Opinion & Analysis
What Happened to The Dan Plan?
In November of 2008, Malcolm Gladwell released a book that accomplished something very few books ever do – it changed our vocabulary. In his book, Outliers, he described success in ways that most had never thought about before. Gladwell brought the idea of 10,000 hours being the threshold for expertise.
In principle, Gladwell claimed that it took around 10,000 hours to master a skill. The Beatles mastered their art by performing in small dive bars in the U.K. night after night after night, eventually getting to 10,000 hours. Tiger Woods reached his 10,000-hour mark sometime before he got to Stanford.
The most interesting thing about this concept, though, is what people have done with it since Gladwell made the concept mainstream. Dan McLaughlin was a commercial photographer who quit his day job to pursue a quest of 10,000 hours of to see if someone who’d never played a full 18-holes of golf could reach the PGA Tour.
The Journey
McLaughlin tracked everything with daily blog posts, sometimes only a sentence or two. It started in April of 2010 with a simple first post:
“Day one: April 5, 2010. Went out and putted for two hours. Don’t have the ‘real’ clubs yet, but it still counts as a start! So, down to 9,998 hours.”
At the beginning of his journey there was some media buzz to see what would happen or if he was serious, and within a year or so people began to realize he was. The question soon changed from, “Is he going to stick it out?” to “Can he make it on tour?”
By the end of 2012, McLaughlin lowered his handicap to 5.9, a number less than 6 percent of golfers will ever see. In a blog posted December 31, 2012, he said:
“Great day to end the year. Found my mojo after a few day slump and played pretty well despite absolutely frozen greens that played like hardpan. Didn’t score super well, but found my drive and iron shots once again. It snowed for a lot of the day. 6,310 remain. Random Stat: Shot an 80 at Heron Lakes and about 5-over for 9 at CECC.”
After only 3,690 hours, a man who’d never played a full round of golf before 2010 shot 80 in the snow. How long is 3,690 hours? In normal metrics, it’s 92 full work weeks.
In a post on April 20, 2014, McLaughlin describes breaking a barrier that only approximately 1 percent of golfers will ever break.
“April 20: Easter Sunday, hid some eggs and did an Easter egg hunt in the morning and then made it for a round at 1 p.m. at Heron Lakes. I didn’t warm up and just went for it and played what started as a pretty decent round then got better as the day went along. I managed to get in a decent position with my tee shots then either hit greens or be close to them and scrambled well. All in all shot the best round to date and was very happy about it. 4,968 remain. Random Stat: shot a 70 to finally break par!”
Just over half-way through the 10,000-hour journey, he’d broken par, but he was also four years into this journey and still had over 4,900 hours left.
The Beginning of the End
So, where is McLaughlin now? In another post from his blog on April 13, 2015, we can see the beginning of the end:
“April 13: I kind of hurt my back a little yesterday somehow, but had my Monday league play so after working in the yard through the morning (lightly) I went to Broadmoor and played a 9-hole match. It was absolutely pouring out and not much fun in the conditions, honestly. 4,013 remain. Random Stat: lost 2 down.”
Right there. “I kind of hurt my back a little yesterday somehow.” The rest of the post ignores the back issue, and he only mentions it again on April 15th, when he opens his post with, “The back is still a little weird, and I’m in the middle of moving still so had limited practice time today.” It’s unclear what happened to his back, but he goes into a little more detail on the Golf.com podcast from November 6, 2015.
If you listen to this episode, you’ll find that McLaughlin appreciated his break from the journey. It was “sort of a nice break,” he said.
In one of McLaughlin’s last posts he wrote:
“April 25-26: Played in the two-man two-day best ball tourney at Rose City with a friend. I thought the back would be better, but it took everything I had to try and hit a tee shot, and anything longer than a 7-iron from the fairway was instant pain…Need to see a professional tomorrow. 3,997 remain. Random Stat: I’ve never felt pinches like this.”
McLaughlin was stymied at just over 6,000 hours in five years. His initial goal was to complete the 10,000 hours by 2016, but he had higher expectations as well.
From the podcast interview:
“I thought maybe I’d get to scratch in about a year or something, so potentially I’m a little behind where I was hoping to be, but you know, you are where you are, and I have 4,000 hours left.”
