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

[newtogolf]

Six rounds in one month (September) for a guy that's dedicated his life to becoming a pro golfer seems very low.   It looks like he played more in August but still seems low.  If I was playing full-time I'd practice a 2-3 hours and play at least one round every other day if not every day.

[acerimusdux]

Originally Posted by Lihu

Not sure how deliberate practice in the comfort of his own driving range is going to help him with competitive golf. The only training for competition is to compete. Even if he plays skins daily for $5-$10 a hole, he still competes. The more he does it the more comfortable he gets with playing for stakes.

Well he does play skins, compete in matches with other guys at his local clubs (some better golfers than he is), compete in events at his local clubs, play charity tournaments and scrambles, etc.  The point is, he's not a good enough golfer to make handling tournament pressure his priority, yet.

How does he carry a 3.1 handicap with that many scores in the 80's?

He doesn't, his handicap went up to 5.3 in mid-September after those rounds in the 80s. His handicap dropped to 3.1 only in October after that stretch where 5 of his last 10 scores were 77 or better.

Six rounds in one month (September) for a guy that's dedicated his life to becoming a pro golfer seems very low.   It looks like he played more in August but still seems low.  If I was playing full-time I'd practice a 2-3 hours and play at least one round every other day if not every day.

He was working on a major change to his swing plane in September, so played less complete rounds as he was focused on that.  Point is, he's logging what he does every day here:

http://thedanplan.com/countdown/

I think the guy is a completely unrealistic dreamer, with no chance of achieving his stated goal, but I have seen nothing to really suggest he is a cheat or a fraud. The numbers and story all seem to add up pretty well to me.

Even on the question of tournament pressure, at the Oregon Mid-Am, he played horribly for his first 7 holes, then settled down and played pretty much at what I think is his usual level. He shot a 47 for that first 9, then 40, 42, 38. That was on a course with a 72.3 rating, which is not a venue he has frequently played.

So I think he could probably play to a 6-8 cap right now even in tournament conditions on an unfamiliar course, once he gets over those initial yips.

As such, I think he should keep the focus for now still on getting better at golf. As his game improves, his confidence in his game will improve, and that in itself will make it easier to handle the competitive pressure.

[nevets88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Not sure how deliberate practice in the comfort of his own driving range is going to help him with competitive golf. The only training for competition is to compete. Even if he plays skins daily for $5-$10 a hole, he still competes. The more he does it the more comfortable he gets with playing for stakes.

Well he does play skins, compete in matches with other guys at his local clubs (some better golfers than he is), compete in events at his local clubs, play charity tournaments and scrambles, etc.  The point is, he's not a good enough golfer to make handling tournament pressure his priority, yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pretzel

How does he carry a 3.1 handicap with that many scores in the 80's?

He doesn't, his handicap went up to 5.3 in mid-September after those rounds in the 80s. His handicap dropped to 3.1 only in October after that stretch where 5 of his last 10 scores were 77 or better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtogolf

Six rounds in one month (September) for a guy that's dedicated his life to becoming a pro golfer seems very low.   It looks like he played more in August but still seems low.  If I was playing full-time I'd practice a 2-3 hours and play at least one round every other day if not every day.

He was working on a major change to his swing plane in September, so played less complete rounds as he was focused on that.  Point is, he's logging what he does every day here:

http://thedanplan.com/countdown/

I think the guy is a completely unrealistic dreamer, with no chance of achieving his stated goal, but I have seen nothing to really suggest he is a cheat or a fraud. The numbers and story all seem to add up pretty well to me.

Even on the question of tournament pressure, at the Oregon Mid-Am, he played horribly for his first 7 holes, then settled down and played pretty much at what I think is his usual level. He shot a 47 for that first 9, then 40, 42, 38. That was on a course with a 72.3 rating, which is not a venue he has frequently played.

So I think he could probably play to a 6-8 cap right now even in tournament conditions on an unfamiliar course, once he gets over those initial yips.

As such, I think he should keep the focus for now still on getting better at golf. As his game improves, his confidence in his game will improve, and that in itself will make it easier to handle the competitive pressure.

Yeah, when he posted the feel ain't real thought w/regard to video and the swing change to his backswing, I thought he was more on the right track, swing-wise. Imho, he needs to play tournaments, yes, but at the same time, I think he needs more to improve his mechanics and play on different courses with different style greens.

[Shorty]

2018 MCI Heritage.

He'll be right by then.

Probably will be in the world's top 50 which will guarantee an exemption/invittaion But if he's only ranked 100 in the world he might have to Monday qualify. No problem, though.

[Pretzel]

2018 MCI Heritage.

He'll be right by then.

Probably will be in the world's top 50 which will guarantee an exemption/invittaion But if he's only ranked 100 in the world he might have to Monday qualify. No problem, though.

He'll get a sponsors exemption possibly, if only to watch how bad he crashes and burns.

[nevets88]

I don't think he has enough traction media wise, social networks wise, getting ratings wise to get a sponsors exemption the way it looks now. To us he may be "high visible" but he's narely a blip on the average person's radar.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Not sure how deliberate practice in the comfort of his own driving range is going to help him with competitive golf. The only training for competition is to compete. Even if he plays skins daily for $5-$10 a hole, he still competes. The more he does it the more comfortable he gets with playing for stakes.

Well he does play skins, compete in matches with other guys at his local clubs (some better golfers than he is), compete in events at his local clubs, play charity tournaments and scrambles, etc.  The point is, he's not a good enough golfer to make handling tournament pressure his priority, yet.

I don't see enough evidence of this. He would be way more consistent if he did. I can't really imagine anyone shooting 73 to 88 from day to day on the same course as he has posted. I can possibly see a higher handicap shooting 88 to 98. A 3 handicap varying by 15 strokes? No way.

