Virtuoso Life - May/June 2008 - (Page 160) GREAT OUTDOORS The Finer Points Hone your backhand, backswing, and more at these resorts’ outdoor academies. BY MARGARET LOFTUS F THE LAST TIME YOU LEARNED a new skill was at summer camp, maybe it’s time for a refresher. If you don’t have the time at home, consider this: More and more luxury resorts are filling the gap by offering their guests professional instruction on everything from fly-fishing to polo to waterskiing. It’s kind of like camp, only with spa treatments. Here’s a sampling. I Tennis Caneel Bay, Saint John, u.S. Virgin iSlandS Whether you’re new to the game or dream of a double backhand like Maria Sharapova’s, Caneel Bay, A Rosewood Resort guarantees you’ll go home satisfied – or the lesson is on them. Rookies are taught a basic set of concepts rather than form, explains Patrick Alle, who directs the resort’s Peter Burwash International tennis center. “We try to make you a functional tennis player in the first hour.” Advanced players can sharpen their strokes in morning clinics offered three days a week ($25), get a workout with a ball machine on Thursdays ($15), and sign up for private or semiprivate lessons December through April ($55 to $100). Round-robin socials are held twice weekly, and Alle and his pros will even match you up with a player of your ability with 24 hours’ notice. The center frequently hosts celebrity pro-am tournament weekends The polo club at Estancia El Colibrí offers guests the opportunity to pony up. 160 V I RT U O S O L I F E
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