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Golf may be a terrible example for trying to prove out this rule. There are many folks with near perfect golf swings who never make it in the sport. Golf is l

Golf may be a terrible example for trying to prove out this rule. There are many folks with near perfect golf swings who never make it in the sport. Golf is largely a mental battle, and if you can't hold up under pressure you are not going to be able to compete. I'm not sure how he is practicing, but I'm guessing he has no where near the pressure you get in competition, and unless you have the experience he would likely crack in a competitive situation. In a tour event a single bad judgment or mental lapse can ruin 4 days of hard work. That's if you caused the issue, golf is not a fair game and a bad bounce could also ruin your day. It is a very tough game mentally, and most recreational golfers are not prepared consistent performance required for competitive golf. The other thing most people don't realize is how much exponentially better the different levels are. A club champ is not much compared with a mini tour player. Mini tour players are no where near the nationwide tour guys, and the PGA players who can win, or finish top 10 consistently are really really good. If you look at the difference between the #1 world ranked Luke Donald vs John Daly currently ranked #652 there is a very small difference in key stats. Lukes scoring average is 69.47, Daly's is 72. Greens in regulation has Luke at 67.04% and Daly at 61.36%. One big event in your personal life could totally shake up your ability to compete at these highest levels. Sergio Garcia had to take a year off after being dumped by Natalie Gulbis, and look at the downward spiral of Tiger. He may never gain the confidence to compete again. I wish him luck but I would bet he couldn't break par on a reasonably tough course from a respectable tee after his 10k hours.

ghshephard 15y ago
I'm not sure I'm following your argument. Are you suggesting it is highly unlikely Dan won't be comparable to a player ranked #652? That is, you are saying, on average, his key stats won't be comparable? I don't think Dan is planning on becoming a top-10 contender on the PGA, I think he would just like to play a competitive game with them. I would suggest that anyone who is ranked on the PGA, #652 on up, could be considered an expert in golf.
dpark 15y ago
> The other thing most people don't realize is how much exponentially better the different levels are. I hate that people so abuse the term exponential, but putting that aside, you're looking at this wrong. The skill gap between levels is smaller as you progress. The effort to hit the next level may grow drastically, but the acquired skills diminish. Think about someone who's never played teeing off against a casual golfer. How horribly will they lose, while they struggle with the basics? Now the casual golfer against the serious amateur. How will the casual golfer fare? Now serious amateur vs club pro. And so on. At each stage, the more advanced person has a major advantage, but that advantage decreases as the levels advance. As someone progresses through the learning process, they go from learning the basics, through competence, and eventually to mastery. During this they initially learn gross skills and finally learn the most delicate refinements. It's this way with every skill. If you had to wager on the underdog in a casual golfer vs club pro face-off or a club pro vs a national pro face-off, who would you pick?
- greenail 15y ago
  If his is not playing a lot, the problem with his approach is that the "mastery" component of the game has a lot to do with non mechanical aspects. It is hard to practice good course management on the range. It is hard to practice getting up and down to save par. It is hard to practice finishing, and this may be the hardest thing to practice. I've played 14 holes of golf at even par, and once you start to approach a place you've never been before you tend to put immense pressure on yourself and make mistakes. The self awareness of achieving a new best score can prevent you from doing it. This gets harder over time as you improve. Breaking 80, breaking 75, breaking 70 are difficult not only because it is a tough game, but because it is easy to change the way you play depending on the circumstance and it is very hard to practice scoring, harder to practice not making a stupid triple bogy. If you think i'm using exponential poorly, take a look at the USGA percentages for golfers better than scratch. http://www.usga.org/handicapping/articles_resources/Men-s-USGA-Handicap-Indexes/ http://www.usga.org/handicapping/articles_resources/Men-s-US...
  - kerryfalk 15y ago
    He is practicing on course as well, not just the range. Part of starting from the hole backwards and not bringing a driver to the course is teaching him course management. This argument doesn't make much sense to me, though. Why do you feel that the mental side of the game can't be taught or you can't practice getting better at strengthening that part of your game? Simply recognizing that there is a mental side to the game (like every sport) means that you can to try and control it and thereby practice managing it. This can be learned, every athlete learns it for every sport they play. The mental component is a large part to every sport. I have played several sports competitively and I can't think of a single sport that it isn't a component. One major failure caused me to be mentally timid in one sport I competed at a very high level in - could I have progressed past it? Yes, and I did at times but it still required work. But I could get passed it and perform. For anyone with both passion and time I am sure they can achieve expert status. People are adaptable, if they really want to do it and have the time to spend they will do what it takes to succeed. That includes finding their own way to cope with the mental pressures. He has a lot of time left and nothing I've seen seems to indicate he couldn't get it done - minus the one thing I'm still unclear on, if he truly has a passion for the game.

