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Zen Golf School - September 5&6 Notes on the Next Book Zen Golf Lessons: Q & A for Zen Golfers New Program Coordinator for Zen Golf ************************** Golf Digest's Top Ten Mental Game Experts The cover story of the July issue of Golf Digest magazine is "Finding the Zone" by Jaime Diaz. Dr. Parent is quoted more than once, including the following quote from the section entitled The Changing Golf Culture: "Western culture is founded on the power of intellect," Parent says. "We conquered the world with intellect - inventing and building and expanding - so we think we can conquer anything with intellect. But intellect doesn't conquer golf, it makes it harder. Finally, we're learning to let go and trust the body to react in the unbelievably precise way it can when it's run by the intuitive mind." (P. 139) The next article is "Masterminds of the Mental Side: the Who's Who of Golf Gurus" in which Dr. Parent was named to the list of Golf Digest's Top 10 Mental Game Experts. (P. 147). The list is also accessible at www.golfdigest.com/zone. See below in this Newsletter for Dr. Parent’s comments on a question about the article. *** Zen Golf School – September 5&6 The next Zen Golf School will be a Two-Day School at: Rancho San Marcos Golf Club, Santa Barbara, California September 5&6, 2004 (Sunday and Monday of Labor Day Weekend) 9am-5pm each day, including: Zen Golf Seminar with Instructional Materials; On-Course and Practice Area Instruction: Range, Cart and Greens Fees, Lunch, Autographed copy of Zen Golf, and 4 CD Zen Golf Audiobook $995 per person Limited to twelve participants Please email to Info@ZenGolf.com to register or for more information. Special Package : Fess Parker's Wine Country Inn is offering a special package for all Zen Golf School participants, including luxury accommodations, massages, wine tasting, etc. Go to http://www.fessparker.com/html/zen_golf_getaway.html or call 1-800-446-2455 for details and reservations. Because this golf school is on a holiday weekend, the rate for accommodations is slightly higher than the rate listed for the package. Golf school rate remains the same. Future Zen Golf Schools : Please note: we can only offer a limited number of golf schools featuring Dr. Parent as the main instructor. He is currently training assistant coaches to lead Zen Golf Schools so that there will be more opportunities available to aspiring Zen Golfers. At this point, golf schools will be scheduled by request only. Requests for a particular date for a two-day school will be checked for availability. If accepted, the school will be announced in the subsequent Zen Golf Newsletter. If you have a group of golfers, please contact us and we will find a date and create a Custom Golf School for you at Rancho San Marcos Golf Course in Santa Barbara or at your home course. We will resume offering schools in Palm Desert and/or Temecula in the fall. *** Notes on the Next Book Dr. Parent is still transforming his teaching notes into chapters for more of Zen Golf. We asked in the last newsletter for questions and topic suggestions from you Zen Golfers to make this an ‘interactive’ publishing project. Thanks to those of you who replied; they provided great jumping off points for Doc’s commentary. We hope to hear from many more of you. Please email your questions and suggested topics to: Info@ZenGolf.com In the following section you’ll find just such an interchange. *** Zen Golf Lessons: Q & A with a Zen Golfer A fellow coach emailed: “I was stuck in Chicago yesterday on my way home from some private coaching. During the delay I found a copy of Golf Digest and read the article "Finding the Zone" by Jaime Diaz. It was interesting but I was hoping for a little more meat on how to get to the zone, so I could compare notes with how others approach that aspect of coaching. What are your thoughts?” Dr. Parent replied: Thanks for asking. Jaime interviewed me for over an hour, so most of what we discussed is not in the article. I'm sure that was the way for the other coaches, too. There’s just so much he could include, and still get some flavor for the many different approaches. I suppose the article was not so much about "Finding the Zone" as recognizing what it is or isn't, and what prevents it from being experienced. There’s a reason no one could say much about how to get to the zone, which is connected to the most fundamental aspect of what Zen Golf is about. I'll share it with you now. From the Zen Golf perspective, trying to get to the zone, or finding the zone, is like trying to get to your house when you're already in it. Exceedingly difficult, because the further you go and harder you try, the further you get from it. Treating the zone as a special place or state of mind that you have to find or create sets you off in the wrong direction, because you're already there. So elusive, yet closer than our eyelash is to our eye. It is because ‘the zone’ is so close that it's hard to see. Yet just because we don't see it, that doesn't mean it isn't there. It's always there. We're always in the zone. This is the view: We are all, always in the zone. It is our natural state of being. It is what our state of mind is, naturally, in the absence of interference. That’s why expert golfers who are struggling often have the intuition that they would be playing great golf if they could just get out of their own way. When we get out of our own way, we are doing things naturally, and feel like we’re in the zone. However, our common experience is a very different feeling. That is because our natural state of being is covered over by layers of interference in the form of unhelpful habits engendered over the years. (See the chapter Basic Goodness in Zen Golf). "Finding the zone" is impossible if you’re trying to add something extra in order to get something you feel you don't have. Rather, connecting with our innate ‘zone’ is the process of removing interference that has kept us from experiencing something we already have. Most of Zen Golf is about recognizing the various forms of interference and undoing those habits that keep us from experiencing the zone, within the view that the zone is our natural state of mind, our natural state of being. *** New Program Coordinator for Zen Golf A Note from Dr. Parent: “I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Lee Woodard, a Zen Golfer who has taken on the role of coordinator for all the Zen Golf programs. Lee has trained as a Zen Golf Coach and will assist with Zen Golf Schools. Lee will be in charge of all business related activities (finance, office, etc.) as well as communications (newsletters like this one, website updates) and business vision and planning in general. Welcome, Lee. Happy you’re on board. I look forward to working with you to expand the vision of Zen Golf as far as it can go. Wishing ever-increasing confidence to all, Dr. Joe Parent” Greetings, Zen Golfers! I’m delighted to be a part of this unique and very special path of learning for golf and life. I’m looking forward to hearing from and communicating with many of you in the coming months. I’ve been in business all my life, and now to integrate it with golf, the greatest game, is something I feel very fortunate to be doing. It’s exciting to be working with Doc, and I hope to expand the scope of Zen Golf to reach many more golfers and others who can also benefit. As you know, this is about a lot more than golf. A special thank you to Steve Moore, who is finally getting freed up from handling the Zen Golf finance work to devote himself more fully to his coaching. Steve has really excelled as a golf coach in all aspects of the game, as evidenced by his junior clinics that are overflowing with new students. I expressed my appreciation to Steve for his efforts on behalf of Dr. Parent and Zen Golf, and thought I’d share his response: “Lee, thank you for the kind words. It has been a great experience working with Doc and amazing how our vision has unfolded. I am delighted that we are taking this next step and that you are coming on board to take over the business elements. I am ready to make the hand off and I know you will be a great help to Doc.” All the best to you, Steve. Zen Golfers in reach of the Central Coast of California who’d like the opportunity to learn from Steve can reach him at: Cypress Ridge Golf Academy, Arroyo Grande, California Phone: 805-474-1910 Yours in Clarity, Commitment, and Composure, Lee Woodard Zen Golf Program Director |
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Golf Digest's Top Ten Mental Game Experts