Tennis racket out of hand

Women have been grunting since the first child was born.

No limits are placed on delivery rooms, but they soon could be adopted for the tennis court.

"Vocal disinhibition" could become the biggest physiological issue in sports since steroids.

Vocal disinhibition is more commonly known as grunting, an all-encompassing term for guttural purges of air that range from groans to shrieks.

It was a popular topic this month during Wimbledon, when many women's tennis players expelled air to help unleash another ounce of power, much to the dismay of hoity-toity spectators and some opponents.

The sounds stand out in tennis, where crowds are hushed before the pinnacle of performance.

Imagine how much farther Tiger Woods could drive if he let out a big grunt upon making contact with his golf ball?

According to the Sunday Times of London, the International Tennis Federation might amend its player code of conduct to include "noise hindrance." The article noted that Maria Sharapova's grunts reach 101 decibels.

(Levels for normal conversations are 60 to 70 decibels, and the sound of a power mower at 3 feet is 107 decibels.)

Although studies have determined expelling air can enhance power for a split second, a study at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, disputes the claim. It concludes, "Grunting does not appear to increase maximum force production significantly during a large muscle group, force output activity."

Maybe. But we'd like to see the researchers try to convince an expectant mother of that while she's in labor.

• NFL BOSS REACHES SUMMIT -- Roger Goodell completed his climb to the top of Mount Rainier on Thursday morning.

Upon reaching the crest of the 14,411-foot mountain in Washington's rugged Cascade range, the NFL commissioner began dancing wildly and flopped to the ground to make a snow angel.

Mountaineering legend Ed Viesturs, who led the climb, quickly threw his handkerchief and penalized Goodell for excessive celebration.

Goodell was forced to repeat the last 15 yards of the climb.

OK ... we made up most of that.

• HI-YO, SILVER -- Kempton Park, a British horse racing track, tried a unique way to speed up a race Wednesday. The track south of London brought in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to give a recital at its finishing post.

Throughout the race the orchestra played the "William Tell Overture," which also was the theme for "The Lone Ranger" TV show from the 1950s.

Spectators might have been entertained, but the winning horse -- Action Impact -- ran two seconds off record pace.

The track should have used the eerie music from the scene in "The Godfather" in which movie producer Jack Woltz finds a severed horse head in his bed.

COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL