TST Interviews The Dan Plan (Dan McLaughlin) - You Get to Ask the Questions

[natureboy]

Let me rewrite what I said:  We all make mistakes, I know I certainly did with regards to finding pros that I work effectively with.

Based on this video, pro suggested it. How about this question: How would you have progressed with Dan Plan if he stayed on?

I watched this video and the chipping segment. It looked like the putting was a few months, or was it definitely a year? Not awful advice for developing a solid foundation of distance control touch, but it would have broken monotony and probably been more effective to spend less time (~ 2 hrs max) on a single skill. I saw the pro give him lots of good insights about fundamentals, but was also struck by how almost completely inactive Dan's lower body is with a moderate to long pitch and how disconnected his arms seem to be with his motion. Is this a style?

For my question, I would echo previous posters about revising goals. In the early stage chipping video on he says that his fundamental goal is to become an outlier .

I think maybe just didn't understand the statistics. In the classical music world, any professional musician who plays in a paid orchestra is an outlier in playing proficiency - perhaps 4 sigma outliers among those who play instruments. Famous soloists are even more accomplished among this elite - perhaps 5-6 sigma among the universe of instrument players. PGA players are the brilliant soloists of the golfing world. I think what Dan didn't understand is where he was aiming on the bell curve with the PGA goal.

"Since a PGA pro is also a statistical outlier in the universe of those who play golf, and a skillful accomplishment, would you consider it a valid (and perhaps more realistic) goal if he was to aim at passing the PGA playing ability test instead?"

[nevets88]

In your latest post you say you want to reach out to Kelvin Miyahara to see what he says about your SS issues. That's in April. Why not send in vids of your swings now and get an assessment? Or Skype him? You can get a measure of the value of his instruction sooner and make more progress when you're actually in Hawaii. Why wait when you can move things along right now? Why did you choose Kelvin Miyahara? Who else was in contention?

[mchepp]

The interview with Dan is planned for the morning tomorrow. I will also be giving him a Lowest Score Wins book. I am actually looking forward to meeting with him to ask these questions and get to know him personally rather than reading his blog. For those that did, thank you for submitted questions.

I have consolidated the questions into the list below. I am sure that many of these questions will lead to follow up questions so I am not sure I will get all the way through, but we'll see.

Next time you hear from me on this topic will be in my Thrash Talk article and then I will start a new thread to see if there are any questions from everyone.

1. Why did you start the project aiming so high? Why not target a more attainable goal like qualifying for the US Amateur or a club championship?

2. Online opinions on what you are doing must range from uplifting to downright nasty what are some of the craziest comments you have received and do they motivate or damage your psyche.

3. One of the biggest source of controversy on the TST forum is how you started the plan, with one foot putts. For someone starting out is this how you recommend they start?

4. If you had more money would you have done somethings differently? Instructor wise?

5. There is a large amount of interest in how you are going about deliberate practice, mirror work, video, what is your method and what details can you share about how you go about this deliberate practice?

6. Your improvement has been impressive considering you are a single digit handicap in a few years, but the remaining amount of improvement necessary may be more of a challenge (36 to 6 is easier than 3 to +4) than time you have left. How you plan to bridge this gap?

7. Are you burned out at all?

8. What do you think your relationship with golf will be when the plan is over if it is unsuccessful?

9. What are the 3 biggest mistakes of the plan so far? What are the 3 smartest things you have done?

10. What are the single biggest things holding you back?

11. Why at least in the early part of the plan do you think you struggled in tournaments?

12. Do you think it would have made sense to do some research on your own on the internet before starting the plan?

[nevets88]

The interview with Dan is planned for the morning tomorrow. I will also be giving him a Lowest Score Wins book. I am actually looking forward to meeting with him to ask these questions and get to know him personally rather than reading his blog. For those that did, thank you for submitted questions.

I have consolidated the questions into the list below. I am sure that many of these questions will lead to follow up questions so I am not sure I will get all the way through, but we'll see.

Next time you hear from me on this topic will be in my Thrash Talk article and then I will start a new thread to see if there are any questions from everyone.

1. Why did you start the project aiming so high? Why not target a more attainable goal like qualifying for the US Amateur or a club championship?

2. Online opinions on what you are doing must range from uplifting to downright nasty what are some of the craziest comments you have received and do they motivate or damage your psyche.

3. One of the biggest source of controversy on the TST forum is how you started the plan, with one foot putts. For someone starting out is this how you recommend they start?

