Parenting & Sport:
2 Weeks of Lock Down - Anyone going crazy yet?

I have to admit, the sun came out this weekend and it felt like a really good day at home with the kids in the garden. If anything, we were even more into our ball games than normal! Plus we go the BBQ on which is usually signifies the start of the best part of the year for me. Then I listened to the Queen on Sunday afternoon and now we have Boris is in hospital (he is in intensive care since I first starting writing this) and it all came crashing home once again. I ended the Sunday feeling guilty about having a great day, when clearly there are so many people suffering and so much we all still have to go through.

I guess for tennis coaches like me, the real worry is with the economic crisis that will no doubt hit harder as the weeks progress. Leisure, hospitality and events are all largely manned by self employed freelancers who will be reliant on the promises made by the chancellor to leave no one behind in this crisis. It sounds good, but lets see.

As far as the leisure industry was concerned, it was nice to hear that the LTA have now also weighed in with their own contribution to help those in difficult circumstances. A promise of £4 milion to help coaches out of a £20 million rescue fund for the whole of tennis was a welcome piece of news on Friday. Hopefully this will help companies like ours at Live Love Sport get through this situation. But I also found out that the LTA have cash reserves of £60 million to draw on if they need to. Bearing this in mind, how on earth is £20 million enough in these circumstances? Plus what is the point of sitting on £60 million of cash when we need indoor courts, better public places to play, more competitions for people to play and investment into coaches to grow the game? The LTA have sat on cash reserves for years and I can never understand why they need to do this when the game we all love is in desperate need of funding across so many levels. 

It will be interesting to see how this crisis shapes people's thinking around their development of sport across the country when things do get back to normal. Sometimes it takes a monumental shift to make people realize what is actually important and how much money can actually be raised when really needed. If the LTA can find a way to cover £20 million by making cuts and changing their systems in a crisis, then why cant they make those decisions anyway? Im sure there will be other governing bodies in the same position as tennis who can use this opportunity to work out exactly how to run their business more efficiently and grow their games at the same time. 

1. Change the time of the sessions - I've tried to keep the session at the same time (afternoon post Fortnite!) so I am gong to try and get Freddie playing in the morning when he is a bit more high energy and ready to go. I think a combination of Jo Wicks followed by football drills could be a potent combo!
2. Change the content - if you have been working on a particular skill it might need a bit of changing for a few days - especially if its a tricky one or a weakness you have identified. Maybe something like fitness, flexibility or some simple easy to master drills might be good for a few days to get back the "I can do this!" attitude. 
3. Don't push too hard - if its not working finish the session early and try and do something else with your time together. Normally in a coaching session at a club or academy, the coach will be able to change this around with some good motivational ideas or games to play. Plus the players know they cant push their behavior too far with their coach - not so with their parents! Its fair game for kids to wind up their parents if they don't fancy putting in the effort so I think we have to take a deep breathe here and find a way out when it gets tricky. Its so important for you as much as your child that you try and end up with a positive outcome to the training and keep the ball rolling (sorry for the choice of phrase!). The last thing you want if you cant escape each other is to fall out over some tap ups in the garden!