Phil Jonas -- How You Play The Game Of Golf (2)

PHIL JONAS
The Philip Jonas Golf Academy
Hazelmere Golf Course, South Surrey, BC

Graham Delaet of, Weyburn, Sakatchewan has moved into being the 3rd best Canadian golfer with his two second place finishes in South Africa on the Sunshine Tour. This is some great golf because it is never easy to go to a new country and perform so well. His confidence must be at an all time high and hopefully he'll be able to use this momentum to achieve greater heights.

This also shows just how high the standard of golf is on the Canadian Tour and, hopefully, those players will gain from DeLaet't success. Henry Brunton, who is the Royal Canadian Golf Association's National Head Coach, said that DeLaet was not a great junior, but really blossomed while at University in Boise, Idaho. Brunton also remarked that while DeLaet wasn't a great junior, "you could see it in his eyes."

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I recently attended a seminar conducted by the PGA of BC. Henry Brunton was the keynote speaker in the morning and Dave Phillips, co-founder of the Titleist Performance Institute, spoke in the afternoon. Both were very interesting.

Henry has just become a Master Professional with his recent thesis on what it takes for Junior golfers to get on the PGA Tour and succeed there. I don't know how he found the time to do all this work with all his responsibilities. I haven't read his findings yet, but will soon. What I did get out of what I heard is that it is extremely difficult to get on the PGA Tour. Believe me, I know. It is one of the tours I've played on.

Only ten males per birth year manage to earn a PGA Tour career and from among that group 83%-85% of "Age group world champions" do not become tournament champions when they are adult professionals.

(As a two-time World Junior Champion in my age group I don't know if my four victories, which came while I played on the International Federation of Golf Tours, count)

Seventy-seven per cent of PGA Tour members played NCAA golf. All this means for young golfers today is, that it is important to play NCAA golf. This increases your chances of success while gaining an education.

You have to work very hard and efficiently. As Henry says, the 10 year 10000 rule---that is, 10 years and 10,000 hours of deliberate practice--- works out to about four to five hours a day. By the way, practice doesn't just mean beating balls at a range.

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The RCGA have been doing what they can to produce Champions with Henry Brunton's expertise and only time will tell, but they can't be faulted for their efforts. It takes all the physical attributes, but in my opinion, the most important attribute is KNOWING HOW TO PLAY GOLF. Most PGA Tour players have this instinct, but Tiger Woods, who is back in action this week, is the best at it. Tiger knows how to make a par-4 into a 3; he knows where to hit it when he is not at his best. He knows how play like 72 and shoot 68, instead of the other way around.

When I teach I always say that I want my students to be better golfers, which doesn't just mean having a prettier swing. It means scoring better. I'm sure Henry and the RCGA know that.

Dave Phillips, who along with Dr. Greg Rose, founded the Titleist Performance Institute. Dave was a great speaker. Their emphasis was on the body and how a lot of people can't cure some of their swing faults due to lack of flexibilty and/or a lack of strength in different areas of their bodies. They also stressed how it is important to have the right equipment that is correctly fit for you.

This also means wearing the correct shoes because you have to have stable feet (its your only contact with the ground). No doubt that's the main reason why so many PGA Tour professionals still have metal spikes in their shoes. Some golf shoes that are built for comfort might not do the job.

Anyway you know what I say, the most important thing is knowing how you play the game of golf.