Victor Kenneth Braden Jr. (August 2, 1929 – October 6, 2014) was an American tennis player, instructor and television broadcaster for the sport. He earned a PhD in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

and was married twice. He had 2 children, 1 grandchild and 3 step-children.

Biography

Introduced to tennis at age 12, he became good enough to earn three Michigan state high school championships, a scholarship to Kalamazoo College, invites to play in

River Forest, Illinois River Forest is a suburban village adjacent to Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, U.S. Per the 2020 census, the population was 11,717. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago. The ...

and in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

. He told ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' in a 1976 interview that he once hitchhiked to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

to watch

Don Budge John Donald Budge (June 13, 1915 – January 26, 2000) was an American tennis player. He is most famous as the first tennis player — male or female, and still the only American male — to win the Grand Slam, and to win all four Grand Slam e ...

play

Bobby Riggs Robert Larimore Riggs (February 25, 1918 – October 25, 1995) was an American tennis champion who was the World No. 1 amateur in 1939 and World No. 1 professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December ...

, because he wanted to learn how Budge hit his backhand. Braden graduated from

Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo College, also known as Kalamazoo, K College, KC or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 1833 by Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute, Kalamazoo is the oldest private college in ...

, where he was Captain of the Tennis Team, and won the MIAA Conference Singles Title. He married a model, Joan, upon graduation. He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by his alma mater in 2008. Vic Braden died of a heart attack on October 6, 2014 at the age of 85. He was married for many years to his 2nd wife, Melody.

Career

Braden became a tennis professional after graduating from Kalamazoo College in 1951. While serving as Assistant Basketball Coach at the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of ...

. Harold Tenney hired him to become the Head Tennis Professional 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 In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

and

Nancy Richey Nancy Richey (born August 23, 1942) is an American former tennis player. Richey won two major singles titles (the 1967 Australian Championships and 1968 French Open) and four major women's doubles titles (the 1965 US Championships, 1966 Austral ...

). He moved to California in 1956 and obtained a master's degree from

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

and an honorary PhD from Kalamazoo College. Braden joined Jack Kramer's pro tour in 1959. In 1961, he and Kramer started the Jack Kramer Tennis Club in Palos Verdes, CA where Braden helped direct construction and sell memberships to the club and then served as the Head Tennis Professional. He started

Tracy Austin Tracy Ann Austin Holt (born December 12, 1962) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. She won three Grand Slam titles: the women's singles titles at the 1979 and 1981 US Opens, and the mixed doubles title at the 1980 Wimbledon ...

in tennis, and developed his "Tennis College" concept. In 1986, Kramer said, "One Vic Braden is worth a lot of Champions in helping promote 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 that Vic has." Braden was a patient and good friend of Dr. Toby Freedman, who was prominent in Space and Sports Medicine at North American Aviation and Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic, and was an avid Tennis Player.

Professional accomplishments

*Co-founder, Vic Braden Tennis College, Star Island Resort,

Kissimmee, Florida Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

*Co-founder, Vic Braden Tennis College,

St. George, Utah St. George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The city lies in the northe ...

*Founder-Director, Vic Braden Tennis College,

Coto de Caza, California Coto de Caza (Spanish for "Hunting Reserve") is a census-designated place (CDP) and guard-gated private community in Orange County, California. The population was 14,799 at the 2017 census. The CDP is a suburban planned community of about 4,000 ...

*1989-2002 Board Member: Vic Braden Sports Institute for Neurological Research, Washington, D.C. *1986-1994 Founder, Vic Braden Ski College,

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Moun ...

*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 Rolling Hills Estates is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. On the northern side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, facing Torrance, Rolling Hills Estates is mostly residential. Incorporated in 1957, Rolling Hills Estates has ...

*1957-1958 Instructor,

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(UCLA) Psychology Clinic *1952-1955 Head Tennis/Assistant Basketball Coach, University of Toledo, Ohio

Awards

*Contributing Most to Tennis in America (

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

) *Orange County Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award (Sportswriter) *Coach of the Year Award (USPTA). * ATP Children's Tennis Award. * Faculty Emeritus AwardUSTA
/ref> *

Midwest Tennis Hall of Fame *

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

Tennis Educational Merit Award (1974) * International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee in 2017

Videos

*Vic Braden's 70 Minutes with Big Jake Kramer and Pancho Gonzalez 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.

Books authored

He has authored five books with Bill Bruns whom he met in 1973. * * * Co-authored with L. Phillips. * * * * *

Books: other

* Wrote foreword: ''High Tech Tennis'' (1992). By Jack L. Groppel. * Co-editor, and credited as photographer: ''Championship Tennis by the Experts: How to Play Championship Tennis'' (1981).

Featured in print media

*''Time'' magazine

Vic's Vacant Lot

Braden hosted a short-lived television series, ''Vic's Vacant Lot'', which ran from 1982 to early 1984 for 26 episodes on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

and rerun on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

until May 1985. The premise was to send Braden out with a group of children to show them how to organize competitive sports on a vacant lot, as specified in the title. Due to the show not receiving much recognition, no recordings were available online, at least until January 3, 2022 when an

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

user uploaded an episode of the show in two parts.

References

External links

Vic Braden
at

Vic Braden's Tennis Analysts PageBraden's Facebook PageVic Braden Tennis College Profile
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Braden, Vic 1929 births 2014 deaths People from Monroe, Michigan American male tennis players American tennis coaches Kalamazoo College alumni International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Tennis commentators Tennis people from Michigan Professional tennis players before the Open Era