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Loehr and Verdieck to PTR Hall of Fame

January 10, 2014

Hilton Head Island, SC — Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) announced that two coaching legends – Dr. Jim Loehr and Jim Verdieck – will be inducted to the PTR Hall of Fame. The induction will take place Thursday, February 20, at the organization’s annual awards banquet during the PTR International Tennis Symposium on Hilton Head Island. Loehr and Verdieck join Dennis Van der Meer in the PTR Hall of Fame.

Dr. Jim Loehr, a world renowned performance psychologist, is the Co-Founder of the Human Performance Institute, and author of 16 books, including his most recent, The Only Way to Win. He also co-wrote the national bestseller The Power of Full Engagement. Dr. Loehr’s ground breaking, science based energy management training system has been chronicled in leading publications, including Harvard Business Review, Fortune, US News and World Report and Fast Company. He has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Nightline, the CBS Evening News and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

From his more than 30 years of experience and applied research, Dr. Loehr believes the single most important factor in achievement and fulfillment is one’s strength of character. He contends that character strength can be built similar to the way that muscle strength is built. Dr. Loehr has worked with hundreds of top performers in sport, business and law enforcement, including Fortune 100 executives, FBI Hostage Rescue Teams, and military Special Forces. Corporate clients represent hundreds of Fortune 500 companies, among them Procter & Gamble, Dell, GlaxoSmithKline and PepsiCo. Elite clients from the world of sport include: golfers Mark O’Meara and Justin Rose; tennis players Jim Courier, Monica Seles and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario; boxer Ray Mancini; and hockey players Eric Lindros and Mike Richter.

Dr. Loehr serves on several prestigious scientific boards and is a full member of the American Psychological Association, the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. A longtime friend, supporter and contributor to PTR and its Founder, Dennis Van der Meer, Dr. Loehr has been a member of the organization since 1976, and serves on PTR’s Sport Science Committee.

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Jim Verdieck (1919-2001), will be inducted to the PTR Hall of Fame posthumously. A coaching legend, Coach Verdieck may be best known for his work at the University of Redlands, where the tennis courts now bear his name. From 1946-1984, he coached the Redlands’ men’s tennis teams to 921 victories and only 281 defeats. His teams captured 34 titles in 38 years of SCIAC competition, and boasted 11 NAIA national championships and three NCAA titles. Simultaneously, he coached the university’s football team to 36-21-2 from 1953-1958. His Bulldogs proved perfect in 1956, with a 10-0 record. It is no wonder Verdieck long held the title of ‘winningest coach’ in small college history.

In high school, Verdieck was a member of the football, basketball, baseball and track teams, only taking up tennis after his senior year. At Bernadino Valley Junior College, he lettered in football, basketball, baseball and track. In 1940, entering Stanford University as a junior, he was outclassed by the tennis team, which included future Grand Slam champion, Ted Schroeder, so he became a member of the football team that went undefeated and won the Rose Bowl. After graduation and three years as a Marine pilot during World War II, for which he received a Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery, his career as a coach began.

A consummate learner, Verdieck earned a Masters degree in the Physiology of Exercise, and completed all the requirements for a doctorate, but never submitted his dissertation. As student of any game, Verdieck studied fundamentals and techniques. As early as 1941, he was analyzing players’ strokes. Every student became his laboratory. This performance analysis and match charting would become the cornerstone of his coaching style and influence thousands of coaches to come.

Coach Verdieck received many accolades, including NAIA National Tennis Coach of the Year thrice, and induction to the NAIA and ITA Halls of Fame. A charter member of PTR, Verdieck served on the organization’s Board of Directors, and for more than a decade was Special Advisor to the President for Player Development. He was the first to receive a plaque designating Centre Court at Van der Meer Shipyard Racquet Club as the Court of Honor.

To bring these inductions to the PTR Hall of Fame full circle, the following is a quote made by Coach Verdieck in an interview for TennisPro in 1990. “If it worked I kept it, if not, I got rid of it. Take Jim Loehr for example. I’ve listened to him for 15 years. When he started, he didn’t know as much as he does today, but there’s no question about it, if you don’t listen to him today, you’re stupid, because he’s made a science out of it. As far as I’m concerned, no one is more inside the player’s mind.”

PTR is the largest global organization of tennis teaching professionals with more than14,600 members in 121 countries. It has the greatest percentage of multicultural and women members of any such organization. PTR is dedicated to educating, certifying and servicing tennis teachers and coaches around the world in order to grow the game.