This thread and the Values one are interesting...I wonder about structure vs freedom for a kid…I had total freedom, and I think I milked that for everything of value I could get from it but my siblings have serious, serious trials…that strong guidance might have helped.

For a stretch of time I taught tennis to pay bills…and I worked with young great tennis players, Pete Sampras was one of them. One of the great talents was Nicole, god, she could do everything brilliantly. She won a national 12 and under title—her contemporary but not a rival then was Lindsay Davenport recent #1 in the world. Nicole told me at 10 that she wanted to be a mother, go to college, and then a tennis player—I stated then to others with absolute certainty that she would not be a pro…because I took what she said about marriage and education seriously—she was telling me what her game plan was…and that combination doesn’t lead towards a great pro career. I respected that.She did play college tennis and I am almost sure she didn't go pro.

I am not a parent, so I have no idea what you all go through…but as a teacher, tennis when I was in my 20’s and art later, I treat every student’s soul as sacred, of course within the limits of the particular structure of the class (when I taught at an art college)…but my goal with my private apprentices is to find out what they deeply want and show them, often very demanding work and thought, how to get there.

Michael

(Edited by Newberry on 4/24, 7:46am)