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

[RandallT]

[URL]http://thedanplan.com/a-tournament-setback-and-some-lessons-to-learn/[/URL] Here's a good write-up of his tourney results. He's playing a tourney this weekend actually, which he mentions near the end.

[flopster]

He said what was going wrong and probably doesn't realize it, every hole that had a wide open landing area he did well on it was when there was some sort of trouble out there is when his tee shots went wild. He's letting negative thoughts enter his mind right before he hits his shot, he also admitted the last thing that entered his mind before trying that punch shot on 13 was don't put it in the hazard. he's subconsciously talking himself into these mistakes, we all do it from time to time but Dan sounds like he has a real problem with this. He needs to learn how to block these things out and one of the only ways to do that is play lots of golf and learn how to block these things out.

[Lihu]

http://thedanplan.com/a-tournament-setback-and-some-lessons-to-learn/

Here's a good write-up of his tourney results. He's playing a tourney this weekend actually, which he mentions near the end.

At least he's doing the right thing entering another tournament.

I read excerpts of his holes. They sound very much like mine, especially the blowup holes. However, he seems to over-think everything. Like the broken hand not being worth it from a tree root when it was just a blackberry root. Then he doesn't look up to see if his 8i is going to hit a branch 50 yards out.

He was debating on the club to use on the par 3 164 yards, and was thinking of 7i or 6i???

This does not sound like any 3 handicap I know.

[flopster]

OMG some idiot in his blog actually said this to him.

This is something literally every golfer has gone through. The more tournaments you play in the more comfortable you will get. Your swing is already good enough to play on the PGA tour. You just don´t know how to play golf yet because you spend too much time hitting range balls off mats into a wide open field. You need to practice less and play more. Atleast 18 holes everyday on different courses and not worry about technique so much. Learn to play golf instead of practicing golf.

WHAT?!?!?!?

I can agree with the playing more courses part but the swing being good enough? I really hope he doesn't take some of these people seriously.

[jbishop15]

At least he's doing the right thing entering another tournament.

I read excerpts of his holes. They sound very much like mine, especially the blowup holes. However, he seems to over-think everything. Like the broken hand not being worth it from a tree root when it was just a blackberry root. Then he doesn't look up to see if his 8i is going to hit a branch 50 yards out.

He was debating on the club to use on the par 3 164 yards, and was thinking of 7i or 6i???

This does not sound like any 3 handicap I know.

If you're implying that hitting a 7i or 6i from that distance is unusual for a three handicapper, I can tell you that it really isn't. There are plenty of low cappers that don't hit the ball more than a 150 yards with a 7i.

[David in FL]

If you're implying that hitting a 7i or 6i from that distance is unusual for a three handicapper, I can tell you that it really isn't. There are plenty of low cappers that don't hit the ball more than a 150 yards with a 7i.

Smack dab between a stock 7 and a stock 6 for me.....

[MS256]

Smack dab between a stock 7 and a stock 6 for me.....

For these guys too.

http://www.golfrepublic.org/t27047-pga-average-distance-by-clubs

[flopster]

If you're implying that hitting a 7i or 6i from that distance is unusual for a three handicapper, I can tell you that it really isn't. There are plenty of low cappers that don't hit the ball more than a 150 yards with a 7i.

7 iron carry 153 6 iron carry 168.

[cipher]

Smack dab between a stock 7 and a stock 6 for me.....

Same here, if he was into the wind at all or below the hole slightly, that could easily be a six for a lot of mid-low single digits.

[MS256]

Same here, if he was into the wind at all or below the hole slightly, that could easily be a six for a lot of mid-low single digits.

Yeah we have a par 3 that normally has the tees around 168 and I've hit everything from an 8 iron to a 3 hybrid on that hole depending on the wind and temperature.

Edit: Oh and also depending on how I was hitting the ball at the time.

I hate the days when I have to take an extra club because of the wind, another extra club because of the cold, and another extra club because I'm hitting the ball like crap.

[johnclayton1982]

I'd also be debating between the 6 or the 7 on a 164 yard par 3.  About in the middle.

This is a pretty interesting thread.  Its pretty revealing that people are arguing like crazy on these boards about what his problems are, and yet people still think they can reliably self-diagnose.

Seems like he needs a really good instructor and a lot of money to spend on a lot of time with him/her.

[Pretzel]

For these guys too.

http://www.golfrepublic.org/t27047-pga-average-distance-by-clubs

Those distances are in meters, not yards.

At least he's doing the right thing entering another tournament.

