Children too spoiled to be champions, warns Judy

AS the mother of both a current and a former tennis world number one, she knows a thing or two about how to raise successful children.

But Judy Murray has warned parents many youngsters are too mollycoddled to succeed.

The Scottish coach, whose son Andy reached the top of the men’s singles rankings earlier this month, said parents should not be ‘afraid’ to let children solve their own problems.

But she believes life is too comfortable for many youngsters and that they are too dependent on gadgets to become the champions of the future.

Mrs Murray, 57, whose older son Jamie topped the world doubles rankings earlier this year, runs coaching schemes aimed at encouraging children to become involved with tennis, including the Miss-Hits programme for

‘Often life is too comfortable’

girls. She says parents should do less for their children in order to help them achieve more.

‘Often life is too comfortable for children,’ she said.

‘They don’t get pushed out of their comfort zone often enough. Life is easy. They have gadgets to solve their problems for them.’

She added: ‘Parents do much more for their children than they ever used to.

‘We have to not be afraid to put them into situations where they have to get out of trouble and solve problems.’

Children who are treated like princes and princesses by their parents and constantly told they are brilliant fail to strive, she said, while those who are overly criticised lose confidence.

‘Others reward children for winning even if they have behaved badly or played badly,’ she added. ‘Then the child gets the message it is all about the winning.’