35YO Golfer's Plan: Buy a Trackman, Dedicate 7 Hours Daily, Get Good

[nevets88]

Here's the reddit post. Bought a Trackman, ARCCOS, among other things and will be dedicating a lot of time to improving. Here's the blog. I don't mean to be critical, but that money spent on radar is probably better spent trying to find a good pro. Somewhere in that blog he says partially inspired by Dan Plan.

 

[dennyjones]

WOW!  Didn't see he worked much.   Must have an early retirement or work a few hours from home.   He must have an understanding family.  I wish him well.  

[David in FL]

Huh.

I'd hope that the trackman would be used in conjunction with a good instructor.  It's one thing to "see the picture" in terms of raw numbers, it's quite another altogether to know how to interpret and change that picture.

 

2 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

WOW!  Didn't see he worked much.   Must have an early retirement or work a few hours from home.   He must have an understanding family.  I wish him well.  

Probably lives in his mom's basement.  

[billchao]

33 minutes ago, David in FL said:

I'd hope that the trackman would be used in conjunction with a good instructor.  It's one thing to "see the picture" in terms of raw numbers, it's quite another altogether to know how to interpret and change that picture.

Yes. Even worse is the misapplication of the information. A lot of people think using radar means changing the swing to try and make the numbers perfect and forget the whole point was to be better at golf in the first place.

[nevets88]

31 minutes ago, billchao said:

Yes. Even worse is the misapplication of the information. A lot of people think using radar means changing the swing to try and make the numbers perfect and forget the whole point was to be better at golf in the first place.

 

1 hour ago, David in FL said:

I'd hope that the trackman would be used in conjunction with a good instructor.  It's one thing to "see the picture" in terms of raw numbers, it's quite another altogether to know how to interpret and change that picture.

Yes, that money is so much better spent working w/someone who really knows what they're doing. Find a range that has radar and use that once in a while. In re: higher handicaps advising lower handicaps, this one you don't have to be a swing guru to figure out, more like years of experience around the game.

If you were to embark on such a plan, first thing to do is work hard on finding the best instructor, work out something between he and you that maximizes practice and lessons. Maybe even seek out short game specialists - Aimpoint, Sam Putt lab. Get fitted for putter and wedges, find places to practice and play, again, get together with place and figure out a plan. Learn how to use a camera, get Analyzr or similar. Also gym for injury prevention, some cardio. Man, you guys all go about it the wrong way. SMH.

[bkuehn1952]

1 hour ago, dennyjones said:

WOW!  Didn't see he worked much.   Must have an early retirement or work a few hours from home.   He must have an understanding family.  I wish him well.  

"I have a Masters in Computer Science and was freelancing or consulting since I am 18. My business took off ..."

He is married with at least one young child.  Works out of the home.

I followed "The Dan Plan" a bit and never felt he was capable of giving it a good attempt.  I suspect this guy is going to have problems with "life" getting in the way.

Edited April 24, 2017 by bkuehn1952

[nevets88]

Middle age life crisis a la golf?

[TN94z]

I can for sure see other ways to have better spent that money which would net him better results, in my opinion.

[nycgopher]

Good lord am I envious! Sounds like a dream come true to have the time, funds and, a family supportive of a goal such as this. I would love to see him turn it into a vlog as it could be interesting (especially for us obsessed with the game). 

 

I also hope he utilizes lessons in conjunction with his Trackman.

[dennyjones]

1 hour ago, nevets88 said:

Middle age life crisis a la golf?

At least it wasn't a Lamborghini !!

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, bkuehn1952 said:

"I have a Masters in Computer Science and was freelancing or consulting since I am 18. My business took off ..."

He is married with at least one young child.  Works out of the home.

I followed "The Dan Plan" a bit and never felt he was capable of giving it a good attempt.  I suspect this guy is going to have problems with "life" getting in the way.

IDK, it seems like this guy is more talented (intelligent) than Dan. It's less likely that he'll get injured. He knows his body well. He's shooting under 80 and has a near term goal to consistently shoot under 80 50% of the time.

