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Green Valley Spa & Tennis Resort/
Vic Braden Tennis College
St. George, Utah
Serious tennis programs rarely go hand-in-hand with total
immersion spa regimens, but one notable exception is the Green Valley Spa
& Tennis Resort. Set in the red-rock country of southwestern Utah, this
New Age retreat is also the year-round campus of the Vic Braden Tennis College.
It thus supplements its fitness classes, guided hikes, pampering treatments
and nutritionally-correct, minimal-calorie, and candidly very tasty cuisine
with as much as five hours a day of high-quality tennis instruction courtesy
of the resident Braden pros. Several times a year, Vic Braden himself visits
Green Valley to personally run the school. And whether Braden himself is
there or not, the College programs are available à la carte, so you
do not have to book a complete spa package to get them.
Overview
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
meanwhile have access to a large covered swimming pool and to a second smaller
fitness center, the latter in the tennis clubhouse.
Tennis Features
Pro Shop: 435-628-8066
The College itself consists of 14 hard courts—four of
which are indoors—and 13 programmable hitting lanes, the latter equipped
with self-feeding ball machines. 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, Dartfish video analysis (shown courtside), and supervised
practice on the hitting lanes. 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."
At orientation, director Dave Nostrant promises to "individualize
the group lesson." Because this is a Braden satellite, the curriculum
focuses on looping forehand and backhand topspin groundstrokes that Braden
research demonstrates to be the most scientifically efficient way to hit
a ball. "We'll be showing you some material that may new to you,"
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 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 18 lighted hard courts—4
of them indoors—and 13 hitting lanes with programmable ball machines.
Court fees: $6/day outdoors, $16/day indoors, for those not enrolled in the
Braden camp.
Reservations:
Green Valley Spa & Tennis Resort
1871 West Canyon View Dr.
St. George, UT 84770
435-628-8060
Toll-free: 800-237-1068
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