I spoke with McLaughlin on the phone the other day and asked him what he learned from the journey.
“Golf changed who I am in a lot of ways, he said. “There is a direct correlation between how much time you put in and the results you see in your golf game. But it’s not just the hours; you have to have focused hours. You have to work on something specific with a goal each time you show up. The same is true in business or any other venture.”
At his playing peak, McLaughlin got his handicap down to a 2.6 index, which is fantastic golf by almost anyone’s standards. He first reached this peak in June of 2014, only four years after he’d begun. When I asked him what he thought about his game when he was at the peak handicap of his journey, he said, “I don’t think I reached my peak. When I hurt my back, I was playing well, but I was hitting the driver really bad. I never felt like I was able to put it all together. Other parts of my game that were good were sort of keeping me together.”
In June of 2014, McLaughlin had put in 5,145 hours of practice. He didn’t make it to the tour, but his journey shows that dedicated practice can get golfers closer to where they want to go.
The Future
There’s much to be learned from McLaughlin’s experience, and not just in a golf sense. It’s long been known within the self-development space that people enjoy life more when they have a personal quest. For some people that means running a marathon, 10 marathons or 50 marathons in all 50 states. For others, it’s about building a start-up and taking it to an IPO, bench pressing 300 pounds or winning their club championship.
McLaughlin never really set the goal of becoming a PGA Tour player, but he did want to see if the 10,000-hour rule could hold true. Could someone with no experience in a sport or another other venture put in the 10,000 of deliberate work and achieve what most would consider mastery status? But more so, he wanted something almost transcendental.
“When I started this journey, I wanted to inspire people to be the best person they could be,” McLaughlin said. “It was a journey about human potential, about my own potential.”
As we spoke on the phone, he told me that as the attention grew for his plan — which it did fairly quickly — he started to lose sight of his goal of inspiring people. It started to become more about the golf and shooting the score. He’d lost sight of his quest.
The interviewer on the Golf.com podcast asked McLaughlin if he had any regrets (at the time of the interview, he had been on a layoff for his back for over six months).
Interviewer: “There are no regrets, right? I mean, you’re happy you undertook this task?”
“I mean, it’s just, in so many ways it’s been transformative. It’s taught me a lot about life; it’s opened a lot of doors, you know I’ve met a lot of people through this journey. I’ve learned a ton, I think and all in all, it’s made me a better person.”
The golf didn’t teach him a lot of about life. It wasn’t the result of the shots or the result of the putts he hit; it was the quest. It was the day-in, day-out pursuit of something that helped him gain perspective and discipline, two things people can take with them the rest of their lives.
Behind all great achievements is a human on a quest. It’s why the greatest stories from our childhood have a character fighting their way through some sort of turmoil. It’s why, when people feel they have no purpose, they start reaching for something to give them purpose. Dan McLaughlin set out to prove or disprove a theory, but what he ended up doing is finding himself in the process.
Unfortunately, the last public update we have on his journey from his website is the last post from May 2, 2015:
“Just a bad week. Saw Chiropractor Seth and he said I was all twisted up in the hips and lower back and needed a couple of adjustments. First one was on Monday, followed by an easy Tuesday and then again in his office Wednesday. Late Wednesday night I came down with norovirus, which knocked me out completely for Thursday and Friday, so I scheduled the third adjustment with him this coming Monday. The back feels better, it’s just the lower right side now which is the final adjustment coming Monday. It’s been a long time off and not for a good reason, which is kind of a bummer, but better to get healthy than to risk deeper injury. After Monday I should be able to at least go out and chip and putt on Tuesday, I hope.”
That was over 18 months ago. When I spoke to McLaughlin on the phone, he was upbeat. He told me his new girlfriend had come across some media coverage of his journey (he met his girlfriend well after the back injury sidelined him) and he sat down and went through it all again and explained it to her.
“She told me she noticed a theme as we went through the old press stuff together, the theme was that it was about inspiring people,” he said. “I can definitely point to a time in my journey when I lost sight of that. But as I sit here today, I feel as though I achieved something worthwhile.”