I read excerpts of his holes. They sound very much like mine, especially the blowup holes. However, he seems to over-think everything. Like the broken hand not being worth it from a tree root when it was just a blackberry root. Then he doesn't look up to see if his 8i is going to hit a branch 50 yards out.

The blackberry root is something that baffled me reading his post. He stated himself that it was a half inch root and, at least to me, a half inch root is going flying if I hit into it with a wedge like he described. That's kind of like saying you're going to break your hand hitting it out of the rough, since it seems to provide about the same resistance as hitting it from the thick stuff.

As to the distance thing, I'd say to each his own. If he hits it short and straight, that's one way to go about low scores. It will not however be successful if he somehow ends up playing in any professional events, because those courses get long and nasty. 7200, 7300, and 7400 yards courses become the norm. If he hits a 7 iron less than 164 yards he'll be hitting driver off the deck to try and reach some par 4's in regulation while others are hitting 8 irons after a 3-wood off the tee.

EDIT: With a bit more of reading through the summary of his round, I would say that Dan thinks far too much about "punching out" of the rough. I haven't played that course, and it could very well be tree lined, but you shouldn't immediately think, "Well, I better just punch this one out" when you hit the rough. I don't know what angles he had and what the lies were like, but just in the rough and you can still shoot for at least the green if not the pin depending on hole location. If it's just that he kept putting himself in the position that he was required to merely punch out, I would say that his tee shots may be a weak point in his game. Just my $.02, so take it with a grain of salt because I've never seen him play before and likely never will in person.

[MS256]

Those distances are in meters, not yards.

Hence the smiley.

[Lihu]

If you're implying that hitting a 7i or 6i from that distance is unusual for a three handicapper, I can tell you that it really isn't. There are plenty of low cappers that don't hit the ball more than a 150 yards with a 7i.

No, it's the debating part. The folks I know make a decision. ;-)

[flopster]

.

No, it's the debating part. The folks I know make a decision.

Dan's biggest problem it seems right now is he lets too many negative thoughts enter his mind, whenever there was a hole with any potential trouble he made a terrible swing, how ironic is it the two holes he made birdie on lay side by side with no real trouble on either side of the fairway, he's not blocking out the trouble in his mind. His swing flaws are another  whole subject all together but he needs to learn how to block out the negative thoughts.

[Lihu]

Agreed, flopster. Btw, I bet the kids in the top 20 hit their 8i on the same par 3 164 yard hole and stuck the green. Pretzel is correctly assuming Dan will have trouble with longer courses. I can't make any assessment about his tee shots, but it does seem like a weakness based upon his own description.

[Pretzel]

No, it's the debating part. The folks I know make a decision. ;-)

I'd say debating is fine before you are ready to go into the shot, but once you know where the good miss is and have chosen a club, you better have confidence in it.

[Lihu]

I'd also be debating between the 6 or the 7 on a 164 yard par 3.  About in the middle.

This is a pretty interesting thread.  Its pretty revealing that people are arguing like crazy on these boards about what his problems are, and yet people still think they can reliably self-diagnose.

Seems like he needs a really good instructor and a lot of money to spend on a lot of time with him/her.

At least for me, it's his own writeup that is revealing. It's definitely not something I could write for myself because what I would write is "Look up you idiot." (self deprecating) rather than "It bounded out over the fairway and ended up propped up in the rough with a clean-ish shot to the green 150 yards away .  It was a gamble that had paid off.  That said, I hit an 8-iron and the next shot hit a branch and fell down 97 yards short of the green."

His entire self examination of the situation was more of "I made the right move, but the situation was difficult. . ." It does not take a rocket scientist to determine that he is his own barrier to success.

Of course, if you asked me to write up about why I scored 98 then possibly breaking 90 on similar difficulty courses on the same weekend, I could tell you exactly what shots I made that cost me and the feelings I had for each one. Instead of blaming the difficulty of the course , I would blame my own stupidity or lack of skill for whatever reason was appropriate. I suppose this is not an option for him. At least he did say he learned from this experience, but I'm not sure what he learned. The details reveal he does not know his issues, and even stated that he knew he could make the cut. My question is "Does he know how?"

It would take more effort than it is worth to explain why it was so hard, rather than figure out how to avoid the situation by improving my skill set and learning not to try those hero shots. Of course, I am also learning what is a hero shot and what is a conservative alternative at the same time.

Not sure how revealing it is about the other posters who are probably better players than Dan. My perspective is entirely from reading his writeup, and seeing myself in a similar situation.