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

[Lihu]

I'm surprised he didn't find this forum within 6 months of starting. As someone that didn't and still doesn't have very much money to spend on instruction, this site came up almost immediately in all of the questions I wanted answered roughly 2 years ago. If I had the amount of play time he does and this forum alone, I'm positive I'd be single digit by now, and had he found you guys years ago...I'm positive he'd be scratch by now.  I hope he sees your offer.

I joined 3 and a half years ago, but stumbled upon it by chance. I'm doing okay for an older golfer, but not scratch. It takes a lot of distance and talent to get to scratch. On the driving range, some people think I'm close to scratch because I can hit targets from 150 yards to 2-3 yards with my 9i, and are surprised when I tell them 12. There's a huge difference between someone who shoots consistently on any course and hits well in a controlled situation like a driving range mats or grass. Dan's around a 3-5 handicap, and there's a lot to fine tune. I'm confident that a Summer in Erie with 4 hour weekly lessons with Erik that Dan will become a more solid golfer. Scratch? IDK, but much more solid for sure and most golfers will probably think he's scratch. . .

[Crim]

Dan's around a 3-5 handicap, and there's a lot to fine tune. I'm confident that a Summer in Erie with 4 hour weekly lessons Dan will become a more solid golfer. Scratch? IDK, but much more solid for sure and most golfers will probably think he's scratch. . .

You and I don't have a blog dedicated to becoming a pro golfer though. We don't have endless hours to put into our game. He does, he's gotten mediocre instruction especially in the beginning, and he's still a 3-5 handicap. Now just imagine if he would have started here....

I'm still going with he'd be scratch.

I'm not saying he'll be scratch after a summer in Erie, but I'm positive he'll improve...he sure as hell doesn't look like he's improved much lately.

If I were him and this was my job (writing this blog), i'd sell my car and definitely move to Erie for the summer. Find some place close to Erik's school to rent and go from there. I mean he has to change something and fast. His blog is meh right now and this would spice it up a bit.

[Lihu]

You and I don't have a blog dedicated to becoming a pro golfer though. We don't have endless hours to put into our game. He does, he's gotten mediocre instruction especially in the beginning, and he's still a 3-5 handicap. Now just imagine if he would have started here.... I'm still going with he'd be scratch.  I'm not saying he'll be scratch after a summer in Erie, but I'm positive he'll improve...he sure as hell doesn't look like he's improved much lately.  If I were him and this was my job (writing this blog), i'd sell my car and definitely move to Erie for the summer. Find some place close to Erik's school to rent and go from there. I mean he has to change something and fast. His blog is meh right now and this would spice it up a bit.

I'm thinking he could get to a 1 or 2, but not scratch. BTW, I've spent 3 hours a day playing and practicing for the past 5 months, not much different than Dan and I hope to get below 10 someday then back off the playing a little bit.

[Crim]

I'm thinking he could get to a 1 or 2, but not scratch.

BTW, I've spent 3 hours a day playing and practicing for the past 5 months, not much different than Dan and I hope to get below 10 someday then back off the playing a little bit.

Dan only practices 3 hours a day? I was under the impression he quit his job for this?

I probably average 3 to 4 hours a week. :(

That will hopefully go up to 6-8 hours a week this summer. G'damn I can't wait for retirement

[nevets88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crim

I'm surprised he didn't find this forum within 6 months of starting. As someone that didn't and still doesn't have very much money to spend on instruction, this site came up almost immediately in all of the questions I wanted answered roughly 2 years ago. If I had the amount of play time he does and this forum alone, I'm positive I'd be single digit by now, and had he found you guys years ago...I'm positive he'd be scratch by now.

I hope he sees your offer.

If he can't afford to fix the brakes on his car, I don't know how likely he is to want to move to Erie, PA and pay rent - even a few hundred dollars per month of rent - to take advantage of the free instruction.

What about an online option?

[Crim]

What about an online option?

My guess is he's most likely doing all of this this to create an interesting blog and maybe write and sell a book after. (this is just IMO)

If I were him I'd spice things up a bit.

[iacas]

What about an online option?

I'm not willing to do that. Part of why I'd want to see him in person is to observe and shape his practice. I don't think he practices properly.

[nevets88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevets88

What about an online option?

I'm not willing to do that. Part of why I'd want to see him in person is to observe and shape his practice. I don't think he practices properly.

Ironic, as deliberate practice is part and parcel of the plan.

[iacas]

Ironic, as deliberate practice is part and parcel of the plan.

Part of it is that I don't know if he's really been taught HOW to practice.

[nevets88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevets88

Ironic, as deliberate practice is part and parcel of the plan.

Part of it is that I don't know if he's really been taught HOW to practice.

That's one of the things I wished was more documented in the blog. We should know or have an idea of how he's practicing. There are vids of him hitting short game shots and full swings and some lesson excerpts on his channel, but there's not much of doing drills, practicing movements, that sort of thing. He mentioned feel isn't real somewhere back but didn't go into more detail. It would be really enlightening to see you work with him on that if that were to happen.