The data on McLaughlin’s site shows that as well, but that’s what journeys are, right? They are a string of failures mixed with a few wins sprinkled in to keep us going, and if we stick it out long enough, we’ll find something important.
Unfortunately, McLaughlin may never make it to 10,000 hours.
“I went through months of physical therapy and I couldn’t even putt for six months because it hurt so bad,” he said. “I’ve just recently, in the last couple of months been able to play somewhat pain-free. I have started this new venture, and we’re having a lot of fun. I have tried to write the final post on the site so many times, but I can never seem to close it out. I would like to think that down the road when I’ve got the capital to fully commit again; I can make golf a full-time focus and maybe make a run for the senior tour. Who knows?”
McLaughlin (left) and his neighbor Chris Onstad, who together founded a Portland Soda Works, a craft soda company in 2012.
Even if McLaughlin never logs another blog post, it’s safe to say that he inspired me as a writer. I hope that if you’d never heard of his story until now that you look him up, read his blog and watch the press videos. His journey may inspire you to pick up something new or to rededicate to something of old.
McLaughlin learned a lot about being a better person and what it means to pursue something with everything you’ve got. And that’s a skill that may only require 6,003 hours to master, and it may take him further than golf ever would have. We’ll have to wait and see.
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Opinion & Analysis
Brandel Chamblee PGA Championship Q&A: Rose’s huge McLaren risk, distracted LIV pros and why Aronimink suits the bombers
PGA Championship week is here, and Brandel Chamblee did not hold back in our latest discussion ahead of the season’s second major.
In our 2026 PGA Championship Q&A, golf’s leading analyst made the case that PIF pulling LIV’s funding has left its players competing in a state of confusion, called Justin Rose’s mid-season equipment switch a huge risk at 45, and explained why Aronimink will be a bombers’ delight this week.
Check out the full Q&A below.
Gianni: With the PIF confirming that they’re pulling funding from LIV at the end of the season, what impact do you expect that to have on the LIV players competing at the PGA Championship?
Brandel: I would imagine that they have all been thrown into a state of confusion, and will be distracted, not knowing where they are going to play next year and not knowing exactly their road back to either the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour. Or in Rahm’s case, being tied to a sinking ship for the next few years, likely playing for pennies on the dollar in events that no one cares about or watches.
I doubt this would put him in the best frame of mind to compete at his highest level. Keeping in mind, however, that majors are the only time that LIV disciples get to play in events that matter, so never disregard the motivation they have to prove to the world they are still relevant.
Gianni: Justin Rose switched to McLaren Golf equipment mid-season while playing some of the best golf of his career. What do you make of the change?
Brandel: I don’t really know what to make of Rose switching equipment. It seems a huge risk on his part, even though it is likely, in my opinion, that the clubs he’s playing are similar, if not the exact grinds, to what he was playing previously, with a McLaren stamp on them.
Having said that, at best, it is a distraction when he seemed to be as dialed in with his game as any 45-year-old could be and trending in the majors to perhaps do something that would definitely put him in the Hall of Fame. At worst, given the possibility that these clubs aren’t just duplicates of his old set stamped with McLaren on them, he’s made an equipment change that would take time, and 45-year-old athletes don’t have the time to do such things.
Gianni: Aronimink has only hosted a handful of professional events since it hosted the 1962 PGA Championship. What kind of test does it present, and does a course with less recent major championship history tend to level the playing field?
Brandel: Even though Aronimink has only hosted a handful of meaningful professional events, it has been fairly discerning in who can win there. When Keegan Bradley won the BMW Championship on the Donald Ross masterpiece in 2018, he was the 2nd best iron player on tour coming into that week. When Nick Watney won the AT&T at Aronimink in 2011, he was 2nd in strokes gained total coming into the week.
In 2020, Aronimink hosted the KPMG Championship, and Sei Young Kim won. On the LPGA that year, she was first in greens in regulation, putts per green in regulation, and scoring average on the way to being the LPGA player of the year. And then there is the 1962 PGA Championship won by Gary Player, who eventually became just one of a few players to win the career grand slam on the way to winning 9 majors. It is a formidable test, and if it’s not softened by rain, it will bring out the best in the upper echelons of the game.
Gianni: Is there a specific hole at Aronimink that you think will do the most to decide the winner?
