the way I fence. I sincerely hope everyone understands: I like almost everyone I know at the tournys, but I just HAVE to fence ugly, and that includes yelling, pumping my fist, and generally showing satisfaction at the bad-*** move I just did. Again, sorry. I'm not changing. Besides, didn't the USFA and FIE want fencing to be more "enthusiastic" and "dramatic"?

[FriendlyMonkey]

Originally Posted by Sabresque

Why are they "just wrong"?

Because they distract OTHER fencers not even involved in that bout, how would you like to lose a point because you were distracted by some guy yelling "AAAAAYYYEEEEOOOO" or some other insane battle call, from across the tournament area?

I know it has happened to me. Everyone might make a grunt, or even say "dammit" if they lose something (especially to their own stupidity, that's happened to me too! :P ) but to scream so loud as to interrupt what everyone is doing is rude and yes, just plain wrong.

[Cipher]

Meh... I say focus is a skill just like anything else. If you are distracted by others then you need to work on it. As an athlete, you should be concerned with doing the best you can. If the emotional hype provided by vocalizing your successes helps you do better then good for you. That's not going to bother me one bit. Personally, however, I am always silent during a match. If people yelling disturbs you, then you should do what is necessary to over come that... i.e. kill them, ignore them, or use ear plugs.

[downunder]

if you are not yelling, then you are not fencing...

[lefty_monster]

Originally Posted by Epee_Pox

Yeah, just rude childish annoying immature and stupid.

Nothing wrong with an occasional mmph or ah, involuntary exlclamations of effort. But shrill loud vocalizations with every freaking action are just wrong.

Agreed. there are some people who scream so loud that all other bouts in the room temporarily stop and everyone looks over to see who is dying. that can get kind of annoying. Though i have the ability to mostly tune it out.

[Goofy]

Originally Posted by lefty_monster

Though i have the ability to mostly tune it out.

A good point, and when in competition I believe most of us do.

The screaming really only becomes a true annoyance when one is a spectator. For instance, look at the Womens Sabre Video Clip thread in the Fencing Discussion board- most of the initial reactions were to the screaming, not the fencing.

[RebelFencer]

There's a difference. The people who scream every bout from pools to whenever they get eliminated are annoying. But when there are two higher level fencers going at it, the intensity and focus is extremely high and screaming is both a good release and a means to re-establish focus. I dare you to find a high level fencer who shares the, "immature and childish" view of screaming. I know when I'm in an easyto middle of the road DE I'm not going to scream. When I'm the underdog or equal to the person, then I have been known to be a screamer.

[Inquartata]

Originally Posted by downunder

if you are not yelling, then you are not fencing...

Meh, I could pen a lengthy screed about this, but I rather think that a nice succinct "Bull****" will suffice...

[Inquartata]

Originally Posted by RebelFencer

I dare you to find a high level fencer who shares the, "immature and childish" view of screaming.

OK. Let's ask Curt Andrus. Anybody know him?

[Inquartata]

Originally Posted by Sabresque

Why are they "just wrong"?

In addition to the other reasons cited, it is known that loud noise causes damage to the tympanic membranes and results in eventual hearing loss. Some screamers may actually be injuring people.

Actually, I have no real problem with the vocalizations in tennis, which always occur on the stroke and are in the nature of kiais. It's the
after-action "I'm SO good!" shriek of victory that bugs me...

[Sabresque]

What if they ARE "SO good" I haven't seen Curt around in quite a while. By the way most screams do not mean "I am so good". They're just an audible manifestation of their intensity.

The nature of my post was to make you give me an explination. It bugs me when arguments are "they just suck" or "I hate them because they're stupid" etc.

[Welted 24/7]

Because they distract OTHER fencers not even involved in that bout, how would you like to lose a point because you were distracted by some guy yelling "AAAAAYYYEEEEOOOO" or some other insane battle call, from across the tournament area?

Well, to be perfectly honest, I think if you're getting distracted by something that came from across the venue, you aren't all that focused on what you're doing anyway and it's your own fault you lost the touch. From what I can tell, most fencers just kinda tune it out the way they do if somebody is unplugged and the machine is constantly beeping.

I can just ignore it, unless it's something REALLY out of the ordinary, or shrill to the point where it hurts. I was kinda zoned out at the JOs last year and not really paying attention to anything in particular when I heard somebody go "HI-HO!" There was also a girl who used to fence for Francis Lewis high school who was commonly known as The Banshee...outside of her own team, anyway.

[angriff]

While I've yet to hear some of the most extreme forms of screaming in fencing yet, I'd like to point out that people such as Sharapova scream while the match is still going on, and as such has the possible effect of disrupting their opponents' concentration. Fencers usually scream after landing a touch, and at that point the bout has already been halted, so unless the celebrations are of the in-your-face variety meant to convey contempt or is demeaning in any other way, I don't see a problem.

I mean, it would really be funny to imagine someone screaming with every feint/step forward/parry...