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

[Pretzel]

BR is very funky and plays longer IMO due to the layout. There are two par 4's there I hit 7i from the tee to avoid trouble (2 and 8). Par 3's play long too, 1 over the crud to blind green and 6 is uphill. I am going to talk to Pete about better bunker upkeep in 2015, footprint beach. I've shot -3 and +10 there, very odd course.

I was referring to Sunset in Longmont, but Bella Rosa is a curious course too. Interesting pond placement and that tree in the middle of the fifth fairway make you hit shorter clubs off the tee to increase its effective length. Some if the par fours are interesting because they almost appear drivable, but attempting to do so and missing is usually very bad for your score. Off topic, but I was actually the last person to play that course back when it was called The Missing Links right before they bulldozed it to build BR. I went on my fourth birthday the week before demolition and someone happened to be cleaning out the clubhouse and let me play.

[RandallT]

Why are we talking about courses and ratings again? Interesting, but

At the risk of being called obsessed with TDP,  I've found on "goals" below in his blog over the past couple years. There were others, but they seemed even more haphazard than these below. Take a look, and I've got a few comments below after the last quote.

Quote: January 2013

(http://thedanplan.com/concerning-the-goals/)

Hours	Stroke Average
3000	82
4000	77
5000	74
6000 (	72
7000	70.5
8000	69
9000	68
10000	67

Quote: December 2013

(http://thedanplan.com/looking-back-at-2013-the-golfing-highs-and-lows/)

My goals are simple:  Don’t lose momentum, find new vigor and new energy and apply it daily.  Don’t allow frustration to set in.  Stay positive, learn, grow, improve, make every minute of the day quality time whether it’s on the course or at home.  Remind myself that there cannot be any regrets and live each day accordingly.  Break par, get to scratch, win an event.  Concrete that swing change, become more consistent, get faster and improve balance.  Understand my mind and body and how they are connected.  Sleep more soundly and wake with more energy.

That’s it.  Simple, straightforward goals that are mostly written out in order for me to remember to continue to push forward.

Quote: April 2014

(http://thedanplan.com/5000-of-10000-practice-hours-completed-half-way/)

To me that means my goal is to be playing in the Masters on the 10k finishing day which should be early April 2018.  Now that’s a target I can shoot for.

Quote: May 2014

(http://thedanplan.com/updated-stats-handicap-press-and-travel-plans/)

I spoke with Dr. K Anders Ericsson yesterday and he reminded me just how important keeping track of performance is.  In particular, he wanted me to find a new way to measure my current driver ability so that I can be certain that I am moving in the right direction.  He said that just noting how often I miss left, right or hit the fairway is not enough and that I need to figure out a system that measures my current level (base level as of today) and allows for regular updates as I progress.  Having the ability to measure progress is a huge part of deliberate practice.  I just need to figure out what that looks like when working with the driver in particular.....

.....

.....My current goal is to dramatically improve my tee shot game while getting my putting back.  Everything between the driver and the putter is also in for some major practice time.

Quote: January 2015

(http://thedanplan.com/a-fresh-start-to-2015/)

One outcome that I would like to hit this year is to place top 5 in a tournament.  Instead of focussing on that outcome, I will choose to work on improving my driving and putting as if I can transition from 30 percent of fairways hit to at least 50 percent by improving my driving accuracy that will translate to more fairways and more greens and if I work on getting the ball started on my line and improving my 7-15 foot putts it will lead to less putts per round and lower scores.  those are my main goals right now.

My take on all that above is that he's good at talking about goals in the abstract. He's good at talking about the importance of goals. He's good at wanting to track goals and says the right things. But in the end, it seems like the goals are just momentary flashes in his head, never to be followed up on, and never to be measured against.

He was even given specific advice by Dr Ericsson to come up with specific goals on the driver. He agreed. But nothing was ever posted that I could find.

To my knowledge, he has not ever once revisited the first quoted goal above, which was from his very own "goal guru," Stuart.  His stroke average when he gets to 4000 hours left (at the "6000" mark on the chart above) must be 72.

