Becoming a Successful Parent Coach

Key Points

• If you want your child to be a professional tennis player:
• Surround your children with tennis and other tennis players
• Create a positive environment where kids can enjoy tennis
• Do not attempt to coach your child until you have established discipline at home
• Leave stress related to tennis on the court because if you bring it home it could stifle your child’s development and they may lose interest in tennis
• Never, ever scream at your kids for losing a match
• Inviting other top juniors to train with your kids creates a more competitive, varied practice environment
• Playing too many tournaments can take the focus away from your long term developmental plan
• It’s ok to take 1, 2 or even 3 months off playing tournaments to fix technical deficiencies in your child's game - cleaning up technical deficiencies in their game is more important than playing tournaments
• Create a Developmental Plan based on specific goals and skills rather focus on whether your child is winning tournaments
• Part of Richard William’s genius was taking pressure off his daughters during their developmental stage and instilling self belief, discipline and competitiveness