[Shorty]

I don't think he has enough traction media wise, social networks wise, getting ratings wise to get a sponsors exemption the way it looks now.

To us he may be "high visible" but he's narely a blip on the average person's radar.

He is totally invisible to all but clueless (about golf) people who see him on TV and think his BS is real.

The only possible way for him to get any sponsorship or serious media traction is to actually start performing at a level where people think "Hey, there might be something in this."

Perhaps a top 5 finish in one of these "tournaments" where one's skills are under some scrutiny and the score is there for the world to see.

Unfortunately for him we probably all have 20 players within a 5 mile radius of where we currently are sitting who would eat him for breakfast on a golf course.

Remember the Jerry Rice debacle?

Oh...., and while I remember, here's my measure of success/potential for the likes of Rice and Dan. In the tournament results, check out their scores on the par 5s. Rice, from memory was something like 10 over after playing 8 par 5s. It may have been more. McLaughlin is similar. It shows they can't position drives and then second shots. They can't hit consecutive shots.

I think I'd rather see a 17 year old guy who's off +4 playing. Not a feeble hack.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevets88

I don't think he has enough traction media wise, social networks wise, getting ratings wise to get a sponsors exemption the way it looks now.

To us he may be "high visible" but he's narely a blip on the average person's radar.

He is totally invisible to all but clueless (about golf) people who see him on TV and think his BS is real.

The only possible way for him to get any sponsorship or serious media traction is to actually start performing at a level where people think "Hey, there might be something in this."

Perhaps a top 5 finish in one of these "tournaments" where one's skills are under some scrutiny and the score is there for the world to see.

Unfortunately for him we probably all have 20 players within a 5 mile radius of where we currently are sitting who would eat him for breakfast on a golf course.

Remember the Jerry Rice debacle?

Oh...., and while I remember, here's my measure of success/potential for the likes of Rice and Dan. In the tournament results, check out their scores on the par 5s. Rice, from memory was something like 10 over after playing 8 par 5s. It may have been more. McLaughlin is similar. It shows they can't position drives and then second shots. They can't hit consecutive shots.

I think I'd rather see a 17 year old guy who's off +4 playing. Not a feeble hack.

That's the word I was looking for to describe Dan's swing.

[rb72]

I don't see enough evidence of this. He would be way more consistent if he did. I can't really imagine anyone shooting 73 to 88 from day to day on the same course as he has posted. I can possibly see a higher handicap shooting 88 to 98. A 3 handicap varying by 15 strokes? No way.

Wait one minute! The American who was at the European Q school (I believe his name was Hahn, AA at Kent State) shot a 58 one day and followed it up with a 78 the next.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

I don't see enough evidence of this. He would be way more consistent if he did. I can't really imagine anyone shooting 73 to 88 from day to day on the same course as he has posted. I can possibly see a higher handicap shooting 88 to 98. A 3 handicap varying by 15 strokes? No way.

Wait one minute! The American who was at the European Q school (I believe his name was Hahn, AA at Kent State) shot a 58 one day and followed it up with a 78 the next.

I stand corrected, but I was referring to his casual rounds on a course he plays almost daily.

[GHIN0011458]

I stand corrected, but I was referring to his casual rounds on a course he plays almost daily.

Course played daily.. def not a jump like that. I am a victim of this a couple years ago though... trying to force birdie. Funny thing is I have brought this up twice today and it never works out for me.. so no more trying to force birdies! http://ghintpp.com/maga/TPPOnlineScoring/StrokeCard.aspx?id=119&pid;=7847 .. it was only 9 holes of bad play lol.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

I stand corrected, but I was referring to his casual rounds on a course he plays almost daily.

Course played daily.. def not a jump like that. I am a victim of this a couple years ago though... trying to force birdie. Funny thing is I have brought this up twice today and it never works out for me.. so no more trying to force birdies! http://ghintpp.com/maga/TPPOnlineScoring/StrokeCard.aspx?id=119&pid;=7847 .. it was only 9 holes of bad play lol.

That's the thing about the internet. It never forgets.

Well, someday, if you are on the tour someone will bring this up and you just have to say "No comment! Talk to the TST forum members. . ."

[rb72]

I stand corrected, but I was referring to his casual rounds on a course he plays almost daily.

Yeah. No dog in this fight. Your post just reminded me of that. I don't remember the last time I had a 20 shot swing in back to back rounds.

[nevets88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

I don't see enough evidence of this. He would be way more consistent if he did. I can't really imagine anyone shooting 73 to 88 from day to day on the same course as he has posted. I can possibly see a higher handicap shooting 88 to 98. A 3 handicap varying by 15 strokes? No way.

Wait one minute! The American who was at the European Q school (I believe his name was Hahn, AA at Kent State) shot a 58 one day and followed it up with a 78 the next.

He shot a 79 before his 58, then shot a 78. 79 58 78. That's just under par 71.67.

[flopster]

Yeah. No dog in this fight. Your post just reminded me of that. I don't remember the last time I had a 20 shot swing in back to back rounds.

I do, I shot 58 front 38 back a few weeks back, however I was on the phone for half of the front nine working out details for a new job with my employer so there may be something more to that front 9. rated 73.4 slope 139

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rb72

Yeah. No dog in this fight. Your post just reminded me of that. I don't remember the last time I had a 20 shot swing in back to back rounds.

I do, I shot 58 front 38 back a few weeks back, however I was on the phone for half of the front nine working out details for a new job with my employer so there may be something more to that front 9. rated 73.4 slope 139

I consider making all your shots with one arm and a cell phone against your ear to be a pretty good reason.

[nevets88]

This is more like it. Also bonuses like a free BT speaker, lesson, etc...

http://www.prouknow.com/campaigns/mike-drake-2015