Brandel: The hardest hole at Aronimink in each of the three tour events that have been played there since 2010 has been the long par-3 8th hole, with the par-4 10th being the second hardest, so most of the carnage will happen around the turn, but with the par-5 16th offering opportunities for bold plays and the tough closing holes at 17 and 18, the finish is likely to be frenetic.
Gianni: The PGA Championship has always sat in the shadow of the other majors. What does the ideal PGA Championship look like in your eyes, and what would it take for it to carve out its own identity?
Brandel: The PGA Championship, to whatever degree it suffers from the comparison to the other three majors, is still counted just as much when adding them up at the end of one’s career. Almost 1/3 of Nicklaus’ major wins were the five PGA Championships he won. Walter Hagen won 11 majors, five of which were PGA Championships.
Tiger Woods twice in his career won back-to-back PGA Championships, and those four majors count just as much as the other 11 he won. The PGA may not have the prestige of the other three, but it carries the same weight. Having said that, I preferred the identity that it had as the last major of the year.
Gianni: You nailed your Masters picks. Rory won, Scottie finished solo second, and Morikawa surged to a tie for seventh. Who are your top 3 picks for the PGA Championship and why?
Brandel: I am not a huge fan of majors played on golf courses that have been shorn of most of the trees, although I understand some of the agronomic reasons for doing so and of course the ease with which it allows members to play after errant drives. However, at the highest level, it all but eliminates any strategy off the tee and turns professional golf into an even bigger slugfest. That means that it will likely be a bomber’s delight this week, but fortunately, Scottie Scheffler is long enough to play that game and straight enough to play it better than anyone else.
The major championships give us very few surprises anymore, going back to the beginning of 2012, so the last 57 majors played, the average world rank of the winners has been better than 15th in the world. So look at the highest ranked and longest drivers who are on form coming into the PGA Championship who also have great short games as the surrounds at Aronimink are very challenging. That’s Scottie Scheffler by a mile and then McIlroy and Cameron Young with a far bigger nod towards DeChambeau than I gave him at the Masters.
In this episode of the Club Junkie Podcast, we dive into one of the most interesting flatstick releases of the year with a full review of the new TaylorMade SYSTM 2 putters. After spending time on the greens, I break down what makes this design stand out, where it performs, and why it has me completely torn between loving it and fighting it. If you are into feel, alignment, and consistency, this is one you will want to hear about.
We also take a look at some of the putters in play on the PGA Tour last week. From familiar favorites to a few surprising setups, there is always something to learn from what the best players in the world are rolling with under pressure.
To wrap things up, I walk through the process of building a set of JP Golf Prime irons paired with Baddazz Gold Series shafts. From component selection to performance goals, this is a deep dive into what goes into creating a unique custom set and why this combo has been so intriguing.
This year my 50th birthday. Gosh, where has the time gone?
As a teenager in rural Missouri, some of my junior high and high school years felt interminable. Graduation seemed light years away. But the older I get, the faster life seems to fly by.
I’m also increasingly aware of my mortality. My dad died recently. Earlier this year, a friend and fellow PGA of America professional and I were texting about our next catch-up. The next message I received was news of his unexpected passing at 48. Shortly after, a woman I dated in college succumbed to cancer at 51.
Certainly, one can share perspective at any age. Seniors help freshmen, veterans guide rookies. But reaching this milestone feels like as good a time as any to do one of those “what would I tell my younger self?” articles.
I’ve had a uniquely varied career in golf. I started as a 27-year-old, average-length-hitting, 14-handicap computer engineer and somehow managed to turn pro before running out of money, constantly bootstrapping my way forward. I’ve won qualifiers and set venue records in the World Long Drive Championships, finished fifth at the Speedgolf World Championships, coached all skill levels as a PGA of America professional, built industry-leading swing speed training programs for Swing Man Golf, helped advance the single-length iron market with Sterling Irons®, caddied on the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions, and played about 300 courses across 32 countries.
It’s been a ride, and I’ve gone both deep and wide.
So while I can consult and advise from a lot of angles, let me keep it to a few things I’d tell the average golfer who wants to improve.
1. Think About What You Want
Everyone has their own reason for picking up a golf club.
