Above: Victor Neiderhoffer: Photo from Wikopedia post
In recent days the Victor Neiderhoffer’s racquetball story has been mentioned on and off in the racquetball classic pages. Much of this is hearsay and legend but I will start with what I do know.
Part one:
Here is what I do know. Victor appeared on the scene in Albany NY in the AARA northeast regionals in the late 70’s. He told people he was going to beat Marty Hogan. Now to show what that statement means it would be like somebody today boasting they could beat Kane and when you watch them play there is nothing remarkable at all about how they play. Even more amazing consider they had never played racquetball before they said that. That is what happened back in the late 1970’s.. And then there was his physical appearance. He sure did not look like an elite athlete.
In Albany he begins playing with a Joe Sobek wooden paddle racquet that probably weighed three pounds. In the first round he beat an average first round player 21-15 or so each game. After he won he did not leave the court and someone gave him a Vittert metal racquet and he kept hitting with that racquet. He won the next round and ended in the quarter finals against a top seeded player named Mike Luciw. Mike Luciw was a national doubles champion and famous for his antics and racquet control.
I was playing in the quarters next door and it was hard to concentrate as the crowd was going crazy during the match. Neiderhoffer won the first game. Thousands of dollars were flying around upstairs as the fans were betting the NY supporters of Victor. I remember seeing Luciw smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer in the hallway right after the first game. (the beer and the cigarette were for show, dramatic effect, and to psych out his opponents-he would take a tiny sip, and not inhale the cigaretter-or at least that is how I saw it.)
“Gotta shoot, can’t run!” He says.
And he shot lights out and won the next two games. But here is where the story gets crazier.
Legends being swirling-I think half of these are made up and maybe there are some readers out there who might know the legends are true or false.
1. Victor played at midnight to 2 in the morning.
2. Victor often brought a paper bag to a match, not a traditional racquetball bag. (That part is true-I witnessed it.)
3. Victor would go out of his way to be “weird” to throw an opponent off.
4. Victor would start arguments, discussions, or anything with referees to stall and rattle his opponents.
5. Victor often work two different shoes of different colors when he played.
6. Victor would develop weird service motions-like lifting his leg like a dog before he served. His opponent often did the same to mock Victor, and once the opponent did that, he wasn’t thinking about racquetball any more.
7. If he had to referee he used a form of shorthand and wrote down every rally in scorecard margins. To me, he was learning the game as he was refereeing.
I played him once. I was ahead in streaks of four or five points on my serve and then an argument would start or discussion or rules or anything to stop my momentum. Of course I knew he would do that but still I had to wait minutes each time he would stop my streak.
So I went up to him and said something that only he and I could hear. Something like “Stop this #$%^& or I’m going to kick you’re a#$%^. “
He responds to the referee–in a raspy high voice (dramatics on purpose of course)
“I demand to see the tournament director. This young man has threatened me with fisticuffs!”
So now there is another break and I sat down, and had to laugh because it was funny. He knew I was not serious about anything I said but he was stalling and making me wait for again. All the time he was taking any momentum I might have had.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the now famous Bonnie Stoll, of Diana Nyad Netflix movie fame, laughing sitting in the first row of the bleachers. She worked out with Victor and was part of his entourage and approving of Victor working me over mentally.
But the main reason he beat me was because I had no knowledge of stroke mechanics, (this was pre-Dave and Gregg Peck Coaching) Victor would serve into the backhand corner, and I would attempt to pinch the left corner and he would move up and rekill a down the line to my forehand side.
He did beat Marty Hogan in those years and if you watch the videos of the old days you see many of the players way up in the front court and giving opponents the pass shots. So retrieving higher and slower passing shots is really difficult for pro players of any era once they are geared into the power game and I think Victor was able to exploit that. Anyone out there who witnessed this match? I would love to hear from you.
Victor stopped competing in racquetball back in the early 80’s but he was always entertaining to watch his skill and mental approach to the game. Tomorrow-Part 2 coming!