The Nicklaus Academies

It was 25-years ago that Jack Nicklaus won the The Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National course at the record age of 46 as we watched on TV. It was over three years ago that Sports Techie assisted with the installation of the Nicklaus Academies technology in 2008 at the Bear’s Club in West Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 41. I love sports technology and so does Jack!

See the Jack Nicklaus web site www.nicklaus.com and on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jacknicklaus.

The Nicklaus Academies
The Nicklaus Academies features a digital Solution of proprietary software analysis, high-speed camera’s, balance and pressure mats, microphones, ball flight monitors, K-Vest 3-D imaging, a computerized putting lab, fitness equipment, custom club & ball fitting, and post-instruction communication tools all used by the Pro’s to easily instruct The Bear’s Club and Academy members around the world.

Within six seconds of striking a golf ball you can see your swing, club face and ball flight on a HD monitor which enables the Pro to instruct his or her student and effect muscle memory in nearly real-time. Analysis with telestration and graphic tools add a rich visual layer to help Academy members comprehend complex instruction in an easy to learn format. The entire lesson can be e-mailed to the student with voice overlays to help reinforce that day’s lesson plan.

Nicklaus Academies have a teaching philosphy and cirriculum that is based on how Jack golf’s. All golfers have unique swings so by studying how Jack approached playing the game, a learning process has been developed which has been modernized with cutting-edge sports technology, in addition to having fitness and mental components.

The Nicklaus Academies developmental focus is on 5-Star Resorts, Private Country Clubs and Urban Golf Centers. Today, the Nicklaus Academies are located in six countries: Japan, China, Korea, Denmark, Spain and the USA. Expansion is underway in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Russia, India and Canada.

The Youtube video above features the Nicklaus Academy at the Yucatan Country Club in Merida, Mexico.

Jack Nicklaus Academies:
http://www.nicklausacademies.com/
http://www.nicklaus.com/nicklaus_academies/
The Bear’s Club Jupiter, FL:
http://www.thebearsclub.com/
http://www.nicklaus.com/design/bearsclub/

The Masters
Today is the final day of The Masters 2011 and the talk of the tournament has been the changing of the guard from established veterans to the mean and lean, young guns. The Nicklaus Academies has a new generation of grassroots students as young as 4-years old who have learned Jack’s process and hope to be World Champion golfers one-day. That day seems to already be here based on the play of the 20ish-year old golfers dominating The Masters thus far in 2011.

Ted Simons
Ted Simons is Executive VP and COO of the Nicklaus Academies and Signature Academies. Ted is the Global developer and licensor of branded sports academies including Jack Nicklaus Golf, Mark Spitz Swim, Jim Courier Tennis, Mia Hamm / Brandi Chastain / Julie Foudy Soccer and Signature-FreeMotion Fitness.

I met Ted in 2001 when we both worked for Dartfish based in Atlanta, GA. Dartfish develops cutting-edge online and offline video solutions that empower its users to create, enrich, publish and monetize video content. 63 percent of the medal winners at the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics trained using Dartfish. They are an excellent sports technology company.

Ted and I stayed in contact via Linkedin. In late 2008, Ted asked me to help him install the technology to be used at Jack’s signature golf course, the Bear’s Club, for his members to have full access to the Nicklaus Academy Solution.

The Bear’s Club
It was a dream Sports Techie week. Jack hosted us in his private Bear’s Club housing. Our contact person was Director of Operations, Diego Cora, nephew of former Seattle Mariner Joey Cora. The Bear’s Club and staff was all class.

Over the course of several days we installed the Academies tech in a brand new building built especially for golf instruction. When we were just about finished with the installation, Ted let me hit a bucket of balls while he synced and tested the lighting, sound triggers and cameras. What a fun Sports Techie experience.

The grass for the entire Bear’s Club course had been replaced right before we got there. The word was it was, “Jack being Jack!” I never got to officially meet Jack, however, he did come by one-day to inspect the new grass and walked around outside the Academy building but never actually came inside. That was a major bummer because it would have been such as honor to meet the Sports Techie golfing legend who won The Masters 25-years ago today. I love sports technology and so does Jack!

I will see ya when I see ya, Sports Techie.
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