Oddly, as a professional athlete, I’m not internally driven by competition. That can be challenging, as the industry currently prioritizes and incentivizes competition over the love of the game.
For me, I love walking and being outdoors. Nature helps balance my energy. I prefer courses that are integrated into the natural beauty of their surroundings. I’m comfortable practicing alone. I’m a deep thinker, and I genuinely enjoy investigating the game, using data and intuition to unearth unique, often innovative insights. I’m fortunate to be strong and athletic, so I appreciate the chance to engage with my abilities. Traveling feels adventurous. I could go on.
You don’t have to overthink it like I do. For you, it might be as simple as hitting balls to escape work, hanging out with friends, and playing loosely with the rules and the score.
The point is to give yourself permission to play for your own reasons, and let that be enough.
But if improvement is your goal, thinking about your destination—and when you want to get there—is important, because it dictates the steps you need to take. When I set out to go from a 14-handicap to the PGA TOUR as quickly as possible, the steps I needed were very different from those of a working golfer trying to break 90 in six months. That’s also different from someone who just wants a few peaceful hours outside each week, away from work or family.
None of these goals are better than the others, but each requires a different plan that you can work backward from.
2. There Are Lots of Things That Can Work
One of the challenges of golf is that, although there are rules for playing, there aren’t clear, industry-wide standards for how to best play the game. There’s a lot of gray area.
You might hear a top coach or trainer insist that a certain move is the best way to swing or train. Then you dig a bit deeper and, much to your confusion and frustration, another respected coach or trainer says something completely different. I don’t think anyone is trying to confuse you—at least I hope not. It’s just where the industry is right now.
You have to be careful with advice from tournament pros, too. They might be great at scoring, but they’re also human and sometimes just as susceptible as amateurs to believing things that don’t really move the needle. Tour players might describe what they feel, but that’s not always what they’re actually doing when assessed with technology.
I recently ran a test on my YouTube channel (which connects to my GolfWRX article “How to use your hands in the golf swing for power and accuracy”), and, interestingly, two of the most commonly taught hand actions produced the worst results in the test.
Coaches can certainly help. If you find someone you connect with to help navigate, that’s great. But there are many ways to get the ball in the hole. In the current landscape, you may need to seek multiple opinions, think critically, and use your own intuition to discern what seems true and whose advice resonates with you.
I’d recommend seeking someone who is open-minded and always learning, because things constantly change. Absolutes like “correct” or “proper” should raise a red flag. AI can be useful, but it tends to confidently repeat popular advice, so proceed with caution.
3. Get Custom Fit
If you’re serious about becoming a better player, getting custom fit is hugely important. There’s no sense fighting your equipment if you don’t have to. Most better players get fit these days and, if they don’t, they’re usually skilled enough to work around clubs that aren’t ideal.
If you plan to play for a long time, it’s worth spending a little more upfront to get something that truly fits you and your game, rather than continually buying and discarding equipment.
Equipment rules haven’t really changed significantly since the early 2000s. To stay in business, manufacturers keep pushing those limits. If you pull a bunch of clubs and balls off the rack and test them, you’ll find differences. I’ve tested two new drivers and seen a 30-yard total distance gap. Usually, the issue isn’t bad equipment; it’s that the combination of components simply isn’t the best fit.
It’s like wearing a new pair of floppy clown shoes. Sure, they’re shoes—but you won’t sprint your best in them compared to track shoes that fit perfectly.
Be wary of what’s called custom fitting, too. Sometimes the term is used as a marketing strategy rather than an actual fitting. In some retail settings, fitters may be incentivized to steer you toward higher-priced components. That doesn’t automatically mean it’s not the best fit, but you should be aware of potential biases.
I learned a version of this lesson outside of golf. Years ago, I bought a tennis racquet at a big box store from a seemingly knowledgeable employee who thought it would suit me best. The racquet gave me tennis elbow, and I spent months recovering with rest and acupuncture. The next season, I invested more time and money to find what actually fit me, and I walked away with something amazing that I still play with years later.
So if you’re going to get fit, be smart about it.
