The Dan Plan - 10,000 Hours to Become a Pro Golfer (Dan McLaughlin)

[nevets88]

Tweets on getting positive AoA w/driver:

[natureboy]

Tweets on getting positive AoA w/driver:

Doesn't look like Dan has done his homework on understanding the D-Plane. Ryan's advice above is good.

I don't know what he considers 'way high', but higher dynamic loft with driver is expected if you are trying to hit up on it with low spin for extra carry. It's a smaller version of what the long-drive guys do. Low loft driver with a swing arc intention to come into the ball low to high & give it upward launch not just outward (to target). Not sure on this one, but if your hands are fairly well ahead of the ball (you aren't letting the club release) it will make it very hard to get an upward AoA. I think you have to let the clubhead catch the hands with this approach.

Here's someone who has in the neighborhood of a +3* AoA. Clubhead is technically ahead of his hands, but because he has fair amount of secondary axis tilt. Shaft is in line with is left arm. L wrist is flat.

[nevets88]

[RandallT]

I posted a comment to his blog. I took a screenshot too. Odds it will be published? I say 30%.

Someone let me know if it sees the light of day.

It saw the light of day!

From a brief read of his " 10,000 countdown " narrative, looks like Dan is mostly opening his "post-able" season with upper 70s/low 80s from the blue tees. That's roughly where he ended last season, but he's going to need to improve by leaps and bounds fairly soon to demonstrate significant progress. The goal is slipping further and further without much recognition (if I were him, I likely wouldn't make note of the slippage either). Looking forward to the @mchepp interview.

[Lihu]

From a brief read of his "[URL=http://thedanplan.com/countdown/]10,000 countdown[/URL]" narrative, looks like Dan is mostly opening his "post-able" season with upper 70s/low 80s from the blue tees. That's roughly where he ended last season, but he's going to need to improve by leaps and bounds fairly soon to demonstrate significant progress. The goal is slipping further and further without much recognition (if I were him, I likely wouldn't make note of the slippage either). Looking forward to the @mchepp interview.

I couldn't find an accurate scorecard, is the CR from the blue tees 69.5-ish at 6100 yards?

[iacas]

It saw the light of day!

That's somewhat surprising.

I really wish I'd written it better. I think I assumed it would never be posted, so I was… ahem… more direct than I otherwise would have been. My mistake. :) Oh well.

I'll know better for the next time.

P.S. Part of keeping people active on a site is approving comments regularly. He shouldn't be waiting a week between approving comments. Comments are new content which keep people coming back and posting and reading. If you're approving comments a week later, most people will miss them.

[Lihu]

Latest installment:

http://thedanplan.com/since-the-att-pebble-beach-experience/

Quote:

I remember reading in Strokes Gained some time ago that this long iron game was where the best of the best gained the most strokes over the field, but it wasn’t until seeing them in action that that concept fully materialized.

Quote:

Since I have been back I have thought a lot about ways to improve this aspect of my game and what I realized was that I need a few things.  First off is to focus on this part of the game as it is a current weakness and deliberate practice is all about improving weaknesses.  Next is to find solid reliable instruction via a coach or world-class expert.  The third thing is to work on swing speed in order to better spin the ball and gain distance.

[b101]

First off is to focus on this part of the game as it is a current weakness and deliberate practice is all about improving weaknesses.

Interesting... he won't follow through though

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

First off is to focus on this part of the game as it is a current weakness and deliberate practice is all about improving weaknesses.

Interesting... he won't follow through though

He is probably a lot more serious about gaining swing speed. Let's see what he does to do that? Actually, I might add this to the list of questions for the TST interview @mchepp is doing tomorrow. . .

[nevets88]

Latest student vids of Kelvin Miyahara, mentioned in the last blog post.

[Crim]

Wow, some very Patrick Reed-esque lead foot slide going on there.

[nevets88]

http://blog.chicagoideas.com/speaker_showcase/becoming-a-champion-in-10000-hours/

Not really much new info. Actually none from the perspective of swing improvement.

McLaughlin decided to rapidly turn himself into, then surpass, the average player by sticking to what he christened The Dan Plan: 10,000 hours of  “deliberate practice,” beginning with a strict putting and short game regimen. At the time, he had “no clue” whether he’d even enjoy golf. Today, he’s completed nearly 6,000 hours, plays with an enviable 3.1 handicap, participated in the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am this February and reports that he hasn’t “seen the glass ceiling yet.” And he’s developed the universal attitude of the amateur golfer: the “love-hate relationship.”