4. If you had more money would you have done somethings differently? Instructor wise?

5. There is a large amount of interest in how you are going about deliberate practice, mirror work, video, what is your method and what details can you share about how you go about this deliberate practice?

6. Your improvement has been impressive considering you are a single digit handicap in a few years, but the remaining amount of improvement necessary may be more of a challenge (36 to 6 is easier than 3 to +4) than time you have left. How you plan to bridge this gap?

7. Are you burned out at all?

8. What do you think your relationship with golf will be when the plan is over if it is unsuccessful?

9. What are the 3 biggest mistakes of the plan so far? What are the 3 smartest things you have done?

10. What are the single biggest things holding you back?

11. Why at least in the early part of the plan do you think you struggled in tournaments?

12. Do you think it would have made sense to do some research on your own on the internet before starting the plan?

A very fair and good set of questions. Good luck with the interview. Looking forward to the writeup. Thanks for doing this!

[Lihu]

Could we add a more specific question about his next steps to improvement?

I am curious as to how he plans to increase his swing speed to match the performance of someone like Jason Day?

[nevets88]

Could we add a more specific question about his next steps to improvement?

I am curious as to how he plans to increase his swing speed to match the performance of someone like Jason Day?

Looks like that's covered by Qs 6 and 10.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Could we add a more specific question about his next steps to improvement?

I am curious as to how he plans to increase his swing speed to match the performance of someone like Jason Day?

Looks like that's covered by Qs 6 and 10.

Not really, I want the specifics. What is he planning on doing to gain swing speed?

[nevets88]

[QUOTE name="Lihu" url="/t/80681/tst-interviews-the-dan-plan-dan-mclaughlin-you-get-to-ask-the-questions/40_40#post_1117558"]   [QUOTE name="nevets88" url="/t/80681/tst-interviews-the-dan-plan-dan-mclaughlin-you-get-to-ask-the-questions/54#post_1117556"]   [QUOTE name="Lihu" url="/t/80681/tst-interviews-the-dan-plan-dan-mclaughlin-you-get-to-ask-the-questions/40_40#post_1117553"]   Could we add a more specific question about his next steps to improvement? I am curious as to how he plans to increase his swing speed to match the performance of someone like Jason Day? [/QUOTE] Looks like that's covered by Qs 6 and 10. [/QUOTE] Not really, I want the specifics. What is he planning on doing to gain swing speed? [/QUOTE] I respectfully disagree. His last post he talks about SS holding him back and question 6 & 10 asks him, what's holding him back?

[David in FL]

The interview with Dan is planned for the morning tomorrow. I will also be giving him a Lowest Score Wins book. I am actually looking forward to meeting with him to ask these questions and get to know him personally rather than reading his blog. For those that did, thank you for submitted questions. I have consolidated the questions into the list below. I am sure that many of these questions will lead to follow up questions so I am not sure I will get all the way through, but we'll see. Next time you hear from me on this topic will be in my Thrash Talk article and then I will start a new thread to see if there are any questions from everyone. 1. Why did you start the project aiming so high? Why not target a more attainable goal like qualifying for the US Amateur or a club championship? 2. Online opinions on what you are doing must range from uplifting to downright nasty what are some of the craziest comments you have received and do they motivate or damage your psyche.  3. One of the biggest source of controversy on the TST forum is how you started the plan, with one foot putts. For someone starting out is this how you recommend they start? 4. If you had more money would you have done somethings differently? Instructor wise? 5. There is a large amount of interest in how you are going about deliberate practice, mirror work, video, what is your method and what details can you share about how you go about this deliberate practice? 6. Your improvement has been impressive considering you are a single digit handicap in a few years, but the remaining amount of improvement necessary may be more of a challenge (36 to 6 is easier than 3 to +4) than time you have left. How you plan to bridge this gap? 7. Are you burned out at all? 8. What do you think your relationship with golf will be when the plan is over if it is unsuccessful? 9. What are the 3 biggest mistakes of the plan so far? What are the 3 smartest things you have done? 10. What are the single biggest things holding you back? 11. Why at least in the early part of the plan do you think you struggled in tournaments? 12. Do you think it would have made sense to do some research on your own on the internet before starting the plan?

Number 10. Are you asking for the single biggest thing, or multiple big things? Nothing wrong with the questions, but they're pretty benign. I'd have preferred some a little more pointed.

[iacas]

Number 10. Are you asking for the single biggest thing, or multiple big things?

It may have been my question. I think it is worded better to say: "Specifically, what are the biggest things…"

Nothing wrong with the questions, but they're pretty benign. I'd have preferred some a little more pointed.

