Question for teachers: Why are Dan McLaughlin's (www.thedanplan.com) numbers so low

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by RandallT

Looks like Dan is figuring out a little more how to swing. As he writes today, his swing is now about 50/50 where he can really connect by using his body and not mainly his arms and hands. I can't wait to see his next TrackMan update to see if his numbers improve significantly.

Heck, I'd take a handicap update too.  He is nearing the halfway point of 5000 hours left, and it's obvious to me he's not going to get anywhere near close to his goal. But he still seems confident that he can jack up his club speed 10% (from 265yd carry to 290yd carry, he says). He plays with a +handicap regularly, so he knows that there are lots of people who already at that skill level. I wonder how he thinks he will distinguish himself from the many, many thousands of scratch golfers out there who can already pound it that far.

Anyway, here's the latest, in case you're interested. Finally an upbeat note after some poor outings, but he doesn't mention any specific scores or good rounds.

http://thedanplan.com/finally-a-sign-of-the-positive-nature/

Just looked him up.  5.6 as of 1 August.  Only .3 better than 1 August 2012.....

Just as a point of reference, he and I play off of about the same index.  I'm down .9 from last August.  Not all that impressive either.  But then, I'm not doing anything except playing golf whenever I can.....hopefully twice a week when things work out.

Of course, I've got the added advantage of the combined support and genius of the members of this site, so I guess I do have a big leg up over him!

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by David in FL

Just looked him up.  5.6 as of 1 August.  Only .3 better than 1 August 2012.....

That's some progress...

Oh, and IB4TJBAM!!!

[TJBam]

Originally Posted by RandallT

Looks like Dan is figuring out a little more how to swing. As he writes today, his swing is now about 50/50 where he can really connect by using his body and not mainly his arms and hands. I can't wait to see his next TrackMan update to see if his numbers improve significantly.

Heck, I'd take a handicap update too.  He is nearing the halfway point of 5000 hours left, and it's obvious to me he's not going to get anywhere near close to his goal. But he still seems confident that he can jack up his club speed 10% (from 265yd carry to 290yd carry, he says). He plays with a +handicap regularly, so he knows that there are lots of people who already at that skill level. I wonder how he thinks he will distinguish himself from the many, many thousands of scratch golfers out there who can already pound it that far.

Anyway, here's the latest, in case you're interested. Finally an upbeat note after some poor outings, but he doesn't mention any specific scores or good rounds.

http://thedanplan.com/finally-a-sign-of-the-positive-nature/

What are you, his PR agent?  Funny that Dan can doctor a Trackman session to make it look like he hits lasers in and out all day long.  But then when people are watching at a tournament he can't put four shots together for a par.  I mean really, missing fairways and losing balls, racking up 98's?  98?  All while claiming a 5-6 handicap?  That's not a "bad day," (or rather THREE bay days in a row) that's straight up doctoring of numbers for his LiveJournal, OOPS I mean "Golf plan."

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by dsc123

I'd say this was sufficiently specific to warrant its own post, but by post 3 it devolved into the talent debate.

My point exactly... Mention of the 'DanPlan' and it's going to turn into that type of discussion.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by TJBam

What are you, his PR agent?  Funny that Dan can doctor a Trackman session to make it look like he hits lasers in and out all day long.  But then when people are watching at a tournament he can't put four shots together for a par.  I mean really, missing fairways and losing balls, racking up 98's?  98?  All while claiming a 5-6 handicap?  That's not a "bad day," (or rather THREE bay days in a row) that's straight up doctoring of numbers for his LiveJournal, OOPS I mean "Golf plan."

I shot a 99 yesterday at one of the toughest courses in the area. And I played horrendously...just a terrible round for me. I'm also around an 18-20 handicap (The 15.1 is an Erik estimate...I don't buy it )

[RandallT]

Originally Posted by TJBam

What are you, his PR agent?  Funny that Dan can doctor a Trackman session to make it look like he hits lasers in and out all day long.  But then when people are watching at a tournament he can't put four shots together for a par.  I mean really, missing fairways and losing balls, racking up 98's?  98?  All while claiming a 5-6 handicap?  That's not a "bad day," (or rather THREE bay days in a row) that's straight up doctoring of numbers for his LiveJournal, OOPS I mean "Golf plan."

Skeptic here, actually. I started playing again last May (2012), and somebody told me to check how my progress stacked up against his. I started tracking my handicap this May (2013) and am down to 12 or so after about 15 rounds this year. I've spent maybe 5-10 hours/week for what 60-70 weeks.... perhaps 500 hours total?

So I looked up the Dan Plan and while comparing myslef with Dan, I googled other people's opinions on the Dan Plan  and stumbled on this great forum. Just joined a few minutes ago.  I am definitely on the skeptic side of the whole thing, and enjoyed the other longer thread about the Dan Plan here on The Sand Box. Hilarious stuff. This thread was more strictly about his numbers, which interests me more. I just had my first club fitting/TrackMan session last Friday, so it's all fascinating to me. I won't bore you with my numbers, but I'm not quite where Dan is yet... but heck, I've only spent 1/10th the time. I didn't waste my time putting first either, though. Hahah. I never understood that decision of his.

[TJBam]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

I shot a 99 yesterday at one of the toughest courses in the area. And I played horrendously...just a terrible round for me. I'm also around an 18-20 handicap (The 15.1 is an Erik estimate...I don't buy it )

And that's a bad score for your hcp but far from being outside of an expected range.  But if you turned around and claimed a 5 handicap after shooting 99 I'd shit my pants laughing.

His last two mentioned scores this week are an 85 and 89.  That's awful, just terrible for a 5 handicap.

