Joseph Parent

A nice short read and a nice introduction to Mindfullness and Zen.
I was disappointed in the "POOH" angle, though.
Pooh and the other characters certinly behaved much like in this book but the thoughts and little poems and things that are attributed to Pooh are NOT like the original Pooh, a bit of a stretch to have him talk and say all the things in this book. I appreciate the intent and if you don't remember much of Pooh, or never read it, the author definitely does his best to have them introduce some Mindfullness and Zen concepts.… (més)

Prolific Pooh writer Nancy Parent teams up with her brother and his degrees in psychology and meditation to use Pooh to introduce mindfulness and suggest tactics to get more of it into your life. Each chapter has a snippet introducing a new concept, a passage of Pooh walking around meeting his friends one by one -- the hoariest of Pooh plots, about which I have complained frequently in my Pooh Project -- and then self-help instructions for the reader as to how you can start doing the mindfulness techniques that come so naturally to Pooh.

I requested this as a birthday gift just because Pooh is in it, not any desire to learn about mindfulness. I get the mindfulness thing, but I'm not big on self-help books and their tone, and not even Pooh can save this one.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... )… (més)

Like every golfer, I've been waiting my entire life for this book: How to Make Every Putt: The Secret to Winning Golf's Game Within the Game, by Dr. Joseph Parent. If it delivers on the title, this book is worth a fortune to every golfer in the world.

And it does, if you accept Parent's definition of "making a putt." The book focuses on the mental and physical challenges of putting, building on the author's previous book on the subject, Zen Putting. As you might expect, while there are plenty of drills and practical hands-on advice, much of the book is about how you think--or preferably don't think--about your putting stroke. That all relates to the author's definition of "making" a putt, which he says is, "The ball starting out on the line you chose, at the speed you wanted, with what you felt was a good stroke." You may have noticed that there's nothing in that definition about the ball going into the hole.

Parent explains that apparent contradiction by saying, "The secret to making every putt is to focus only on successfully executing your routine and stroke, not letting your concern about the outcome of the putt interfere with how well you're doing that. Take care of your process and let the results take care of themselves."

Putting aside the epistemology of his approach, Parent's book has a wealth of sound advice on how to read greens, judge speed, establish a productive routine, and much more. He also offers a wealth of drills, many of which are made available online through handy QR codes that take you to instructional video clips online. If you're QR-impaired, you can just go to www.zengolf.com to learn more.

Parent has coached hundreds of pros and competitive amateur golfers including Vijay Singh and Cristie Kerr.… (més)