To me, if you are AVERAGING 72 , your handicap is now a "plus" value, right?!?! Throw out your 10 worst, and your top 10 scores for the handicap calculation are likely going to be mostly better than 72 (taking into account the difference between average and median, of course).  Dan has shot par only once so far, I believe. If I were him, I suppose I'd not want to revisit that goal from his guru, because it would indicate how far off from his own goals he really is.

[nevets88]

[RFKFREAK]

Sick!

[Lihu]

I like this, but. . .

My issue with Dan is that he didn't really learn enough about golf prior for his stated goal be realistic. By declaring that he is going to play the PGA Tour in 10,000 hours of training he is scoffing at all the people who've spent years teaching and learning this sport. The scoffing is how I would interpret it if I were struggling with this sport for decades like many of the players on this site, and some person stated that he knows a way to progress from a rank beginner to a professional athlete without any prior knowledge or known talent for the sport.

Imagine if I went up to Dan and stated that, "Hey, I'm going to do the Lihu Plan to be able to qualify to play the PGA Tour. The difference is that I'll meet my goals and I don't need to learn anything from you to do it, because I'm way smarter than you and can figure everything out that you've been doing for the past 4 years."

So, without any realistic expectation for success, I don't even see how he can even have a map to the finish.

[Abu3baid]

This is just so good.. I'm going to use it at work with my CEOs plans ;) I think Randy nailed it, with the lack of mechanism or will to follow up it track stated objectives he is just being delusional about his progress!

[divot dave]

To me, if you are AVERAGING 72, your handicap is now a "plus" value, right?!?! Throw out your 10 worst, and your top 10 scores for the handicap calculation are likely going to be mostly better than 72 (taking into account the difference between average and median, of course).  Dan has shot par only once so far, I believe. If I were him, I suppose I'd not want to revisit that goal from his guru, because it would indicate how far off from his own goals he really is.

He's in pretty bad shape here. Considering his tournament scores from last year... most in the mid to upper 80's, he's no where close to his goal at the 3000 hour mark much less the 6000 mark. His current handicap consists of a mixture of mostly casual rounds which he performs much better in as well as those tournament rounds where he does much worse. I'm inclined to look at his tournament scores as a better indicator of how he's doing since his ultimate goal is to end up playing professional tournament golf. I was really cheering him on at first but its not looking good at all.

[DrvFrShow]

One thing to realize is how gifted professional athletes really are at their game. Dan can put his 10,000 hours in. Any of us can put in 10,000 hours and not make it. We could have started at 9 years old and worked our butts off through our 20s and not made it. If you look at the field and how many teaching pros there are out of all the people who play golf the number is pretty small. When you go to the regional tours the number gets smaller. Then when you go to the major tour where the legends play the number is tiny.

Being a good amateur and being a good pro are two entirely different things. The legends are essentially freaks of nature. It's not just practice and dedication that got them where they are. They have  natural ability that none of us will ever have.

We have these in the music world. I know too many phenomenal classical performers who never made the big time because the requirements are so tight and pool of those who can meet those requirements is so tiny. They're still professionals, teaching in universities, and performing locally. Others ended up in day jobs because they didn't get PhDs.

Dan is trying to do this on practice and dedication, and while I applaud him on that, he doesn't stand a chance. He's showed his determination, but he's showing he doesn't have the gift. I hope he proves me wrong.

Another thought: Which tee is he using for his HC? White? Blue? Black? The blacks are a lot longer. Example: our local muni - whites: 6278; blacks: 7083. The course can play 7300 with back positions acc'd to the groundskeeper.

[RFKFREAK]

Dan is trying to do this on practice and dedication...

Not sure I agree with the dedication part.

[garybbq]

My take on all that above is that he's good at talking about goals in the abstract. He's good at talking about the importance of goals. He's good at wanting to track goals and says the right things. But in the end, it seems like the goals are just momentary flashes in his head, never to be followed up on, and never to be measured against.

He was even given specific advice by Dr Ericsson to come up with specific goals on the driver. He agreed. But nothing was ever posted that I could find.

