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Here's what others have had to say about Green Valley Resort & Spa and Vic Braden Tennis College, Green Valley Spa.
"My daughter and I attended the three day camp in June, 2009. The camp was exceptional. Both of us hated to leave. We also participated in some round robin drills and took private lessons. The dartfish video is great. We each took a copy home to continue working on our strokes. Dave, the head director, is down to earth, explains things real well, and gave us superb advise. I can't imagine there being a better camp than this one. Thumbs Up !!!!"—J.L., Adv. Int., June 2009
"Exceptional staff! They work hard to improve your skills esp using dartfish software. Better than other camps!"—M.D., Beg., June 2009
"Dartfish video analysis - great help to improve your skill even for beginner!"—A.D., Low Int., June 2009
"Good strong camp devoted to the fundamentals of the game. Excellent personalize instruction at not too fast a pace."—B.B., Int., June 2009
"Great camp! Strongly recommend it!"—T.S., Adv., June 2009
"my two friends and i recently attended vic bradens tennis camp;a 3.5,3.5,2.0 two males one female.Ive been here before and love this camp my friends were thrilled. Ive been to saddle brook,boliteri's,the colony,newengland tennis holiday;and this is the best by far"—R.G., Adv. Int., May 2009
"I just got home form camp. We had a great time. Learned a lot and had fun. The teaching staff is wonderful. I would recommend it to anyone interested in improving their tennis"—L.F., Int., April 2009
"Outstanding a facility and approach to tennis. I very much liked three different types of approaches to learning, much made comprehension very easy.
The staff was outstanding. They were friendly and helpful and made the experience fun.
No Weakinesses noted."—F.R., Int., April 2009
"The Vic Braden tennis camp provided the most valuable instruction I've ever received. I've attended other camps and they don't begin to compare. For anyone wanting to truly improve their game, this is the place to go. Each of the instructors was excellent. They know how to show one what is currently happening in your game and explain the needed changes in a manner that one can actually understand and put into action. There were none of the cliches that instructors so commonly use. I would recommend this camp to anyone who plays tennis -- from beginner to seasoned player."—J.A., Low Int., March 2009
"Some of the ladies from my 4.0 tennis team and I recently attended The Green Valley Resort and Spa's Vic Braden's Tennis College. I think that the pros were experienced and had tons of knowledge about the game. However, I felt as if we were sort of an afterthought because it was off season and we were the only people there! In the current economic situation, I felt as if they should have made more of an effort to "woo" us so that we would "sing their praises" to everyone we know, and so that we would want to go back....but that was not the case. Kind of disappointing."—A.W., Adv., February 2009
"This tennis camp is outstanding. The instructors were both superb players and excellent teachers. In addition, the video analysis really helped me to see how I could improve my game. An instructor can tell you what to do but seeing a video clip of yourself and a professional side-by-side brings one's understanding of what needs to be done to improve one's game to a whole new level."—P.B., Int., January 2009
""—Y.K., Adv. Int., January 2009
I've attended the Vic Braden Tennis College at Green Valley Resort & Spa several times over the last two decades. But the program had changed since my last visit, at least in format, 
and so I returned to see what director Dave Nostrant and his staff were doing now. Responding to guests' requests, the once five-hour-a-day program had been reduced to a series of morning half days, thus leaving afternoons free for guests to explore breathtaking landscapes around St. George, including Zion National Park. The hard-core could still sign on for an additional two-hour afternoon session if they liked (or, for that matter, the afternoon session alone).
The Braden method has always focused on technique based on scientific research. If your strokes defy the laws of physics but suit you just fine, you'll probably be happier at a camp where they feed lots of balls and run you around. That is not the Braden way. Instead Nostrant begins each day with a half-hour classroom session in which he clearly outlines the key technical elements in the strokes they'll be working on that morning. Along the way he justifies their approach with scientific research and videotape of current and former players.
From there you move to the courts, where you are very quickly videotaped—or more accurately filmed with a digital camera. Playback is not on a television but a laptop computer enhanced with a software called Dartfish. It allows the pro to create a split-screen image that perfectly synchronizes your stroke—a backhand on the first morning—with the pro's. As the pro goes through frame by frame, you get to see precisely which elements of your stroke differ from the ideal. And it's that knowledge of what you yourself need to work on that you and the pro take onto the court for the group sessions.
By spending, as we did, an hour and a half on backhands and a full two hours on serves, not only do you get an opportunity to lay the groundwork for improving while under a pro's watchful eye, but you also have reinforced three or four essential checkpoints you can use once you get home to keep yourself on track. It is one of the clearest and most carefully structured programs I've attended. The hours pass quickly despite the focus on only a few strokes—we also worked on volleys once we'd finished with backhands on day 1. It is not as physically demanding as many other camps—it's the instruction that's intensive rather than the drills, and the emphasis is on hitting properly rather than conditioning and movement. You can always add the afternoon program if you need more, though I was the only one in camp that week to take both sessions (many of the others opted to play matches, instead).
