10 Rule Changes That Should Be Made In Sport

8. On-Court Coaching On The ATP And WTA Tour

tennis line
© Jimmie48-Photography/Demotix/Corbis

In 2008, the WTA Tour introduced their on-court coaching rule where players could receive tactical assistance from their trainer during matches but it is a regulation that has not been adopted by the ATP Tour.

The traditionalists will argue that it is a rule that should be scrapped altogether while others will suggest that the ATP Tour should follow suit and allow the men to receive advice at the sit-down should they choose to accept it.

At a time when the argument over equal prize money has never been louder, shouldn't both Tours be going to lengths to make the rule the same for both the men and women?

We are not saying that a coach should be present at the side of a player - like in the Davis Cup and Fed Cup - but if players on the WTA Tour are having the option of advice, so should players on the ATP Tour.

Equality in sport - especially tennis - is a broad topic but it does not sit right if lengths are being taken in some areas and not in others.

 
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A degree-educated, dart-throwing, non-smelling sports journalist based in a small Staffordshire town that has just become Floyd Mayweather's answer to the question: "What's the strangest place you have ever visited?"