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

[Nosevi]

[QUOTE name="Nosevi" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3528#post_1203142"]  In this case there has to be a 'win' of some sort - state Amateur would probably do it (if such a thing exists over there), it doesn't have to be PGA Tour but he'd have to be able to say that he achieved something tangible and/or quantifiable in order to go down a (successful) motivational speaking route.[/QUOTE] To be fair he did break par, that's a big achievement in itself.

True, it is, but does it say to you "Anything is possible." if you set out to achieve something far harder but didn't come close to it. I'm not belittling Dan's achievements however it may come across. I hope Dan sorts his back out, I hope he gets things going again and I hope he changes a few things in order to focus the time he has remaining where it needs focusing. I (possibly above others for obvious reasons) want to see him succeed at some level and show this sort of thing can actually be done. Will he 'bail out' and quit because of an injury if he doesn't have to? I don't think so because at this point he hasn't achieved the sort of thing he set out to achieve or the sort of thing that would stand up to questioning at a speaking engagement. He'll update his blog soon I'm sure........ actually I'm not guessing on that one :-)

[Shorty]

This is something that's been mentioned a bunch of times that I just don't get - the idea that someone (and I'm not saying Dan, I'm saying anyone) can become a motivational speaker when they set out to prove anything is possible but fail to accomplish the goal they set out to accomplish.

Because Dan is a fraud of sorts. He doesn't let the truth get in the way of a good story.

He isn't honest with himself and he is less honest with others; look at his interviews.

He was even pissed off because he didn't get substantial sponsorship.

He is going to pretend that he was on track until he was set upon by injury.

[ZappyAd]

This is something that's been mentioned a bunch of times that I just don't get - the idea that someone (and I'm not saying Dan, I'm saying anyone) can become a motivational speaker when they set out to prove anything is possible but fail to accomplish the goal they set out to accomplish. .

I think he has probably done some things that are hard to do and that a lot of people wouldn't ever attempt. He thought up a seemingly impossible challenge, gave up a significant chunk of his life to chase it and did it in front of the world by posting it on the Internet. A whole bunch of people probably told him he was crazy and it couldn't be done or that he was doing it the wrong way but he kept on doing it his way. Ok so he hasn't achieved his goal yet but he took that step over the edge to see if he could. I don't know what the stats are like relative to making it on the pga tour but risking everything to chase down a crazy goal isn't something that everyone does every day (present company excepted of course!).

[natureboy]

I just don't think he's going to do this, though.  I think he's looking to springboard this into a way to make money afterwards and this injury gives him the exit strategy to have a "legitimate" reason for not being able to finish the plan to a successful conclusion and save face.

I'm not sure I agree with this. I think he would make less money as a motivational speaker than as a professional photographer - remember how he paid for his years off. I could see a self-published and publicized book about his journey, but I don't think the speaking will really pay off the way some of you think. Book sales will be an indicator of potential success their. Now that he has lots of golf world experience, I could see him doing photojournalism / blogging in the golf industry or for golf publications. I think that would be more lucrative and fun if he loves golf.

According to the USGA definition it would seem that 'scratch' is regularly capable of shooting the course rating. With a typical golfer normal score distribution of three shots, that would put the upper limit around a 1 HCP. Personally I would consider 0 or better scratch, but even Dave Pelz in a Shotlink study lumped +5 to -5 as all one 'scratch' bin (probably to give him enough data points).

[Shorty]

I think he has probably done some things that are hard to do and that a lot of people wouldn't ever attempt. I don't know what the stats are like relative to making it on the pga tour but ............ (snip) risking everything to chase down a crazy goal isn't something that everyone does every day (present company excepted of course!).

In the same way that very few people say "Hey  - I'm about to learn to play guitar and my aim is to join the Rolling Stones".

IT was never going to happen.

Remember, there are probably 1000 golfers you have never heard of within 100 miles of him who would have him by 10 shots any day of the week.

He isn't in the top 1,000,000 players in the world. If he was, he'd be a gun player who would beat just about anyone he played against.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZappyAd

I think he has probably done some things that are hard to do and that a lot of people wouldn't ever attempt. I don't know what the stats are like relative to making it on the pga tour but ............ (snip) risking everything to chase down a crazy goal isn't something that everyone does every day (present company excepted of course!).

