Voting Station

Vic Braden

Please vote to return to collections.

Tennis Player

The Resume

    (August 2, 1929-October 6, 2014)
    Born in Monroe, Michigan
    Tennis player and instructor
    Played with Jack Kramer's pro tour for three years
    Founded the Vic Braden Tennis College (1971)
    Hosted an instructional tennis program on PBS
    Released several instructional books and videos

Why he might be annoying:

    He was short (5'6) and stocky for a tennis player.
    His explanation for how he got started: 'I got caught stealing tennis balls at school, and the man who caught me said I could go to jail or learn to play tennis. That was a no-brainer.'
    He said his role on the tennis pro tour was to be one of the 'donkeys' who lost to the stars.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He also played football, baseball and basketball in high school.
    In high school, he won the Michigan tennis singles title twice (1946-47).
    Although his clients included champions like Tracy Austin, he concentrated on bringing tennis to the masses, with the New York Times writing, 'He has become the patron saint of the weekend hacker.'
    Jack Kramer said of his instructional technique, 'The real key was motivation. He had the way to get a person to spend four hours practicing instead of one.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 148 Votes: 46.62% Annoying