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Ten thousand hours


allin
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  1. 1. 10,000 hours to be an expert golfer?

    • Heck yes, Tiger had that many in by age 12
      11
    • Not if you have any real talent
      6
    • Work smarter not harder
      21
    • Yes if playing time and fitness are included
      15
    • Impossible, unless TV and BS time included
      0
    • Other
      9


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I have recently encountered several articles stating that mastery in any field requires 10,000 hours of practice, including sports. I just read one that included that as part of the explanation for a larger amount of grey matter for golfers who are expert or professional. Do others agree with this huge amount of time investment as a requirement? I have been playing golf for about 25 years. My best guess is that I have logged about 5,000 hours of practice in that time. With my area's climate, raising children, job, real life etc., I consider that pretty good. By the time I could practice enough to reach 10,000 hours, I will be to old and decrepit to play decently anyway. How many hours a week is enough to consistently improve?

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I think its different for everyone. One of my friends started playing golf in 10th grade and earned a golf scholarship by his senior year. He may not have "mastery" of golf but he did get very good very fast. Some people play their entire lives and never get below a 10 handi.

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One hour a day, every single day without fail, for a little over 27 years? I don't think so.

On the other hand, it could explain some of my mediocre play. After playing for only 40 years, I still have another few thousand hours to go!

In David's bag....

Driver: Titleist 910 D-3;  9.5* Diamana Kai'li
3-Wood: Titleist 910F;  15* Diamana Kai'li
Hybrids: Titleist 910H 19* and 21* Diamana Kai'li
Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw

Wedges: Scratch 51-11 TNC grind, Vokey SM-5's;  56-14 F grind and 60-11 K grind
Putter: Scotty Cameron Kombi S
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Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Consider most high school sports, if you are a top level competitor in high school you came up through some sort of "age group" program and probably played / practiced year round. Pracitice / play 2-4 hours per day as a youth gets you to the 10,000 mark in about 10-15 years.

Look at top highschoolers and D1 college, these kids have been doing this their whole life, with constantly increasing time demands.

I am not talking about the guy who gets to state competition or barely makes the D1 team, the "expert" is the one who wins or places high consistantly.

Edit: I don't think Tiger was quite at 10,000 by age 12, but he was probably getting pretty close. Would guess he was there by college and is now well into several times that 10k number. If he only put in a normal full time year 2000 hours, he has logged 10k hours every 5 years since being on tour.
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-E

In my Grom bag:

Driver........... Burner 9.5* S-Flex
3-Wood......... Burner 15* S-Flex
5-Wood......... Ovation 18* S-FlexIrons............. Pro Combos 3,5-PW Rifle 6.0Wedges......... CG12 52.10, 56.14, 60.10Putter............ 33" VP1 Milled PutterBall................ e6+ or B330-SRangefinder.....

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So if you convert it, its like 3.4x years - 8 hours a day 365 days (which is unrealistic since you need time off). But nevertheless - at this time i think its realistic that you become a solid +hcp´er but that doesnt mean you are a master at your field (at least in golf) and for sure it wont hand you out a tour card.

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You must have some sort of "natural talent" if you will, to have any chance of becoming an "expert". Unless of course, you have 10,000 hours of lessons from a pro. A hack, like myself, can practice the same flawwed swing one hour a day for 27 years and still be a hack. "Practice makes permanent."
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Unless of course, you have 10,000 hours of lessons from a pro. A hack, like myself, can practice the same flawwed swing one hour a day for 27 years and still be a hack. "Practice makes permanent."

Lol - i would shoot myself after 10000 hours of lessons. I took a lot of lessons when i started til i dropped to around 14. Nowadays - if something feels strange - i have him look at it or just have a routine inspection of my swing - he tells me adjustments and off i go practice for myself. The longer you play this game imo, the quicker you can implement simple changes that need to be corrected since you develop a better feeling for such things.

