Behaviors that Affect Junior Tennis Player Development

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. The development of talent is of great interest to national sport governing bodies, coaches, athletes and parents (Abbott & Collins, 2004). In fact, many would argue that developing talent is becoming more important than ever as sports, such as tennis, become more international and the pressures to develop cham-pions increase (with the development of talent linked to funding and coach and administrator job security). The pursuit of expertise in tennis and sport, in general, has also become highly desirable in society (Dukes & Coakley, 2002). With the careers and aspirations that lie in the balance based on the development of young athletes into experts, the efforts to understand the talent development process has increased (see Starkes & Ericsson, 2003 for a review).