In the same way that very few people say "Hey  - I'm about to learn to play guitar and my aim is to join the Rolling Stones".

IT was never going to happen.

Remember, there are probably 1000 golfers you have never heard of within 100 miles of him who would have him by 10 shots any day of the week.

He isn't in the top 1,000,000 players in the world. If he was, he'd be a gun player who would beat just about anyone he played against.

We already know this based upon his Oregon State Qualifier results. . .

[newtogolf]

I'm not sure I agree with this. I think he would make less money as a motivational speaker than as a professional photographer - remember how he paid for his years off. I could see a self-published and publicized book about his journey, but I don't think the speaking will really pay off the way some of you think. Book sales will be an indicator of potential success their. Now that he has lots of golf world experience, I could see him doing photojournalism / blogging in the golf industry or for golf publications. I think that would be more lucrative and fun if he loves golf.

According to the USGA definition it would seem that 'scratch' is regularly capable of shooting the course rating. With a typical golfer normal score distribution of three shots, that would put the upper limit around a 1 HCP. Personally I would consider 0 or better scratch, but even Dave Pelz in a Shotlink study lumped +5 to -5 as all one 'scratch' bin (probably to give him enough data points).

I agree with @RFKFREAK ry was the perfect exit strategy.  Instead of being a failure, we'll feel sorry for him because his back injury didn't allow him to complete what he started.

Many aspects of professional photography are a dying business unless you're Annie Leibovitz and a few select others.  I am in the marketing business and have a few business friends who are wedding / event photographers, they are hurting for business.  Between stock images, digital SLR's, cell phones with high quality cameras built in and Photoshop, the demand for true professional photography has been and continues to be in a major decline.  The only fields that are still doing well is still life, architectural and real estate but even that is getting over saturated.

I'll be shocked if he goes back to photography, there's much more money in professional appearances and motivational speaking if he's in high enough demand and convince everyone he would have reached his goal if not for his bad back.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by natureboy

I'm not sure I agree with this. I think he would make less money as a motivational speaker than as a professional photographer - remember how he paid for his years off. I could see a self-published and publicized book about his journey, but I don't think the speaking will really pay off the way some of you think. Book sales will be an indicator of potential success their. Now that he has lots of golf world experience, I could see him doing photojournalism / blogging in the golf industry or for golf publications. I think that would be more lucrative and fun if he loves golf.

According to the USGA definition it would seem that 'scratch' is regularly capable of shooting the course rating. With a typical golfer normal score distribution of three shots, that would put the upper limit around a 1 HCP. Personally I would consider 0 or better scratch, but even Dave Pelz in a Shotlink study lumped +5 to -5 as all one 'scratch' bin (probably to give him enough data points).

I agree with @RFKFREAK freak, the injury was the perfect exit strategy.  Instead of being a failure, we'll feel sorry for him because his back injury didn't allow him to complete what he started.

Many aspects of professional photography are a dying business unless you're Annie Leibovitz and a few select others.  I am in the marketing business and have a few business friends who are wedding / event photographers, they are hurting for business.  Between stock images, digital SLR's, cell phones with high quality cameras built in and Photoshop, the demand for true professional photography has been and continues to be in a major decline.  The only fields that are still doing well is still life, architectural and real estate but even that is getting over saturated.

I'll be shocked if he goes back to photography, there's much more money in professional appearances and motivational speaking if he's in high enough demand and convince everyone he would have reached his goal if not for his bad back.

I don't see how this is going to actually happen as most of the golfing community doesn't really think much of him.

[newtogolf]

I don't see how this is going to actually happen as most of the golfing community doesn't really think much of him.

We are a small minority, the rest of the world doesn't know all the details.  What they know is some regular guy quit his day job to become a pro golfer and he was well on his way until he hurt his back.

[Shorty]

We are a small minority, the rest of the world doesn't know all the details.  What they know is some regular guy quit his day job to become a pro golfer and he was well on his way until he hurt his back.

100% correct.

And that is why I am calling him a fraud.

He will never correct people who know nothing about the game when they say he came close.

