Changing Your Grip

PGA Tour hopeful John Raser pays attention

The small act of paying attention can take you a long way.

– Keanu Reeves

It might seem as though I haven’t been paying attention to this blog.  Months have gone by and I haven’t posted at all.  What’s my problem?

It hasn’t been for lack of attention. I’ve been thinking about this blog all the time. But  I’ve been paying attention to the wrong things.

First of all, I’m frustrated by the theme’s lack of options and other tech matters. I want to convert the theme (the platform, the literal layout and function, not what I’m writing about) to something with much more ability to be customized.

But I can’t seem to get that done – I need tech help. So I let the tech issues get in the way of actually working and writing it. I let my attention swerve from my original purpose — to build content for an eventual book. How silly. So for now, I’m going to keep going until I can get the tech problems worked out.

And my last post brought unwanted attention to the fact that I’m actually writing this blog at all.  It caused a small blip in my family. “Someone” wasn’t happy about it. I’m not writing anything that could be construed as slander but I am telling stories. I’m trying to be as truthful and authentic as I can.

As part of a writer’s life, it’s a fact that you’re going to ruffle feathers — if not much worse — when you write about your personal stories and they include people you know. Especially your family.

My sister gave me a t-shirt that says: Be Careful, Or You’ll End Up In My Novel. So very true.

So anyway — I stopped writing and got worried for a while. But I’m over it.

The point is, my attention got sidetracked, and that can disrupt the positive effects of paying attention in life.

I try to pay attention to every single day. To large and small things. The feel of the weather when I’m outdoors. The sounds of the day — insects whirring with the heat, the pound of footsteps as a runner comes up the sidewalk; a train whistle as the the one train that goes through town on Thursdays passes. Church bells. Paying attention grounds me. It keeps me in the present.

I listen and pay attention to what people are saying to me – the tone of voice, their body language; the quick smile in their eyes in a brief exchange. I read and pay attention to what’s happening in my own industry or in a client’s. I pay attention to what’s going on as I’m driving. I pay attention to my dog when his playfulness turns to urgency — and he needs to get outside. (Because it never pays to ignore an urgent dog.)

I see so many people who aren’t paying attention — and in the end, it’s going to negatively impact their day or relationships or their lives. They’ll miss so much. The day is loaded with tiny miracles waiting to be noticed, waiting to be paid attention.

So what does this have to do with golf, you may well ask.

I decided to ask a couple of my “golf guys” on social media.  Both of them are aiming to get on the TOUR, so they know a lot about what it means to pay attention to their lives and goals.

I’ve written about Phil Bundy before.  Here’s what he had to say:

“For me, paying attention – or being reflective – is important in golf as it is in life. After each time you hit a shot or finish a round, you have the opportunity to calmly reflect and process feedback mentally to improve future performance.”

I love that Phil equates paying attention to being reflective. When you give your attention to something, it often leads to more thought on that particular thing. Thought  can stir curiosity to learn more about it. Learning leads to focus. Where might focus lead?

By the way, Phil has a wonderful blog. You can find it here.

John Raser is a 27 year old Professional Golfer and entrepreneur from Orlando, Florida. He blogs/vlogs about his road to the PGA Tour.  He’s younger than my own boys but one of the smartest, savviest young golfers I’ve seen on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Flickr). He gave me his answer via Facebook:

“Paying attention” — In golf you’ve got to be very detail oriented. I think all good players subconsciously pick up little swing nuances from observing other great players. It might be the way a guy walks into a shot, or his waggle, or even more technical swing positions. Being detailed oriented and paying attention also encompasses the way you walk and carry yourself on the golf course in competition. It’s the way you think. It’s your inner self-talk. It also means being mindful of all outside variables such as wind, grain, lie, and the slope of the terrain. Be observant. Take it all in and process it.

In business it is important to pay attention to what your peers and competitors are doing. Stay up on current trends in your industry or niche. See what’s working and what’s not. Then after finding what works, be creative and find a way to do it better than anyone else. Paying attention to other people’s ideas and giving them the same consideration you would give your own is big too. All real innovation comes from paying attention to your competitors, consumers, and conscience.

Wow.

I also asked one of my favorite golf bloggers, The Armchair Golfer, to comment about paying attention, and he did. But in looking it up on my email, I think I accidentally deleted it. Because I was not paying enough attention to what I clicked on, probably.

I do remember that Neil talked about how important it was to him to pay real attention to his family , especially to his kids.

