Greetings Golfers,

“If a puddle of water is made sufficiently muddy, most people will think it’s deep” – Nietzsche.

I like things to be clear. I hate misunderstandings. And I think that’s normal … do you like to be confused?

However, I constantly see and read things that don’t make sense. And, it smells like a con.

Now, I’m not just talking about the golf swing … I’m talking about EVERYTHING. The golf swing is a good example of what I’m talking about. Too often I read or hear ideas about the golf swing that are too complicated. Simple doesn’t mean simple-minded.

The secret to making ideas clear and simple is to prioritize. There needs to be hierarchies…it can’t be level…if it’s all equal and the same…there’s no emphasis.

There needs to be a point.

Years ago I wrote a blog about a guy I went to college with nicknamed “Long Story”. He talked all the time and his stories never ended … because there was never a point … just random, boring information.

The other day a relative and I were having a pretty heavy talk about what’s going on in the world. This relative is bright and loves to believe that answers have to be complicated … the more complicated the more it’s true.

This relative’s reasoning was complicated because everything had the same value … nothing was prioritized. At the end of our discussion, I was accused of being “reductive” … I replied that I took it as a compliment.

“Reduction” in cooking is basically boiling down the sauce. I like to “boil down” things to get to the point.

About 20 years ago, I went to a restaurant in Excelsior to confirm a reservation for a dinner meeting … I just knew that it had been screwed-up (it was). While talking to the new manager – who was babbling and didn’t make any sense … it was obvious that we were the only people in this restaurant – on the lake on a beautiful Summer day.  So I asked him if he had any plans about how to get the place rolling … from behind his groovy glasses and Gucci suit … he informed me that he’d been working on the wine list for the last week.

Hmmmm. You’ll be shocked to know that the restaurant folded a year later and now is an office building. It was one of the best locations on Lake Minnetonka. Well, that wine list chore was pretty complicated … (and important).

Here’s another example of the inability to prioritize.  We have people at the golf course who have such heightened awareness that they notice everything that isn’t perfect.  They notice a dandelion on our 130 acres of land or a paint smear on a range ball.  Unfortunately, their ability to prioritize is not as highly developed.  They take for granted the beautifully maintained 130 aces of land, the clean golf carts, the nice driving range, the slick check-in procedures, etc.

I just described a “nit-picker”. Is that what concerns them? … “nits”???

Our time is limited on this planet. Let’s focus on what matters. Let’s develop priorities.

But maybe the nit-pickers and the people who overly complicate things have the same goal. Maybe they’re the only ones who “get it”. Maybe they like to “muddy the water” to prove how deep they are and that we can’t understand what they “know”.

Well, I don’t buy it.  I want clear and simple and not perfect.  Guess I’m just simple-minded (or as they would say “reductive’).

Cheers!

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Deer Run Golf Club
8661 Deer Run Drive
Victoria, MN 55386
(952) 443-2351
www.deerrungolf.com
www.facebook.com/DeerRunGolf
www.twitter.com/DeerRunGolfClub