On Tuesday 27 February, CTC was privileged to host an online open dialogue session with one of the world’s most respected coaches, José Higueras, director of Coaching at the United States Tennis Association (USTA). Recently the ATP recognized him with the Tim Gullickson award.
Higueras was very clear in his answers to the audience of nearly 30 participants from various regions of the world about the parent-coach relationship, a key element to the success of young tennis players. The session, which was conducted in English, ended with a few minutes of dialogue in Spanish.
For José, communication is essential from the very first contact, «but there is never too much communication. You have to be completely open and transparent and the communication needs to be constant.»
Today’s parents «are much more complicated than years ago because they have much more information. It’s more challenging. You have to keep them informed constantly but without any interference from them» because «they have to understand the impact they have on their children. Good parent first, good coach second.»
To the surprise of the audience, Higueras explained that «I have never signed a contract with anyone». And it should be remembered that he has coached many top players, including Jim Courier, Todd Martin, Sergi Bruguera, Carlos Moyá, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, among others.His experience with the parents of these stars was varied, but he singled out the parents of Jim Courier and Roger Federer for their exemplary behaviour.
Another point Higueras stressed was that «in my experience, at a very young age (12-14 years old), you cannot predict whether a boy or girl will make it to the world’s elite or not. All parents think they have the next Federer, Nadal or Djokovic. But these players are unique. Boys and girls need the benefit of playing on different levels and the benefit in practicing with everyone. You have to show them and their parents that it is positive to train with higher and lower level players. I have been lucky enough to be independent. And I’ve never made a decision that wasn’t in the best interests of the player”.
Non-negotiable
«There are a few things that are non-negotiable for me when working with a player: trust, respect and to be on time, commitment and full effort. And if I want that from the player, I have to be able to offer it to the player.”
These words were echoed by our special guest, Tommy Robredo, former top-10 player and current advisor to the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899 tennis school: «My father taught me to work hard every day to improve. For him, it was always more important to do well than to win. That will be the result of working hard every day.”.
Robredo and Higueras agreed that they do not like the combination » working hard – feeling miserable». When parents consider getting their son or daughter involved in sport, the most important thing is «that he or she has fun. So let them have fun at all stages.”
The assistants learned many things from Jose’s and Tommy’s experience. And the CTC is already working on the next online session.