Can you imagine him saying "You know, I was naive when I started and didn't even come close to being the best in my town, let alone making a cut in a PGATour event." He'll just crap on about the BS 10,000 theory.

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="newtogolf" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3528#post_1203485"]   We are a small minority, the rest of the world doesn't know all the details.  What they know is some regular guy quit his day job to become a pro golfer and he was well on his way until he hurt his back. [/QUOTE] 100% correct. And that is why I am calling him a fraud. He will never correct people who know nothing about the game when they say he came close. Can you imagine him saying "You know, I was naive when I started and didn't even come close to being the best in my town, let alone making a cut in a PGATour event." He'll just crap on about the BS 10,000 theory.

So, "Become an almost expert with 6,000 hours. . ."? :-D

[mchepp]

My point was the weather isn't that much of an impact on a 10-20 year old kid doing his PGA and playing every weekend etc in England, as they've got all the time in the world. Dan didn't, he was 30 and had 10,000 hours and he's wasted more than half of them on putting and messing about playing on a frozen course. I think the weather in Portland seems to be similar to the UK as far as temperature goes (but with much greater extremes) but it rains an awful lot more than over here in winter. I imagine the courses go from soggy to frozen to soggy?

From a resident of the Portland area, let me say frozen is extremely rare. 1-2 weeks a year...maybe. Last year 1 week. Soggy, no, not really. Having lived in California even a light rain would make the course ridiculously soggy. Here the drainage is amazing. It takes essentially a flood to make the course anywhere near as soggy as California. The ground just drains better in Portland.

Even it is raining there are an abundance of ranges with covers. So he could still practice.

. It wouldn't have helped him so much with chipping, pitching, bunkers or changing lies though. I think this is where your plan has a big advantage, you've got the swing studio and it's pretty dry and mild in Lincolnshire. You should hire a digger and build yourself a varying grade pitching area ;)

Columbia Edgewater where he was first a member has a fantastic chipping area plus a par 3 course if the chipping area is not enough. Plus an indoor hitting area. This is not a good excuse.

Location was not a problem. Was it ideal, no, but Florida probably annually gets as much rain if not more than Portland in the late summer.

He could have traveled. Say do Portland in the summer and Palm Springs in the winter, but that takes cash that he just doesn't have.

[DrvFrShow]

The reason for going to Florida would be the level of instruction available. But as has already been stated.... resources.

[ChrisWev]

From a resident of the Portland area, let me say frozen is extremely rare. 1-2 weeks a year...maybe. Last year 1 week. Soggy, no, not really. Having lived in California even a light rain would make the course ridiculously soggy. Here the drainage is amazing. It takes essentially a flood to make the course anywhere near as soggy as California. The ground just drains better in Portland.

Even it is raining there are an abundance of ranges with covers. So he could still practice.

Columbia Edgewater where he was first a member has a fantastic chipping area plus a par 3 course if the chipping area is not enough. Plus an indoor hitting area. This is not a good excuse.

Location was not a problem. Was it ideal, no, but Florida probably annually gets as much rain if not more than Portland in the late summer.

He could have traveled. Say do Portland in the summer and Palm Springs in the winter, but that takes cash that he just doesn't have.

Well that's not what was lead to be believed by his blog, or looks like on any climate data? The only reason I looked previous was because he mentioned rain, soggy, frost, wind, ice and crap weather so much, it was depressing.

The average minimum temperature hovers around 2 degrees for about 5 months, yet only 1 week is icy/ frosty/ snowy etc? I find that very hard to believe. Also it rains about 60% of the days and is cloudy almost every day for 5 months. This does not sound like good golfing weather, in fact it sounds like quite a miserable place and even a lot worse than the UK (which is pretty crap).

Practicing on a covered range (assuming artificial) will only get you so far, assuming all the other grassed amenities and bunkers are in the open air? I imagine anywhere with this all grassed and covered would cost a fortune to play.

I've not checked California but having been there quite a lot and never seen it rain (obviously been a lot of droughts recently), I'm assuming it's ok. Miami rains more than Portland but I'm guessing is short sharp showers and then the sun is back out and it's dry again within an hour, which is pretty much what happens at any tour event anyway.

