Zen Golf Newsletter – Sept/Oct
2006
End of Summer Update from Dr. Joe
Upcoming Events: October 28-29 Golf School
October
30-31 Coaches Gathering
Golf World: “By the Book”
Tournament Notes:
Tiger at the Open Championship at Hoylake
Dear Zen Golfers,
Hope that the rest of the summer was
full of rewarding golf. In this newsletter, I’ll offer some comments on
tournaments, fill you in on the latest news, and give some previews of upcoming
happenings.
Zen Putting
Most of my August and September were
spent polishing the drafts of the next book, Zen Putting: Mastering the Mental Game on the Greens, to be
published by Gotham Books, a division of Penguin Putnam. It will hit the
bookshelves in time for the Masters, in early April 2007.
Members’ Section
Greg
Martin, friend who moved to Southern California from Dallas, has brought his son Ryan, a gifted
12-year-old for coaching. In exchange, Greg is re-organizing the Zen Golf
website and developing a Member’s Section. He’ll be communicating with you soon
about what you’d like to see offered as benefits of membership, and how you
sign up. The Members’ Section will offer previews of Zen Putting chapters between now and the official publication date.
Reminder: OVI
Golf Academy/
Zen Golf Program – October 28-29
The Ojai Valley Inn Golf Academy
Program combines Dr. Joe's mental game lessons with Director of Instruction
Jeff Johnson's video analysis and swing technique lessons. The program is a
unique combination of a mental game seminar with Dr. Joe each morning, followed
by video and practice area lessons with Jeff before lunch. After lunch Dr. Joe
and Jeff work together on swing and mental images. Afternoons will feature
on-the-course playing lessons with both instructors.
October 28-29, 2006 Sat morning through
late Sun afternoon
Program includes two nights lodging at
the deluxe Ojai Valley Inn and Spa Resort, instructional materials, a Zen Golf
Audiobook, video swing analysis, lunches, green fees and cart.
$795 per person (commuter rate = no
lodging)
$1195 per person (single occupancy)
$1995 per couple (or double occupancy)
(Please note: this is a 50% discount from standard room
rates)
To register, please call the Ojai Valley Inn at 805-646-1111 and ask
for Jeff Johnson in the Pro Shop.
October
30-31 Coaches’ Gathering with Dr. Parent
Coaches’ Gatherings led by Dr. Parent,
for golf coaches and sports psychologists, will be held twice a year at the
Ojai Valley Inn. The first will be on Monday and Tuesday October 30-31, immediately following the OVI Golf Academy Program.
Please understand that this is not a
training program, and there is no certification associated with it. It is an opportunity for those in the
coaching profession to share their experiences and learn from others in
applying mental game principles, particularly as they relate to Zen Golf, to
their own work.
There will also be occasional
opportunities for regional one-day gatherings, following Dr. Parent’s travel
schedule. The first of these was in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday August 5th, organized by
sports psychologist Mark Henry, there were 8 PGA teaching
professionals and two sports psychology coaches at the Oregon gathering. There was lively discussion of interesting
coaching issues, and a rich flow of insights.
If you would like to have a regional
Coaches Gathering with Dr. Parent in your area, call the Zen Golf office at
805-640-1046 for scheduling arrangements.
Golf World: “By the
Book”
At the end of June, Zen Golf had a television appearance, during ESPN’s coverage of the
Women’s College World Series. The story on the University of Arizona
using the book to win the championship was reported in Golf World, June 30 2006:
Local Knowledge
By The Book:
The University of
Arizona women's softball
team turned its season around and won the NCAA championship after receiving an
unlikely assist--from a golf book. After enduring a six-week stretch in which
the Wildcats went 10-8, their coach, Mike Candrea, was passing through an
airport and stopped in a PGA Tour shop, where he saw the book Zen Golf:
Mastering the Mental Game by Dr. Joseph Parent. Candrea bought it, read it and
he decided to incorporate some of its philosophies into how he coached his
enigmatic team. Arizona
won its next 14 games and 20 of its last 22, including 8-0 and 5-0 victories
over Northwestern in the national championship series. "I just get such a
kick out of that," Parent said. "I thought it was fabulous. Actually,
the book was always meant to be about more than just golf. I get a lot of those
kinds of messages from people in other fields and other sports." Incidentally,
Parent, who teaches at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa in Ojai, Calif.,
is finishing another book Zen Putting, to be published next spring.
*********
Tournament Notes
Tiger at the Open
Championship at Royal Liverpool/Hoylake July 23, 2006
Course Management:
Tiger
hit only one shot with a driver all week. He was willing to sacrifice his
distance advantage over most everyone else for position. This also allowed
conserving mental energy by not getting into stressful situations. Will this
change his philosophy from here on? No – it is all about what he feels is the
best strategy for the course and conditions.
You
can hit full approach shots from shallow fairway bunkers, as most are in the US, but not
from pot bunkers. Therefore, lay back from the pot bunkers.
If
the rough is deep and thick, the shorter the club you have to use to reach the
green, the better you can get it out and on. Therefore, he’s likely to hit a
lot of tee shots with drivers in that situation.
Camera phones:
They
affected Tiger two ways: 1) distractions that interrupted his routine before
almost every tee shot, and 2) because he had to back off so often, the group
fell behind the group in front, and got a slow play warning for being out of
position. It finally got to him on the 13th hole, showing the
irritation, not being completely settled before his swing on his second shot,
ending up with bogey.
Bounce back:
He
bounced back with two birdies in a row. What I noticed was how much he relied
on his routine. His caddie Steve participates as well. When Tiger backs off on
the tee, Steve steps in for some words, which is how the original routine
starts before Tiger begins his walk forward.
Very noticeable was
the full breath he took and released before walking forward to hit a
spectacular approach on 14.
Attitude:
How
does Tiger hold a lead so well? Unconditional confidence in
himself, so no fear of going backward. He has said that what he loves to
do in competitive golf is kick the other guys butts.
He made a point about it. Not winning – winning by a lot. Kicking
butt.
He used a lot of body
English as his eagle putt approached the 16th hole. He wasn’t
lagging it. He was trying to hole it. To kick butt.
Turning it on:
Tiger
was asked about his seeming ability to turn it on when he needs to pull away. He
said he doesn’t want to change his attitude during round. Starting with the
first hole, give every shot everything you have.
© 2006 Dr.
Joseph Parent
********
Feel free to forward this newsletter, or
links to archived newsletters. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if there
are other topics you’d like to see addressed in our Zen Golf Newsletters, or
any other feedback that will help us serve you better.
Yours in Clarity, Commitment, and Composure,
Dr. Joe
