Parental behaviors that affect junior tennis player development

Abstract

Objective: To examine the role parents played in developing professional tennis players and, specifically, the full array of positive and negative attitudes and behaviors that influenced talent development. Furthermore, this study describes how specific parental behaviors exhibited changed as a function of the stage of talent development the child experienced. Method: The athlete triad was retrospectively interviewed (player, coach, and parent). Content analysis was used to create cross-case developmental themes categorized by the early, middle, and elite years. Results: Participants discussed the positive and negative behaviors parents exhibited during the junior tennis years. Parents exhibited many positive behaviors that facilitated development including various forms of support, emotionally intelligent discussions, and developing the child psychologically and socially through tennis. Negative behaviors that inhibited development included being negative and critical, over pushing, over emphasizing winning and talent development over other domains of the child’s life, and using controlling behaviors to reach tennis goals. Looking at trends across stages of development, all parents created a positive experience in the early years. With mounting pressure in the middle years more conflicts occurred with the players and negative parenting manifested itself often in controlling and pushing behaviors. Finally, parents were less involved in the elite years. Conclusions: Results reveal positive and negative parental behaviors by developmental stage, and support Côté’s findings (1999) that parents are directly involved in the early and middle years (i.e., sampling and specializing years) and become less involved in the elite years (i.e., investment years) of athletic talent development.