Victor Kenneth Braden Jr. (August 2, 1929 - October 6, 2014) was an American tennis player, instructor and television broadcaster for the sport.
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Biography
Braden was one of eight children born to Victor (1904-1973) and Mildred (née Mayes) Braden (1906-1968), both natives of Claiborne County, Tennessee.
Introduced to tennis at age 12, he became good enough to earn invites to play in River Forest, Illinois and in Milwaukee. He told Sports Illustrated in a 1976 interview that he once hitchhiked to Detroit to watch Don Budge play Bobby Riggs because he wanted to learn how Budge hit his backhand.
Braden attended Kalamazoo College, where he was captain of the tennis team, and won the league title in singles. He was awarded an honorary degree by his alma mater in 2008.
Vic Braden died of a heart attack on October 6, 2014 at the age of 85.
Career
Braden became a tennis professional after graduating from Kalamazoo College in 1951. While serving as assistant basketball coach at the University of Toledo. Harold Tenney hired him to become the tennis pro at the Toledo Tennis Club. Besides teaching, he joined the pro tour and played against Jimmy Evert (father of Chris Evert) and George Richey (father of Cliff and Nancy Richey). He moved to California and obtained a master's degree in psychology at UCLA and Cal State, Braden joined Jack Kramer on Kramer's pro tour. He and Kramer later founded The Jack Kramer Club, where Braden served as the head tennis pro, started Tracy Austin in tennis, and developed the "Tennis College" concept. In 1986, Kramer said, "One Vic Braden is worth a lot of champions in helping the sport. The McEnroes, Borgs, Connors, they've been great. But I don't think any one of them has created the interest in the sport Vic has." Braden was a friend and patient of Dr. Toby Freedman, who was prominent in space and sports medicine, and an avid tennis player.
Professional accomplishments
- Co-founder, Vic Braden Tennis College, Star Island Resort, Kissimmee, Florida
- Co-founder, Vic Braden Tennis College, St. George, Utah
- Founder-Director, Vic Braden Tennis College, Coto de Caza, California
- 1989-2002 Board Member: Vic Braden Sports Institute for Neurological Research, Washington, D.C.
- 1986-1994 Founder, Vic Braden Ski College, Aspen, Colorado
- 1980-1990 Co-founder, Co-director, Coto Sports Research Center, California
- 1967-1969 Manager, Pro Tennis Tour/George MacCall/Charlton Heston
- 1961-1972 Co-founder, Jack Kramer Club, Rolling Hills Estates, California
- 1957-1958 Instructor, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Psychology Clinic
- 1952-1955 Head Tennis/Assistant Basketball Coach, University of Toledo, Ohio
Awards
- Contributing Most to Tennis in America (USTA)
- Orange County Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award (Sportswriter)
- Coach of the Year Award (USPTA).
- ATP Children's Tennis Award.
- Faculty Emeritus Award
- USTA Midwest Tennis Hall of Fame
- International Tennis Hall of Fame Tennis Educational Merit Award (1974)
- International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee
Videos
- Vic Braden's 70 Minutes with Big Jake and Pancho Video
- Vic Braden's Biomechanics of Tennis Video
- Vic Braden's Strategy Video
- Vic Braden's The Backhand
- Vic Braden's The Forehand
- Vic Braden's The Serve
- Tennis My Way
Vocational highlights
Licensed psychologist (California), author, sports educator and researcher, cinematographer, videographer, sports, television commentator.
He has authored five books with Bill Bruns whom he met in 1973.
- Braden, Vic; Bill Bruns (1977). Vic Braden's Tennis for the Future. ISBN 978-0-316-10511-8.
- Braden, Vic; Bill Bruns (1982). Teaching Children Tennis the Vic Braden Way. ISBN 978-0-316-10512-5.
- Braden, Vic (1986). Sportsathon!. Co-authored with L. Phillips.
- Braden, Vic; Bill Bruns (1990). Vic Braden's Quick Fixes: Expert Cures for Common Tennis Problems. Little Brown & Co. (P). ISBN 978-0-316-10515-6.
- Braden, Vic; Robert Wool (1994). Vic Braden's Mental Tennis: How to Psych Yourself to a Winning Game. Little Brown & Co. ISBN 978-0-316-10517-0.
- Braden, Vic; Bill Bruns (1996). Vic Braden's Laugh and Win at Doubles. Little Brown & Co. (T). p. 179. ISBN 978-0-316-10519-4.
- Braden, Vic; Bill Bruns (1998). Tennis 2000: Strokes, Strategy, and Psychology for a Lifetime. Little Brown & Co. (P). p. 284. ISBN 978-0-316-10503-3.
- Braden, Vic (2012). If I'm Only 22, How Come I'm 82?--Tennis Is More than Just a Sport.
Books: Other
- Wrote foreword: High Tech Tennis (1992). By Jack L. Groppel.
- Credited as photographer: Championship Tennis by the Experts: How to Play Championship Tennis.
Featured in print media
- Time magazine
Vic's Vacant Lot
Braden hosted the short-lived television series, Vic's Vacant Lot, which ran in the early 1980s on ESPN. The premise was to send Braden out with a group of children to show them how to organize competitive sports.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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