Taboo topic: how good of parents can professional tennis players realistically be?

[puppybutts]

I know it's taboo to judge anyone on their parenting...but I'm really curious, if I wanted to have kids as a pro tennis player, I would wait until I'm retired. I don't understand why I would ever want to have kids while I'm still away for most of their life. To me it just seems like you want someone to continue your lineage but not actually spend any time with them or do any of the work. While I don't agree with blanket criticizing pro players as bad parents....I have a hard time seeing how you can be a good parent when you're not even in their life 70-90% of the year. I suppose it can work if you downsize your schedule and aren't playing as much, or even travel with your kids.

What do other people think? Although, I guess it's not much different than any parent who has to work long hours and isn't home most of the time.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

This is a good question, but one that is difficult to answer because life is so variable.
So many famous British writers were sent away to school at a young age, rarely seeing
their parents.

The parents of kids today may work two jobs to pay for day care and a mortgage on a house they
seldom see.

In parts of the world, children suffer from malnutrition and disease and often never see
adulthood.

At least a successful tennis professional (like a movie actor, perhaps) can afford a nanny and
food and medicine and bring the child along when other things allow.

 

[LuckyR]

I know it's taboo to judge anyone on their parenting...but I'm really curious, if I wanted to have kids as a pro tennis player, I would wait until I'm retired. I don't understand why I would ever want to have kids while I'm still away for most of their life. To me it just seems like you want someone to continue your lineage but not actually spend any time with them or do any of the work. While I don't agree with blanket criticizing pro players as bad parents....I have a hard time seeing how you can be a good parent when you're not even in their life 70-90% of the year. I suppose it can work if you downsize your schedule and aren't playing as much, or even travel with your kids.

What do other people think? Although, I guess it's not much different than any parent who has to work long hours and isn't home most of the time.

Not a bad question. You can be an okay parent, as many have noted lots of parents have jobs that require traveling. However, you clearly can't be as good a parent as you could otherwise be by actually being present in your kid's life.

I think that's why Rafa doesn't have any kids.

 

[puppybutts]

Not a bad question. You can be an okay parent, as many have noted lots of parents have jobs that require traveling. However, you clearly can't be as good a parent as you could otherwise be by actually being present in your kid's life.

I think that's why Rafa doesn't have any kids.

Yes, actually in my original writing of this post, I mentioned Nadal specifically said he is waiting for retirement to have kids so he can devote all his time and energy to them. But I didn't want this thread to devolve into being accused of being a plug for Rafa lol

 

[spottishwood]

As good as Dre's

 

[MurraysMetalHip]

Controversial opinion…

I think it’s pretty selfish to have kids while you’re travelling the world playing sports. They need stability - not to be shunted from continent to continent and left with a variety of childminders for days/weeks on end.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

It is an interesting rabbit hole we enter when we decide who should or should not have
children.

Maybe people should have to pass a test, prove they can raise tropical fish,
and get a license before being allowed children. Then they must show
sufficient income and pass a psychological examination. If all goes well, they need only
prove they are free of transmissible abnormalities and that they have an IQ of at least 134.

But then how do we keep all those others from having children, anyway, the, poor,
uneducated, mentally, or physically challenged?

What would that world be like?

 

[onefineday]

It is an interesting rabbit hole we enter when we decide who should or should not have
children.

Maybe people should have to pass a test, prove they can raise tropical fish,
and get a license before being allowed children. Then they must show
sufficient income and pass a psychological examination. If all goes well, they need only
prove they are free of transmissible abnormalities and that they have an IQ of at least 134.

But then how do we keep all those others from having children, anyway, the, poor,
uneducated, mentally, or physically challenged?

What would that world be like?

I think the OP is just asking about tennis parents. No need for any rabbit holes.

 

[Sudacafan]

I think that many tennis parents of junior players I see at the tournaments should have never been allowed to have any children.

 

[LuckyR]

I think that many tennis parents of junior players I see at the tournaments should have never been allowed to have any children.

I agree that many parents are bad at parenting. The only silver lining is that their terrible kids mess up their parent's lives more than anyone else's.

 

[chrischris]

As a son of an unprofessional tennis player and a mum that cant tell the difference between a tennis racket and a pingpong racket, i turned out quite ok. Just sayin.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

...Their parents, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, won an astounding 30 grand slam titles between them, so a path to professional tennis seemed inevitable.

But at an age where many prodigies are being groomed by round-the-clock coaching, son Jaden and daughter Jaz hardly play tennis.

"Tennis? I just think we've had enough, quite honestly," Agassi said bluntly, during an interview last week.

"It's a weird sport. We don't see too many second-generation players. For us, it's about raising our children in a way we can share in their life and not always worry about their life."

Instead of drilling their kids on court, Agassi and Graf are forever running them around the suburbs of Las Vegas for other sporting pursuits.