[Crim]

That's one of the things I wished was more documented in the blog. We should know or have an idea of how he's practicing.

Especially since he receives over $300 in guaranteed monthly donations. Not to mention all the other 1 time donations he's received. More info doesn't seem like too much to ask.

[Lihu]

Dan only practices 3 hours a day? I was under the impression he quit his job for this?

I probably average 3 to 4 hours a week. :(

That will hopefully go up to 6-8 hours a week this summer. G'damn I can't wait for retirement

Not retired, just have time in the mornings, while my coworkers are waking up and getting their morning coffee. None of us show up until 10:30am-11:00am every morning. The downside is staying late. . .

Some come in at noon and leave at 8:00pm, that must be sweet to only work 8 hours or less if you subtract out lunch. . .

. . .I don't know if he's really been taught HOW to practice.

I think you are correct, but if he reads the sections of LSW more carefully as I have just done recently he should have a better idea.

Wow, this is a great deal for him. . .

[nevets88]

How many hours of practice is subject to interpretation. If it's 3 - I don't remember what the blog says, it could take 5 hours to get 3 hours of practice, you might be doing stuff in between. And there is a diminishing return in practicing too many hours. And you have to remember, there is time spent in marketing and promotion.

[acerimusdux]

Dan only practices 3 hours a day? I was under the impression he quit his job for this?

One of the significant results of the "deliberate practice" research is that it can be counterproductive to do more than about 4 hours a day. There's only so much your mind/body can absorb on a regular basis in one day. For most people the optimal amount is thought to be 3-4 hours, probably best divided into two sessions. And even 2 hours a day is enough to make substantial progress.

So I wouldn't assume doing it "full time" means he will make that much faster progress. Ideally though, I think he'd be doing 2-3 hours of intense drills every day, and then just go out and play golf.

[Crim]

Ideally though, I think he'd be doing 2-3 hours of intense drills every day, and then just go out and play golf.

Yeah that's more of what I was suggesting. That's exactly what I'd do. I was counting the course into the hours. You learn so much on the course.

[Lihu]

Yeah that's more of what I was suggesting. That's exactly what I'd do. I was counting the course into the hours. You learn so much on the course.

I'm not that sure doing this every day is fruitful for an amateur, but for professional level ball striking, probably. I'm pretty confident that pro golfers get pretty close to hundreds of balls per day to really hit the sweet spot the way they want to hit it.

However, your body takes at least 20-25 seconds to fully recover from each shot. I have an example from Fita archery, where we needed to time the 20 second rest period with our setup and hold times within a second for each movement. You need to shoot 3 arrows every 2 minutes for indoor, and there is not much rest time and you need to hold the bow at maximum draw for at least 3 seconds to aim and then pull through the clicker. I used to shoot 250 arrows a day with this method with a 42 pound bow (46 pounds at full draw). Olympic archers typically shoot 500-600 arrows per day with 50+ pound draw weights. Some of the Olympic hopefuls shot 1000 in one day at the Chula Vista training facility for fun. Took them something like 10+ hours.

The movements in archery are like clockwork, and I translated this to golf when I switched. I end up hitting 250 balls per session when I do hit balls, but need to pace them >25 seconds apart (I've been too lazy lately to do any range work). I'm still trying to figure out how to pace my shots so I can sustain this without excessive muscle fatigue.

[acerimusdux]

Yeah that's more of what I was suggesting. That's exactly what I'd do. I was counting the course into the hours. You learn so much on the course.

I think you do need some of that course time in order for what you are learning in those drills to be integrated into your game. But I don't think he really needs to be playing every day for that, either. A few rounds a week is probably plenty. I'm sure there are people who play a lot more than that, but don't make much progress, because they aren't really pushing themselves in a disciplined way to improve weaknesses and learn new skills.

Ideally he might also work up to an hour a day of physical conditioning and strength training into his routine.

Point though is, none of this needs to be all consuming. There's plenty of time to do other things, including even working a job. It's more about having the discipline to schedule that few hours a day, every day , and stick with it. If you tried to "work" at something like golf for 8+ hours a day, you might just make yourself more likely to burn out.

[Lihu]

I think you do need some of that course time in order for what you are learning in those drills to be integrated into your game. But I don't think he really needs to be playing every day for that, either. A few rounds a week is probably plenty. I'm sure there are people who play a lot more than that, but don't make much progress, because they aren't really pushing themselves in a disciplined way to improve weaknesses and learn new skills.

Ideally he might also work up to an hour a day of physical conditioning and strength training into his routine.

Point though is, none of this needs to be all consuming. There's plenty of time to do other things, including even working a job. It's more about having the discipline to schedule that few hours a day, every day, and stick with it. If you tried to "work" at something like golf for 8+ hours a day, you might just make yourself more likely to burn out.

Dan is not all that strong. Before he takes up Erik's offer, he should get as much strength as he can. . .