Tennis parent etiquette: how to behave on the sideline

Tennis Australia's Code of Behaviour covers players, coaches, parents and every other spectator. It says poor sideline behaviour is treated as seriously as poor player behaviour.

There is one rule that surprises most parents: your child is responsible for how you behave. If you break the rules, the official can give your child a code violation, and in serious cases default them from the match.

So the most useful thing you can do from the fence is clap, and not much else.

• Cheer good tennis from both sides of the net.
• Stay quiet during points. Clap after the point ends.
• Let the players make the line calls, even when you are sure a call was wrong.
• Keep your face neutral after a bad call or a lost point. Children read faces.
• Talk about effort and fun after the match, not the score.
• Thank the opponent, the organiser and any officials.

The Code lists these as spectator misconduct:

• Coaching during a match, including the warm-up. Any message, spoken or signalled, between a player and their supporters can count as coaching.
• Telling your child or the opponent what to do, of any kind.
• Rude comments or gestures toward anyone at the venue, in any language.
• Threatening, intimidating or abusive behaviour.
• Disrupting a match in progress, for example walking behind a court during a point or calling out a line call.

Tip: Coaching is only allowed when the referee formally suspends a match, or when a tournament announces in advance that coaching is permitted.

1. 1Stay off the court and do not speak to the players during play.
2. 2Find the referee or the court supervisor and tell them calmly what you saw.
3. 3Let the official decide. In matches without an umpire, an official can watch the rest of the match.
4. 4If something serious happened, ask the referee how to make a report after the event.

An official can warn the player and the spectator, suspend the match, ask a spectator to leave the venue, or default the player. Players get disciplinary points for code violations. More than four points in 12 months means a suspension from playing.