I remember that because I couldn’t agree more with him.

If you’ve reached the end of this post, well done. You’ve paid attention for over 1,000 words. And that’s a real accomplishment in a world that doesn’t want to read more than 300-500 words at a time.

I predict you’ll go far. And so does Keanu Reeves.

Photo coutesy of John Raser

Halfway through a recent hour-long phone conversation with Phil Bundy, a realization came to me:

Phil Bundy would be the perfect representative for Twitter on the PGA Tour. And Twitter should be his sponsor.

I can see Twitter’s little blue bird logo on Phil’s golf shirt and visor. It would fit so perfectly. Phil fits Twitter. It’s a perfect match for the new Tour.

Before you dismiss this idea, let me make my case:

Phil joined Twitter on November 15, 2008. His blog about his quest to play the PGA Tour is part of a whole utilization of social media — something few players are making a part of their brand. Guys like Pat Perez have cool websites, but Perez doesn’t necessarily write his blog each time. This is understandable: You don’t make hundreds of thousands — or millions — of dollars being on a computer, you make it on the golf course.

Phil chose to engage people in his quest through many avenues — and one of them has been through social media.

In the process, he’s been “overwhelmed” by the response. “It resonates with a lot of people,” he says. “By talking about my quest and the reasons why I’ve chosen to pursue my dream [at 43 -- more about that in a minute], it’s motivating other people to pursue their dreams, too.”

“A year ago, the opportunity to build an audience like this wasn’t there. Not that many people were on things like Twitter,” Phil says.

He utilizes a personal philosophy with Twitter that consists of three main tenets:

1. It’s better to be interested than interesting. When you talk to Phil, you feel a very genuine interest in who you are as a person. It’s not about what you can do for him. Judging by his blog roll– and the number of blog articles, on line interviews and podcasts that appear on his blog site– he’s making a lot of friends. I’m now one of them. That comes from being truly interested in others.
2. Conduct yourself on Twitter as you do in person. Be real. Be authentic. If you read Phil’s posts, his character comes across as an intelligent, mature, decent guy who is firmly grounded in reality — after all, he knows very well what he’s up against trying to qualify to play the Tour at 43 against 20-something thoroughbreds who are often right out of college. The guy you tweet on Twitter is the same guy talking to you on the phone, or meeting you in person, or representing you at tournaments and corporate functions.
3. Use your mind and creativity. I’ve only been on Twitter since January, but it’s become a part of my working day. It’s a living ocean of creative, fascinating people. It brings new ideas to me every day. It’s opened up the world. Phil Bundy knows this too — there may be sponsors out there who will become convinced that he is the kind of player that can bring them exposure and profit. After all, he’s an MBA who’s worked in the golf industry for twenty years. And he’s also got the playing chops as a competitor. A lot of people talk about digital PR — he’s living it and working it now.

But aside from the whole social media aspect — and I think that’s a major innovation in his branding that Twitter should consider — there’s the quality of person that he is.

Whatever you can do, or think you can, do it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

— Goethe

The inspiration for Phil’s “quest” (and I like that he terms it that way. Very Man of LaMancha ) is his little son, Charlie. How can you tell a child he can dream and become anything if you yourself have not experienced having a dream and pursuing it?

Some may feel that being 43 and trying to compete on a national level may be futile: It’s just too late.

Some may ask, why give up a successful career in sports marketing for such risk of failure and no guaranteed paycheck?

Some may scoff at someone who chooses to launch into a sport that is suffering. Sponsors are pulling out. The whole Tour centers on Tiger Woods.

• I think Phil Bundy has more substance than a lot of young players. He’s seasoned. He’s mature. He’s already had more experiences to learn from, to draw from, to gain balance. He’s tested himself in competition. He’s calculated his odds.

• He’s a person who believes in giving back. He’s demonstrated that in his work with junior golfers, and in the work he’s doing for his corporate partners.

The Tour life is unlikely to derail this man. He’s got his head on straight. He’s a thinking golfer — but one who knows not to let too much thinking paralyze his flow on the course. He uses words like “reflection” “perspective” and “feedback” in the tools he’s got in his game.

He’s a player that would be awesome in the press tent — eloquent, approachable and a hell of a story.

Most of all, maybe the magic and power in his quest is in inspiring his son — and thousands of others — to be bold and take a step toward whatever dream they have.

After all, Twitter creators — isn’t that what you did in the first place?

What do you think? Should Twitter become a sponsor for Phil on the PGA Tour?