Parents who coach their kids, ugh!!!

I'm sure there has been a lot of discussion, and studies about parents who coach their own kids, or husbands who teach wives tennis or anything else. Typically it's not a great combination. Occasionally, it works out fine, but from what I've seen, its causes more harm than good.

This afternoon, I saw who was likely one of the top high school players in the area. She was drilling with her father while mother stood watching. He was very critical. After the session, the girl left the court in tears. I didn't know the facts but I could only feel very sad for her and made me want to add this discussion on TennisOp.

How often does a coach, from the ranks of pee wee tennis to the elite professional, treat or berate a student to the point of crying? If anything, criticism must be done in a positive way although I know some local coaches who use criticism in a negative way.

Most parents are not trained to be coaches, they don't know the technical aspects about tennis or don't know how to coach. I know parent coaches are parents that want the best for their child, but parent coaches are typically way too hard on their children because the parent thinks they know the best for their child. Would a parent coach treat a neighbors kid the same way? I really don't think so. Parents need to coach their own kids like they would coach someone else.

Kris Milligan has written a book called the Family Guide to Tennis. Although at this time I have not read the book, but from it's title, might be something a parent should read regardless if their child participates in tennis or any other sport. I plan to get an autographed copy from Kris soon.