We are excited to have Bill Schillings join us for part one of three episodes. Bill has worked with young tennis players and their families for a few decades and decided to write a book about his experiences called “Sports Parenting – Creating an Environment for Success…Without Going Bat Sh*t Crazy.”

Sports Parenting is Tough

We all want our kids to succeed and watching them play any sport can be stressful. Bill explains that parenting in general is hard and when you add watching your children play a competitive sport on top of that, it’s even harder.

We want to protect our kids and the thought of them failing at anything is hard for parents to deal with. In our culture, sports magnifies everything. That also means that the joy (or sadness) from playing a sport is magnified.

The advice Bill gives in his book about how to be a good sports parent without going bat sh*t crazy can be used for any sport. His advice isn’t just for tennis parents.

Finding a Balance Between Wanting Your Kids to Succeed and Not Going Bat Sh*t Crazy

Sports parenting is all about finding a balance. That balance is between your instincts as a parent and what’s going to be effective for your child. That includes a spectrum of thoughts. Those thoughts include things like outcomes vs. process; sprint vs. a marathon; character vs. competition. Parents who tend to get in trouble tend to gravitate to the far ends of any of those thoughts.

This is why finding a balance is so important so you don’t go bat sh*t crazy.

How Can Your Kids Succeed in Sports Without Taking Out a Second Mortgage?

Competitive kid’s sports have become very expensive. Gone are the days of picking up a sport in middle school or high school. It seems like if you haven’t had your children playing sports and paying for coaching from a very early age, they don’t have a chance to succeed. Bill is here to tell you that it’s just not true. Children can do a lot to help their parents not spend too much on their sport. Bill advises that for every hour a parent has spent money on coaching, the child should dedicate two hours of practice on their own.

The same thing can be done in adult recreational tennis. For every hour you pay a coach, practice for at least two hours with your friends, and use the skills you learned from a coach.

Other Great Advice About Sports Parenting

We hope you enjoy Bill’s advice about Sports Parenting – Don’t Go Bat Sh*t Crazy (Part One). For more great advice about how to raise kids that play sports, listen to our episodes with Mark Dillion – President of USTA North Carolina. Mark and his wife both played tennis growing up and watched all three of their sons compete in tennis all the way through college as well. His episodes can be found here:

Tennis Warehouse’s Tip of the Week

We hope you’re enjoying our Tennis Warehouse’s Tip of the Week segments with Michelle. Use discount code SECONDSERVE in your Tennis Warehouse cart and get $20 off clearance apparel orders over $100. Clearance apparel can be found here!

For more in-depth discussions about gear, check out Michelle’s Talk Tennis podcast.

We hosted Michelle for several great podcasts too. You can find them here: