Murray told: Don’t keep mum!
Andy Murray advised to ban his mum from watching him
play
A behaviour expert has said that Scotland's top tennis star
might have a better chance of winning a big tournament if his
mother Judy stops watching his matches.
"Judy Murray has been a tremendous coach, mentor and mother but
I would suggest he considers asking her to stay away from the
courts," said David Yeoman, who has worked with the Scottish
Football Association as well as big companies.
Andy's parents got divorced when he was just nine years-old. Mr
Yeoman says Judy Murray's presence at matches may stir up bad
memories and feelings.
Judy introduced Andy to tennis. She used to be a professional
player and coached Scotland's national team.
And Andy has said he likes having his family at big
tournaments.
"It's nice having everyone around, all of the people that I work
with and my family," he said in an interview last week.
Andy is competing in the French Open in Paris this week and even
his dogs have come along!
Maggie and Rusty, both Border Terriers, got their first doggie
passports to make the journey to France.
Andy Murray is ranked number four in the world but he has never
won a Grand Slam tennis championship.
The 25-year-old was knocked out of the semi-finals of the French
Open by Rafael Nadal last year. If they both make it that far, they
are due to meet at the same stage of this year's competition.
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Murray told: Don’t keep mum!
Judy Murray: a warrior queen in support of her
son
She sits bolt upright during his matches, jaw tight, living
every point her son plays on court. Win or lose, she clenches her
right fist and urges him to keep battling. He'll never look up and
see her down-hearted.
Judy Murray is a warrior queen in support of her son. When Andy
wins a match, she rises from her seat and punches the air. But when
she's watching his big games and he loses, is she to blame?
According to David Yeoman, a behavioural consultant, she may be.
He is reported to have said that Andy should consider "asking her
to stay away from the tennis courts and the media and let's see if,
within a year, he wins a grand slam".
But Judy introduced Andy and Jamie, his brother, to the game.
She lit the torch of their passion to play. She's been a
professional player. She's coached Scotland's national team. Tennis
is her life. She knows it inside out.
She's there watching her son for a good reason.
How can any stranger look at Andy or at any person from a
distance and do more than guess at what motivates them or limits
them? What about his father's presence - or absence from matches?
What about sibling rivalry with his brother? What about his
romance? What about everything else that has gone into making the
man?
What about the big matches Andy has won - and there have been a
lot of them - while Judy was in the crowd cheering him on?
What tends to be overlooked when we hear about Scotland's tennis
ace is that he is already a hugely successful young man. His
interaction with his family - whether at a conscious or unconscious
level - hasn't kept him from winning. Don't let's forget that along
the way he has become a millionaire many times over. It's an
immense achievement for someone in his mid-20s, yet he is in danger
of being tagged the nearly man.
In fact he has at one time or another beaten all of the players
ranked above him. It just hasn't happened when the match was a
grand slam final. So far he has gone down at the last - often by
frustratingly few points.
What about Nadal's uncle who doubles as his coach? Or the
Williams sisters, Venus and Serena? Their father was a constant
presence in the audience when they cut a swathe through
international tennis competitions. He coached them just as Judy
coached her boys.
Andy has said his exchanges with his mother are mostly normal
family chat but if he wants to talk tennis she's informed and
receptive. That sounds healthy and uncomplicated. But then,
everyone except Andy and Judy is just guessing - and if the
difficulty is in the unconscious they could be guessing too.
What matters now is that Andy uses Mr Yeoman's observations to
his own advantage. I hope he can.
This story is an excerpt from a comment piece in the
Herald on 29 May here.
Click here to try our Andy Murray quiz
Lesson ideas and
suggestions
Join the Daily What News Facebook group
Click here to watch a recording of
our most recent Daily What Newsround on Glow TV, featuring a
special guest from the Scottish SPCA (Glow login
required).
Join us for our next programme on Friday 8 June at 11am when we'll be talking to
a bee expert!