Ouderlijke betrokkenheid bij talentvolle tennissers; explorerend onderzoek naar de ervaringen en verwachtingen van ouders en kinderen

Abstract

In the setting of children who are highly skilled in tennis, parents have an important role in the well-being of their children but also in the development of the tennis careers of their children. However, past research indicated that there is a discrepancy between how parents and children evaluate the parental involvement. Parents are often ignorant how to be involved and unaware of the needs of their children. This study examined the experiences and expectations of parents and their children who are highly skilled in tennis, towards parental involvement (age 8 to 14 years old) in the Netherlands. Parental involvement was operationalized in three different ways, instrumental, emotional and informational involvement. Twelve in-depth interviews were used for qualitative data-analyses. Results showed that parents are not always aware of their non-verbal behaviours, even though they have the intention to mask their negative thoughts. Furthermore parents have the expectation that by being emotional involved they stimulate the self-reliance of their children, however parents show contrary behaviour. Finally parents want to give technical tennis advices but they do not have enough knowledge. These findings are important to formulate several implications with regard to the three forms of parental involvement.