National: Regular Columns / Instruction

The Aasen Project: 'You Can Teach An Old Dog New Tricks'

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 June 2012 21:05 Tuesday, 26 June 2012 10:05

by Bryan Outram

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A few years ago Tiger Woods' swing coach Hank Haney took on the onerous task of trying to fix the famously flawed swing of ex-NBA star and current basketball analyst Charles Barkley. 
 
The challenge Haney faced in attempting to correct or at the very least tone down the spasmodic 'flailings' of Barkley was akin to climbing Mount Everest with an elephant on your back.
 
Despite some obvious early success, ultimately the struggle to banish Charles' swing demons was deemed to have been in vain as Barkley appeared determined to swing like a man with an electric eel shoved down his shorts. 
 
What did come from that endeavour was the concept of Haney working with other willing individuals who felt there was at least some hope of improvement in their pursuit of that holy grail known as the functional, repeatable golf swing.
 
It is with that ideal in mind that your agent has decided to embark on the ambitious undertaking of trying to realize improvement in a golf swing that has had the benefit of precisely one professional lesson - albeit from renowned local instructor Jack Westover of Vancouver some 40 years ago - to see if one really can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear (sorry Mr. Westover, probably should have taken more lessons).

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Faldo Golf Institute Puts Swagger Back Into Your Game

Last Updated on Monday, 14 May 2012 14:02 Monday, 14 May 2012 10:53

 by Gord Montgomery

 

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At my age it seems a little redundant to be going back to school but then again, supposedly you’re never too old to learn something.
 
So, two weeks after Bubba Watson donned the latest version of golf’s green jacket with his first Masters win, I headed into two-time Masters champion Nick Faldo’s golf school in Palm Desert, California, hoping to correct the errors of my ways.
 
There, under the tutelage of senior instructor Mike Ellis at the Marriott’s Shadow Ridge Faldo Golf Institute (FGI), I got one heck of a good start on putting some swagger back into my game.

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Lisa Longball Tip: How To Stomach The Belly Putter

Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 May 2012 10:18 Friday, 20 April 2012 09:14

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Ok, I have to admit.  I have trash talked belly putters.  For years I have claimed that using a belly putter isn’t making a true stroke.

 In my mind it was cheating. Guess what…it’s not…they are legal, and if it can help you save strokes, why not try it.  

On a recent trip to Nike Golf’s Research and Development Facility, The Oven, I went through an incredible putter fitting.

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Bear Mountain Golf Academy Helps Prairie Folk Recover From Golf Withdrawal

Tuesday, 20 March 2012 10:13

 by Gord Montgomery

 

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At this time of the year in the golfing world a virulent strain of ‘disease’ shows up, simply known as the Golf Bug.
 
When this ‘sickness’ strikes, especially on the prairies in the early months of spring, sufferers have a tough time dealing with its side effects.
 
In fact, some patients showing the symptoms of this malady have been known to actually go so far as to wander outdoors in the still cool/cold temperatures to tee it up in an attempt to shuttle a little white ball around in the muck and yes, even snow.
 
Ah, pity the fools.
 
This, though, is where a remedy for the prairie’s springtime affliction comes into play – a trip to the West Coast and Victoria in particular – and a few days of healing at a golf academy at the Bear Mountain Golf Resort and Spa.

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Instruction: Natalie Gulbis Gives Golf Lesson To SI Swimsuit Model Julie Henderson

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 August 2012 09:50 Monday, 20 February 2012 10:58

 

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Natalie Gulbis learned how to be a model, but can she teach Julie Henderson how to play golf? 

Now that Gulbis has posed with her spray-painted swimsuit for this year's edition of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, it seemed only fair that she teach one of the swimsuit models how to swing a golf club.

Enter Julie Henderson who also appears in the magazine, although her's was the actual cloth-type suit.

Julie has not played golf before but it's quite apparent that she has some natural talent.

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