I look at this next young generation of upcoming tennis players with mixed emotions… the excitement of knowing what they will experience and the heartache of knowing what they will experience. Some of my very best memories of life are from junior tennis… traveling the world, amazing friends, tough competition and yes, most of all, the high of winning. Junior tennis was also one of the toughest times for my parents, my family and myself.
We all know as parents, parenting isn’t easy, isn’t always fun and rarely goes according to plan. Count on that in spades if you are parenting an elite athlete, especially one in an individual sport like tennis. It is safe to say that the children who are able to walk on a tennis court by themselves, with no teammates and no coaches, perform in front of family, peers, strangers, agents and recruiters (in tiny skirts and tops no less), make all the strategic decisions by instinct, deal with the integrity of calling their own lines under pressure, deal with the lack of integrity of an opponent calling their own lines, the emotional drama (or trauma for some) of playing a friend, attempting to keep their emotions in check when things go poorly (which they will) and then the kicker… to deal with you, the parent when they come off the court (Yeah, you didn’t tell them all of that when you talked them into their first lesson did you?) … this takes a unique child. I can honestly say… there is nothing normal about us and get ready for a bumpy ride, because we can be hell on wheels to raise!
So here are my TOP TEN TIPS FOR TENNIS PARENTS… from Marianne Werdel, the 14-year-old girl, ranked # 1 in the country, fiercely independent, intensely competitive, cunningly smart, somewhat (or very) precocious, driven and determined to be the best…