The College is headquartered at the Green Valley Resort & Spa in the red-rock country of southwestern Utah. You can book the Vic Braden program as part of a spa package or take tennis à la carte, staying either at the Coyote Inn or Las Palmas Family Condominiums at the resort or wherever you like in town. If you opt for a spa package, you'll supplement the Braden camp with fitness classes, guided hikes, pampering treatments and nutritionally-correct, minimal-calorie, and candidly very tasty cuisine. Several times a year, Vic Braden himself visits Green Valley to personally run the school.
Green Valley has always struck me as a curious amalgam. It is essentially a residential community of houses and condominiums set amid subdivisions at the western edge of St. George. A large main building at its core contains the spa itself—that is, its treatment rooms, dining area, relaxation rooms, and fitness and workout areas—as well as the four indoor tennis courts, an indoor golf academy, and a small theater used for lectures and occasional evening entertainment. Spa guests stay in the Coyote Inn, a series of exceptionally well appointed rooms and suites in one-story adobe buildings arrayed around a pair of garden courtyards each containing a swimming pool. Residents and those staying in the condos have access to a large covered swimming pool and to a second smaller fitness center, the latter in the tennis clubhouse.
Pro Shop: 435-628-8066
The College itself consists of 14 lighted hard courts—four of which are indoors.
These are arrayed around two sides of the tennis clubhouse containing the pro shop, lockers, and a small fitness center (separate from the one in the spa).
Tennis Programs. The Braden program comes in three-day modules. Campers typically spend their mornings working on technique: a combination of group instruction and Dartfish video analysis (shown courtside). During the afternoon, the focus shifts of match-play situations, providing an opportunity to put new strokes into practice (or at least trying to) and working on such doubles tactics as poaching. At the end of those five hours, the courts are available for additional play and there are occasionally club events in the evening which campers can take part in. At orientation the night before it all began, tennis director Dave Nostrant promised "You'll find out how to get to the next level," Nostrant told the assembled campers. "Breaking old habits is hard, but you really are capable of making changes in your game. And with the Dartfish computer videoanalysis, you can optionally take home a personalized CD with the training on it."
But there is more to this program than the college tennis curriculum. Green Valley also has a local membership, many of them families, and the tennis staff runs weekly adult and junior clinics, drill sessions, and several drop-in social tennis events (the last on weeknights and weekends). Thus another way to integrate tennis into your spa regimen—without taking the Braden camp—is to take advantage of those member programs or have the staff arrange games.
Courts & Fees. There are 14 lighted hard courts—4 of them indoors. Court fees: $10/day for those not enrolled in the Braden camp.
Altitude Caveat: Although not so high as resorts in Colorado, Green Valley does sit at 3,000 feet, so you should expect the ball to come through more quickly and you should take extra precautions sunburn.
Golf. Green Valley does not have its own golf course; however, it has added an indoor golf learning center with hitting stations, indoor chipping, putting green, and private video analysis room. Its classes are available to spa guests at no additional charge and include the option of playing a local courses.
Spa & Fitness Center. Green Valley's spa menu pushes the envelope of options through the predictable aromatherapies and mud and seaweed treatments into, for me, such uncharted territory as Chinese restructuring facials, flotation repatterning, and reconnection therapy. There is also a wide variety of classes—among them excellent stretching classes early each morning as well as spinning and cardio boxing—and a full-range to weight-training stations and cardiovascular machines.
Rock Climbing. Forget climbing walls in a gym. Green Valley offers the real thing: rock climbing the walls of a 40-foot ravine in courses designed for rank beginners.
And ... Hiking trails into the sandstone country of southwestern Utah begin just a short distance from the resort, and Zion National Park is close enough for easy day trips.
Even the smallest 
room at the Coyote Inn (Check for Internet Rates) is a 600-square-foot junior suite with a gas-log fireplace, spacious two-sink bath with a Jacuzzi tub, an exceptionally comfortable four-poster bed, and a private patio. All have such welcome amenities as goose-down comforters, coffeemakers and whole-bean Starbucks coffee (and a grinder), CD players, and popcorn poppers.
The alternative the Coyote Inn is the one-to-three-bedroom suites, each with a kitchen, at Las Palmas Family Condominiums, a short stroll from the swimming pool and tennis courts (Check for Internet Rates).
What had been the spa dining room has been reconceived to serve other guests as well, offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus that focus on local produce, seasonal ingredients, and seafood flown in from as far away as Hawaii. Descriptions aside, the menus also aid the health-conscious by providing such nutrition information as calories, grams of fat, carbohydrates, and fiber for each dish. Wine and beer are also served.
Spas rarely integrate their programs with full-scale tennis camps in the way Green Valley does. However, if you want spa services and a camp experience, look at the following:
Lodging at the Coyote Inn consists of casitas and one- and two-bedroom suites. Nightly rates are room only. one-to-four-bedroom condominium are also available. For details about the tennis program, visit Vic Braden Tennis College.
Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2009
Condos: $100-$350/night. Casitas: $249-$649/night
Tennis Program
Morning Session (3 hrs): $315/person (3 days). Afternoons (2 hrs): $255/person (3 days).
Morning and Afternoon: $510/person (3 days)
Seasons. Year-round, though best during spring and fall.
Travel Instructions. There is a regional airport in St. George; otherwise the nearest major airport is Las Vegas, 2 hours to the south.