Tennis is a sport that requires a continuously high emotional control by the player. This request concerns not only the professionals but also the children. It’s unfortunately very common to see boys between 11-14 years that begin after an error a negative self-talk, expressing anger/frustration. Already so young people have difficulty accepting their mistakes! They ignore that learning is a function of their ability to manage their emotions. Parents are often pessimistic about the ability of their children to change, because they are convinced “that you are born like that” and then they have tried to tell not to react that way but he/she did not get any change because the character never change. Fortunately not everyone thinks in this way and around the world programs are active to counteract this phenomenon starting from the school. The sport, and the court in this case, represent an important situation in which young people can learn how to effectively manage their emotions and it’s an indirect way to teach parents that it is a skill that can be improved as well as they learn the basics of tennis and then puts them together to build their own game. Of course, parents should support their children’s activity with no expectations about their future tennis but supporting their motivation to have fun through sport. It ‘s very difficult to play this role, however, because the personal vanity leads them to believe that their child can become a champion. How do you agree to take him/her to play tennis 3/4 times a week, to see him/her after the first mistakes to start these negative behaviors and go on to say ” but he/she likes so much tennis.” You cannot ignore it, thinking that sooner or later passes. Rather not pass ! To those who think this way, I suggest you read the Edutopia, which aims to teach children and adolescents to improve the management of their emotions and social relations. In Italy I wrote some time ago of a similar program grew out of a research by Dove, which will promote in 10 secondary schools of Milan, a series of four meetings, reserved for girls and boys aged between 12 and 14 years.
