I am a professional educator. If I had been a better golfer I probably would have become a teaching professional. The reason I opted for the so-called more cerebral career path ironically is becasue I did not "get" the golf swing! I knew that it would be a smoke and mirrors side show! No doubt I would have been able to convince the garden variety golfer whose inexpereince or ineptitude would be the perfect cover for the likes of me. Throw some jargon....add a little lingo... stripe a few drives and they follow like rodents to a penny whistle! I am not suggesting that you reach a master status before you can teach a novice the basics, but I am all too aware of the saying that goes something like "...those that cannot, teach!" I chose a field in which I am well trained and reasonably profficient. My resume as a mediocre player in a mediocre college golf program was simply not enough. My talent could not overcome my ignorance any longer!
My real point to make was that I believe people can be catergorized as "artists" or "mechanics" with regards to how they assimilate information. Some of my students "just get it" almost intutively, while others reach that point after much blood, sweat and tears. Genetic predisposition, conditioning or whatever some people catch on about this and the other quickly while others have to mull it over. We do not all incubate at the same rate I would suggest! It is a rare find to discover someone that is both an artist as well as a mechanic - a savant with a work ethic! I think Tiger fits that bill. Nothing about TGM's technical nature would upset his finely tuned competitve balance in my opinion. For some people more information might seem to be detrimental, while others will improve as a result. However, I do believe that innate talent (the inner artist) doing its own thing, unconsciously as it were, has a shorter battery life, than the knowledge/understanding or mechanic approach. When knowledge and potential collide...hello world!
This is where golf is truly a great game. As Mr. Kelley suggested you are going to get the ball in the hole at some point no matter how poorly you play! The ratio of mystery to complexity you exchange is mostly up to you!
I think Mr. Kelley gave us a wonderful gauge for our sincerity as it pertains to our desire to improve our games. If you cannot do basic motion for more than 10 balls in row then the jig is up! If you have not yet bought dowel sticks then then the jig is up! I recall a story...Ok partially...where Jackie Burke agreed to help an up and coming youngster. He sent him off to sink several hundred three footers in a row, or something to that effect. In essence, many people end up siezing the engine by refusing to spring for the oil change! All inevitabilities are brought to pass by some kind of effort.
Not to get too analytical but people "reject" TGM and its vernacular because the book suggests an "IS" condition in the universe as opposed to the la la land of their own fabrication. I recall a statement that Mark Twain made about how he envied the awe with which a primitive man must have viewed a rainbow, unspoiled as it were. I like Twain but what a load of (insert expletive.) For the mystically inclined there are still things that science and objectivity do not speak clearly to...the golf swing is just not one of them!
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