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

[Chris Mcneil]

Sounds cool, but I don't believe is focusing so long on these exclusive aspects of the game. In my opinion neglecting other counterparts will hurt in the long run. I would focus more on a complete game personally.

[nevets88]

There just doesn't seem to be a progression, or better put, evolution to his swing. It was like one day, it was there. And it really hasn't changed much.

[Lihu]

There just doesn't seem to be a progression, or better put, evolution to his swing. It was like one day, it was there. And it really hasn't changed much.

Ah, I see what you mean. He was putting and chipping and all of a sudden "boom" full swing.

[nevets88]

Eventually there is going to be a batch of books, like, "Talent is Everything", "The No Talent Code". And the cycle will repeat itself. It's just a publishing con to sell books.

[flopster]

He's blaming the mats for his injury? All credibility is out the window now, not saying hitting off mats wont cause problems but it probably will be no further than a wrist or elbow soreness at most. His injury is caused from an out of synch swing with little athleticism in it, Dans swing is not very connected to his body and therefore causes stress on his body in unnatural ways, also notice he's hooding his irons on takeaway, he's really reaching for anything that might improve his game the slightest, he really needs someone to undo his bad habits or else he will continue digging himself into this hole he's in.

[Duff McGee]

Nice excuse....it was the injury! Oh and I don't post scores.....oh and that's not because I'm not improving, I just forgot.

[nevets88]

And no blog update for a month. I'm sick of hearing myself say this, so sorry for being so repetitive- what is he doing?

[Nosevi]

And no blog update for a month. I'm sick of hearing myself say this, so sorry for being so repetitive- what is he doing?

Interviews :-)

[RandallT]

Submitted for comparison.

Dan's back is hurt in this latest swing (best I could find from the video). Top of his backswing was barely past his arms being horizontal. Dan certainly looks less relaxed than Robert Rock, but then again, who can look that good?!

[nevets88]

It looks like back is inhibiting shoulder turn. Never gets to 90. He does in his old videos so guessing he has an upper body dominated swing. Comparisons to Rock never end well. He has like the aesthetically perfect swing.

[RandallT]

It looks like back is inhibiting shoulder turn. Never gets to 90. He does in his old videos so guessing he has an upper body dominated swing.

Comparisons to Rock never end well. He has like the aesthetically perfect swing.

Good point. In his blog narrative the past couple months, Dan also has made multiple references to either an "armsy-fade" swing versus a more hips-driven "draw swing." With his back issues, he has been mainly using this armsy swing (as he calls it), just to relieve pressure. In the comments section, at least one person has asked if this is wise and creating bad habits.

A few seconds before this shot, he told the camera that this was a 7-iron that would cut back to the hole.  He also said "by this same point in the season other years," this would be an 8 or 9-iron for him. We are left with the inference that his back is inhibiting him from really going after it.

[tdiii]

The irony is that an armsy swing probably puts more pressure on the lower back than a properly connected swing.

[Duff McGee]

Good point. In his blog narrative the past couple months, Dan also has made multiple references to either an "armsy-fade" swing versus a more hips-driven "draw swing." With his back issues, he has been mainly using this armsy swing (as he calls it), just to relieve pressure. In the comments section, at least one person has asked if this is wise and creating bad habits. A few seconds before this shot, he told the camera that this was a 7-iron that would cut back to the hole.  He also said "by this same point in the season other years," this would be an 8 or 9-iron for him. We are left with the inference that his back is inhibiting him from really going after it.

Of course he did. It's like the spiritual healers racket. He knew that people would make fun of him for using a 7 iron and say "see? Not enough length for the tour!" so anytime he has to "prove" something it's always words or he just doesn't show any concrete proof of anything.

[Lihu]

Eventually there is going to be a batch of books, like, "Talent is Everything", "The No Talent Code". And the cycle will repeat itself. It's just a publishing con to sell books.

It's too un-American to publish something like that, this is the land of opportunity and dreams and achieving them with hard work and discipline.

Of course, more realistic dreams help. . .

He's blaming the mats for his injury? All credibility is out the window now, not saying hitting off mats wont cause problems but it probably will be no further than a wrist or elbow soreness at most. His injury is caused from an out of synch swing with little athleticism in it, Dans swing is not very connected to his body and therefore causes stress on his body in unnatural ways, also notice he's hooding his irons on takeaway, he's really reaching for anything that might improve his game the slightest, he really needs someone to undo his bad habits or else he will continue digging himself into this hole he's in.

This stood out like a sore thumb to me. I'm not going to say how many balls I hit, but let's say even Ben Hogan would approve of my level of commitment. I can safely say that I probably hit way more than Dan, as I also use it for exercise as well. . .

The irony is that an armsy swing probably puts more pressure on the lower back than a properly connected swing.

This also stood out to me. I remember when I first started playing this game I got injured all the time. I even posted about it on this site. Now the frequency of hitting balls has gone up and golf caused injuries are down to 0.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandallT

Good point. In his blog narrative the past couple months, Dan also has made multiple references to either an "armsy-fade" swing versus a more hips-driven "draw swing." With his back issues, he has been mainly using this armsy swing (as he calls it), just to relieve pressure. In the comments section, at least one person has asked if this is wise and creating bad habits.

A few seconds before this shot, he told the camera that this was a 7-iron that would cut back to the hole.  He also said "by this same point in the season other years," this would be an 8 or 9-iron for him. We are left with the inference that his back is inhibiting him from really going after it.

Of course he did. It's like the spiritual healers racket. He knew that people would make fun of him for using a 7 iron and say "see? Not enough length for the tour!" so anytime he has to "prove" something it's always words or he just doesn't show any concrete proof of anything.

My first reaction was exactly yours, but then who knows? We don't even really know how far was the pin? Guessing 150 carry needed?

Here is his Combine result when he was supposedly at his peak performance.

His 140 yard carry used something that had a SF of 1.18/SS 82 and launch angle of 24 degrees. This is consistent with a PW or 9i.

160 yard carry SF 1.33/SS 83/LA 15.4. This was like a 7i for him.

180 yard carry SF 1.42/SS 89/LA 10.0. Consistent with a 3i, except 30 yards shorter than a PGA pro who would carry this thing 212 yards on average.

I used the following chart for SF/LA comparisons, and obviously his SS is very much slower than a PGA player for longer clubs like most amateurs.

He's hovering between an LPGA and a PGA player in terms of raw distance.

[DrvFrShow]

Ah yes, 'Land of Opportunity' where one can pursue their dreams and with enough hard work be successful at it. We've dismissed that myth.

[Lihu]

I did qualify my statement with "Of course, more realistic dreams help. . .". ;-)

[Duff McGee]

At least for me, the track man seems to always be longer than what I experience in real life when it comes to my irons for some reason. Perhaps in real life I swing slower in order to at least try to impart some sort of accuracy other than "hit it far and straight."

[Lihu]

At least for me, the track man seems to always be longer than what I experience in real life when it comes to my irons for some reason. Perhaps in real life I swing slower in order to at least try to impart some sort of accuracy other than "hit it far and straight."

Your swing shouldn't be any different on the range/trackman versus on the course. A lot of us start swinging faster on the range, but we should be using the same swing we would feel comfortable using on the course. It's tough.