To my knowledge, he has not ever once revisited the first quoted goal above, which was from his very own "goal guru," Stuart.  His stroke average when he gets to 4000 hours left (at the "6000" mark on the chart above) must be 72.

To me, if you are AVERAGING 72, your handicap is now a "plus" value, right?!?! Throw out your 10 worst, and your top 10 scores for the handicap calculation are likely going to be mostly better than 72 (taking into account the difference between average and median, of course).  Dan has shot par only once so far, I believe. If I were him, I suppose I'd not want to revisit that goal from his guru, because it would indicate how far off from his own goals he really is.

This is interesting, this is exactly how I think Dan views his swing. He's said a few times that he's "making swing changes" but yet his swing doesn't look much different.

[Shorty]

Not sure I agree with the dedication part.

Nor do I.

He is dedicated to being flown around the world, playing with good players who obviously don't know much about him, being interviewed and living in a fantasy world.

He loves looking the part and talking then talk, but the more I see him with his hideous swagger and manner of speech, the more I think that he is certifiable.

[RFKFREAK]

Nor do I.

He is dedicated to being flown around the world, playing with good players who obviously don't know much about him, being interviewed and living in a fantasy world.

He loves looking the part and talking then talk, but the more I see him with his hideous swagger and manner of speech, the more I think that he is certifiable.

Seriously.

It seems like he'd be the type of person who would enjoy being a reality TV performer or a top tier athlete.

His best bet at this point for what it seems he wants is to parlay this into something dealing with reality tv because he's never going to be a top tier athlete.

[nevets88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RFKFREAK

Not sure I agree with the dedication part.

Nor do I.

He is dedicated to being flown around the world, playing with good players who obviously don't know much about him, being interviewed and living in a fantasy world.

He loves looking the part and talking then talk, but the more I see him with his hideous swagger and manner of speech, the more I think that he is certifiable.

This isn't around the world, but getting about:

OK, the word gamer. Gamer clubs. From some of those I've talked to here, it's not used much. But I do see it used among Twitter in the golf industry accounts. What's the Urban Dictionary aspect of this term. Is it tacky? Is it "cool"? I don't hear the term a lot among golfers in my area.

Yo, I game these gamers. Peace out! I dunno, I guess I would say the clubs/woods/putter I put/use in play/tournaments. My primary set?

[Golfingdad]

He loves looking the part ...

He doesn't even pull this off very well, IMO.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RFKFREAK

Not sure I agree with the dedication part.

Nor do I.

He is dedicated to being flown around the world, playing with good players who obviously don't know much about him, being interviewed and living in a fantasy world.

He loves looking the part and talking then talk, but the more I see him with his hideous swagger and manner of speech, the more I think that he is certifiable.

Needed to rummage through the video again, and I see where you get this now. His comment that Kota is " a step above where I am now". I can picture you saying with an Australian accent in Paul Hogan's voice "Pompous a$$"

[garybbq]

This is not how I pictued the Dan Plan to play out at all. I thought that Dan would struggle for quite a while at first and then progress quite quickly to about a 4 handicap. The main difference though is that I thought his swing would look very good on video and he would hit a wall of sorts trying to figure out how to get down to scratch and have lots of people comment something like "well your swing is pretty good, you should be able to shoot lowered then that"

[Lihu]

This is not how I pictued the Dan Plan to play out at all. I thought that Dan would struggle for quite a while at first and then progress quite quickly to about a 4 handicap. The main difference though is that I thought his swing would look very good on video and he would hit a wall of sorts trying to figure out how to get down to scratch and have lots of people comment something like "well your swing is pretty good, you should be able to shoot lowered then that"

I think it's just that "twitchy" thing he does at the end of his swing that makes it look pretty stupid. If he just swung then stopped twitching around after his swing, it doesn't really look all that bad to me.

[garybbq]

I'm not an instructor but it doesn't look good at all. I think iacas said above that he doesn't turn but also he has no power and his sequencing is all weid. I'd bet he hits it no where and I can see how he has so many problems with his driver with that flat whips action.