Raising Talent - from the Introduction

This book is written with the intention to support our next generation of talented youngsters becoming well rounded, passionate and successful achievers not just in sport but in life as well.

Our experience and research has shown us that the core life skills for success are also the core mental skills for sporting success.

Almost all active parents and coaches of talented youngsters that we have met and worked with have the positive intention of developing the talent of the youngsters around them.  The challenge is that there is no clear strategy or philosophy that provides insight on how to do this effectively in terms of performance and personal development.  Often assumptions are made by looking at Tiger Wood’s dad, Earl and Venus and Serena Williams’ dad, Frank as two examples of what may be required to develop a super star.

This book will propose a philosophy and a strategy with each idea being fully developed to support you the parent or coach applying your own critical thinking to it. This is not a “do as I say book”, this is a set of guidelines and ideas that we have found to be effective in our work with elite athletes and developing (youth) elite athletes. You as a parent and a coach must trust your judgement and make the call on what is right for you and the youngsters you support, what we are aiming for is to provide quality information so that you can make more informed decisions.

In the 2000’s world sport has many examples of superstars who have made it to the top and then left prematurely. In swimming Ian Thorpe and in tennis Justine Henin-Hardin are two such athletes.  Our belief is that if you are one dimensional in your pursuit of sporting success, the chances of burnout and personal dissatisfaction become much higher – we maintain there is another way to do it, to be able to achieve sporting success and have an enjoyable journey getting there and the philosophy, technique and strategy on how to do that is detailed in this book.

The book is half theory and half practical. The theory is our success principles that we have developed and honed through our experience in working with talented youngsters (and their parents and coaches). The other half is suggested conversations for you the parents, or even the coach to have with your youngsters. Conversations like: What does it mean when we lose?, Is it my dream or yours?, Do you know that my love/support is not affected or impacted by your performance?...