Zen and the Art of Disc Golf

If you are a disc golfer, then BUY THIS BOOK! If you are a student of Zen practice, then BUY THIS BOOK! If you want to live a better life, then BUY THIS BOOK!Patrick McCormick has written a short but deep look into playing disc golf, practicing a Zen mindset, and tapping into the potential to become the best possible "you." McCormick's words are like syrup, they hold such thick value that sometimes it takes a little while to digest them fully, but when those words do finally sink in, it is truly an enlightenment. Suddenly, everything makes sense and things that may have been cloudy before are now perfectly clear...Although I am a relatively new disc golfer, I come from a background of playing regular golf for most of my life and struggling with the mental side of playing at a competitive level. In fact, several years ago I played regular golf competitively in college in Southern California, but became very frustrated, depressed, and ultimately burnt out from my tireless efforts to elevate my game to the next level. I WISH I would have had McCormick's book at that stage of my life. Nevertheless, I'm very glad I have this book now. I have read it cover to cover several times, and always keep it close by if I feel the need to refresh myself before I go play, or even go take on the day.Reading "Zen and the Art of Disc Golf" has made me appreciate the time, effort, skills, and enjoyment that comes from playing and participating in all the sports I play, and even my occupation as a middle school mathematics teacher. I now have a renewed interest in getting the absolute most enjoyment I can from my work and leisure time activities, challenging myself to constantly improve my game and myself, and even enter competitive tournaments again.Thanks Patrick. Your book is truly awesome and profound!

Having just picked up disc golf and becoming hooked about two months ago, I wanted to absorb as much about it as I could. I watched videos and read reviews for discs and listened to podcasts. Which is how I came across this book. This book captured everything that really drew me in to the sport. The reflection time that you have between your shots was such a draw for me, and Patrick puts this time to the most positive use. The ideas and philosophies that he lays out are meant to sharpen the mental blade in the game, but they seamlessly bleed into your everyday life.I am a fifth grade teacher, and as I was reading I was picturing all of these positive thoughts ending up on my walls of my classroom. Reading this book and listening to his podcast has inspired me to start a disc golf club in my school. In the book he speaks of three groups, the mentor, the peer, and the protege. And how the positivity that you spread to the protege comes back to you in great amounts. My goal is to pass these ideas on to the next generations of players.I really can't say enough good things about this book. Read it.

As an avid disc golfer, this book was like music to my ears. It summed up a lot of my experiences. It also helped me to appreciate the zen of the moment rather than whether I was beating my opponent or bettering my score.

UPDATED: 6/25/15Kindle/Print Edition: The interesting reaction to zen or mental concepts is normally - that is common sense, why didn't I think of that myself? I took my time with this book as the author suggests and made sure to reflect on each chapter before moving on. As I read through each section, I could pinpoint a recent experience where someone in my group could have benefited from the concept therein. I'd really like to require my playing partners to apply these concepts, but I feel like those who would benefit the most from the book would be most averse to the necessary changes. Use this to your advantage and change your mental approach to the game - it will give you a hidden advantage out on the course.Audio Book: I purchased the audio book too. The price is low enough for me to justify owning the audiobook so I can listen to it on a road trip. The voice talent is really great. There are a lot of terms used in disc golf that aren't common vocabulary (hyzer, overstable, x step, etc) and the reader states these terms just like a seasoned player. That helps to keep you engaged in the content for sure. Don't have time or care to read - buy the audiobook and listen along.

I was really hoping to learn something new about disc golf form or technique from this book, but the majority of the content is just a really long way to generally say the same thing over and over in different ways. The first chapter has this very important line from the author, and I believe it should actually be included in the description to assist potential buyers: “This book is not an instruction manual on how to play disc golf….You can find many tutorials on the internet on how to properly throw…”. That’s probably the truest statement in the entire text. I just wish I could’ve read that before buying a disc golf paperback that mentions next to nothing about gameplay mechanics, and focuses solely on mental preparation. Also, the publisher must have skipped or expedited the proofing phase, because the pages are sprinkled with grammatical errors here and there, which I found to be somewhat distracting.Honestly, this book is really about centering yourself mentally for the game, which is certainly important as you approach any throw. And some people might actually get something out of it, if they know what they are getting into prior to the sale. It’s a fast read, and you can consume all of the text in about a 2-3 hour sitting. Although admittedly, once I got halfway through an hour in, the redundancy of the subject matter really waned my interest. So I started skimming the remaining half, found nothing very compelling, and quite simply put it down. Per the author's suggestion, I'll continue surfing YouTube for gameplay and throwing mechanics. I was just hoping that this book would be an adequate supplement to that, with more detailed information to build upon and consider. But it just wasn't what I was expecting.

Read it and you understand your playing much more.

Bought 5 books at once: kept one and offered the others as a present to disc golfing friends.

Great companion book to Discs & Zen

Good