Dear readers,
This is the book about disc golf I have always wanted, the book I needed for 23 years. The book I never thought I would write and the research I should have done many years ago to improve my game significantly.
It has been six years since Zen and the Art of Disc Golf hit the shelves. And I have stated many times; I never thought that book would sell more than five or ten copies. Since 2014, it has sold over 10,000 copies worldwide. In 2016, I released a sequel for the book, Discs & Zen: More Writings on Disc Golf and Life, and in 2018 the books were combined in The Complete Zen Disc Golf. But I had not completed the circle.
Many of you, who have been with me since the beginning, might be asking: where have you been? You went AWOL on us. For that, I apologize. In 2017, the year I started building my own private disc golf course, I was t-boned by a dump truck on the interstate. I was lucky that I was not killed, but I sustained two major injuries, one to my throwing hand and the other to my brain. For months, I not only underwent physical therapy to regain the use of my right hand, but my traumatic brain injury made it difficult to think, write, and even remember basic things. This was a scary time for my family and me. It took me about a year to string words together as I used to, and I am still trying to get my throw back (at least that’s my excuse on any miss cue). Later that year, my son, Bryce, was diagnosed with Autism. While we are blessed with a healthy and happy boy, our priorities over the past few years have been him and making sure that he has all the resources he needs. This has also been an uphill battle. That’s where I have been, but I digress…
Two books about disc golf’s mental and spiritual side and many have asked when a third book would be out. In the past, I have laughed, probably never. How does a person write so much about one topic? Then it hit me, even though I talked about it extensively on the 30 episodes of The Zen Disc Golf Podcast from 2014-2015, I had not written anything about the physical side of disc golf at all. As a matter of fact, I shot myself in the foot in the first book, saying that it could not be done, and I would not be the one to do it.
This year, it hit me like a bag of bricks. I am the one to do it, and I am going to do it. No, I am not a professional disc golfer, a disc manufacturer, or a tour director. I’m a dude who has spent most of his life playing this game, and I love to share and write about it. Inevitably anytime you want to do something new, especially when in front of an audience, a little demon pops up on your shoulder and says two things to you: “You are not good enough” and “Who do you think you are?” It doesn’t matter if you are playing in your first tournament, writing a book, starting a podcast, or even submitting an application to work for the PDGA; that’s when you have to swat that little guy off and say, “I am who I am, and that’s good enough for me.”
All demons exorcised, the research began. I wanted this book to be as comprehensive as possible about the physical side of disc golf. I have tried to put as much information as I possibly could into your hand. Data that I wish I had over 20 years ago and much of it I didn’t even have until this year. As I researched and wrote the book, I became excited about what I was learning, and I hope that excitement and joy come across in these pages.
I hope you love reading this book as much as I have loved writing it.
Sincerely,
Patrick McCormick
ZEN DISC GOLF 