October-November 2008 -- There are very few of us who haven't somehow been involved as a coach, player or captain for a competitive tennis team. Most tennis professionals with whom I speak tell me that one of the most difficult challenges about leading a group of tennis players is successfully managing the people and personalities. Like many jobs in our lifetime, managing people can often prove to be the most difficult part of our work.
Teaching tennis, for many seasoned professionals, comes naturally; you know about technique, strategies, shot selection and point play. Running practices is easy. However, dealing with the personalities on the team is often very challenging.
After years of captaining USTA teams, I have found it to be quite helpful if team members share common goals for the season and similar attitudes about winning and losing. Also important is the captain's or coach's ability to build a team based on symbiotic partnerships. Choosing highly skilled players will usually help any captain have a more successful season in the win/loss department, but I encourage you to consider interpersonal components in putting together your teams. These are the kinds of things that can make or break the "fun factor" in any competitive season.
- Does each person "play well with others?" (We all remember being graded on this in preschool report cards.)
- Is each person a team player or an "all-about-me" player?
- Is each player open to trying new tennis partners and/or changing return sides?
- Is each player flexible in his or her availability to play and practice? (It may seem like a good idea to add a strong player, but is it worth it if they can never play? It may be a better idea to choose someone who is serious about competing and becoming more match tough.)
- Is each player willing to work on his or her tennis game? (Every level of player can do this.)
When we, as tennis professionals, begin to look at more than tennis skills and can convince players it is important to "buy into this concept," it makes our coaching and teaching life much easier. When expectations have been set, communicated and understood by all team members, it will minimize the headaches and potential for personality conflicts throughout the season.
I have developed a list of rules to make my coaching life a little easier. I call it my TEN-nis Commandments. Since employing my "rules" for attitude adjustment and teamwork, coaching and people-managing has become easier. It may seem a little silly on the surface, but I find that with very few exceptions, it works very well - both in aiding in the early meshing of team members and their greater understanding of expectations from the start. When I agree to coach a team, I sit down with the captain and discuss team goals. If he or she hasn't thought about goals, I ask the following questions: Do you want to win the league, do you want to have fun, do you want to give equal playing time to all players, and do you feel committed to practices and clinics or just showing up for matches? These are important questions that need to be answered, understood and accepted by all who play on the team. I adjust only a couple of "commandments" to reflect the team goals, and for the most part, the others remain constant.
One of my own goals as the team instructor is to make sure that everyone is on board with both the team goals and the TEN-nis Commandments. I usually accomplish that early on by meeting with the team players and making sure that everyone is cognizant of the goals and accepts the TEN-nis Commandments. I ensure that all teams - juniors, women, men and seniors - agree to the rules by signing a copy and returning it to me. You may be surprised at how far this goes toward encouraging players to work together and play by the rules they agreed to!
The following TEN-nis Commandments is a copy of what was agreed to and signed by all players on a 3.5 women's USTA team I worked with in Colorado. If you choose to implement some of these team-managing ideas and commandments into your teaching, mentoring or coaching "bag of tricks," I hope it will make things easier for everyone!
TEN-nis Commandments
Rachel Mayer, USPTA, is a tennis professional at Springfield Golf and Country Club in northern Virginia and serves as the vice chair of the national USPTA Women's Committee. A presenter at the 2008 USPTA World Conference in La Quinta, Calif., Mayer previously worked in the corporate world as a sales and marketing manager. She is a successful high school tennis coach and works with many competitive tennis teams that have advanced to district and sectional playoffs. In addition to coaching, Mayer is a USA team tennis participant as a 4.5 adult league player, team captain, and national competitor. 