The Trackman could be better for him than hiring a bunch of instructors, since we all know that finding a good one is really hard. If he doesn't injure himself with bad techniques it seems like he can evolve his swing. One thing for sure his progress will be monitored well with ARCOS and Trackman.

Pete Iveson is doing pretty much the same thing except that he does have good instructors as well. I think he's meeting his goals as well.

His plans are more specific and I don't think he's set unrealistic goals.

Quote

Goal #1 approach

My approach for goal #1 is very simple and somewhat of an experiment. I want to see if I can teach myself to become a better golfer with the help of data and the internet. I bought a TrackMan in September 2016, which allows me to gather a lot of data about my swing and helps me to study my weaknesses. You can read here why I chose to buy a TrackMan instead of hiring a coach.

The steps for my approach are fairly simple.

1. Identify, study and understand weaknesses in my golf game.
2. Using a logical and analytical approach to either eliminate those weaknesses or turn them into strengths.
3. Back to step 1 and repeat.

I will also document as well as I can:

• My practice approach, practice stats and why I chose certain approaches.
• Every round I play using the Arccos 360 sensor system. This will be in a form of screenshots. Unfortunately, the Arccos platform is not yet able to share a link to a full round.
• TrackMan stats for all my clubs (chronological order latest to earliest).

Goal #2 approach

To reach most of the sub-goals I will heavily rely on my experience and background in business, marketing, and computer science. I won’t go into detail of how exactly I will achieve those milestones. Overall this site is more about the improvement of my golf game, the strategies I will choose to accomplish those goals. Rather than how to successfully or not successfully build a brand around yourself to support your dream allowing you to do what you love. Nevertheless, I will document some parts of it and write about failures or successes. The TrackMan university sub-goals are purely focused on studying all the different data points the device provides. It would be foolish to not study their material. That will be something I am slowly doing on the side and have been doing since I got the device. It truly helps to fully understand all the aspects of the ball flight and what happens at impact.

Goal #3 approach

This goal is pretty much an extension build on goal #1. Focus on goal #1 by achieving the sub-goals and goal #3 is a logical step in the right direction. At least for me, due to my competitiveness. I’m already participating in most scrambles and leagues my home course offers. I will try to also document my progress in those events.

 

To sum it up. I am 35 years old and I am about to change my life. Let the journey begin.

 

[nevets88]

OK, reading that why I bought a Trackman post, I think maybe he didn't try enough coaches. I bet he'd click w/someone like a James Ridyard. I can definitely relate to his more analytical approach though. It'll be interesting to see what he learns.

[Pretzel]

We'll see how it goes, but I give this guy a much better chance at getting to scratch than Dan simply because Dan lacked the funding to keep going. Computer programming is easier late at night (must be a strange behavior within C and Java, I dunno), so he'll still be able to maintain the income to afford it all without it getting in the way of his golf.

At the very least, it doesn't appear as though this guy is shooting for the tour and that's good. It might hurt him with his second goal of creating a golf business slightly since it doesn't seem like as grand of a plan, but I like that it's realistic.

[Lihu]

39 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

OK, reading that why I bought a Trackman post, I think maybe he didn't try enough coaches. I bet he'd click w/someone like a James Ridyard. I can definitely relate to his more analytical approach though. It'll be interesting to see what he learns.

Yeah, it'll be more fun to follow than the Dan plan for sure. This guy's been playing for some time now.

 

4 minutes ago, Pretzel said:

We'll see how it goes, but I give this guy a much better chance at getting to scratch than Dan simply because Dan lacked the funding to keep going. Computer programming is easier late at night (must be a strange behavior within C and Java, I dunno), so he'll still be able to maintain the income to afford it all without it getting in the way of his golf.

At the very least, it doesn't appear as though this guy is shooting for the tour and that's good. It might hurt him with his second goal of creating a golf business slightly since it doesn't seem like as grand of a plan, but I like that it's realistic.

He didn't start off as a newbie to golf either. He seems to have specific goals in mind. It's not like he's never been to an instructor in his life.

If the goal is to become the best golfer you can be, then he definitely has a better chance than going from a complete beginner to a  "PGA pro" with 10,000 hours of practice.

