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

[Faksakes]

[tdiii]

In response to Dan's most recent blog post, in which he recounts some improvement with his back, I posted the following a couple of days ago and it continues to await moderation:

Dan:

Forgive me if I missed it, but what was the diagnosis for your back?

Also, while you said you cannot practice the full swing, have you been working on putting and/or short game?

Thanks and I hope the recovery continues unabated.

[nevets88]

[URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/129272/] [/URL]

Piling on what his handicap is, I'm not having any part of that, but what's he's been doing is a legitimate question.

[flopster]

So is he done?

[RandallT]

So is he done?

God I hope not. I want 4000 more hours to see where it all winds up. More cowbell baby! Maybe we need a prediction contest. Date he hits 10,000. Tie breaker is handicap he ends at.

[nevets88]

I wouldn't hold it against him if he quit. He makes golf look really hard. I understand why he's continuing, only based on my limited reading, but finishing for the sake of completion vs doing a good job of it, don't do the former. I get much more inspiration from golfers who improve while holding down full time jobs and doing it efficiently via good teachers and effective practice. There are plenty of these folks out there who are in "obscurity", not blogging about it, just your casual post here and there,

[DrvFrShow]

He's playing a practice round or two when he can.

[flopster]

I wouldn't hold it against him if he quit. He makes golf look really hard. I understand why he's continuing, only based on my limited reading, but finishing for the sake of completion vs doing a good job of it, don't do the former.

I get much more inspiration from golfers who improve while holding down full time jobs and doing it efficiently via good teachers and effective practice. There are plenty of these folks out there who are in "obscurity", not blogging about it, just your casual post here and there,

I would bet the guys running this website know plenty of people like that. I know a kid getting a full ride div 1 who has only played this game for a little over 2 years now, talent is the key to begin with then hard work, if Dan had the athletic ability of one of these individuals he would be + index by now, Dan is a golfer with a blog nothing more. His own lack of athletic ability is what's holding him back and an unwillingness to undo some of his mistakes, When I occasionally read his countdown blog it cracks me up how one day he shoots 76 and everything is coming together and then a 85 happens and the driver once again is failing after he thought he had it figured out. What Dan doesn't understand is you don't  figure out your driver swing from one day to the next cause why bother with another 4000 hours and instead just play some local goat track until you pull off a 72 and call yourself scratch and an expert and wrap the whole thing up.

[Mac62]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevets88

I wouldn't hold it against him if he quit. He makes golf look really hard. I understand why he's continuing, only based on my limited reading, but finishing for the sake of completion vs doing a good job of it, don't do the former.

I get much more inspiration from golfers who improve while holding down full time jobs and doing it efficiently via good teachers and effective practice. There are plenty of these folks out there who are in "obscurity", not blogging about it, just your casual post here and there,

I would bet the guys running this website know plenty of people like that. I know a kid getting a full ride div 1 who has only played this game for a little over 2 years now, talent is the key to begin with then hard work, if Dan had the athletic ability of one of these individuals he would be + index by now, Dan is a golfer with a blog nothing more. His own lack of athletic ability is what's holding him back and an unwillingness to undo some of his mistakes, When I occasionally read his countdown blog it cracks me up how one day he shoots 76 and everything is coming together and then a 85 happens and the driver once again is failing after he thought he had it figured out. What Dan doesn't understand is you don't  figure out your driver swing from one day to the next cause why bother with another 4000 hours and instead just play some local goat track until you pull off a 72 and call yourself scratch and an expert and wrap the whole thing up.

I can't find the thread now, but there was a great one a few years ago by a guy who was trying to make the PGA Tour.  It's a long thread, but a great read and offered a lot of insight into how hard it is to make the "big show".  He couldn't make the Tour here, so he went over and tried to qualify for the PGA Asian Tour a couple times, missing it at least once by only 1 or 2 strokes.  He talked about a number of times when he spent a lot of money traveling and playing in qualifiers, only to go home empty-handed (and with an empty wallet to boot).  Definitely a tough road and it's becoming more and more apparent that Dan doesn't have what it takes.

