Bumped by Gaddafi

Never thought I’d say this, but today I was bumped off of CNN International by Muammar Gaddafi. Seeing as the dictator was killed this afternoon, the story that was slated to run on The Dan Plan got postponed to tomorrow (tentatively scheduled as long of no other autocrat worldwide finds an untimely end). Very understandable.

I had forgotten to mention that the piece was running, so now I can at least give a heads up for anyone not in America, as that version of CNN plays elsewhere. The show is: CNN International Connect the World with Becky Anderson and it should run tomorrow, Friday, at 4 pm EST (9pm London time). If anyone is out there that can tune in let me know how it goes.

Today I met with Coach Christopher and we talked a lot about why I’ve been getting a case of the hosel rockets lately. No matter where I start the club or how fast I swing, I can hit the neck of the club every single time. For those of you who don’t golf, this isn’t a good thing.. What we’ve known for a while now is that I actually over-rotate and this is what is causing the miss-hits. Without getting too technical about it, the issue is that my body is getting well in front of my hands so when I hit the ball my shoulders are in front of the ball and the club is going from the inside outwards.

This is not a good thing, but it’s not a terrible place to be. A year ago, before I ever swung a club, if you told me that my issue was too much rotation I would have been a bit surprised. Having never played golf in my first 30 years of life, a lot of people thought range of motion would be a problem that I would encounter along the way; but luckily, I have plenty of flexibility and now I actually have to practice limiting my rotation.

The trick to this: stave off frustration and allow myself once again to really suck on the range. Not worry about where the ball is going right now, but think just about how the body is moving. And, do it in super slow motion. It helps to get a feel for the new swing if I close my eyes and do a full swing that takes about 15 seconds. Looks a bit strange out there, but it works for me.

On a random note, this happened twice yesterday. What are the odds?

And, it’s officially fall out here, the leaves and trees are quite stunning. This is the entrance to the third hole at Columbia Edgewater:

9 Responses to "Bumped by Gaddafi"

Charlie says:

October 20, 2011 at 7:47 pm

Not a comment but a question: Have you ever wondered where you’d be if you’d pursued something like music or martial arts — or even photography — this intently in your teens?
Justin Morcate says:

October 21, 2011 at 9:42 am

Hey Dan, has the over rotation been resulting in a lot of hooks? Going in to out results in that right? Anyway good luck training in the rainy season. I love the courses here in Philly with the changing leaves, and we even get the occasional 70 degree day throughout Oct.
dan says:

October 21, 2011 at 5:50 pm

Hi Charlie,

Good question. I thought about it a bit and I’m honestly not sure where I would be if I pushed myself this hard as a teen. First off, I must say that I have no regrets and am where I am today because of the decisions I made as a teen. They weren’t always the best choices, but I learned a lot through my mistakes over the years. On one hand, perhaps the brain is a bit better at absorbing in formation in the formative years, but at the same time I would have missed out on so much if I was as single minded then as I am now about training. Perhaps I would be a PGA Tour golfer right now, perhaps I would have burned out and wanted to “have a normal life”. Hard to say. I do know, however, that I’ve lived a fortunate and blessed life and I wouldn’t change anything that I’ve done over the past 32 years. I’m on a mission to make it to the PGA Tour now and will prove that it’s possible to do that even if you haven’t been programed from birth to be there.

Cheers!

Dan
dan says:

October 21, 2011 at 5:52 pm

Hello Justin,

For me, over rotation actually results in pushes. When my body over rotates my hands get left behind and then the club is behind me when I make contact and that leaves the face open. At times, I have quick hands that get in front of my body and that seems to produce a hook. It’s always something.. I’ve never played on the East coast, but courses in Philly sound fun, perhaps I’ll make it out there one day.

Thanks for the comment,

Dan
williamevanl says:

October 21, 2011 at 10:44 pm

Dan, I have a question, Why does every news article/video say something different? Some say you’ve never touched a golf club, some say you have but only if you count as a small child, others say you’ve been to the range a couple of times.

Another one is how much you practice a week, I know it to be 6 hours a day 6 days a week but some say well over 40 hours a week and I just read one that said well over 50 hours a week.

Now I’m watching the golf channel thing and it says you ar 5 ’7 145 which is interesting because I just read two things that said you were 5 9′ 155… It obviously doesnt matter but it’s strange that they all are different.
dan says:

October 22, 2011 at 10:08 am

Hello William,

You know, I’ve wondered that myself.. A few of those articles running around didn’t actually talk with me, but just gathered info on their own via the blog and other articles and then filled in some blanks. The Golf Channel piece I thought was pretty funny putting me at 5′ 7″ 145, trying to pull the underdog aspect even more, perhaps. They never measured me or anything, so I assume that they guessed my height and weight. I’m a bit closer to 5′ 9″ 155, so not much difference there.

As far as my history of golf goes, in the first 30 years of my life I did go to a driving range once or twice in middle school with some friends and I played a couple par 3 courses with my brother in Omaha, Nebraska. Also, a man in my childhood neighborhood gave me a golf club when I was about 4 and wanted to give me lessons, but unexpectedly died very soon after that and I never had a lesson from him. There ya go, that’s about my full history of golfing prior to the beginning of the plan.

It is strange that there is no consistency, but I think people put priorities in different areas and then little discrepancies like these come out.

Thank you as always!

Dan
dan says:

October 22, 2011 at 10:10 am

William,

PS. my training is 6 hours a day 6 days a week. That’s time spent literally over a golf ball, I also hit the gym multiple times, go running, read about golf, watch swing videos, etc. Sometimes people count that in the hours I put in a week. The number that I count towards the 10,000 is only the time spent over a ball, though.
Chris says:

October 23, 2011 at 11:08 am

Hey Dan,

What does your typical day look like?

With all that practicing, do you actually spend time playing on the course?

From personal experience I can say that even after practicing deliberately for only 3 hours a day I´m completely mentally drained after that. How do you do it?

Thanks in advance.
dan says:

October 23, 2011 at 11:43 am

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the comment. Over the past year I’ve found that after about 4 hours of deliberate practice I’m pretty drained, it really takes a lot out of you physically and mentally. So, I typically have a lunch break after my morning practice session and then approach an afternoon practice as fresh as can be after a good lunch. It’s the afternoon where I usually hit the course and try to implement the things I worked on in the morning. I’ll play 9 or 18 holes after lunch and then cap the day with some range or short course work depending on how my round went. When I first began this, two hours of deliberate practice putting drills zapped me, but after doing it every day for the past 18 months I’ve found that you can push yourself a bit more every day while still maintaining solid concentration..

Cheers!
Dan

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