ghshephard 15y ago

I'm not sure I'm following your argument. Are you suggesting it is highly unlikely Dan won't be comparable to a player ranked #652? That is, you are saying, on average, his key stats won't be comparable? I don't think Dan is planning on becoming a top-10 contender on the PGA, I think he would just like to play a competitive game with them. I would suggest that anyone who is ranked on the PGA, #652 on up, could be considered an expert in golf.

dpark 15y ago

> The other thing most people don't realize is how much exponentially better the different levels are. I hate that people so abuse the term exponential, but putting that aside, you're looking at this wrong. The skill gap between levels is smaller as you progress. The effort to hit the next level may grow drastically, but the acquired skills diminish. Think about someone who's never played teeing off against a casual golfer. How horribly will they lose, while they struggle with the basics? Now the casual golfer against the serious amateur. How will the casual golfer fare? Now serious amateur vs club pro. And so on. At each stage, the more advanced person has a major advantage, but that advantage decreases as the levels advance. As someone progresses through the learning process, they go from learning the basics, through competence, and eventually to mastery. During this they initially learn gross skills and finally learn the most delicate refinements. It's this way with every skill. If you had to wager on the underdog in a casual golfer vs club pro face-off or a club pro vs a national pro face-off, who would you pick?

greenail 15y ago
If his is not playing a lot, the problem with his approach is that the "mastery" component of the game has a lot to do with non mechanical aspects. It is hard to practice good course management on the range. It is hard to practice getting up and down to save par. It is hard to practice finishing, and this may be the hardest thing to practice. I've played 14 holes of golf at even par, and once you start to approach a place you've never been before you tend to put immense pressure on yourself and make mistakes. The self awareness of achieving a new best score can prevent you from doing it. This gets harder over time as you improve. Breaking 80, breaking 75, breaking 70 are difficult not only because it is a tough game, but because it is easy to change the way you play depending on the circumstance and it is very hard to practice scoring, harder to practice not making a stupid triple bogy. If you think i'm using exponential poorly, take a look at the USGA percentages for golfers better than scratch. http://www.usga.org/handicapping/articles_resources/Men-s-USGA-Handicap-Indexes/ http://www.usga.org/handicapping/articles_resources/Men-s-US...
- kerryfalk 15y ago
  He is practicing on course as well, not just the range. Part of starting from the hole backwards and not bringing a driver to the course is teaching him course management. This argument doesn't make much sense to me, though. Why do you feel that the mental side of the game can't be taught or you can't practice getting better at strengthening that part of your game? Simply recognizing that there is a mental side to the game (like every sport) means that you can to try and control it and thereby practice managing it. This can be learned, every athlete learns it for every sport they play. The mental component is a large part to every sport. I have played several sports competitively and I can't think of a single sport that it isn't a component. One major failure caused me to be mentally timid in one sport I competed at a very high level in - could I have progressed past it? Yes, and I did at times but it still required work. But I could get passed it and perform. For anyone with both passion and time I am sure they can achieve expert status. People are adaptable, if they really want to do it and have the time to spend they will do what it takes to succeed. That includes finding their own way to cope with the mental pressures. He has a lot of time left and nothing I've seen seems to indicate he couldn't get it done - minus the one thing I'm still unclear on, if he truly has a passion for the game.