Can we finally get rid of courtside coaching?

I’ve always maintained that courtside coaching in tennis was a spectacularly bad idea. It has offended me at a lot of levels. For a start, I do not believe that all sports are created equal. An idea that may work well in one sport (such as mid-game coaching during a basketball match), simply may not translate well into another. Can you imagine a pair of figure skaters interrupting their routine to ask the coach if they should do a triple flip? Can a diver pause mid-dive to ask his coach if his feet are perfectly aligned?

So when women’s tennis grabbed hold of the lame-brained idea of allowing courtside coaching, I honestly hoped that it was just a matter of time before it blew up in Billy Jean King’s face. Apparently courtside coaching was her brain fart, intended to lend excitement to tennis coverage on TV.

Go here for the rest of this entry and here for my blog. And thanks as ever for reading.