Peter Smith is one of the elite coaches in college tennis history. He’s led the USC Men’s Tennis team to five NCAA titles in the past 9 seasons and is a two-time ITA National Coach of the Year winner. Smith has coached numerous All-Americans and players who have had success on the ATP tour, including Steve Johnson who is currently #30 in the world. In addition to his coaching success, Smith has produced some amazing doubles results with his three sons, Riley, Tanner, and Colter. The Smiths have won 8 Father-Son National Championships, including five in a row at the National Hard Courts, and at least one coming with each son. Both Riley and Tanner chose to join dad and currently play for USC while Colter is a successful junior player at the national level. A special ‘thank you’ to our Bruce Lipka for working with Peter on this article and having him share such great insights/advice for tennis parents and aspiring high-level tennis players.

My Advice for Tennis Parents

When my kids were born, I focused on making them great people who play tennis instead of making them great tennis players. I knew there were so many lessons that tennis could teach them, and I wanted to use those lessons to make them successful people. I always wanted a better relationship with my dad, and this is what drove me everyday as a parent. It is one of the hardest jobs we have on earth but certainly the most important and rewarding. I always hesitate to write articles like this because my kids are far from perfect, and I am even further, but hopefully we are trying everyday to get better. I do not have all the answers and have made a lot of mistakes, but hopefully you can learn from them to make this experience of being a tennis parent that much better.

Make it FUN!

My first priority was to make them love tennis, so I tried to make it fun regardless of what we did. Everything became a game. We started with cheap badminton racquets and balloons – we called it balloon tennis – and we played it in the house according to the kids’ own rules. They always had a blast, and that was only the beginning of their love for the sport. When we went to the courts, Tanner would drive this little electric Jeep with Riley in the passenger seat. To them, even going to the courts was fun – tennis was just part of the deal.

However, I wanted my kids to learn how to play every sport too. I felt like that was an extremely important aspect of their childhood because it not only made them better people and better athletes, but it also made them feel like they had a choice in what sport they wanted to play. I also feel other sports teach teamwork. Their favorite sports are basketball, soccer and flag football. In reading David Epstein’s the Sports Gene, he talks about how the best athletes are small town athletes who don’t specialize in one sport in their youth but instead focus on playing 3 or 4 sports seasonally.

A Family Affair

I enjoyed it when we all played whatever together, but I was the tennis guy, so we played a lot of tennis together. I tried to coach every sport they played in, but my job can be a little busy at times, so I was usually the assistant. Before Colter was old enough to play, we would go to the courts and play family doubles with my wife, Tammie. They always wanted to go to the courts and play with me, and I loved spending time with them. I started a tennis clinic because of my schedule as it was something I could control. At every school I coached, I had after-school tennis academies and really developed a love for teaching kids.

I thought it was very important to get them on the court with adults, so we participated in drop-in Saturday morning doubles and league matches, but the thing they enjoyed most was Father-Son doubles. We have played countless times together, and we always have a blast. Winning or losing is just a part of the adventure, not the end result. The experience of being on the court with my children, competing by their sides and doing something we all love, has truly been one of the highlights of my sporting life.

Always Support Your Kids

Watching my kids compete in tournaments has always been a challenge, especially in a sport where there is only one winner, and therefore, only one player who ends the tournament happy. Before matches, I asked them questions to gain insight into their thought processes, and then guided them to answers. Afterwards, if they lost and were upset, we found the nearest 7-11 and bought a Slurpee, which always brought a smile to their faces. Things like this were just one of the ways to make the dreaded car ride home after a loss so much sweeter. My advice to parents is to say one thing, “I loved watching you play,” even if you didn’t that day. And trust me, there are plenty of those days. One of the most influential books I read was Changing the Game by John O’Sullivan. Kids really want to hear what you have to say until they are about 13, and then really they just want you to shut up and be the parent. Shutting up might be one of the hardest things we do as the tennis/parent/coach.