I agree. Get some harder hitting ones in there. If he wants to blow them off, let him. Put him at the end.

And how are you doing it? Recording audio and then transcribing?

[mchepp]

I agree. Get some harder hitting ones in there. If he wants to blow them off, let him. Put him at the end. And how are you doing it? Recording audio and then transcribing?

Which hard hitting question did I miss? I tried to ask what everyone here asked. Give me a few hard hitting ones. Yes, record on my iPhone.

[acerimusdux]

Not really, I want the specifics. What is he planning on doing to gain swing speed?

Yeah, I think the problem with consolidating things is that you end up with very general questions, which are liable to generate boring, general answers.

My question about deliberate practice for example is covered by #5, but if you ask it that way I expect you might end up getting an answer like "yeah well I've done some video work, and mirror work, and lots of excersise as well, really all of that...." whereas I think it would be more interesting to try and get him talking about any one specific drill he especially liked or found useful, where you could maybe get him saying something like "Well there's this one drill I learned from ____ called the carrot and stick. You place the carrot under your chin, and balance a celery stick on top of your head. Then you....."

I just think with most of these it will be more interesting to try to get details just on one specific thing, like one specific mistake, one specific obstacle and something specific he has planned to try to address it, etc.

[nevets88]

Doesn't an interview involve follow up questions? I assume @mchepp has specifics in his mind from reading this thread he can draw on. If an answer is too general, then he can get more specific in a follow up question. So if the answer to what's holding you back isn't much of an answer, then go in with, well, you mentioned in your blog post swing speed w/resp to long appr shots. Have you made any further inroads in your thinking? The questions are there but there's some improvisation?

[David in FL]

Which hard hitting question did I miss? I tried to ask what everyone here asked. Give me a few hard hitting ones. Yes, record on my iPhone.

What do you see as the highest level tournament in which you will be genuinely competitive (top 10 or better) this year and what will be yourt progression for each year leading to the end of your "plan"? Does he think he has a chance to win his local club gross championship? When?

[Pretzel]

VERY Pointed question: How much money would you be willing to bet that you'll ever even earn a web.com tour card? Can I expect payment for this bet in cash or check? Slightly less pointed (and possibly more of a follow up): Do you honestly think you can achieve your stated goal since you're more than halfway through the plan and, according to the conventional wisdom of an exponential difficulty curve, maybe only halfway there at best?

[DrvFrShow]

The theory of 10,000 hours is in reality, just a theory. And in this case....

While one can become highly proficient at a particular endeavor, such as golf for example, breaking beyond mere high proficiency into the elite ranks in 10,000 hrs is something of a pipe dream. There's ones basic athletic ability, finding competent instruction, and willingness to put in hours and hours of practice in addition to learning how to play the game. With the elite, there is "the gift." Dan will become highly proficient.

Dan, how many tournaments can we look forward to seeing you participate in this year? The Oregon Amateur Championship is 6/22 - 6/27 and the deadline is 5/27. Are you planning to enter? How about the Oregon Men's Stroke Play Championship?

Do you plan to play in the US Amateur Championship next year? And/or compete in the US Open as an amateur next year?

[RandallT]

The theory of 10,000 hours is in reality, just a theory. And in this case....

While one can become highly proficient at a particular endeavor, such as golf for example, breaking beyond mere high proficiency into the elite ranks in 10,000 hrs is something of a pipe dream. There's ones basic athletic ability, finding competent instruction, and willingness to put in hours and hours of practice in addition to learning how to play the game. With the elite, there is "the gift." Dan will become highly proficient.

Dan, how many tournaments can we look forward to seeing you participate in this year? The Oregon Amateur Championship is 6/22 - 6/27 and the deadline is 5/27. Are you planning to enter? How about the Oregon Men's Stroke Play Championship?

Do you plan to play in the US Amateur Championship next year? And/or compete in the US Open as an amateur next year?

How does Dan see the success or failure of his "plan" contribute to the debate about the validity of the "10,000 hours" theory?  If he succeeds (ha!), will it confirm the theory (or is one data point not enough)? If he fails, will it disprove anything? And if neither outcome means much, what was the point of it all? Was it a failed concept to begin with?

or

Didn't he originally "set out to prove the idea that it was possible?" If he fails, does he feel the burden of being the guy who disproved some prominent authors and academics?

[David in FL]

VERY Pointed question: How much money would you be willing to bet that you'll ever even earn a web.com tour card? Can I expect payment for this bet in cash or check?

You're still setting the bar way too high. Same question, but apply to his club championship.