As soon as a golfer starts hitting his balls consistently flush high/long and straight, imo he gets much more self confident and trusting in his swing and doesnt want to change too much and that reduces the pro lessons greatly. Luckily for the pros, most amateurs never will find this awesome experience - ever.

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edit: i need some clarification on this - is the 10,000 hours straight up practicing? cause i could spend 10,000 hours playing golf, but how much of that time am i actually spending hitting the ball? in a four hour round, 3.75 hours of it is walking and waiting usually. so is it 10,000 hours of straight up driving range work, hitting ball after ball after ball 8 hours a day 7 days a week?
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I said other. I think this is largely an individual thing. Some people will excell (damn them) in a very short time. Others my spend years on end never getting better. I feel that it is a combination of hours put in x quality time x ability x technique. If you are high in the natural ability area and get instruction on the right technique you can cut that curve down a ton. However, if you have no ability and continue to do the wrong things over and over you will never be an expert. Even at 20,000 hours.
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3 Wood: 15.° Pro Trajectory 906F4 Stiff Aldila VS Proto Blue
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What is your definition of an expert? If it is PGA Tour player...99% of us will never make it. No matter many hours it is.
DBake
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I think that it is all within each person. Some people take longer to learn whereas others pick up on it right away.
What's In The Bag?

Driver - Rapture 10.5 Epic 68g X-Pure - Balance Certified
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It is the quality of your practice, not the quantity.
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It is the quality of your practice, not the quantity.

Well said. I could go to the range for the next 3 hours, and pound balls. And if I'm still hooking the ball way left, it's not going to improve at all on the course.

A lot of practice is needed for beginners. Once you reach a certain point, it's 100% QUALITY over QUANITY.

Driver Ping G10 10.5*
Hybrids Ping G5 (3) 19* Bridgestone J36 (4) 22*
Irons Mizuno MP-57 5-PW
Wedges Srixon WG-504 52.08 Bridgestone WC Copper 56.13
Putter 33" Scotty Cameron Studio Select #2

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It is the quality of your practice, not the quantity.

Well said. I could go to the range for the next 3 hours, and pound balls. And if I'm still hooking the ball way left, it's not going to improve at all on the course.

I disagree with that - its not Quality over Quantity, its more like Quality & Quantity - unless you dont want to get better and want to keep your level (and i doubt thats even possible if you are a very low single hcper). I´m pretty sure the Tiger´s and Lorena´s of this world make sure they practice super efficent but still have 8-10 hour days whenever possible. Like someone said before - even if you getting to your peak of physical abilities - you will never master this game, but you can get better the more time you put in. And lets face it - not 99 % of us will ever reach the top level - its more like 99.9999% - and in between this, there are a lot of people who want to go for it, but maybe they have boundries (not on the talant side - missing talent can be overcome by hard work) or are just dreaming instead of working for their goal - but people who show endurance and determination will proceed to achieve their goals of excellency.

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Burner Rescue 19°
MP67 4-PW
CG10 50° CG12 DSG 54° & 60°

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Sports are one of those things that that anyone or almost anyone can become pro, if they have proper training. If you started golfing at 4 years old, and kept on practicing (quality), by the time you're 15 years old you will have more experience than another 15 year old that jus started.

Obviously it takes commitment, and if you spend the time - quality time - practicing, you will eveuntually reach a high level, or pro level.

Look at tiger, what age was he when he started playing? How many of you started at that age. Think about it, how many of you can actually put over 40 hours a week into practicing? When this happens, I would bet that people would see you on TV.
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It is the quality of your practice, not the quantity.

I agree completely.

Perfect practice makes perfect

Driver: FT-9 7.5*
3 Wood: Burner 14.5*
Hybrid: SQ sumo 3 20*
Irons: Burner 4-Pw
Wedges: Oil Can 52*, Spin Milled 56*, Spin Milled 60* Putter: Crossbax Blade

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Note: This thread is 5455 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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