[Mac62]

Too late to edit my above post, but I found the thread I was talking about: http://thesandtrap.com/t/7771/mini-tour-play

Definitely worth a read if you want an inside look at playing the mini tours and trying to make the big time.  I don't know what ever happened to Ben, but I sure enjoyed the thread!

[Lihu]

Too late to edit my above post, but I found the thread I was talking about:  http://thesandtrap.com/t/7771/mini-tour-play

Definitely worth a read if you want an inside look at playing the mini tours and trying to make the big time.  I don't know what ever happened to Ben, but I sure enjoyed the thread!

I remember this coming up once or twice. Thanks for the link.

[Lihu]

It appears that he's a caddy for now: http://thesandtrap.com/t/73445/im-a-caddy

He really appears to be the real deal.

[tdiii]

Danny boy on a new podcast. . . "The Sweet Adversity Podcast" -- released August 10.  In the introduction, the host mentions Dan has a 2.6 handicap, reached that last summer, "and has hovered around that since then".  Early in the podcast, the host says, "You are around, what, a 3 handicap, and . . . " Dan doesn't correct him.

[Nosevi]

Danny boy on a new podcast. . . "The Sweet Adversity Podcast" -- released August 10.  In the introduction, the host mentions Dan has a 2.6 handicap, reached that last summer, "and has hovered around that since then".  Early in the podcast, the host says, "You are around, what, a 3 handicap, and . . . " Dan doesn't correct him.

Maybe he didn't hear him........ No, I'm not totally convinced of that either :-) I'm still a little surprised there's zero activity on his site. After a couple of guys said he tended to pick and choose when he wants attention (ie never answers questions on his site but wants media attention) you'd have thought he'd answer the guy asking on his last blog post if there was any diagnosis on his back. Nothing last time I looked though.

[tdiii]

Dan, when asked about what a day in the life looks like, starts by saying that it changes with the season and the says, "Right now, you can post scores again up here in Oregon so I'm just playing a lot of golf.  Trying to get tournament ready.  Focusing on score, focusing on competition.  Making sure there's something on the line. .. ."  So, why no posted scores on GHIN since April?

He basically says, that on the day of the interview, he will go out and work on a specific type of bunker shot for an hour, then play a round of golf with some guys who he knows to be good golfers, and then after the round maybe spend an hour working on any particular weakness from that round.

Doesn't sound very deliberate to me.

[RFKFREAK]

Danny boy on a new podcast. . . "The Sweet Adversity Podcast" -- released August 10.  In the introduction, the host mentions Dan has a 2.6 handicap, reached that last summer, "and has hovered around that since then".  Early in the podcast, the host says, "You are around, what, a 3 handicap, and . . . " Dan doesn't correct him.

[quote name="tdiii" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3300_100#post_1187872"]Dan, when asked about what a day in the life looks like, starts by saying that it changes with the season and the says, "Right now, you can post scores again up here in Oregon so I'm just playing a lot of golf.  Trying to get tournament ready.  Focusing on score, focusing on competition.  Making sure there's something on the line. .. ."  So, why no posted scores on GHIN since April? He basically says, that on the day of the interview, he will go out and work on a specific type of bunker shot for an hour, then play a round of golf with some guys who he knows to be good golfers, and then after the round maybe spend an hour working on any particular weakness from that round.  Doesn't sound very deliberate to me.  [/quote] Link podcast?

[tdiii]

Link podcast?

I know you can't be that helpless.

Nonetheless:  http://www.nickdinardo.com/category/podcast/

[RFKFREAK]

I know you can't be that helpless. Nonetheless:  [URL=http://www.nickdinardo.com/category/podcast/]http://www.nickdinardo.com/category/podcast/[/URL]

I can do without your unnecessary remark in bold and regret not seeing the name of the podcast in the original post of yours that I quoted earlier today where you said. Regardless, I appreciate the link.