The New And The Old At High Performance Camp
by Alfie Lau, Inside Golf
Megan Ratcliffe Attended Her First British Columbia Golf High Performance Camp And Made Fast Friends With Many Of The Girls
Four new participants gave British Columbia Golf’s High Performance Camp a unique and new energy.
With 13 of 17 young golfers attending their second British Columbia Golf High Performance Camp, there was certainly some overlap in concepts and ideas presented – most notably fitness and nutrition – but it wasn’t just the four new participants that gave the camp a unique and new energy.
Christopher Dale, Evan Merrier, Bernie Xu and Megan Ratcliffe weren’t at Northview in October, but they certainly learned lots in Burnaby at the final high performance camp before the BC team for the Western Canada Summer Games is announced in April.
“I had a lot of fun out there,” said Ratcliffe. “I got a chance to show people my game and where I am. I know the BC team is going to be hard to make, but I’m learning lots, especially about fitness and nutrition.”
Ratcliffe does have the advantage of coming from a golfing family, as her dad Robert is a Team Canada national coach and has won numerous awards for his teaching. “I’ve worked on my mental game with my dad,” said Ratcliffe, “and he thought it would be a good idea if I attended this camp and learned from some of these coaches. I do feel a little more pressure because of who my dad is, but it’s also good because I can get advice from him.”
Ratcliffe was making fast friends with some of the other girls who she’s already hoping to emulate. “I love golfing with Shirin (Anjarwalla) and I had a lot of fun getting to know Tiffany (Kong) and Natalie (Chu) and I know it’s funny to say this, but Alisha (Lau) is already a huge role model for me because of all she’s accomplished already,” said Ratcliffe. “Maybe one day, I’ll get to where she is, but I know I have work to do to get there.”
The good news for Ratcliffe is that Debbie Pyne, British Columbia Golf’s Managing Director of Player Development, is already starting to put a list together of prospective team members for three future competitions: the Eddie Hogan Cup, the North Pacific Junior Girls and the Girls Junior America’s Cup.
For soft-spoken Christopher Dale of Mission, playing alongside Lau and long-hitting Jayla Kang for 18 holes allowed him to see how competitive it’s going to be if he hopes to succeed in the sport of golf.
Dale said he learned a lot about eating nutritious foods, especially when certified nutritionist Cristina Sutter gave a presentation during lunch. And doing an early morning dynamic yoga session certainly introduced Dale to how fit all his fellow campers were.
Christopher Dale Attended His First British Columbia Golf High Performance Camp And Played Alongside Alisha Lau And Jayla Kang - Image Credit Alfie Lau
Xu and Merrier showed solid golf games out on the course at Riverway and Burnaby Mountain and have certainly gained by exposing themselves to the decision makers at British Columbia Golf.
Also new to the proceedings was guest coach Chuck Bertrand, who’s been coaching Special Olympics golfers for the past four years. “Phenomenal learning experience,” raved Bertrand after two days spent with coaches Jody Jackson, Matt Palsenbarg, Jodi Reimer, Alex Ludeman, Lindsay Manion and Pyne. “I’m getting so much information on how to work with elite athletes.”
For example, when Bertrand sat in on Palsenbarg’s talk about the increasing influence of statistics in golfers being able to target areas of improvement, he saw that was a concept he could bring back to his Special Olympians.
In particular, Bertrand got reconfirmation that approach shots from between 150 and 180 yards are key to scoring. “The better and closer you hit those approaches, the better you’ll score,” said Bertrand. “The toughest part with my Special Olympians is they need to work on their chipping and putting and these statistics prove that to be the case.”
Bertrand was filling his notebook with copious notes and couldn’t be happier to have been invited to the camp. “I’m trying to take in as much as I can from everybody, but it’s great just being able to take little tidbits of info and apply those to my Special Olympians,” said Bertrand.
One key difference, Bertrand noted, was that while many of the high performance golfers were quiet and reserved, his group of Special Olympians is much more demonstrative and willing to blurt out whatever is on their mind.
As for new concepts introduced to the golfers, many were surprised to find out that the best long-term development plan is to play only 15-16 tournaments per year, with an almost equal mix of one-day, two-day, three-day and four-day tournaments.
When presented with their annual plan and half of those tournaments already penciled in, many of the camp participants realized that there wasn’t much time left on the calendars once they factor in school exams, summer vacation and rest and recovery time.
“We are more interested in you playing fewer tournaments well than a tournament every weekend,” said Palsenbarg. “It’s important that you choose your schedules and don’t overplay. You have a lot of choices, so choose wisely.”
And perhaps the last word goes to fitness taskmaster Lindsay Manion, who was still trying to impress upon the golfers the importance of hydrating enough – three litres per day – and taking care of your body by not putting so much sugar into it.
“You have to manage your own body, listen to your body and take care of your body,” said Manion. “Your body is your tool and that means taking care of it, whether that means drinking enough water, eating good healthy foods or getting enough sleep so that you can rest and recover.”
Yes, reminding kids to do the right thing never gets old, even in the world of high-performance golf.
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