"You better notice the roses in the vase instead of the dust on the table." This is something that the mother of a famous actor would say to her sons at the breakfast table if her children were complaining. She would start them all over again.
Complaining is something that hurts us all and out on the golf course there is no place for it, not if you have plans on playing well. Your awareness to this type of behavior is essential to playing good golf. Every word that leaves your mouth is a place to begin change. Please don't confuse this attitude with being positive, because that is really not what I am suggesting. Being positive is sometimes a very noisy place to be. It is certainly better than negativity, however it is still a noisy mind filled with thoughts that will interrupt the mind of an athlete.
If you watched any of this past week's PGA Tour event -- the Memorial -- you would have heard a lot of complaining from the players. During a televised interview with Jack Nicklaus, he talked about how he was the one that changed the way they prepared a bunker for a tour event. When Jack first had his event he prepared the bunkers without a rake, or easier to understand it was with smooth sand, no furrows. They would also take sand out of bunkers so that you could never draw a bad lie in a bunker. Jack said it was because he was a particularly poor bunker player and he had a better chance of playing well out of easy bunkers.
The first year they held the event was in 1976. Jack now wants to re-introduce the rake to the bunkers to toughen up his course and perhaps get the PGA Tour to do the same at other events. He made the comment that some of the players complain and he added they like to complain about things.
That was an interesting comment. I grew up watching him play and he was the greatest during his day. He never complained. He had what I like to refer to as complete and constant imperturbability. Nothing could bother him, until his game started to fall apart. That's when the world's greatest player fell prey to doing exactly what all those guys this past week were doing -- complaining about things.
It's funny how the world's No. 1 player today is very similar to what Nicklaus used to be like. I miss watching Tiger Woods playing in tournaments, not just for the great golf, but for how he handles the press and never gets caught up with things that are out of his control. Complaining is not a part of his physical make-up. It is mundane chatter that just interferes with the path he is on.
Next time you're out playing make a pact with yourself to stop those kinds of words from leaving your mouth. They do you no good, and then try it with your friends and family. I am sure you will see a difference in how much happier you feel and that will have a nice effect on your game as well.
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