The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
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INTRODUCTION TO THE TENNIS PARENT’S JOB DESCRIPTION
“The parent is the architect of their child’s tennis career.”
Experts agree that there is a great need for an organizational blue-print for tennis parents, as well as parents of athlete’s in every chosen sport. Until now, the role of the tennis parent has been controversial and mysterious. The ultimate quest of the The Tennis Parent’s Bible’s is to empower the tennis parent by defining their role. In my experience, a large percentage of the parents that I have worked with were optimistic and willing to learn about the tennis developmental process; while a small percentage of the tennis parents were perfectionists, pessimistic and unwilling to consider the possibility that their methods were counterproductive toward the athletic growth of their child.
“If you’re a bit of a perfectionist, this book is aimed at making you a “Recovering Perfectionists.”
Serious harmful consequences result from well-intended perfectionists’ imposing their beliefs and actions on their children, which ultimately poisons their children with negativity and an unwillingness to accept change which stunts their growth.
Listed below are the three types of tennis parents. The first group probably wouldn’t even pick up a book like this because their ego wouldn’t allow them to possibly be proven wrong – of course they already know all there is to know. The second and third type of tennis parent shares my interest in raising athletic royalty. Let’s take a peek at the three types of tennis parent to see where you fit in.
Three Types of Tennis Parent’s
1) The Under Involved Parent:
- The only sports they are passionate about is their own.
- 100% sure that they already know it all and aren’t interested in learning more.
- Unaware of the life lessons learned through sports.
- Seek zero accountability for their child’s growth.
- Oblivious towards their children’s personal desires.
- Unable to attend weekend tournaments due to their heavy social calendar.
- Unwilling to spend money on their child’s tennis.
- Views their child’s sports as an inconvenience and a waste of time.
2) The CEO Facilitator Parent:
- Educated about the process of raising athletic royalty.
- Realizes that commitment demands long, mid and short term goal setting.
- Understands the positive emotional demands of the parent and athlete.
- Understands the logistical organizational demands of the parents/player/encourage.
- Understands the lesson, clinics, sparring and tournament scheduling demands.
- Understands the invaluable life lessons learned through participating in sports.
3) The Over Involved Parent:
- Places too much emphasis on winning every drill, practice set and match.
- Attempts to coach the athlete with no real coaching background.
- Overly negative, pessimistic and critical.
- Seeks a return on their financial investment.
- Over-reacts to errors and losses.
- Live vicariously through their child’s success.
- Obsessed with the game and how it benefits their personal “agenda.”
A family’s moral code and developmental climate has a lifelong effect on the athlete, whether the parents know it or not. Because parents and coaches are so influential in shaping their young athletes, I urge you to take an optimistic approach to raising athletic royalty. It is my hopes that by reading this book you’ll fall into the CEO facilitator role of a world class tennis parent.
The Tennis Parent Mission Statement:
“I vow to create a positive experience for my child by providing optimistic emotional guidance, logistical,
organizational & financial support as I oversee my child’s entourage of coaches.”
