Word: bradenism
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...Still, Braden has his detractors. While quick to praise able coaches, he is disliked, and as he admits, "even hated" by many others. They resent his criticism, his intrusion into what they think is their turf, and his systematic discrediting of some of their most cherished teaching methods...
...Braden has never met a sport he didn't like. He runs a ski college in Aspen, and has made volleyball and badminton instructional videotapes. Using high-speed cameras and computers, he has analyzed and critiqued the techniques of such star athletes as baseball's Reggie Jackson, pro-football quarterback Steve Grogan and Olympic stars Al Oerter (discus throw) and Edwin Moses (hurdles). In tennis, his coaching helped launch the careers of Tracy Austin, Eliot Teltscher and Jim Pugh (a mixed-doubles winner at Wimbledon this year...
Despite his success with the athletic elite, Braden is more concerned about the masses. "People have been pushed out of sports," he says. "What we've done in this society is to build huge stadiums to let 22 people play on the grass." Most Americans, he feels, participate largely by watching sports on television. "People think that's all that's left for them," he complains. Statistics seem to bear him out. The number of active tennis players, for example, has declined from around 32 million in the late 1970s to some 20 million today...
...Braden sees it, sports belong not only to the stars but also to the "toads" -- his fond appellation for the less gifted. "We should have 80 million tennis players and 80 million skiers," he says. One reason we do not, he believes, is bad coaching. "I've watched coaches say, 'Shut up and do it the way I tell you because I'm the coach.' I've watched coaches abuse people, hit people and even kick people. There are not enough coaches out there saying, 'Hey, it's O.K. Here, let me show you how to do it. Just hang...
...Braden provides just that. At the college, he rewards good performance with cheers and compliments like "Keep that up, and you'll be famous by Friday." Slow learners feel comforted by his gentle way of identifying with their struggle to improve. "Don't forget," he tells his charges, "every day 2 million Americans play tennis and 1 million of them lose...