Your child is playing, what should you be doing?
PARENTAL MATCH DAY JOB DESCRIPTION: The parent’s primary role is to de-stress their child.
Why?
- Stress Increases Muscle Contractions
- Stress Decreases Fluid Movement
- Stress Impairs Judgment
- Stress Reduces Problem Solving Skills
- Parents, remember that athletes perform best in a calm relaxed mental state.
PARENTAL PRE-MATCH JOB DESCRIPTION:
- Equipment preparation & nutrition/hydration requirements
- Warm up routines (Primary/Secondary Strokes) and imagery
- Keeping the player away from other players and parents
- Discuss styles of play, strengths and weaknesses instead of the opponents past success
- Emphasize the importance of executing the correct shot the moment demands
- Quality preparation is a life skill. It is the foundation for success.
PARENTAL MATCH TIME JOB DESCRIPTION:
Charting or video taping your child’s match provides valuable insight for future training. It also is provides an opportunity to positively channel parent’s/coach’s nervous energy during a match. (Players are very adept at reading their parent’s/coach’s emotions {i.e. non-verbal communication} while playing.)
Benefits of Match Analysis:
- Strengths and weaknesses in stroke production
- Implementation of strategies and tactics
- Actual causes of errors
- Dissecting the opponent/opponent awareness
- Movement, spacing and fitness
- Emotional control
- Focus control such as lapses in concentration
- Between point and changeover rituals
PARENTAL POST MATCH JOB DESCRIPTION
- Assist your child in their static stretching, nutrition and hydration requirements.
- Wait an appropriate amount of time before discussing the match.
- Begin match analysis with an over-view of their positive performance goals with an optimistic tone of voice.
- If not present- replace “Did You Win?” with “Did you hit your performance goals. Did you execute the correct shots at the right times?”
- Remind your child to complete their match logs.
Remember to acknowledge your child’s hard work!