Ask 10 people where they would rather play and what would help them learn more, 9/10 say Florida or California.

So out of that 6,000 hours where he wasted the first 1,500 putting, and then in the next 1,000 hours he got to single figure HCP even with bad conditions and poor coaching. That is good going for anyone.

I'm far from saying he's gone the right way about it or that he has excuses for it all but if he or almost anyone spends 10,000 hours, regularly seeing a good pro in a good area and with more money to pay for it he would probably be better than almost anyone on this forum. His way is flawed but I think 10,000 hours would get you close in the right circumstances.

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="mchepp" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3528#post_1203573"]   From a resident of the Portland area, let me say frozen is extremely rare. 1-2 weeks a year...maybe. Last year 1 week. Soggy, no, not really. Having lived in California even a light rain would make the course ridiculously soggy. Here the drainage is amazing. It takes essentially a flood to make the course anywhere near as soggy as California. The ground just drains better in Portland.  Even it is raining there are an abundance of ranges with covers. So he could still practice. Columbia Edgewater where he was first a member has a fantastic chipping area plus a par 3 course if the chipping area is not enough. Plus an indoor hitting area. This is not a good excuse. Location was not a problem. Was it ideal, no, but Florida probably annually gets as much rain if not more than Portland in the late summer. He could have traveled. Say do Portland in the summer and Palm Springs in the winter, but that takes cash that he just doesn't have.  [/QUOTE] Well that's not what was lead to be believed by his blog, or looks like on any climate data? The only reason I looked previous was because he mentioned rain, soggy, frost, wind, ice and crap weather so much, it was depressing. The average minimum temperature hovers around 2 degrees for about 5 months, yet only 1 week is icy/ frosty/ snowy etc? I find that very hard to believe. Also it rains about 60% of the days and is cloudy almost every day for 5 months. This does not sound like good golfing weather, in fact it sounds like quite a miserable place and even a lot worse than the UK (which is pretty crap). Practicing on a covered range (assuming artificial) will only get you so far, assuming all the other grassed amenities and bunkers are in the open air? I imagine anywhere with this all grassed and covered would cost a fortune to play. I've not checked California but having been there quite a lot and never seen it rain (obviously been a lot of droughts recently), I'm assuming it's ok. Miami rains more than Portland but I'm guessing is short sharp showers and then the sun is back out and it's dry again within an hour, which is pretty much what happens at any tour event anyway. Ask 10 people where they would rather play and what would help them learn more, 9/10 say Florida or California. So out of that 6,000 hours where he wasted the first 1,500 putting, and then in the next 1,000 hours he got to single figure HCP even with bad conditions and poor coaching. That is good going for anyone.   I'm far from saying he's gone the right way about it or that he has excuses for it all but if he or almost anyone spends 10,000 hours, regularly seeing a good pro in a good area and with more money to pay for it he would probably be better than almost anyone on this forum. His way is flawed but I think 10,000 hours would get you close in the right circumstances.

Not sure what was referred to about CA courses being just as wet as Portland? But I will agree that the weather in Portland is pretty constant in the winter time. It doesn't freeze that often, but it's a miserable humid cold. Never golfed in Portland, but I pretty much can guarantee that golfing down here is much better with one or two exceptional days where it is too wet. When we are talking about golfing in CA, I thing we generally mean So. Cal. and not NorCal. The there's a large number of good quality instructors for a variety of reasons. Higher population in a golfing friendly environment, and a large number of golf courses. People move to CA for the sunny weather. I use golf for exercise, because it is readily available to me all year round. If I lived in Portland, I would ski and mountain climb. That's pretty much what I did in Seattle.

[natureboy]

Well that's not what was lead to be believed by his blog, or looks like on any climate data? The only reason I looked previous was because he mentioned rain, soggy, frost, wind, ice and crap weather so much, it was depressing.

The average minimum temperature hovers around 2 degrees for about 5 months, yet only 1 week is icy/ frosty/ snowy etc? I find that very hard to believe. Also it rains about 60% of the days and is cloudy almost every day for 5 months. This does not sound like good golfing weather, in fact it sounds like quite a miserable place and even a lot worse than the UK (which is pretty crap).