Find someone you believe has deep knowledge—possibly with certifications, but not necessarily. Make sure there’s a wide inventory across many brands. Check recent reviews for the individual fitter if possible. Make sure you trust that the fitter has your best interests at heart. If they’re wearing a hat or shirt with a specific brand’s logo, proceed with caution. Unless you specifically want a certain brand or look, be wary of upsells, especially if two options perform nearly the same.
Also, while golf is called a sport of integrity, there’s a thread of manipulation in the industry. I once drafted an equipment article for an industry magazine, structured just like one of their previous popular stories, with matching word count and great photos. The assistant editor loved it; it was useful to readers and required little work on his part. But the editor-in-chief nixed the story. When I asked why, I was told it was because I wasn’t an advertiser. It turned out the article I’d modeled mine after was a paid ad cleverly disguised as editorial content.
I really dislike games, clickbait, and fear-based manipulation. I hope this changes, but golfers deserve to know it exists.
4. Distance and Strategy Matter
There’s a real relationship between how far you hit the ball and your scoring average, even at the PGA TOUR level.
I experienced this early in my pro career. I started as a power hitter, swinging in the high 120s and breaking 200 mph ball speed with a stock driver.
Back then, some instructors advised swinging at 80%, so I tried slowing down for more accuracy. That worked fine on shorter, tighter courses. But on longer setups, I was coming into greens with too much club, and par 5s stopped being
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Rod Grinberg
Mar 31, 2022 at 10:41 am
This guy was always a charlatan. I play golf at some of the same courses in Portland, heard talk about him, he was caught cheating in local tournaments, and nobody liked playing with him because he was very slow. A ten handicapper at best from what I have heard.
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Tim Roggero
Dec 28, 2018 at 10:00 am
I am a pga golf professional and have seen and worked with the only guy to ever go from the bagroom to the pga tour at the age of 25 and shooting in the mid 70s.You must put timing into the 10000 hrs so there is skill development.The worst people you can listen to our those teaching feelings and perceptions or listening to a good player.Ask any physics professor and they will tell you every thing that is currently taught about where speed comes from is wrong.How it is taught guarantees it will never work this is why nobody ever improves but for hitting highs and lows along the way.There is not one teacher on the pga circuit who has or is currently helping anyone.Study neuroscience you will see its impossible.It all comes down to a time learned release of the forearms in every swing.Please feel free to question rgg284@aol.com
Michael Robles
Aug 6, 2017 at 3:04 am
I read Outliers in October 2012 and finished the book by December 2012. I immediately started the journey to 10,000 hours. I practiced 3 hours a day for 8 months and then ramped it up to 5 hours a day in August 2013. I practice everyday. I have not tracked my hours practiced but I mentioned that I practice everyday. So I’m probably 7,500 hours into the experiment. When I started I was shooting low 100’s and I am a 2 handicap now. It definitely works. I have made 2 major swing changes and that has slowed my progress. I didn’t receive pro instruction for my first 2 years. That was a huge mistake. If you’re interested in seeing my journey search HOOA on youtube. I vlog my journey and record all of my competitive rounds.
Jocko
Jul 1, 2017 at 10:19 am
The 10,000 hour rule is separate from the talent component. Of course anybody will get better at something if they do it a lot. But imagine that we’re talking about the 100 yard dash. No amount of time is going to make a non talented person competitive with a talented one. It’s the same with golf, but less so. Putting and chipping and even the short iron game can be much easier to “master” than components of the game that require high club head speed, fast twitch muscle firing, etc.
Ramrod
Apr 5, 2017 at 8:42 pm
I didn’t know Sean Foley was coaching him.
Steve Wozeniak
Mar 17, 2017 at 1:38 pm
It’s not just the hours….it’s WHAT your working on and if he hurt his back it was the wrong stuff…talent along with athletic ability has a little to do with success at the highest levels as well.
Steve Wozeniak PGA
AnonGolfer
Mar 17, 2017 at 11:55 am
What’s missing from this is that the 10,000 hours rule has been known by many psychologists as a major misinterpretation of Erricson’s ideas…Erricsons ideas are more based on deliberate practice which he developed by playing chess as a kid
AnonGolfer
Mar 17, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Gladwell is also in record stating the 10,000 hour rule does not apply to sports
Don M
Mar 17, 2017 at 10:20 am
I wonder if he has serious regret. I sure would. It’s one thing to pursue a dream. But to end up with a back injury is not a good tradeoff for becoming a good golfer. Not to mention the grind of it all.
