Rule Changes
 

I heard from a coach today that there are going to be major rule changes this season. No more third sets in singles and doubles will now be to 6 instead of 8. Thoughts?

Re: Rule Changes
 

Seriously? There will be some major upsets if that rule happens.

Re: Rule Changes
 

advantage Stanford?

Also I think it'll benefit good servers...

Re: Rule Changes
 

I agree that it'll be a benefit to good servers, but I would think it would almost be a disadvantage to Stanford. In my opinion, the longer the match the better chance the better player has of winning. A lesser player can get hot for one set and then a 10 point tiebreaker can be anybody's game. Same goes for doubles; I can't even count how many comebacks I've seen in the doubles matches by Duke and UNC, who might start slow and get down 4-0 against lesser opponents. So whereas Stanford seemed near invincible, now they seem actually beatable.

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This. It's easier to win a set and 10 points than it is two sets. :shrug:

But I doubt this will happen.

Re: Rule Changes
 

:weirdo:

So instead of 3rd set it's going to be a super-tiebreaker?

That's a horrible rule. It doesn't help those players who want to turn pro after their NCAA careers.

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Why?? Also seems impossible that it could happen this year.

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Yeah, it could go both ways I guess, for example Laurente def. Katz at ISC. As the match progressed it was obvious who the better player was.

Yet, we can't forget the fact that Stanford players lost a lot of 3rd setters, at critical moments; vide NCAA final last year, and USC def. STAN this year.

And there's Krista :lol:

I don't think UF will like the rule change :lol: (since their players are pretty fit)

Re: Rule Changes
 

Mallory Burdette @Mal_Burdette
Who is coming up with these changes for the format of college tennis & when can I talk to them?! Get the players involved in the convo!

Evan King ‏@EvanKingChicago
@Mal_Burdette what's changing?

Mallory Burdette ‏@Mal_Burdette
@EvanKingChicago there is talk about 10pt tiebreaks for the third set and doubles only going to 6. #NotAFan

Did Mal read that here or did she hear it from someone else? :devil:

Re: Rule Changes
 

"‏@txcollege10s - also tournament going to NCAA basketball format with pods, then regionals, then new site for Final 4"

10sE, have you heard anything about this possibility?

Re: Rule Changes
 

They are not going to 10 point breakers in all matches or shortening doubles farther any time soon, and I don't think it will ever happen. The process and amount of conversation it took to make the 7 point - doubles first change and the experiment with the 10-point superbreaker was very substantial. A dramatic shift like this would not be a sudden surprise to anyone, and it would be a well-known point of conversation for a long time before it happened.

There are a handful of programs that are consumed with getting on television but there are 250 programs that will never be on television that strongly oppose the type of changes that would be necessary to get a match down to a guaranteed 2 hour window like a college basketball game.

Plus, college tennis is gaining a little steam with regard to being a potentially more successful pathway to the pros given the increasingly late age that players are finding themselves successfully competing on the pro tour. If you aren't going to play your best on the pro tour until 24 or 25 years old, it makes a lot more sense to go to college than it used to when physically less developed 19 and 20 year olds would be able to succeed. With the increasing willingness for players to go to college, the college game can't afford a system that would give such easy ammunition to the anti-college path proponents.

Re: Rule Changes
 

I agree with Coach Wyshner on all points, but it looks like it will happen THIS year. It is based on making the format more TV friendly. For the sport to be successful, it must be able to be more easily televised and the current format is long and not viewer-friendly. I think they are hiding behind the length issue and saying that the student-athletes will benefit from not having 5-hour matches but really I think it's all about TV. I can't say I disagree, the future is TV.

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Ps - I have it from a good source that in the elite level coaches' meetings at the Florida winter coaches' summit i.e. the committees for the tenured coaches that help make the decisions, there was lengthy discussion about how to move the game forward and it was a consensus that every effor must be made to get matches on TV.

Re: Rule Changes
 

Actually Roland Thornqvist is one of the major backers, and that is because his team will be one of the ones on TV the most. I agree with whomever said that the longer the format, the more likely the superior team is to win. That goes to show you how important Coach T thinks getting matches televised is. It seems too that he has had his day in the sun and is now working towards bettering the sport, which is commendable.

Then again, this is the guy that gave back match point in the NCAA singles as a player because the official made a bad call in his favor.

Re: Rule Changes
 

Ignoring for the time being that each of us on here have our connections and people that we know/support which doesn't necessarily mean that we are that person, let's consider the potential tv benefit of a format change. Plus, I think it is pretty bad form to "out" someone if you did happen to know who they are while posting under an alias yourself. Okay, I guess I didn't ignore your effort to identify me. Maybe right, maybe wrong.

Even if the collegiate tennis match is shortened to an appropriate time format, I really don't see it ever being successful on television because watching a single match on the screen just doesn't convey the drama of a match that you experience being at the match and having your head whip back and forth between 3 doubles courts or multiple singles courts.

People watch collegiate sports to root for one team versus another, and the drama of the team score in a tennis match will be very hard to properly convey on television. Televising a collegiate tennis match won't ever be like watching a softball or soccer game where a single screen can capture what is going on. I wonder how many of us watch the live scoring pages at the NCAA Championships or for certain conference championship matches instead of watching the live streaming of a single court.

I know they could have cameras and cover six courts simultaneously, but look at how they used to broadcast the NCAA Championship matches on ESPN. They would pretty much stick with one court that the commentators were watching and only break away to another court for little glimpses that were usually nothing other than a match point and a handshake.

Furthermore, while it would be great to see college tennis on television, I don't think it is worth the price that college tennis would have to pay by no longer being a true reflection of the sport of tennis.