Practicing on a covered range (assuming artificial) will only get you so far, assuming all the other grassed amenities and bunkers are in the open air? I imagine anywhere with this all grassed and covered would cost a fortune to play.

I've not checked California but having been there quite a lot and never seen it rain (obviously been a lot of droughts recently), I'm assuming it's ok. Miami rains more than Portland but I'm guessing is short sharp showers and then the sun is back out and it's dry again within an hour, which is pretty much what happens at any tour event anyway.

Ask 10 people where they would rather play and what would help them learn more, 9/10 say Florida or California.

So out of that 6,000 hours where he wasted the first 1,500 putting, and then in the next 1,000 hours he got to single figure HCP even with bad conditions and poor coaching. That is good going for anyone.

I'm far from saying he's gone the right way about it or that he has excuses for it all but if he or almost anyone spends 10,000 hours, regularly seeing a good pro in a good area and with more money to pay for it he would probably be better than almost anyone on this forum. His way is flawed but I think 10,000 hours would get you close in the right circumstances.

I would agree with your point that southern 1/3 of U.S. is more ideal for regular golf practice.

He certainly could have moved a few hours to the dry side of the Cascades for better average weather.

Depends what you think is 'close'. I am in-between you and the majority of the posters on the thread. I think he's made significant progress in his skill development. The weak long-game foundation affects his whole game and his ability to score even with a well-practiced short-game.

I do agree with the big difference between a 0 HCP and +4 tour-worthy, though. A personal breakthrough is possible, but he is probably about two standard deviations below the tour average in height which matters in using leverage to generate the  'effortless' power of a good swing. That makes his personal journey tougher unless he has compensating 'outlier' abilities. I think he picked an Everest moon-shot of a goal when a more modest one may have been more in the realm of possibility. He could still have a personal breakthrough. You never know, but it seems like around scratch is his max potential. In my book that would be a significant achievement given his late start, his physique, and the misguided initial steps.

[BerkeleyRehab]

He really aged. [quote name="DrvFrShow" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3528#post_1203583"]The reason for going to Florida would be the level of instruction available. But as has already been stated.... resources. [/quote] Which was also an undisclosed flaw in this plan. He didn't "retire' from a "job" to do this. He quit a free-lancing gig with a modicum of savings to try to reinvent himself and "sell" this to others to fund his golf-bum lifestyle. He conned a country club for a bit before they told him to the road. Who would pay him to be a motivational speaker?! This was all a horrible idea. He looks terrible, is injured, is mediocre at golf and broke. He lost four years building up a career.

[Nosevi]

He really aged. [quote name="DrvFrShow" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3528#post_1203583"]The reason for going to Florida would be the level of instruction available. But as has already been stated.... resources.

Which was also an undisclosed flaw in this plan. He didn't "retire' from a "job" to do this. He quit a free-lancing gig with a modicum of savings to try to reinvent himself and "sell" this to others to fund his golf-bum lifestyle. He conned a country club for a bit before they told him to the road. Who would pay him to be a motivational speaker?! This was all a horrible idea. He looks terrible, is injured, is mediocre at golf and broke. He lost four years building up a career.[/quote] To be fair I think he disclosed it; he said recently (as in the last year or so) that he needed sponsorship. That's the only bit financially I don't quite understand, any expectation that sponsorship would be forthcoming. That said I've seen something similar with professional athletes both in golf and other sports, an expectation that because they're good someone should sponsor them. Not they might get sponsorship if they're lucky and offer something in return, just that they in some way deserve the money so someone else will fund it. Maybe that wasn't the case with Dan, maybe there wasn't an expectation, more just a hope. Tough to tell through just reading a blog. He did actually go away for the 2nd winter of the plan: [URL]http://thedanplan.com/new-course/[/URL] I'm not sure why it was Atlanta when better weather than where he was was just down the coast in CA but I'm guessing there were reasons for it. So I'm guessing he felt he lost time in winter 1, went away for winter 2 but couldn't thereafter (unless he did and I haven't read about it). I still don't think it was a fatal flaw in the plan, loads can be done in bad weather particularly with a launch monitor that works indoors, but I conceed it would have been beneficial especially for short game.