Watching From The Sidelines
Are you a parent watching your son or daughter from the sidelines? Discover the impact of your actions.
Coach: Trey Hildebrand, next-generation American tennis player.
Bio: Born May 15, 2000, in San Antonio, Texas. Reached No. 2 Junior ranking in USA and No. 5 by Tennis Recruiting Network. In doubles, won 2018 Easter Bowl Championships in Palm Springs, reached SF in the 2018 Belgian International Junior Championships, QF 2018 Junior International Roehampton, and QF 2018 International Spring Championships in Carson, USA. Reached singles QF in the 2018 Junior Wimbledon Championships. Reached QF doubles and competed in singles 2018 US Boys Open. Competed in the singles and doubles of the 2018 Roland Garros Junior French Championships.
Joined The Knights at the University of Central Florida, led by head coach John Roddick, which plays out of the National USTA Campus in FL.
Birthplace: USA
Residency: USA
Length: 1 min 37 sec
Theme: Emotion
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0:00
Being a kid that grew up with my dad as my coach, I can relate to kids that have problems focusing on the tennis court because of their parents or coaches.
0:10
Parents and coaches don't understand that what they do on the sidelines can make their kid or player mentally break and lose the match.
0:19
For example, my dad was sitting on the sidelines during my match at an ITF tournament in El Salvador. I wasn't playing well. And I was losing the match. My dad was saying negative things to me and banging on the bleachers. His actions made me so nervous to where I couldn't make a ball in the court ended up losing the match.
0:38
I had a long talk with him after the match and just basically told him that I couldn't do it anymore. I told him that if he wanted to watch that he wasn't allowed to say or make any negative actions while I was playing. He has made huge efforts to try and make it better.
0:52
For example, whenever I get irritated on the court, he always comes back with a positive comment to get me going again. He always keeps his hands in his pocket so that he doesn't make any gestures at me during the match. He does these things to this day. And we haven't had a problem in a long time. I have played in junior Wimbledon, Junior US Open, and he supports me on the sidelines without making me nervous. Now when I play I actually want him to watch as opposed to a couple of years ago when I never wanted to watch.
1:24
So next time your players playing, just try to encourage them and enjoy watching them play, because I'm sure it will make a big difference.
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