There can be only one National Champ, Right?

Winning a national championship means that you’re part of the best team in the country, right? It’s a once-a-year thing with an entire season of recruiting, and try-outs, and cuts, and eliminations, and earning your way by winning tournament after tournament as assigned by a national governing body. That’s how you win a national championship, right?

                Well, according to dozens upon dozens of organizations that host national championships in every sport imaginable, that’s not how it works anymore. I mean, in some cases, that’s still how it works. But that’s hard.

It’s easier just to sign up for nationals. No invitation necessary. Just pay the fee and you’re competing for a national championship. Sounds a little fishy, doesn’t it? Tell that to the thousands of teams across the sporting landscape that are participating in this garbage.

I saw one baseball organization offering national championships 6 different times this summer in 8 different age groups at 6 different locations. And for each event, they’re crowning a different “national champion” in each age group.

And it gets worse. Now in many sports including baseball, soccer, lacrosse, basketball and cheerleading, you can win a national championship among teams that chose not to compete against the best teams. Some sports break it down into gold, silver and bronze divisions. Some use the letter system. Others have a maximum level of experience per participant in each division.

So, to clarify, you can be a brand new team full of brand new players and chose to play against only other teams made of brand new players, and you can be crowned national champions.

I don’t blame the tournament organizers. This is capitalism at its finest. They’ve found enough youth organizations that want that type of tournament and are willing to pay for it. These tournaments are fantastic money-making opportunities for the organizers, and all they have to do is lie to organizations and call their tournament or event “The National Championship” to get their business.

It’s not to say that these tournaments are not quality or that they’re not fun. In many cases, these tournaments are very well run and have a great environment. These host organizations often pair with apparel companies, restaurants and amusement parks to provide the best experience for each team. Sounds like most of these kids are having the time of their lives. The "experience" part of all of this is awesome.

But isn’t that the point of a vacation?

What’s next? Applying to be your school’s valedictorian? Signing up to be your company’s CEO? Registering to be your state’s next Governor? Volunteering to win an Oscar?

These things are major accomplishments. They take a tremendous amount of work, time, sacrifice and commitment. Most people who set out to achieve these things fail. They end up succeeding on a lower level, but they don’t win the top prize.

Why? They’re not good enough. They tried really had and failed to be the best. But, for their efforts, they’re still pretty good. And, more importantly, their effort and commitment is valued.

A national championship in any sport is no different. If you didn’t have to work tremendously hard to get there, sacrifice a ton of time doing what doesn’t come natural to you, you’re not a national champ. If you didn’t beat the 2^nd-best team in the country, you’re not a national champ. If multiple “national championships” in your age group are held by the same organization each year and you don’t get to play the other winners, you’re not a national champ.

I hope you had fun at your pay-to-play tournament at a really pretty facility far away. Enjoy your huge plastic trophy. But please don’t call it a national championship. The real national champ may take offense to that.

New to tennis? Start at the net!

Show up for your tennis lesson on your first day or your first day of high school tennis practice or your first private lesson and most often, you’ll start at the baseline. It’s where points start. It’s where most strokes at the professional and competitive level happen. But it’s not the place to start.

     In one aspect, tennis is about as simple as it gets. Fuzzy ball, white lines, ball’s gotta bounce on the other side twice. Any player with the ability to whack a ball can play. That’s the beauty of tennis. It’s why hundreds of people play their whole life. But if you’re looking to develop long term skills that will translate for a player’s tennis life, start at the net. Here’s why.

     Net play, or more commonly known as “volleys” within the tennis community, happen with a continental grip. Sometimes called the handshake grip or the hammer grip, the continental grip is the most versatile grip in tennis. Unfortunately, may private instructors and coaches don’t bother teaching grip at all. After all, it can be a daunting task. There are at least 5 different forehand grips, and I’ve seen a zillion different ways to hit a backhand. But I’ve never heard a coach encourage anything other than a continental grip to hit a volley.

    Starting at the net can result in early success for every player. A good coach can basically hit a player’s racquet with the ball and get it to go where they want it to go. That’s tougher to do at the baseline and leads to plenty of players giving up before they’ve even done one thing right.

     While the volley stroke is simple (some would argue that the “stroke” is almost non-existent), the footwork can be a little tougher. Good volleys require a player to be in a solid ready position, and two steps in the right pattern. This helps reinforce the importance of footwork in tennis. Those who learn to hit groundstrokes first often feel confident in their playing ability without even knowing that the game requires solid footwork to be an all-court player.

     But what about the serve? Isn’t that where points really start?

     Of course. And if you’re using proper service technique, you’re using a continental grip. I’ve been coaching college tennis for over 20 seasons (men and women combined) and I get at least one freshman every year who can’t serve or volley with a continental grip. Almost all of them have a terrible second serve and a backhand volley that’s even worse. That’s because while you can hit from the baseline with just about any grip, the only grip that every player absolutely must have to be an all-court player is the continental grip.

     So, essentially, these players have been lied to. A coach told them they were ready for match play without ever teaching the most essential part of the game. That’s like a baseball player not being told about having to catch a batted ball or soccer player who can only kick with one foot.

     Bottom line is this. Tennis begins and ends with the continental grip. Learning to get your opponent out of position and taking advantage of their position is more important than cracking forehands. If you can move your feet well, you can win with JUST a continental grip. When you get on the courts, make sure continental grip is your first focus. Once you master that, all the other strokes will come easy.