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

[mchepp]

He should get a job at a golf course. Picking up balls on the range, cleaning carts, whatever. It won't pay much but he can get free golf, free range balls, etc.

[iacas]

He should get a job at a golf course. Picking up balls on the range, cleaning carts, whatever. It won't pay much but he can get free golf, free range balls, etc.

Seriously. Best idea he'll ever get on this topic.

He "definitely will" begin winning tournaments of some repute? Hmmmmmmm…

[GHIN0011458]

Is this the start of the project wind-down?

He realizes he needs to start winning tournaments, so that's good. He's still hopeful that's possible, so his optimism remains. I guess that's good.

It looks to me like he is also saying (rationalizing to himself?) that this new flexibility in his plan of finding some work and putting golf on the back-burner a bit for the winter will make his potential for success rise "exponentially."  Doubt it rises exponentially (as in y=x^2), but whatever it takes to keep yourself motivated!

He should have started tournaments immediately. No one should feel sorry for him for waiting this long. What BS. He will not win a tournament of credibility anytime soon because he doesn't know how to play golf in a tournament.

[newtogolf]

http://thedanplan.com/an-early-winter/

Is this the start of the project wind-down?

He realizes he needs to start winning tournaments, so that's good. He's still hopeful that's possible, so his optimism remains. I guess that's good.

It looks to me like he is also saying (rationalizing to himself?) that this new flexibility in his plan of finding some work and putting golf on the back-burner a bit for the winter will make his potential for success rise "exponentially."  Doubt it rises exponentially (as in y=x^2), but whatever it takes to keep yourself motivated!

Seems like a last ditch effort by Dan to secure some sponsorship money.  I think Dan's hoping that if any potential sponsors see this post they may step up with some money to keep Dan's journey alive.  Dan's not good enough to win a tournament that people will care about and once he starts working part-time (unless he takes Mike's advice) he's going to lose time and motivation to practice.

[Lihu]

This is the only response on his blog, and I though the highlighted was pretty much to the point and funny!

November 17, 2014 at 9:15 pm

Hey Dan,

I’m a supporter of your plan, but can’t get past one thing…….

According to the website, the first time you played 18 holes was about 20 months into your plan.

That’s a pretty darn long time from first starting. I guess my point is, was your structured practice in the first 20 months realistic practice?

For example, I get that putting is important, but if I was going to take up soccer, I wouldn’t have practiced for five months standing in front of a goal.

Curious in your thoughts.

[iacas]

This is the only response on his blog, and I though the highlighted was pretty much to the point and funny!

Plus, putting isn't all that important. :)

[Shorty]

The predictions have come to pass.

Needs to win tournaments.

Can't afford to enter them.

Can't win them if he's not in them.

Surely could win them, though.

Not his fault.

Mission accomplished.

[GHIN0011458]

It would have been an awesome story though if it worked out.

[chasm]

The predictions have come to pass. Needs to win tournaments. Can't afford to enter them. Can't win them if he's not in them. Surely could win them, though. Not his fault. Mission accomplished.

Spot on.

[nevets88]

This is the only response on his blog, and I though the highlighted was pretty much to the point and funny!

Quote:

Nickos says:

November 17, 2014 at 9:15 pm

Hey Dan,

I’m a supporter of your plan, but can’t get past one thing…….

According to the website, the first time you played 18 holes was about 20 months into your plan.

That’s a pretty darn long time from first starting. I guess my point is, was your structured practice in the first 20 months realistic practice?

For example, I get that putting is important, but if I was going to take up soccer, I wouldn’t have practiced for five months standing in front of a goal.Curious in your thoughts.

To this I'd like an answer. I don't have to patience to check whether he answered this straight up. Plus whether he thought putting and chipping only for the first 6 months - 1 year was the best use of time.

I think that working with the 10K deliberate practice professor might not have been a good idea. If a golf pro was working in conjunction with him and the professor, that pro during the putting only phase should have straight out said don't do this.

[Lihu]

To this I'd like an answer. I don't have to patience to check whether he answered this straight up. Plus whether he thought putting and chipping only for the first 6 months - 1 year was the best use of time.

I think that working with the 10K deliberate practice professor might not have been a good idea. If a golf pro was working in conjunction with him and the professor, that pro during the putting only phase should have straight out said don't do this.

If we take Dan from 4 years ago, and assume that he can be a stupid monkey and listen to good instructors. How good a golfer do you think Dan could be at this point?

Taking it further, what do you think is his current handicap? And what do you think his handicap could be with a stupid monkey approach?

[nevets88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevets88

To this I'd like an answer. I don't have to patience to check whether he answered this straight up. Plus whether he thought putting and chipping only for the first 6 months - 1 year was the best use of time.

I think that working with the 10K deliberate practice professor might not have been a good idea. If a golf pro was working in conjunction with him and the professor, that pro during the putting only phase should have straight out said don't do this.

If we take Dan from 4 years ago, and assume that he can be a stupid monkey and listen to good instructors. How good a golfer do you think Dan could be at this point?

Taking it further, what do you think is his current handicap? And what do you think his handicap could be with a stupid monkey approach?

Who knows. I stick by what I said. If he was instructed by a pro who got the best out of his swing, practiced full swing, pitching/chipping and putting deliberately from the very beginning, I think he could have been a legit 0 to 5 in a lot less time than his original plan. Maybe 2 years? But after that I'd bet he'd hit a wall, plateau, whether he improves after that, wins an amateur tournament of repute, is anyone's guess.

[newtogolf]

Who knows. I stick by what I said. If he was instructed by a pro who got the best out of his swing, practiced full swing, pitching/chipping and putting deliberately from the very beginning, I think he could have been a legit 0 to 5 in a lot less time than his original plan. Maybe 2 years? But after that I'd bet he'd hit a wall, plateau, whether he improves after that, wins an amateur tournament of repute, is anyone's guess.

