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Before I get started, let me just say that I hit the lottery when it comes to parents. They gave me every opportunity in life to be happy and to lead a productive life. They sacrificed, encouraged and took the time to discipline me and love me. As a parent of two children myself, I now have an obvious appreciation as to how challenging it can be to navigate the parenting process, which is fraught with missteps. Fortunately, I had two great role models in my parents and view my role as a parent as the most important task I will be ever faced with during my short time on this planet.

Dave Mullins

Like many parents trying to help their children pursue their passions and dreams, my parents had no education, experience or background in the hobby I wanted to pursue at a high level, which for me was tennis. Despite all the things they got right, they got just as many wrong. This is not meant to be an indictment on my parents, quite the opposite in fact. This is simply an objective view of the process I went through as a high performing young athlete, and what I believe impacted me positively and negatively as a tennis player. I have learned a great deal from them as to the things I should do, and not do, as I try to encourage and support my children in the interests they want to pursue. I write this in the hope that it can have some tiny influence on tennis parents and the actions they take to help support their children.