Parents naturally want to support their children and help them succeed academically, socially, with their extracurricular activities and in sports. Tennis is sport where parental support is essential; however, it must be balanced by a hefty amount of perspective. I’ve listed below some junior tennis athlete tips for parents that may help achieve such a balance, and suggestions for how parents can encourage independence in their child.
Understand and support your child’s tennis goals and the role that tennis plays in their life. Let them talk to you about these - and listen.
Let them lead. Don’t impose on your child your goals for their tennis.
Talk to your child regularly about their goals because their tennis objectives could change over time.
Learn about the sport, its psychological challenges, physical demands, and technical aspects. The more you know about tennis, the better you can understand your child’s experience.
If you play tennis yourself, don’t assume that your experience with the game is the same as your child’s.
Work with your child’s coach to understand your junior’s tennis development plan, but be careful not to overwhelm the coach with endless demands or with what you think they should be doing in regard to your junior’s program.
Don’t get caught up in the details of your junior’s tennis experience: their wins, losses, competitors, tournaments, ranking etc. While tennis and your child’s results may become a real focal point of their life, it is not the sum of their existence. Keep some perspective – and help them do the same. Focus on the benefits your child is gaining from playing competitive tennis and the life lessons learned.
Help your child to develop the skills to cope with competition. Tennis is a psychologically demanding sport and children need to be able to cope with this. How you interact with your child effects how they cope with competition.
Don’t do everything for your child. Help them learn to be independent. This can be one of the junior tennis athlete tips for parents that could be tough to follow. It is tempting to get involved in everything from their tennis bag prep to tournament sign-up. If you do too much for your child, you will undercut opportunities for them to develop as an individual and as a player.
Talk to your junior about what they want from you at tournaments. For example, do they want you there? Or not. Do they want you to encourage them while watching or not.
After a match, be sensitive. If your child has lost a match, let them talk about it. Say nothing. This is not a time for a pep talk or to offer criticism or suggestions for ‘next time’. If they don’t want to talk or if they are upset, wait. Let them control the conversation.
The junior tennis journey undertaken by parent and child can be a rewarding and enriching experience for you both. Without doubt, there are a lot of challenges along the way – moments of great joy and those of utter frustration. That said, if you follow as many of these junior tennis athlete tips for parents as possible, they can ease the way.