Adam Crawford
Mar 17, 2017 at 11:10 am
When I spoke to him on the phone, he said he didn’t have regrets. He was obviously bummed because he was injured to the point that he couldn’t even putt. However, he felt like he’d gained a lot more out of the experience than getting better at golf, which I think is why a lot of us play the game any way.
Anthony
Mar 17, 2017 at 9:39 am
A couple of points here for me:
1. The book outliers is dumb. The book should have phased the 10000 hours thing like this: “10,000 hours being the threshold for expertise FOR YOUR POTIENTAL”. I do believe that if you put in 10000 hours at something, you will be the best that YOU will ever be at it, might even be able to call yourself an expert. But what about all those others that put in 10000 too at the same skill? What differentiates you with them? Talent. I just feel like the book gives all these false hopes by not setting the standard that TALENT is still needed. Golf as an example, if there are 2000 golfers in the world with 10000 hours of dedicated practice, what separates the 200 on the PGA from the other 1800…you guessed it, TALENT.
2. you mean the golf swing breaks down the body? It’s not just working out in the gym and heavy lifting that will hurt a golfer’s back? Someone please please tell this to that idoit Chamblee. I bet Tiger has logged between 20000 and 30000 hours of golf practice throughout his life. That will really break down your body quick.
Victor Su
Feb 27, 2018 at 7:38 pm
Talent does matter, but I disagree with the part you said about PGA tour. You do need talent to be the best on tour, but you do NOT have to have talent to make it on the tour. Dan’s goal was to make through Q-school to just have a PGA membership card, which is something hard work alone can definitely can get you to even though you are not talented. So if your goal is just to be on the tour making enough money to stay for next year and so on, unless you are super extremely stupid, you can definitely make it by putting enough hard work. But that’s gonna be A LOT OF work though.
Jim
Mar 17, 2017 at 9:26 am
Even the most enthusiastic backers can’t buy someone ‘the gift’ of supreme talent. 40 years ago maybe…enough to grab a couple sponsors (75K from FJ for shoes & hat) 50K from ‘Tommy Armour or Lynx’ for bag n clubs….small time peanuts now, but enough to keep up with travel, phone, car payments, food and entry fees…..NOW GO WIN – OR finish emough top 20’s to make some extra money.
sorry man, life sux then you die.
not everyone gets through BUDS – not the big time Annapolis football hero – it’s the GRUNTS that pass…maybe never won the 10 mile run, never finished an evolution first… just NEVER QUIT, TAKE THE PAIN and finish top 20…
no pressure, expenses paid, you know you’re playing next week ’cause your entry fees paid and your not sleeping in your car – cause you can’t afford a motel….
bottom line – just not good enough. Period. Now go away
Jim
Mar 17, 2017 at 10:36 am
I WILL GIVE HIM THIS…..sheeit…wish I thought of it – get a bunch of good ol boy sportsman type ‘betting men’ to finance your self indulgent / blogger ‘arteest’ career change and basically pay for you to become a great recreational golfer….
…I wouldn’t have had to sell off my most valuabke possessions and (most of) my gun collection to finance me quitting my job & playing golf and practicing all day when I turned professional…
kinda brilliant 😉
stevep1000
Mar 16, 2017 at 10:49 pm
The guy had a compelling story, and sought followers and financial support from his followers. It’s remarkably weak that he abandoned the plan and his followers without so much as a comment on his website.
toad
Mar 16, 2017 at 10:57 pm
Agreed. Gotta man up, as painful as it may be.
toad
Mar 16, 2017 at 10:40 pm
He inspired my to become an expert daytrader. I fizzled out like Danny boy did. Moral of the story: Getting 10k in is tough.
