On-Court Coaching to be Tested at Tennis Tournaments

First it was Hawk-Eye, and now on-court coaching is the latest innovation that the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour will be trying out.

The Rogers Cup and Pilot Pen tennis tournaments will be the first events that will officially legalize players’ ability to receive instruction and advice during a match.

Under the trial system, players will nominate a coach before a tournament begins. Players can then request to speak to that person once per set during a sit-down changeover, and also in-between sets.

A player could thus receive strategic advice or encouragement a maximum of five times in a three-set match.

In addition, if a player takes an injury timeout or a bathroom break, her opponent can use the pause to talk with her designated coach.

The conversations will be recorded and broadcast for viewers, adding additional insights into the game.

(source: USA Today, thanks to Court Coverage)

I believe that instant replay was an excellent idea, but I am not too sure about coaching. Just because it is common for players to receive illegal coaching does not mean that the Tour should go ahead and make it legal.

Singles tennis is a one-on-one contest and it needs to be the players who are out on court doing the thinking during the match, not the coaches giving advice from the stands.

I am all for making tennis fan-friendly, but where do you draw the line? Not only will this detract from the match, but it also may be distracting for the players as everything they say during the “coaching time” will be recorded and possibly broadcasted to millions of fans around the world.

It is hard enough to get players to open up and talk about their struggles in a press conference, let alone during the actual match. If you are going to allow for on-court coaching, at least let it be kept between the player and her coach.

Now it is your turn - was this a good decision or will this ruin tennis?

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