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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify junior tennis players’ preferences for parental behaviors at competitions. Eleven focus groups were conducted with 42 high performance Canadian tennis players (M age = 13.5 yrs, SD = 1.2 yrs). Analysis revealed several themes describing athletes’ views of supportive parental behaviors. Specific preferences were that parents should not provide technical and tactical advice, but they should comment on effort and attitude, provide practical advice, respect tennis etiquette, and match nonverbal behaviors with supportive comments. By providing a children's perspective, these findings offer guidance to enhance parental involvement in tennis.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
During the preparation of this manuscript, Camilla J. Knight was supported by a FS Chia PhD scholarship and Izaac Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship from the University of Alberta, Nicholas L. Holt was supported by a Population Health Investigator Award from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.