“It’s a frustrating game,” he admitted in a recent phone interview.

What has kept McLaughlin moving forward is a dogged optimism and a belief that it’s practice, not talent, that makes a good player. In his view, the main difference between someone like him and, say, former World No. 1 Luke Donald (whose swing McLaughlin emulates) is that a Donald (or Woods or McIlroy or Mickelson…) began his own version of The Dan Plan at the age of two or three. And is McLaughlin’s success due at least in part to an innate aptitude? No. “I didn’t even know if I was going to be left- or right-handed,” he said.

As McLaughlin continues to zero in on the ultimate endgame—to play in more and more competitive tournaments and to, eventually, qualify for a PGA tournament—he’s finding his golfer’s attitude has begun to seep into his everyday life. In relationships, business and family politics, he brings a more relaxed, balanced approach. When he recently found his car broken into, he thought, “Oh well, [it’s] just like a bad shot. Things will turn around.”

[MrFlipper]

http://blog.chicagoideas.com/speaker_showcase/becoming-a-champion-in-10000-hours/

 

Not really much new info. Actually none from the perspective of swing improvement.

 

“It’s a frustrating game,” he admitted in a recent phone interview.

What has kept McLaughlin moving forward is a dogged optimism and a belief that it’s practice, not talent, that makes a good player. In his view, the main difference between someone like him and, say, former World No. 1 Luke Donald (whose swing McLaughlin emulates) is that a Donald (or Woods or McIlroy or Mickelson…) began his own version of The Dan Plan at the age of two or three. And is McLaughlin’s success due at least in part to an innate aptitude? No. “I didn’t even know if I was going to be left- or right-handed,” he said.

As McLaughlin continues to zero in on the ultimate endgame—to play in more and more competitive tournaments and to, eventually, qualify for a PGA tournament—he’s finding his golfer’s attitude has begun to seep into his everyday life. In relationships, business and family politics, he brings a more relaxed, balanced approach. When he recently found his car broken into, he thought, “Oh well, [it’s] just like a bad shot. Things will turn around.”

 

Say what? Really? He was born with the same talent and athleticism as Woods, McIlroy and Mickelson?

And I'm glad he notes that he emulates Luke Donald's swing.  Wouldn't have known that from his swing videos

[nevets88]

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevets88 

 

http://blog.chicagoideas.com/speaker_showcase/becoming-a-champion-in-10000-hours/

 

Not really much new info. Actually none from the perspective of swing improvement.

 

<<“It’s a frustrating game,” he admitted in a recent phone interview.

What has kept McLaughlin moving forward is a dogged optimism and a belief that it’s practice, not talent, that makes a good player. In his view, the main difference between someone like him and, say, former World No. 1 Luke Donald (whose swing McLaughlin emulates) is that a Donald (or Woods or McIlroy or Mickelson…) began his own version of The Dan Plan at the age of two or three. And is McLaughlin’s success due at least in part to an innate aptitude? No. “I didn’t even know if I was going to be left- or right-handed,” he said.

As McLaughlin continues to zero in on the ultimate endgame—to play in more and more competitive tournaments and to, eventually, qualify for a PGA tournament—he’s finding his golfer’s attitude has begun to seep into his everyday life. In relationships, business and family politics, he brings a more relaxed, balanced approach. When he recently found his car broken into, he thought, “Oh well, [it’s] just like a bad shot. Things will turn around.”

 

Say what? Really? He was born with the same talent and athleticism as Woods, McIlroy and Mickelson?

 

And I'm glad he notes that he emulates Luke Donald's swing.  Wouldn't have known that from his swing videos  

To be fair, that's the media taking things out of context. It refers to a video by an instructor I think that's just using Donald for context, comparing swing planes A1-A3. I don't recall him ever saying he was emulating anyone's swing. Maybe the writer just wanted to give the article a bit more, umph? Dunno.

[nevets88]

Lowest Score Wins was recommended to him in his blog and in FB last year, he's got a copy now.

[Lihu]

Lowest Score Wins was recommended to him in his blog and in FB last year, he's got a copy now.

Hard cover no less! Plus, he thinks there is a lot to learn! There's some hope. . .

[b101]

Good news!

[Crim]

Lowest Score Wins was recommended to him in his blog and in FB last year, he's got a copy now.

Badass....I still need to get it.