S Hitter
Mar 16, 2017 at 8:58 pm
!0,000 hours AND a bottomless pit of cash is what you need in golf. Unless, if he was smart enough, he was gambling while he was playing some of those rounds making cash on the side to pay for some of the rounds. The theory doesn’t quite correlate well with The Beatles, lets say, or musicians, because musicians can sit at home with their guitar or piano and tinker for 10,000 hours without spending any money getting good at it, unlike in golf. So, yeah, it’s shank for the this guy, because he should have also illustrated how much money it cost him to get to where he did. Including the costs of the doctors he had to see to get his back fixed, which is where a lot of guys also lose their enthusiasm, because it costs so much money without making any of it back, unless you’re competing on the Pro level and winning some of it back. He could have learned a lot about himself without doing that through golf
LandofBoz
Mar 16, 2017 at 7:51 pm
Gladwell actually said that experts have put in at least 10,000 hours, not that it took 10,000 hours to be an expert.
TheGrftKngs
Mar 16, 2017 at 3:24 pm
Reminds me of the book “Paper Tiger” which is based on the same premise: a real-life journalist who devoted himself to earning his Tour card within a year. Just finished it and loved every minute.
Scott
Mar 17, 2017 at 9:13 am
Paper Tiger was a fun read. I will say that the guy in this article seemed more delusional than the guy who wrote Paper Tiger.
TR1PTIK
Mar 16, 2017 at 3:20 pm
I followed the Dan Plan closely as well and felt that his enthusiasm for the game started to dwindle towards the end. There always seemed to be something that would sideline him or hold him up a little bit. If nothing else, his journey certainly inspired me to put more concentration and effort (and hours) into the things that are important to me. I think the ability to inspire others is a much more meaningful (though maybe not as rewarding [$]) accomplishment than getting on tour. Best of luck!
Sega69
Mar 16, 2017 at 3:18 pm
Makes you appreciate tour pros even more. Feel bad for him re injury and it’s a great story, but even guys with talent, money, hard work and luck don’t make. I’ve met lots (as I’m sure many of us have) of mini tour guys and college players that can shoot 65 and win club c’s but even they will tell you that the pros are in a different stratosphere. Unrewarded talent is almost a proverb.
TechnologyGolfer.com
Mar 16, 2017 at 2:00 pm
I too used to follow the Dan Plan and read probably 50 posts or more. I was pulling for Dan even though I knew it was a longshot. I’m sure he’ll get something positive from the experience though, and would do it again if he could.
farmer
Mar 16, 2017 at 1:00 pm
He quit his job, started practicing, lived off savings and donations, has gotten to be a good golfer, but nowhere near elite. Had he spent 10000 hours working at photography, (his real job) he might be mentioned with Ansel Adams.
Nick
Mar 16, 2017 at 1:00 pm
Check out Anders Ericsson who is the original person to talk about 10,000 hours. Deliberate practice with proper feedback will make those hours successful.
AceW7Iron
Mar 16, 2017 at 10:37 am
Can totally relate to the part about specific focus on certain parts of the game being the key to lowering your scores. I have played alot of golf in the last 12 months and only temporarily dipped below a 10…as I look back on 95% of the occasions I played it was just show up to see who I was THAT day…not really focusing on parts of my game that would make me better tomorrow.
MiloTheMarauder
Mar 16, 2017 at 10:32 am
Never heard of this dude or his book and it just goes to show you. People have to take care of their bodies better or get that magic juice that brings American football players back from ACL tears in less than a year.
birdie
Mar 16, 2017 at 9:35 am
i think this shows how naive non golfers are on how quickly you can become a scratch player. plenty of people who see the occasional golf highlight on espn or watch some Masters coverage who’ve never really played and think the game doesn’t look all that hard.
Jim
Mar 16, 2017 at 9:30 am
There’s a WRX forum article about this as well, that was started over a year ago. IT was a good idea and an interesting follow, but back injuries aren’t fun and can derail a golfing ambition.
Adam
Mar 16, 2017 at 9:17 am
I read that 90% of PGA tour players have some sort of back issue. Typical back can’t last 10,000 hours I guess.
KillerPenguin
Mar 16, 2017 at 8:45 am
I used to follow Dan closely and was really sad for him when he broke the news about the back. While I don’t think he was ever going to make it through Q School and the Web.com Tour and onto the PGA TOUR, his approach to the game and thought provoking posts were always enjoyable and often inspiring. Pour one out for the Dan Plan!