Let's take a look at Richy Rich's last week:

potential new physical trainer meet me at Riverside to do a movement screen

meeting in the morning

collected TrackMan data

Had a morning conference call

having an afternoon meeting

morning meeting

met up with Bruce to work on the driver for a bit

And notice that his poor tournament performance failed to make its way to his GHIN.  LOL.  Vanity capping at its finest.  I'd welcome him to put his money on my 12.5 hcp versus his 5.6.  Hell I'd only take 6 strokes for the 18.  He would shoot 85, I would shoot 85, and I'd walk away with a pocket full of his daddy's hard earned NYC bank executive cash! Mwah!!

I'd love to see what kind of vomit inducing prose he slobbered onto his golf blog after THAT outing

[TJBam]

Originally Posted by RandallT

Skeptic here, actually. I started playing again last May (2012), and somebody told me to check how my progress stacked up against his. I started tracking my handicap this May (2013) and am down to 12 or so after about 15 rounds this year. I've spent maybe 5-10 hours/week for what 60-70 weeks.... perhaps 500 hours total?

So I looked up the Dan Plan and while comparing myslef with Dan, I googled other people's opinions on the Dan Plan  and stumbled on this great forum. Just joined a few minutes ago.  I am definitely on the skeptic side of the whole thing, and enjoyed the other longer thread about the Dan Plan here on The Sand Box. Hilarious stuff. This thread was more strictly about his numbers, which interests me more. I just had my first club fitting/TrackMan session last Friday, so it's all fascinating to me. I won't bore you with my numbers, but I'm not quite where Dan is yet... but heck, I've only spent 1/10th the time. I didn't waste my time putting first either, though. Hahah. I never understood that decision of his.

If you're a 12HCP you're already better than him to be honest.  Congrats and keep working hard.  And don't quit your day job (unless you can afford to) !

[dsc123]

I thought his last few posts were insightful.  Seemed like he was getting frustrated by his lack of progress and dealing with the frustration of not playing up to your own expectations.

[bplewis24]

I don't really follow this thread closely (really, at all anymore).  So, how do you guys get these tournament scores that he isn't posting to his GHIN?  Are they publicly posted somewhere?

[TJBam]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

I don't really follow this thread closely (really, at all anymore).  So, how do you guys get these tournament scores that he isn't posting to his GHIN?  Are they publicly posted somewhere?

Yes, he posted the scores on his golf blog. Then I checked his GHIN and they aren't there.

[TJBam]

Originally Posted by dsc123

I thought his last few posts were insightful.  Seemed like he was getting frustrated by his lack of progress and dealing with the frustration of not playing up to your own expectations.

He may find success as a golf author or photographer but surely not as a golfer, instructor, or mental game coach.  The three things that he seems to be missing.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

I don't really follow this thread closely (really, at all anymore).  So, how do you guys get these tournament scores that he isn't posting to his GHIN?  Are they publicly posted somewhere?

This is the 'new' DanPlan thread.  I don't think any of us have followed this thread closely.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

This is the 'new' DanPlan thread.  I don't think any of us have followed this thread closely.

Wow, what happened to the old one?  And this one has 9 pages already, so I figured it was the only one.

Anyway, shows you how closely I follow this .

[RandallT]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Wow, what happened to the old one?  And this one has 9 pages already, so I figured it was the only one.

Anyway, shows you how closely I follow this .

My understanding from reading both threads was that this thread was originally strictly about his TrackMan numbers, and specifically what Dan might be doing wrong in his swing to have the numbers he does. That topic (and TrackMan analysis in general) interests me and is relevant to me at the moment, as I just had a TrackMan session (my first) last Friday. I was curious if we had similar problems in our swing. We don't. I have different challenges than he does: my clubhead path is to the right, my face is closed to the path, and with less clubhead speed. I definitely need to work on my swing speed and take some of the hook out (my miss recently).

The other thread was more of a free-for-all about The Dan Plan.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Wow, what happened to the old one?  And this one has 9 pages already, so I figured it was the only one.

Anyway, shows you how closely I follow this .

TST works something like this....

Thread is created which talks about some guys aspirations of becoming a tour pro.
The thread reaches multiple pages within a day... Then moves to nearly a dozen pages by the end of the month of banter about why he has no chance in making it.

Then the thread dies off... And gets lost in the bone yard.

Suddenly, a new thread is created, and the process repeats itself....

But this time, we just happen to be talking about the same guy, from a previous thread, who has no chance in making it on tour.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

TST works something like this....

Thread is created which talks about some guys aspirations of becoming a tour pro.

The thread reaches multiple pages within a day... Then moves to nearly a dozen pages by the end of the month of banter about why he has no chance in making it.

Then the thread dies off... And gets lost in the bone yard.

Suddenly, a new thread is created, and the process repeats itself....

But this time, we just happen to be talking about the same guy, from a previous thread, who has no chance in making it on tour.

LOL ... this is pretty accurate.  Two big differences, though, between Dan and the other threads:

1.  The other ones are started by the person who has the aspirations.  And they get so hot for a day or three because that person is in there posting away.  Not only did Dan not start either of these threads (I think), as far as I am aware he hasn't posted in either of them once.

2.  As I understand it, Dan doesn't even have aspirations.  He is simply curious about the 10,000 hour theory and wants to test it out.  He had never touched a golf club before, so he chose golf as his "activity."  He could have just as easily gone with Tennis or Cricket or Guitar or Hopscotch.  The fact that it is golf is irrelevant to the experiment.

Side note:  I'm going to be a tour pro in 18 months. ;)

[David in FL]

Side note:  I'm going to be a tour pro in 18 months. ;)

So, you're gonna ba a soon_tour_pro? :-D