{"id":402,"date":"2011-06-18T16:45:11","date_gmt":"2011-06-18T16:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jaystuller.com\/?p=402"},"modified":"2013-05-10T18:15:10","modified_gmt":"2013-05-10T18:15:10","slug":"thetruthaboutaj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/golf\/instruction\/402\/thetruthaboutaj","title":{"rendered":"The Truth About A.J."},"content":{"rendered":"
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While "the secret" isn't really that easy to execute during a swing, A.J. Bonar stresses that the wrists have a lot has to do with putting pop into shot.<\/p><\/div>\n

During more than 30 years as golf instructor, A.J. Bonar has primarily resided on the right hemisphere of the human brain, rather than with the majority over on the mechanistic left.\u00a0 Most teachers start golf lessons with basic guidance on grip, stance, address and posture, and then move onto precise weight shifts, swing planes, shoulder turns and target lines, which can make the golf swing a gyration too complex even for those guys at Cirque du Soleil.\u00a0 Bonar contends that hitting a golf ball with a club is intuitively easy – – just like many other skills that are hard-wired into human eye-hand coordination through million of years of evolution.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For most of this time only his students had the chance to listen to his theories – – at Bowling Green University, the San Diego Golf Academy and today, at his own AJ Golf School<\/a>, located at Morgan Run Club & Resort <\/a>in Rancho Santa Fe, a course that\u2019s a member of the Southern California Golf Association<\/a>.\u00a0 Thanks to a ubiquitous 28-and-a-half minute infomercial that ran on The Golf Channel, CNBC and Fox Sports Network several years ago and subsequent spots in which the instructor reveals his \u201cSecret\u201d to hitting golf balls far and straight, Bonar, now is his 60s, is a star.\u00a0 Touting a videotape and DVD series called \u201cAJ Reveals the Truth About Golf,\u201d the infomercials have made him almost<\/em> as well known as celebrity instructors David Ledbetter, Butch Harmon and Jim Flick.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore the infomercial, about 80 percent of our students came from Orange County or Los Angeles,\u201d explains Jeff Elkind, who is Bonar\u2019s partner in the school.\u00a0 \u201cNow we\u2019re getting calls from all over the country, and Mexico and Canada, on a daily basis.\u00a0 A.J. gets stopped in airports, and does radio interviews constantly.\u00a0 This has really changed his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, like many instructors, Bonar is a presence on YouTube, essentially giving away these types of lessons in hopes of attracting business and revenue elsewhere, be it personal instruction or from other products.\u00a0 It\u2019s a business model that has swept through numerous start-up companies.\u00a0 And yet, Bonar still sells DVDs, and those and his infomercials are what propelled him into a public figure.<\/p>\n

Good Idea, Good Production<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Just six months after its release, more than 80,000 videotape and DVD sets of The Truth<\/em> – – or 350,000 tapes total were sold for $89.85 apiece. \u00a0For most instructionals, 10,000 sets in a year is considered a best-seller.\u00a0 One of the hottest products in the game that seems to spawn thousands of unusual clubs, training gadgets and other arcane items, Bonar\u2019s initial video at the time outsold all other instructional tapes combined.<\/p>\n

In the cluttered and crowded world of golf, this sudden emergence is no small feat.\u00a0 And it is a testament not only to the power of Bonar\u2019s teaching concepts, but the people behind him.<\/p>\n

First and foremost was Elkind, a former marketing and advertising copywriter and longtime friend of Bonar.\u00a0 \u201cWe were having lunch one day while A.J. was still working at Zevo Golf, and I was working at Cobra\u201d recalls Elkind.\u00a0 \u201cA.J. was musing about his age, his career and a dream of opening his own golf school.\u00a0 He said he knew the teaching part, but didn\u2019t know anything about marketing.\u00a0 By the end of lunch, we had a golf school.\u201d<\/p>\n

From that very beginning, Elkind had the vision of an infomercial, mainly because of Bonar\u2019s novel story-telling and teaching methods.\u00a0\u00a0 But he and Bonar needed both capital and infomercial-making firepower, which meant an equity partner.\u00a0 Enter the Truth Behind A.J. – – Mike Abram, his brother Steve, and Jimmy Clark, all founding partners of The Golf Agency<\/a>, an Avila Beach, Ca., company that specializes in golf promotions.<\/p>\n

\u2018I went down to visit A.J. at his school and came away a disciple,\u201d says Abram.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d had a 3.5 handicap index and shortly after working with A.J., I was at a 0.3.\u00a0 His techniques aren\u2019t like any other, and they clearly work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Practically every inventor and schemer in golf believes he or she is just one good infomercial from success and wealth.\u00a0 Infomercials literally made Barney Adams, Orlimar Golf and several other firms.\u00a0 Most, however, are more prone to a flop.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to have a credible host, authentic testimonials and a product that works,\u201d explains Abram.\u00a0 \u201cGolfers sense right away when something is not quite right.\u201d<\/p>\n

About Those Infomercials<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve also got to have money, because filming isn\u2019t cheap.\u00a0 Production costs on even the most rank infomercial runs to nearly $100,000, with quality costing $400,000 or more.\u00a0 But that\u2019s just a start. \u00a0\u201cYou have to film the video itself, get public relations support lined up, and have a ordering and distribution system ready, all of which almost doubles the initial investment.\u201d \u00a0That doesn\u2019t count advertising, in print and on television, the latter of which can up to $30,000 for a half hour on weekends.<\/p>\n

The biggest risk, however, is in the production money.\u00a0 \u201cYou can test an infomercial a few times and have a good idea if it\u2019s going to be successful, or if you need to cut the losses.\u00a0 The rule of thumb is that if you\u2019re selling $2 worth of product for every advertising dollar spent, you\u2019re doing great.\u00a0 Three-to-one is ridiculously successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The open and accessible Bonar gives private lessons at the AJ Golf School, at Morgan Run Club & Resort in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. <\/p><\/div>\n

For all of the gimmick products in golf, anything to do with instruction is probably the least risky.\u00a0 No matter how much golfers grouse about green fees and expensive equipment, they will pay for almost any advice that hints at success, or even temporary relief from the game\u2019s torment.<\/p>\n

Revealing A.J. secret isn\u2019t quite like giving away that hanging denouement in The Crying Game<\/em>, or the chilly ending to The Sixth Sense<\/em>.\u00a0 But since he\u2019s charging $89.85, it\u2019s rather unfair to reveal too much here.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s enough to simply say that Bonar greatly simplifies the task of hitting the ball squarely.\u00a0 He also makes it clear that the ball travels best when you strike it with the club, not necessarily with a perfect swing.\u00a0 He has players tapping into the fluid right sides of their brains, while shutting off the overload of details found on the left.<\/p>\n

For all the celebrity, A.J. Bonar still finds his personal center at this golf school.\u00a0 It is a place that takes no more than four students at a time, irrespective of ability.\u00a0 At most schools, one rarely sees the instructor whose name is associated with the academy, but instead is taught by other in that teacher\u2019s style.\u00a0 In Rancho Santa Fe, \u00a0students always learn about golf from Bonar, and only Bonar.<\/p>\n

This is, quite fundamentally, the truth about A.J.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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