Vic Braden

One of the greatest coaches in tennis history, Vic Braden, has died at the age of 85.

Vic was a pioneer in the tennis instructional field. While other coaches were limiting their teaching to a reliance on personal experience, Mr. Braden was breaking barriers using science to support his instruction. Vic Braden teamed with another pioneer, Dr. Gideon Ariel, who pretty much invented the field of computerized biomechanical analysis. Dr. Ariel was using a cutting-edge "Dartfish" like system while we were walking around with 25 pound “mobile" phones.

Together, these two innovators brought tennis instruction out of the stone age and integrated science and technology with human performance. Sadly, progress in tennis performance science is lacking in U.S. tennis today.

Vic Braden was also a great personality and motivator. He was intelligent and made the learning of complex ideas and concepts both easy and fun.

Vic will be sorely missed.

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USTA NTC

January/February 2024 Digital Edition