ORLANDO, Fla. -- Charles Barkley should have given up on golf a long time ago. Other superstar athletes would have.

They wouldn't put up with the frustration of playing and practicing, but only getting worse. They wouldn't put up with the public ridicule about their unorthodox swing exposed to millions on television and across the Internet. They wouldn't put up with repeated hits to their egos by friends and experts in the game.

But because he really loves the game - one of his only private respites in a very public life - and truly desires to get better and help other hacks like himself, Barkley will put his game and life on display for a national television audience in The Haney Project, a seven-part, real-life series premiering Monday, March 2 at 9 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.

Barkley's quest is simple - to enjoy the game again. It's not to break a certain score or to be the best, but to cure an ugly swing that has become an Internet phenomenon for all the wrong reasons.

"Golf is really the only thing I've failed in life at," Barkley said. "On every level of basketball, I've been really good. This is interesting to me to let this side of me out there. It's tough for me, but when I signed up for this I said to myself, 'It can't get any worse.'"

Longtime friends and golfing buddies Seth Joyner and Roy Green - who will appear in the series - sympathize with Barkley, but also never miss an opportunity to poke fun. "He's been suffering for a long time, but there's no way in hell I'd get up on national TV if I had a swing like that," said Joyner, former linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Sports Illustrated 1991 NFL Player of the Year. "I hope he gets fixed, so I won't have to look at that ugly-ass swing anymore."

"I wouldn't want anyone to see me with that swing," says Green, a teammate of Joyner's in Philadelphia, but better known as a standout wide receiver for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1980s. "It's good that he won't play with us anymore. It's too painful - for all of us!"

Barkley says he's tried everything to cure his swing "impediment." He's taken hundreds of lessons and even got hypnotized. "All I got out of that was a good nap," he said.

He's convinced Hank Haney is the answer. Haney has coached hundreds of golf greats over an illustrious career, but none greater than his current student, World No. 1 Tiger Woods.

"I've worked with a lot of instructors in the past," said Barkley. "Hank is different because we've made a long-term commitment and he's putting in the time and effort to help me. And that's pretty cool, considering who he is.

"He's a great teacher, but he's a lot more intense than I thought. You work extremely hard and he gets on you pretty good. I was surprised by that," he said.

"It's up to Charles to be dedicated and to practice," said Haney. "The first thing you need is work ethic. Charles has been one of the greatest athletes and basketball players ever, so he knows work ethic. He has athletic ability, but it doesn't show up in golf."

During intense training sessions, Barkley easily hits more than 1,200 golf balls under Haney's watchful eye. He's also taken steps to improve his fitness through stretching and cardio workouts.

"He's been as dedicated a student as I've ever had. He's tried so hard and that's what it's going to take to get over the hump," said Haney.

Although Barkley has selfish reasons for making his game better, it's not the only thing he wants to accomplish by doing this show. "I want people who watch to get in better shape and take better care of themselves. And I want regular people at home to get better at golf. No matter how funky your move might be, there are always things you can do to help your game."

What will be the result? Who knows? But Barkley and Haney say they can always claim they did everything humanly possible to make it work.

"Through this show, Charles can give a lot of hope to people that are no good at golf or thought they could never be good," Haney said. "The best players in the world all have teachers. Even if it's not intense training, it's good to have someone help keep an eye on you. It's just too hard of a game to try to help yourself."

The Haney Project is produced by GOLF CHANNEL in conjunction with The WorkShop, LLC, an independent multi-media production company based in Bryn Mawr, Penn.

For more information, contact Dan Higgins, GOLF CHANNEL Public Relations, 407-355-4018 or dhiggins@golfchannel.com