# Ruin sports by changing the regulations **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 28, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691 "2021-08-28T20:44:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/101 "2022-04-05T02:18:22Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > And finally, if you make a basket from behind the half court line you automatically win the game. Basketball games would be very, very short then. Even if you only shoot 2% from beyond half court you’d probably be able to wrap the game up in 20 minutes or so, and I strongly suspect the best shooters in the league would be better than that. I doubt teams would ever take any other shot - why bother? ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/102 "2022-04-05T18:22:06Z")
> [@keeganst94](#): > > Basketball games would be very, very short then. So what’s the problem? That’s a feature, not a bug. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2022, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/103 "2022-04-06T12:51:19Z")
Golf: You can’t get out of the golf cart. Make it like polo. I mean I’d still watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/104 "2022-04-12T15:21:32Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Golf: You can’t get out of the golf cart. Do you still have the “no carts on the greens” rule? Makes putting even more challenging. I’m assuming you mean you have to swing the club while seated in the cart, so you’d have to get out, move your ball off the green, and try again. Does that moving of the ball result in a penalty, or would it be analogous to relief from a cart path? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/105 "2022-04-12T16:29:26Z")
Tennis balls and rackets must be dipped in a large bucket of very soapy water before each point. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/106 "2022-04-12T18:46:30Z")
Tennis: allow dogs to roam the courts. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/107 "2022-04-13T08:09:13Z")
Just make pro golfers carry their own clubs (no carts or buggies), and have a time limit - 3 minutes between shots and 10 secs per shot when they get to the ball. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/108 "2022-04-20T00:39:24Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > If I finally spring for Out of the Park Baseball (I have some other games ahead on my docket right now) I’ll design a huge park with massively distant fences, get 4 fleet footed outfielders (with all that real estate out there I`ll need them), and basically outrun the opposition. There has been an opportunity for an enterprising team to do this (in a landscape dominated by ponderous sluggers), but no team wants to have bleacher seats half a parsec from the infield. They’re building stadiums with fewer seats than they used to, so you might yet get your wish. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/109 "2022-04-24T15:36:16Z")
To spare him further wear and tear, have Tiger Woods carried around golf courses in a sedan chair by adoring fans. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/110 "2022-04-24T16:11:26Z")
Hockey: Don’t allow fighting. Make the players wear helmets. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/111 "2022-04-26T20:46:57Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Golf: You can’t get out of the golf cart. Make it like polo. I mean I’d still watch it. Golf cart polo [is a thing](https://youtu.be/_dz3BJ5K68M), but not as fun as [Segway polo](https://youtu.be/nwD9EXOJNzw). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/112 "2022-04-26T21:23:33Z")
Golf. Make the hole 6 feet wide and the fairway half the length. Then everybody can play like a pro and the appeal of sucking at game almost no one can play well will disappear. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/113 "2022-04-26T22:21:50Z")
Baseball: make the ball the size of a softball, but maintaining the same baseball weight and bat regulations. Hence making a pitch something easy to hit, and a home run something essentially impossible. The pitcher becomes just the guy who starts the play and whose principle role is of an infielder. A perfect game becomes one where every batter gets on base and nobody gets home. ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/114 "2022-04-27T18:08:35Z")
Soccer: to promote scoring, each goal tender is required to consume a shot of liquor every time the opposing team earns a corner kick. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/115 "2022-04-27T18:30:52Z")
> [@kurtisokc](#): > > each goal tender is required to consume a shot of liquor every time the opposing team earns a corner kick. That’s not fair! Every player drinks a shot before each corner kick. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/116 "2022-04-28T02:17:52Z")
Hope this isn’t too much off topic, but this thread has been going for a while, and it is about a rule change. I have wondered for quite a while how the game of football/soccer would change if there was an in=play area of say ten-twenty meters depth behind each goal much as there is in ice hockey. Players could pass from back there to teammates facing the goal already. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/117 "2022-05-01T15:53:33Z")
As with any rule change to soccer, it is more likely to improve the sport than ruin it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/118 "2022-05-04T14:51:24Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Baseball: make the ball the size of a softball, but maintaining the same baseball weight and bat regulations. > > Hence making a pitch something easy to hit, and a home run something essentially impossible. Softballs are heavier than baseballs so I’m not sure if this makes home runs easier or harder. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/119 "2022-05-04T15:32:07Z")
And MLB will have the balls juiced up if they aren’t seeing enough dingers, or just if they need to distract from some scandal. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691/120 "2022-05-04T16:30:08Z")
All sports are _immediately_ changed to 43 men (or women or mixed) teams. That is all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-sports-by-changing-the-regulations/949691.md?page=7)