Should on court coaching be allowed? (Small spoiler within)

[not_federer]

The Fed/Wawrinka match today finally pushed me over to the other side of the on court coaching debate, firmly in favor of it now. If Wawa's coach were allowed to give him a pep talk at the tail end of the second set and at the beginning of the third he might have pulled off the upset. At the very least it wouldn't have turned into a route.

Stan had a break point at 4-4 that he couldn't convert, so a pep talk in the changeover at 4-5 would have been huge. Also at 5-6 going into the TB. I'm not talking about time outs or anything, just 90 seconds worth of coaching during changeovers. Maybe Annacone could have woken Fed up in the first set when it looked like RF was still in his hotel suite.

Discuss.

[Rogael Naderer]

No.

10nooosss!

[TheMusicLover]

Big Fat NO. If a player is too stupid to figure out what to do on court by himself, he deservedly loses.
It's bad enough that this kind of shite is allowed at the WTA.

[Zarfot Z]

When you're our on the court, you're by yourself - you need to figure out how to win with your own brain, or not at all. That's what tennis is all about.

[not_federer]

Wouldn't you rather see better tennis? Tradition for the sake of tradition is silly if it impedes the athletes from giving us the best performance possible.

[UKTennis]

Originally Posted by not_federer

Wouldn't you rather see better tennis? Tradition for the sake of tradition is silly if it impedes the athletes from giving us the best performance possible.

Valid point but meltdowns on court are perversely entertaining in their own right.

[not_federer]

Originally Posted by UKTennis

Valid point but meltdowns on court are perversely entertaining in their own right.

Lol very true!

My favorite ever was Zhvonereva at the 2009 us open. She had multiple match points in the TB and lost; from that point on forward she just Chernoble'd the match away:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...7pBGH2A#t=956s

[Alchemy-Z]

if they did it I would say they do it something like the challenge system.

where you can get one visit per set. on a 90 sec change over and then they have to return to the players box afterwards.

I mean boxing they get coaching and that's a one on one sport ...its more for keeping people pumped up..

and as a Fed fan there have been tons of matches where I wished he wake up and look like he wanted to play...

someone light a fire under him instead of lulling us asleep with sloppy federror...

[above bored]

Originally Posted by not_federer

Wouldn't you rather see better tennis? Tradition for the sake of tradition is silly if it impedes the athletes from giving us the best performance possible.

The quality of tennis is already very good, it doesn't need to be better. Naturally, we all like to see improvement, but let that come from the players improving their technical, physical and mental faculties. Also, there is no guarantee having coaching will improve performance. Has it really for the women?

This is not about having tradition for the sake of tradition. Part of the beauty of tennis is that it is gladiatorial, without the physical contact, mano a mano. Having coaching would just dilute it as an individual sport. Tennis is a multi-layered test of will, character, skill and endurance. It should remain so. The encouragement they get from the fans and their team in the stands is sufficient.

[RF20Lennon]

I dont know actually im fine both ways I guess

[jokinla]

Rafa and Uncle Toni participate in off court coaching, they have a good system going.

[jokinla]

I don't think it would matter, has coaching ever changed a match in Davis Cup.

[OHBH]

No way, I want a player's OWN mental ability and strategy to factor into the quality of their game. Why cater the game to all the headcases out there? The weak minded player deserves to lose just as much (if not more) as the player with weak strokes.