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Next Zen Golf School – October 16&17 Vijay Singh - #1 in the World Cooking for a Cause: a Personal Appeal Question from a Zen Golfer: How Hard to Swing? ************************** Next Zen Golf School – October 16&17 There are a few spaces still available for the next Zen Golf School due to late cancellations. If you would like to attend, please The next Zen Golf School will be: ATwo-Day School taught by Dr. Parent at Rancho San Marcos Golf Club Santa Barbara , California
Saturday & Sunday, October 16&17, 2004
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 $995 per person Limited to twelve participants Please email to Info@ZenGolf.com to register or for more information. ************************** Vijay Singh - #1 in the World Congratulations to Vijay on achieving the rank of Number One in the official World Rankings of Golf. He accomplished this by winning the DeutscheBank Open in Boston, defeating Tiger Woods head-to-head and ending Tiger’s reign of over five years at Number One. His comments were right out of Zen Golf: he just tried to focus on the tournament he was playing, and the rankings would take care of themselves. Vijay then further solidified his position by adding to his win total with a playoff victory at the Canadian Open, his seventh win of the year, an accomplishment matched in the modern era by only Tiger, Jack, Tom Watson, Cooking for a Cause: a Personal Appeal From Dr. Parent: “Last December my nine-year-old niece, Jessica, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. She was operated on immediately, and all visible traces of the cancer were able to be removed. Still, she had to go through a month of strong radiation treatments and In the midst of this, Kelly and Jessica have started a campaign to raise funds for research on treatment of cancer in children. They have produced a cookbook of recipes contributed from around the country, with the proceeds from the sales going to the National Childhood Cancer Foundation. It is called “Cross Country Cooking: Cooking for a Cause,” costs just $15 plus shipping, and can be ordered by downloading an order form from the website: www.cookingforacause.info or by emailing Jessica’s mother, Kelly Parent, at ksparent@comcast.net and asking for an order form to be sent by return email. Naturally, donations beyond the cost of the cookbook are very welcome and are tax-deductible. Thanks so much for your assistance for this very worthy cause. Dr. Joseph Parent” ************************** Question from a Zen Golfer From Jeff E.: “I have read the book and it has improved my game. One problem left to master is how much muscle to put into my swing. I pick the right club for the distance left to the hole, it just seems like if I could get control of how hard to swing I could get closer to the hole and pull off more birdies. For example, a par 3, 163 yards with the wind at me, I chose a five iron and gave it a nice full strength swing, and I made it to the green, but in the back, just on the fringe (leaving a twenty foot putt). I two-putt and par, but if I pulled a little back on my swing, I would have birdied. That seems to be the story the last few times out on several holes. I guess I shouldn't complain, but for the life of me I keep leaving myself long putts and I can't break Ninety. I've only really been serious about the game for five years. So, I feel I have a sense of club selection and keeping the ball in play, I just need to erase the bogeys, and make more pars and birdies. Would appreciate whatever advice you can give. Thanks, Jeff.”
A reply from Dr. Parent: "To tune in to how hard to swing, go to the range and practice different shots with the same club - rate the fullness on a scale of one to five, with five as full out, 1 as just a half-swing punch shot. Chart your average distance for each step of the scale and you'll be able to adjust more accurately. By the way, most pros use about a “4” swing (80%) as their standard, only using the 5 swing if they have to 'nuke' one. I recommend that anyone over a six handicap never try to 'nuke' one or try to “take something off” a shot. Instead, recognize and accept your dispersion pattern. Within that recognition, pick a target that gives you a reasonable margin for error, while leaving a reasonable next shot. As for breaking 90: as I read your question, I was expecting a low single-digit handicapper, not someone wanting to break 90. Something doesn’t add up. If you’re keeping the ball in play, and you’re making pars, how do you end up more than 18-over-par? Trying to get closer than 20 feet from the hole with a five iron isn’t the issue for you. If you told any pro on tour that they could put their five iron to twenty feet on every par 3, they’d take it in a heartbeat. In fact, most would accept even par on all the par 3’s they play every time out. They make their money on par 5’s and short par fours. They are usually hitting longer clubs into par 3’s than on most other holes, so they don’t expect to be as close to the pin on those holes. Let’s take first things first: breaking 90 is not about making more birdies, or even lots of pars, it’s about making less big numbers. Check your course management decisions (take less risks) and work on your short game to get “up and down” more often. If you make mostly bogeys, and the pars outnumber the double-bogeys, you’ve broken 90! Hope that’s helpful. Wishing you many fairways and greens , Doc.” Please don’t hesitate to let us know if there are other topics you’d like to see addressed in our Zen Golf Newsletters. We intended to include international news in this issue, but wanted to put in the appeal for Jessica. We’ll try to include it next issue. Thanks for understanding. Yours in Clarity, Commitment, and Composure, Lee Woodard Zen Golf Program Director |
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Zen Golf Newsletter - September 2004