Develop for the Future

With tennis, you have to adopt a long-term mentality and always keep building for the future. When kids are young, steadiness wins (really, steadiness always wins), but as they get older, hitting with power and having a complete game become much more important. I always wanted my kids to have a complete game because I knew that it would pay off in the long run, even if they struggled to beat the steady players as juniors.

To me, everything was building them towards playing college tennis. If they did that, I knew they would have fun wherever they went, but I never dreamed that all of them would want to come play for me. I even explained to them that it wouldn’t always be the best. Having your dad as the coach is not always easiest, but they didn’t care. It was what they wanted, and coaching at a great school like USC didn’t hurt.

Tips to Help Your Kids Have a Great Tennis Career

Have your kids play multiple sports as they grow up – m ine loved to play basketball, soccer and flag football (Friday night lights was amazing in our town)

Get your kids involved in a clinic or academy that stresses sportsmanship

Find a pro who has produced good junior players, and take at least two half-hour lessons per week – i f the pro is involved with the academy too, even better

Make sure the pro teaches your child an all-court game , so they have the option to play any game style they want – t eaching them how to volley is especially important; learning to volley as a young kid is easy, but the older you are, the harder it is to implement.

Enroll them in tournaments, but do not discuss rankings or results

At tournaments, stress good sportsmanship and spending time with their buddies – r egardless of the outcome, make every tournament a blast by taking your kids and their friends out to get pizza, burgers, or even a Slurpee.

Allow Your Kids to Grow Up By…

Entering themselves in tournaments, trying to find friends to practice with, and going to practice alone

Letting tennis teach them life skills

Buying them a racquet stringer – h ave them string their own racquets and make some money stringing others’.

Keeping your kids in school, so they can learn the challenge of balancing a tough academic schedule with a time-intensive, competitive sport. They need to learn how to balance life, and they can do it. It is a pain for everyone, but it is worth it.

Not homeschooling your kids until their last year of high school. A busy kid is a kid who doesn’t have time to get into trouble.

Having them play high school tennis and learning how to get along with tough high school teachers and coaches. Someday, they will have a very unreasonable boss or significant other (I, of course don’t) and will need to know how to act in those situations.

Letting them learn how to negotiate. Most interactions with people involve negotiating, but they can only learn this through dealing with other people themselves, not through their parents.

Letting them learn how to struggle and fight for what they want, because that is the best skill we can teach them.

Ultimately, the goal is to teach your kids how to be great people and great students, who happen to also be great tennis players.

Take Care of Your Body & Mind

If I had it to do over again, I would spend more time warming up the body – doing great exercises to get the body prepared and ready to play. Cooling down is one of the most easily forgotten aspects of our sport. It is so important to cool down properly, stretch and get the body ready for the next day. Unfortunately, all of my kids have suffered major injuries which have very much impacted their tennis and junior careers. Lastly, I recommend finding a mental coach. Tennis is such a rough sport and I thought I could teach them everything, but no matter what, I was (and am) the dad. Surrounding them with great people who reinforce your ideals is so important.

Enjoy the Ride!

For me, the journey still continues. I always try and focus on the positives even when we fail. Now they call me Co (for coach) because dad really just doesn’t work at work. It is a balanced joy that we have, but I know I have a front seat to watching them become men that very few parents get. I treasure it beyond words. As I say, it is 90% pure joy and 10% pure hell. They agree. Things do get easier, everyone gets wiser.

Lastly, I could not have done any of this without their mother and my wife, Tammie. She is amazing beyond words and picked up the pieces on so many days. I think she has a better third set record than me 🙂 Enjoy the journey, it goes so quickly.

An article that is not only a must read for all tennis parents, but for all those who wish to pursue playing tennis at a high level. Thank you to legendary coach Peter Smith for being kind enough to share his wisdom with us!

Itching to hear from more top coaches? Check out our Coach’s Corner where you can find posts from ATP coach, Craig Boynton, and WTA coaches, Marc Lucero and Brian Garber!

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