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Parenting Your
Champion: Developing Talent
(Adopted from the US Tennis Association, used with
permission)
There are three phases of
sports development:
Phase 1 :
Introduction/Foundation
- Approximate years in phase
= 5
- Age of athlete: 4.5-9.6
years
In this phase, allow your
child to dream big and to ensure lessons focus on fun and
fundamentals. It’s important to recognize your child’s
interests and provide them with opportunities and support to help
him/her be successful. Try your best to focus little attention on
winning and rankings as well as encouraging participate in multiple
activities and sports. Now is not the time to specialize. Equally
important is using this time to emphasize positive attitude and
life skills and as a parent, try to keep a neutral demeanor at
practices and competitions. Being overly nervous or displaying
negative emotions will only send the wrong message to your
child.
Parents during this phase
should learn what their role is (supportive and on the sidelines)
and what the role of the coach is (the technical expert and in
charge of wet side matters). Avoid burnout by putting limits on
practice time.
Phase 2:
Refinement/Transitional
- Approximate years in phase
= 4
- Age of athlete:
10.6-14.6
During this phase, do
things to ensure that the sport remains fun. It’s important
to identify a knowledgeable coach who understands the proper
training and technical progressions while working with a teenager.
In this phase you can encourage your child to win, but more
importantly to give his/her best effort. Leave swimming on the deck
and avoid overly talking about it at home. Keep your chid’s
experiences well-rounded by focusing on non-sport family activities
and by emphasizing normal childhood chores and
responsibilities.
In this phase, you can
start to involve your child in decision making making sure you
allow for recovery time physically and mentally from the sport.
Continue to reinforce the principles outlined or introduced in the
Foundation phase.
Phase 3: Elite
Performance
- Approximate years in phase
= NA
- Age of athlete: 15.4
+
In this phase some things
parents can look out for are being careful to care about your child
as a person and not just as an athlete. In this phase the athlete
becomes the main motivator and there is less push from the parent.
Help facilitate this independence by making him or her responsible
for equipment, commitments and scheduling. Emphasize good behavior
and sportsmanship and to help remind your athlete that sports is a
game of highs and lows and to work to stay emotionally even.
Reassure and relax your child and provide them with honest
feedback.
What’s important to
remember that many of the same themes will resurface from phase to
phase. Be supportive, know your role as a parent and reinforce life
skills and good sportsmanship throughout all phases.
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