Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Saturday, September 06, 2008
We Say: Shari Rampenthal on tennis.
In general, tennis officials should be applauded for trying to make changes they think will attract more fans.
However, I think I’ll hold my applause over a recent ruling by the Women’s Tennis Association. After two seasons of testing the plan, the WTA has decided to allow on-court coaching during matches (although not during Grand Slam events, like the U.S. Open).
Two things bother me about on-court coaching. One, it punishes the players who understand the strategy of the game and can adjust their gameplan on their own. Two, tennis doesn’t need celebrity coaches like Bill Parcells or Phil Jackson taking deserved attention away from the players.
It seems like a drastic move that didn’t even generate much buzz among current tennis fans, so it isn’t clear how it will draw more onlookers.
There are a couple of other more surefire tactics tennis officials could employ to pull in more fans: Get TV coverage for more tournaments, and get The Tennis Channel into more homes.
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