[WUTiger]

Someone should send a cautionary to r/golf, about practicing 7 hours a day:

At the February St. Louis Golf Expo, an orthopedic surgeon talked about overdoing the golf muscles. According to him, golfers who cross these thresholds greatly increase their chance of injury:

• Golfers who play four or more rounds of golf a week.
• Golfers who hit more than 200 full-swing practice shots a week.

It seems like 7 x 7 would definitely cross the thresholds.

[Pretzel]

6 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

Someone should send a cautionary to r/golf, about practicing 7 hours a day:

At the February St. Louis Golf Expo, an orthopedic surgeon talked about overdoing the golf muscles. According to him, golfers who cross these thresholds greatly increase their chance of injury:

• Golfers who play four or more rounds of golf a week.
• Golfers who hit more than 200 full-swing practice shots a week.

It seems like 7 x 7 would definitely cross the thresholds.

I went for several years of five+ rounds a week and at least that many practice shots without problems, though I was (and am) pretty young, and I can't imagine a single PGA pro who doesn't cross those thresholds on a weekly basis. 

I can understand that there's probably an increased chance at injury, but if the increase was that great why don't we hear more stories about the big name pros being hurt and unable to play? Besides DJ (who fell down stairs, not a golf-related injury) and Tiger, I can't think of the last time that I heard of a top golfer (who would receive press coverage) hurting themselves while golfing and being unable to play as a result. 

[Lihu]

57 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

Someone should send a cautionary to r/golf, about practicing 7 hours a day:

At the February St. Louis Golf Expo, an orthopedic surgeon talked about overdoing the golf muscles. According to him, golfers who cross these thresholds greatly increase their chance of injury:

• Golfers who play four or more rounds of golf a week.
• Golfers who hit more than 200 full-swing practice shots a week.

It seems like 7 x 7 would definitely cross the thresholds.

I play about 3 to 4 rounds a week (between 44 to 72 holes) and sometimes hit multiple balls on practice rounds or about 120 to 200 balls per week practicing. Sure, I have constant soreness in my inner gluteus and outer calve muscles, but other than that nothing bad?

Should I be playing or practicing less? Last year was almost twice as much plus 50 hours a week working for about two years. I was constantly sore over my entire body. . .but again nothing debilitating.

 

46 minutes ago, Pretzel said:

I went for several years of five+ rounds a week and at least that many practice shots without problems, though I was (and am) pretty young, and I can't imagine a single PGA pro who doesn't cross those thresholds on a weekly basis. 

I can understand that there's probably an increased chance at injury, but if the increase was that great why don't we hear more stories about the big name pros being hurt and unable to play? Besides DJ (who fell down stairs, not a golf-related injury) and Tiger, I can't think of the last time that I heard of a top golfer (who would receive press coverage) hurting themselves while golfing and being unable to play as a result. 

Same here, and I've crossed those thresholds in the last 3 months?

Short game is also really important at his level of play, so maybe he spends all the time he needs for long game then a huge amount of time on short game?

[Alx]

This "program" is pretty nuts. Id say he probably has no past experience in seriously training for something. It's just way too much work.

Doing stuff like this will burn you out in a few weeks or you'll become a zombie. Either way you're not getting much out of it.

@Pretzel Arent there quite a few pros who've had injuries? 1 young guy just recently had a shoulder tear mid round cant recall his name, Jason Day injuries, McIlroy stress fracture. These are the sort of minor injuries that often go overlooked.

Every sport at the highest level requires so much work and is so straining there's going to be some damage.

 

1 hour ago, WUTiger said:

Someone should send a cautionary to r/golf, about practicing 7 hours a day:

At the February St. Louis Golf Expo, an orthopedic surgeon talked about overdoing the golf muscles. According to him, golfers who cross these thresholds greatly increase their chance of injury:

• Golfers who play four or more rounds of golf a week.
• Golfers who hit more than 200 full-swing practice shots a week.

It seems like 7 x 7 would definitely cross the thresholds.

Sounds realistic. These are pretty similar to gym training. No one would do 150 reps for max speed every day for years. Golf swing isn't really any different it's just a rep.