An observation the other day

​A positive love and passion in sport begins with a positive learning experience from the onset of a long journey. On one occasion, I watched an adult coaching tennis to a young kid. They were working on some technical aspects of a forehand swing. I was curious, so I watched and observed to determine what the main objectives were, as well as the corrective progressions to “improve” (more likely to learn) a forehand groundstroke objective. As my friend and I were taking a breather after our game, without much attention, we watched on from across a tennis court adjacent to us, I found out that this adult was a parent to the child. I thought this was great—a parent-coach would want most for their own child!

​While the parent’s intention was noble, his knowledge and experience were questionable to assess the technical flaws. The causes and symptoms of an inefficient movement were not appropriately identified. Subsequently, the child began to show a diminished interest, and frustrations were exhibited through the child’s body language. The parent, in turn, was not particularly happy with his child’s attitude. Moreover, the progressive corrective techniques applied were inconsistently applied to correct the problem. The child at this time was surely very confuse as not to learn a forehand, but to please the father. A child’s positive learning experience would lead the way, but so would a negative learning experience, but in the opposite direction. 

I wanted to help, but what can I say; I couldn’t offer anything. I thought to myself why not enlist help from a more qualified individual, maybe a professional instructor? I couldn’t know absolutely the real reason. Optimal sports learning takes place at a very young age, I couldn’t do or say anything in this scenario, which I had seen a few times in my career as a tennis coach.
​
Love, commitment and sincerity are always present from the parents for their child; however, imparting a lesser sound technical progression could lead to frustrations and resentments in the physical activities, which could hinder the child long-term interest in physical activities. Be considerate to your child’s physical and mental readiness with both a balance of love and positive discipline in the pursuant sport activities.