I agree but I think his original plan was to follow concepts similar to what was discussed in the Talent Code which called for breaking up the swing into parts which I believe led to him starting with putting, then chipping, pitching etc.  I've read other golf instructional books that also suggested that method as well so it's not completely unfounded.

I think there was an expectation that by the time he got to the full swing he'd have all the other pieces of the swing in place and he'd start to progress really quickly but that didn't happen.

[Lihu]

I agree but I think his original plan was to follow concepts similar to what was discussed in the Talent Code which called for breaking up the swing into parts which I believe led to him starting with putting, then chipping, pitching etc.  I've read other golf instructional books that also suggested that method as well so it's not completely unfounded.

I think there was an expectation that by the time he got to the full swing he'd have all the other pieces of the swing in place and he'd start to progress really quickly but that didn't happen.

Just curious, which books?

[nevets88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevets88

Who knows. I stick by what I said. If he was instructed by a pro who got the best out of his swing, practiced full swing, pitching/chipping and putting deliberately from the very beginning, I think he could have been a legit 0 to 5 in a lot less time than his original plan. Maybe 2 years? But after that I'd bet he'd hit a wall, plateau, whether he improves after that, wins an amateur tournament of repute, is anyone's guess.

I agree but I think his original plan was to follow concepts similar to what was discussed in the Talent Code which called for breaking up the swing into parts which I believe led to him starting with putting, then chipping, pitching etc.  I've read other golf instructional books that also suggested that method as well so it's not completely unfounded.

I think there was an expectation that by the time he got to the full swing he'd have all the other pieces of the swing in place and he'd start to progress really quickly but that didn't happen.

I agree, I've seen that train of thought before too. But golf isn't a piece of music you can pick apart. I think golf is like learning how to play the piano, violin and trumpet simultaneously. Full  swing, touch swing, putting, the art of negotiating a course/scoring. If you wanted to achieve your maximum ability in all three instruments in a given time, I'd think it would be better to learn each simultaneously starting from the beginning. On the other hand, if you start with the piano exclusively, then learn the violin and then the trumpet, by the time you get back to the piano, you can barely do chopsticks.

I just think the way of going about the beginning was too... egghead. It's easy to say this in hindsight, but at the beginning of the project, I was thinking the putting only thing was not a good idea and I knew about the ideas written about in the Talent Code. He could have done putting and half swings with speed and touch with wedges to 7 irons from the beginning.

[mchepp]

I agree but I think his original plan was to follow concepts similar to what was discussed in the Talent Code which called for breaking up the swing into parts which I believe led to him starting with putting, then chipping, pitching etc.  I've read other golf instructional books that also suggested that method as well so it's not completely unfounded.

I think there was an expectation that by the time he got to the full swing he'd have all the other pieces of the swing in place and he'd start to progress really quickly but that didn't happen.

The idea which he started with was that he should start at the hole and progressively move backwards. This idea was not Dan's. It was the pro who he first sought out for advice. Dan would later drop him and admit that the strategy of starting with putting one foot putts was a bad one. I don't think we should knock Dan for this. He knew nothing about golf walked up to a professional golfer and asked him the best way to improve. The pro said start from the hole and move back. I cannot blame him for listening to someone who should know this kind of thing. He would post months later after struggling in a tournament with his driver that the approach he took was wrong. He was nice about it and said something like maybe it didn't work blah, blah, but if he was being blunt he just would have said it didn't work and he shouldn't have done it.

If I were Dan I would just tell this guy that I already covered this, I started wrong, took the advice of someone who should know and it was a mistake. He has to move on now. He cannot change history.

I have been critical of Dan and his plan. But I give him a pass on this topic. I followed tons of really bad instruction throughout my career in golf. So I cannot fault him for this. Now he must find a filter so he can find where the good information is coming from and soak up as much as he can get from those people.

[garybbq]

Is there any stats or does anyone know how good a putter Dan actually is? Did putting for six months make a difference?

[nevets88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtogolf

I agree but I think his original plan was to follow concepts similar to what was discussed in the Talent Code which called for breaking up the swing into parts which I believe led to him starting with putting, then chipping, pitching etc.  I've read other golf instructional books that also suggested that method as well so it's not completely unfounded.

I think there was an expectation that by the time he got to the full swing he'd have all the other pieces of the swing in place and he'd start to progress really quickly but that didn't happen.

The idea which he started with was that he should start at the hole and progressively move backwards. This idea was not Dan's. It was the pro who he first sought out for advice. Dan would later drop him and admit that the strategy of starting with putting one foot putts was a bad one. I don't think we should knock Dan for this. He knew nothing about golf walked up to a professional golfer and asked him the best way to improve. The pro said start from the hole and move back. I cannot blame him for listening to someone who should know this kind of thing. He would post months later after struggling in a tournament with his driver that the approach he took was wrong. He was nice about it and said something like maybe it didn't work blah, blah, but if he was being blunt he just would have said it didn't work and he shouldn't have done it.

If I were Dan I would just tell this guy that I already covered this, I started wrong, took the advice of someone who should know and it was a mistake. He has to move on now. He cannot change history.

I have been critical of Dan and his plan. But I give him a pass on this topic. I followed tons of really bad instruction throughout my career in golf. So I cannot fault him for this. Now he must find a filter so he can find where the good information is coming from and soak up as much as he can get from those people.

I did not know this. I wonder if the professor had some influence on the decision. And since he was in the kind of public eye with his blog, he must have gotten many of e-mails and comments about that method - it should have raised flags. But I see your point and agree.