The importance of team chemistry and unity in success cannot be overstated when it comes to high school sports.  Perhaps that is understood by most when it comes to sports involving many players on the field or court at a time, such as soccer, lacrosse, and basketball – sports where teamwork is even noted in the score keeping, with each goal or basket scored possibly also crediting a person assisting on the score.  In fact, very few goals or baskets would be scored in such sports without superb teamwork and unselfish distribution of the ball.  Only through getting everyone on a team in such sports to understand that all roles, such as passing, defending, decoying/faking, setting picks, rebounding, or scoring, are equally important to a team’s success can a coach get the most out of his team.

Coaches often refer to players’ “buying in” to a program goal that the team must be viewed as more important than its individual players and that each player’s success depends on his/her team’s accomplishments, rather than on individual achievements.  When teammates develop a liking and respect for each other and care as much about a teammate’s progress and success as their own, they develop a special bond as a team – which is often referred to as “team chemistry”.  When good “chemistry” is achieved, teammates stop viewing one another competitively but rather as “brothers/sisters”, wanting the best for their teams rather than primarily themselves.  The term “teamwork” usually refers to observed good connections among teammates on the playing surface, which can normally come about only through the development of good team chemistry – where all players are unified in achieving the same team outcomes.

Less obvious is the need for good team chemistry and unity in a sport like tennis.  The need for teamwork in doubles should be clear, since tennis doubles players have to know what each other is doing and thus should get together between points to discuss what their plan is for the next point, whether serving or receiving.  For instance, they should know where their teammate intends to serve or return to enable the person at the net to know where their opponents will likely hit the ball and, thus, best exploit the chance of “putting away” their first volley.  Furthermore, they need to pick up each other’s spirits between points by not discussing past errors, which would frustrate and could antagonize a partner, but rather constantly praise each other, stay positive, and get each other “pumped up” for the next point.  Doubles partners also need to know in advance, often through signaling, where each other will move on the next point, since that dictates where the partner should be.

Finally, in singles, especially since a player is isolated on the court, realizing that the total burden is on his/her shoulders, a player needs more than ever to get emotional support from his teammates on the sidelines.  If good team chemistry exists, teammates will understand the need for singles playing teammates to be mentally buttressed when things are going poorly and also to be praised and cheered on when he/she is doing well.  That teammate support is vital to a tennis player in a singles match since it is an axiom in tennis that a singles player cannot win unless he thinks he can win.  Mental strength is arguably more important in tennis than in sports in which an athlete is not alone.  When team chemistry is good, teammate support should help greatly to enable the singles player to exhibit positive body language on the court, which will be interpreted by an opponent as indicating confidence and determination to win.  Thus, teammate support can be crucial in determining a singles match outcome both by encouraging a teammate and thereby discouraging an opponent.