The Tennis Player’s Team

The Tennis Player’s Team

For those who follow professional tennis, it’s clear that no player, no matter how talented, succeeds alone. The very best players in the world all have teams around them - coaches, fitness trainers, physiotherapists, nutritionists, mindset specialists, and even hitting partners. Every member of that team plays a vital role in helping the athlete perform, recover, and grow.

But this structure doesn’t exist only for the top 10 or 20 players. Even those ranked outside the top 100 have small, dedicated teams that support their journey. And here’s one thing I’m certain of: if anyone within that team begins to contribute in a negative way - perhaps through poor communication, misplaced criticism, or simply draining energy - they won’t last long.

At the professional level, negativity has consequences. Tennis is already a brutally honest sport. It’s one-on-one. There’s no one to hide behind, and someone always loses. The best players learn to process defeat constructively - to extract lessons, make adjustments, and move on. A strong, positive team environment is what makes that possible.

The Junior Tennis “Team”

Now, when we look at junior tennis, the same concept applies - there is still a team around the player, just in a very different form. The team might include parents, grandparents, siblings, coaches, hitting partners, and strength & conditioning trainers.

The difference is that in junior tennis, the boundaries are often blurred. Parents, in particular, often take on multiple roles - supporter, analyst, motivator, and sometimes even coach. And while this usually comes from a place of care and good intention, it can create confusion and tension for the child.

In the professional world, each person has a clear role and knows where their input begins and ends. In the junior world, those boundaries are rarely defined. As a result, communication can become inconsistent, emotions can take over, and the environment can easily shift from supportive to stressful.

The Parent’s Role

Parents are absolutely vital members of the team - perhaps the most important of all. They are the constant presence, the emotional anchor. But they also need to recognise that how they support their child matters as much as how much they support them.

Too often, I see parents reacting emotionally to wins and losses - celebrating the good days with pride, but voicing frustration or disappointment when things go wrong. Yet, what young athletes truly need is stability, not volatility. They need to know that their worth doesn’t rise and fall with the scoreboard.

Parents don’t need to coach their children - they need to ground them. They don’t need to analyse forehands and backhands - they need to model perspective, resilience, and grace in both victory and defeat.

Here are a few principles I’d encourage all parents to consider in their role as part of the team:

Provide unconditional love and emotional security.
Your child should know they’re valued for who they are, not how they perform.

Be an advocate for strong values.
Encourage honesty, humility, work ethic, and respect - these last longer than any trophy.

Promote independence.
Help your child learn to think for themselves, take responsibility, and problem-solve on court.

Offer perspective, not pressure.
Tennis is a journey of constant learning. Praise the effort, not just the outcome.

Building a Healthy Team Environment

For a young player to thrive, everyone in their circle - coaches, parents, trainers, even peers - needs to share a common understanding: the player’s development comes first. Every comment, reaction, or piece of advice should serve that goal.

A healthy team doesn’t mean everyone agrees all the time. It means that disagreement is handled with respect, that boundaries are respected, and that communication remains constructive.

When each person knows their role - when parents parent, coaches coach, and players take ownership of their journey - the environment becomes powerful. That’s when growth happens, confidence builds, and the love for the game deepens.

Because in the end, the “team” behind the player isn’t just about improving forehands and serves - it’s about helping a young person build the character, resilience, and independence that will serve them for life.