Parent Support
What can you do to support your child playing tennis?
At the LTA we’re on hand to help you and your children on your tennis journey, as they progress with the sport.
What is the Parent Support Programme?
Parents play a key role in sport and kids need their support and encouragement.
We work closely with sports psychology experts from Loughborough University and the University of Roehampton to offer help – what we call the Parent Support Programme.
The Parent Support Programme is made up of three parts:
- Stage One: Introductory Guide to Competition
- Stage Two: Competition Parenting Workshops
- Stage Three: Mental and Emotional Skills Guide
Find out more about the Parent Support Programme below.
It can feel like there's lots to understand when your child first starts competing, so we've put together an online guide containing key information to help you support your child. It's ideal for the parents and carers of players who are new to competition.
We've worked in conjunction with the LTA Legal and Safeguarding Teams to develop the content so we can support everyone to create a positive environment at competitions.
The guide covers:
- Things to consider before your child starts competing
- What to expect at tennis competitions and how to positively support your child
- What happens after your child has played a competition
The guide is the first stage of our Parent Support programme, developed with Sport and Exercise Psychology experts from Nottingham Trent University, Oxford Brookes University and Loughborough University.
Click below to read "Ready, Play" – An Online Guide to Competition for Parents and Carers:
Our Competition Parenting Workshops are aimed at parents with kids aged 9-14 who have just started competing or compete regularly.
The interactive two-hour sessions are designed in partnership with Loughborough University to provide parents with the knowledge and skills they needed to support their child at tennis competitions.
Topics covered include:
- Parents’ roles during tennis competitions
- Communicating effectively with children before, during and after a match
- Managing the emotional demands of competition
So far, we’ve had some great feedback! More than 99% of parents were ‘Satisfied’ or ‘Very Satisfied’ overall with the pre-workshop booklet and workshop.
Here is what parents have said about the workshop:
“This was an excellent session. I totally loved all of it. What an amazing course which I recommend to all tennis parents.”
“This was an excellent workshop brilliantly delivered by the tutor. The format (combination of slides and interactive group and discussions) worked very well. An excellent initiative.”
Workshops are currently being delivered as free online webinars, making it even easier and accessible for everyone to attend.
Find a workshop through our Find a Course tool!
Once you've attended the Competition Parenting Workshop you can attend our follow-on workshop - 'Nurturing your child's psychosocial skills through Tennis: Applying the 5Cs approach'. This two hour webinar provides further guidance for parents to support their experiences in tennis and explain how they can support their child using the 5Cs model (Commitment, Communication, Concentration, Control and Confidence).
This guide builds on stages one and two – and provides more expert advice around how you can help the development of your child’s mental and emotional skills.
Professor Chris Howard PhD (Loughborough University) and Sam Thrower PhD (University of Roehampton) will guide you through such topics as ‘understand pre-match thoughts and feelings’ and ‘help your child with the meaning of competition’.
Download the Mental and Emotional Skills Guide to find out more.
During the month of October we delivered our second ‘Parents in Tennis’ month.
The aim of the month was to provide the parents/carers of competitive tennis players with a series of engaging and informative online sessions, helping them to be better equipped to support their child through their tennis journey. Sessions were delivered by experts and covered a range of topics.
You can read more about the sessions that took place and watch the recordings of some sessions via the guide below:
We want to make sure children are safe from abuse and are free to enjoy their tennis.
Read our Safeguarding information for parents and carers to find out more.
If you have questions about safeguarding at your venue, speak to the venue Welfare Officer (or safeguarding lead). To report a safeguarding concern to the LTA please use the form here.
Fair Play is an essential value in our sport – whether you’re a player, coach or parent.
We want to make sure that tennis is played in a fair, open and inclusive nature at all levels, so everyone feels welcome on court.
Fair Play involves:
- Good sportsmanship, honesty and respect whether you win or lose
- Learning to challenge yourself and improve social skills
- Taking responsibility for your actions, calling scores and lines clearly and fairly even if it costs you the point
- Learning and following the rules and being a role model to younger people
- Enjoyment of the sport
Find out more about Fair Play in our video below:
- Videos from Parents in Tennis month 2023
- 'Competition Opened Up' - led by Kay Gilbert from the Tennis Parents Community Facebook Group, with Jenny McAneny-Vincent, Amanda Morrissey and Chris Mann from the LTA Competitions Team
- 'British Univeristies Opened Up' - delivered by Alistair Higham, LTA Universities Manager
- 'Everything you want to know about Sport Psychology but were afraid to ask' - delivered by Professor Chris Harwood and Dr Sam Thrower
- 'Optimising Lifestyle and Wellbeing' - delivered by Rachel Newnham, LTA Performance Lifestyle National Lead
- Parents in Tennis month - Summary (containing video links and other useful resources)
Videos from Parents in Tennis month 2022
- 'Competition Opened Up' - led by Kay Gilbert from the Tennis Parents Community Facebook Group, with Keith Carder and Amanda Morrissey from the LTA Competitions Team
- 'British Universities Opened Up' - delivered by Alistair Higham, LTA Universities Manager
- Developing and sustaining parenting expertise in youth tennis - delivered by Professor Chris Harwood, Professor Camilla Knight and Dr Sam Thrower
- Parents in Tennis month - Summary (containing video links and other useful resources)
Videos from Parent in Sport Week 2021