Pro Tips & Instructional Videos

Coming soon on our YouTube and social channels! Stay tuned so you don't miss out on valuable tips! Until then, here are a few tips from our Instruction Team to help you with your golf game!

Jeff Langille, PGA of Canada Associate Professional
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Most golfers take lessons for one simple reason: golf is hard — and it’s even harder to improve on your own. A lesson gives you something you can’t get from YouTube videos or tips from friends: personalized, expert feedback.

A PGA of Canada golf pro can spot small issues in your grip, setup, or swing that you may never notice yourself. Fixing those early, saves you months or even years of frustration. Lessons help you hit the ball more solidly, more consistently, and with less effort.

You also learn how to practice the right way. Instead of just hitting balls and hoping something clicks, you get drills and routines that actually build skill.

On top of that, lessons reduce the risk of injury, improve your confidence, and make golf more enjoyable. Better shots = more fun.

In short, take a golf lesson if you want to improve faster, stop guessing, and start playing golf with more confidence and consistency. 

James Swan, Assistant Golf Professional, PGA of Canada
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Posture is one of the most important fundamentals in the golf swing because it creates the foundation for balance, consistency, and power.

A proper golf posture allows the body to rotate efficiently around our core, helping the club to travel the correct direction throughout the swing. In my mind, a good posture looks like someone who is tall in their legs with hinge at the waist- this promotes arms hanging relatively straight down. Good posture also promotes better weight transfer and stability, which can improve both accuracy and distance, and the biggest key for this is making sure our weight stays in the balls of our feet at setup!

On the other hand, poor posture can restrict movement, lead to inconsistent ball striking, and increase the risk of injury. By establishing a balanced athletic stance at address (roughly shoulder width apart), golfers put themselves in the best position to make a controlled, healthy and repeatable swing.

If this is something you struggle with, come see one of our certified instructors at the Olympic View Academy!

Cole Gardner, Assistant Golf Professional, PGA of Canada
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Looking to lower your handicap? Focusing on your short game is the most important thing, it's something we can always rely on. If my full swing is off one day I know I can always fall back to my short game and continue to make good scores. Mastering pitching, chipping and putting can save us several strokes per round. Finding a shot that works for your game you can hit consistently and rely on. Like a bump and run shot with your sand wedge. Improving your touch around the greens can get you up and down turning bogeys into pars or double bogeys into bogeys! Every stroke counts, a strong short game is often the difference between a good round and great round. Come see me for a short game tune up!

Cole Gardner, Assistant Golf Professional, PGA of Canada
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Imagine you’ve hit your second shot on hole ten but found yourself just left of the green by five yards. What are your options? You can either:

First, you need to assess the situation in front of you: Where is the pin? What is your lie? How much green do you have to work with?

These are all things that you must keep in mind before executing the golf shot. Of all of these, I believe the lie is the most important, as it will likely dictate how the ball will come off the face of the club. If the golf ball is sitting up nicely, we can be more liberal with the shot choice.

Let's look at an example: Say that you are 5 yards off the green, you have 15 feet of green to work with between you and the flag, and your ball has a great lie. From this lie and position, the best option (and likely the easiest) would be to execute a bump and run shot.

The bump and run shot is achieved by putting the ball back in your stance, with focus on popping the ball out of the rough and landing the ball just onto the putting surface about a third of the way to the target. With the ball on a lower trajectory, it can roll out closer to the hole, leaving us with the easiest par putt possible.

Steve Walton, Assistant Golf Professional, PGA of Canada

As a golf instructor, I work with players every day who are trying to improve their swing, add distance, or tighten their accuracy. But one of the most common issues I see has nothing to do with swing mechanics at all. It’s ball position. Even if your swing is technically sound, setting the ball in the wrong place can cause thin shots, fat shots, slices, hooks, and a whole range of frustrating outcomes that take strokes off your scorecard—and enjoyment out of your round.

A ball that creeps too far forward in your stance often leads to topped or thin contact, and it tends to promote unwanted slices or fades. On the other hand, when the ball is set too far back, the club tends to dig, producing fat or chunked shots, along with hooks or draws you didn’t intend to hit. These issues show up constantly in lessons, and players are often surprised at how much cleaner and more consistent their contact becomes with just a small correction.

One of the easiest ways to establish proper ball position is to begin with your feet together and place the ball directly in the center. From there, simply step your feet apart into your normal stance, keeping the ball centered between your legs. Then adjust forward or back based on the club you’re using. This routine builds consistency and removes the guesswork that often leads to poor habits.

When you set the ball correctly and understand how its position influences contact and ball flight, your shots become more predictable, your trajectory becomes more consistent, and your scorecard starts looking a lot cleaner. If you’ve been struggling with direction, trajectory, or solid contact lately, there’s a very good chance ball position is part of the equation.

If you’re unsure where the ball should be for each club—or you’re curious about how small adjustments could help your game—now is the perfect time to schedule your next lesson. Together, we can pinpoint the ideal ball position for your swing and get you striking the ball more confidently than ever.

Jeff Langille, PGA of Canada Associate Professional
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If you're struggling with speed control on the greens, there’s good news, it’s often the easiest and fastest way to lower your scores. While making the occasional long putt is exciting, the best putters focus on consistently rolling the ball the correct distance. Great speed control leaves simple tap-ins, builds confidence, and greatly reduces costly three-putts.

During your practice sessions, shift your focus from trying to make every putt to simply getting the speed right. A great drill is the Ladder Drill: putt to targets at varying distances and challenge yourself to stop each ball just past the target. This helps develop feel, touch, and consistency on putts of all lengths.

Just 10 minutes of dedicated speed-control practice each time you're at the putting green can make a noticeable difference where it matters most, on the scorecard.

Need help with your speed control? If you're having trouble judging distance or would like additional drills tailored to your game, our PGA of Canada Instructors would be happy to help. A quick lesson focused on green reading and pace control can quickly turn three-putts into stress-free tap-ins and help you save strokes every round.