Quick image and a thought about talent

While putting together a presentation that I am giving at Blair Academy next week I found an image from the day that I came up with the original idea of The Dan Plan. This photograph is from Omaha, Nebraska on June 27, 2009. I remember the date because it was my 30th birthday and one of the first times that I ever walked on a golf course. My brother and I were playing a short par 3 nine hole course and I think I shot about a 50 for the nine holes that day, or almost double par.

Here’s the image:

firstswing Look at that form, grip, dress, etc. It’s pretty hilarious. Flash forward a few years and this image was taken just the other day at Columbia Edgewater during a round with a media outlet:

Definitely looking more the part these days. I suppose those images help visually demonstrate the difference between nature and nurture. The first one is au naturale and the latter is after a few thousand hours of practice.

Speaking of that, CNN called this morning asking me to do an interview fielding questions about Tianlang Guan (the 14-year-old who is playing in this week’s Masters tournament) and whether I though he was a born natural or had put in his share of hard work. Very interesting debate and one that I do not know the answer to, although I must admit that I have deep opinions on the subject. It is incredible what he has done thus far and I am pulling for him all the way. I think that he has earned his spot through countless hours of hard work from a very young age. Saying that he is a born natural takes away from all of the sweat he has put into the game. Regardless of which side of the nature/nurture debate you are on, seeing him is inspiring. It is inspiring to know that through about ten years of work he has made it into the Masters. To me that shows that this is possible for anyone who is willing and able to put in the hours.

That’s it for now, was just looking back at some old images and thought the contrast was pretty interesting. There is much more to talk about, but I have work to do for the presentation and have a 6 a.m. wake up call for a tournament tomorrow at Langdon Farms. It’s not exactly Augusta, but I am still very excited to get out there and play some rainy tourney golf.

25 Responses to "Quick image and a thought about talent"

Sima says:

April 12, 2013 at 9:37 pm

Great snaps. Great contrast. And I bet you could make a killing if you just patent those new chameleon golf trousers.

I was hoping you’d mention young Master Guan. Very impressive. And fascinating to look at his efforts against the background of the Dan Plan. Fully agree that describing him as a natural detracts from the hard work he’s put in. I wonder how many other young players have had the kind of training he’s had.

Have a great round at Langdon.
Robert Johansson says:

April 13, 2013 at 2:22 am

Talent in regard to what?
There is so much emperical evidence that practice with a good plan and superior strategy allows pretty much anyone to make it. China is going to be dominating the PGA tour in a few years.
Robert Johansson says:

April 13, 2013 at 2:22 am

Talent in regard to what?
There is so much emperical evidence that practice with a good plan and superior strategy allows pretty much anyone to make it. China is going to be dominating the PGA tour in a few years.
Richie says:

April 14, 2013 at 10:47 am

That’s right, Robert…China will dominate the PGA the way South Korea dominates the LPGA. Through deliberate practice and interleaving.
Richie says:

April 14, 2013 at 10:56 am

You’re right, Robert. China will soon dominate the PGA in much the same way South Korea dominates the LPGA.
Fred Flickersome says:

April 14, 2013 at 5:23 pm

Your swing looks very flat at the top, try to get your hands higher at the top and I guarantee you will add distance on your drives.
Sima says:

April 15, 2013 at 1:35 am

Interestingly, golf still doesn’t sit very comfortably with China’s sporting apparatus. That’s not to say that there aren’t a lot of young players set to follow in Guan’s footsteps, but it will be interesting to see how China’s sports establishment accepts them. Li Na, the first big break through in tennis has had a very messy relationship with an establishment that would like to claim her as their own, but in honesty probably only failed to mess things up for her.
The guru says:

April 15, 2013 at 6:55 pm

Tianlang Guan started golf at 6 and would have comfortably put in 10 000 hours so far. But using your stop watch probably only about 6000
Rob Gilbert says:

April 16, 2013 at 12:03 pm

Dan, I will see you at Blair Academy tonight! Rob Gilbert
Kevin says:

April 16, 2013 at 1:48 pm

Looking forward to hearing you speak at Blair Academy tonight. -Bam
Richard Chen says:

April 16, 2013 at 6:15 pm

Seems to me that the first photo is naturally closer to what the modern backswing looks like at the top for a driver, other than for an excessively bend leading arm dipping the club shaft below parallel. The trailing elbow, and the trailing upper arm is off away from the body like in Woods book pages 104 to 105. Letting the trailing elbow to move away from the body gives a higher backswing. The hands are high with the back of the leading hand facing about half way upward, and the palm of the trailing hand facing a little upward. Weight shifted mostly to the rear foot, which is excessive for an iron shot, but would only be a little to not so much onto the rear foot for a driver.

In the second photo, the leading arm is very straight like the pros. The hands are low with the back of the leading hand, and the palm of the trailing hand facing almost straight up to the sky with the clubface too almost facing straight up to the sky. The trailing elbow not moving away from the body much during the backswing flattens the backswing. The flat plane of the backswing, swings the hands more to the rear of the player than in the first photo. The clubhead will tend to be coming from way inside during the first part of the downswing, as the hands are further to the rear of the player at the top of the backswing. The increased inside-out swing path of the clubhead during the first part of the downswing promotes pushing, unless compensated by moving the ball up, or rolling the arms more. The leading forearm has rolled to face straight up to the sky as a result of the flat backswing, rather than facing half way up to the sky of less, at the top of the backswing. Hogan liked to roll the arms, but modern swings use less to no arm rolling to simplify the swing. Hogan was very accurate with the high degree of arm rolling. His book describes practicing this kind of release with back-and-forth mini swings (which although he did not describe it, also forms a visual path for the eyes and mind.) His book describes a kind of supernation of the leading wrist by bowing the leading wrist out, which seems to allow an early rolling of the leading arm back towards the target to square the leading forearm without swinging the clubhead to the outside too early (causing slicing) This enables the leading arm and leading forearm to return to square early in the downswing to buy more time to get the leading arm, and leading forearm to square, while keeping the clubhead inside. This is described in Hogan’s 5-fundamentals book. Few of today’s pros use this as they don’t roll the arms as much with more upright backswings.
Richard Chen says:

April 16, 2013 at 6:39 pm

correction:

…… which seems to allow an early rolling of the leading arm back towards the target to square the leading forearm without swinging the clubhead to the outside too early (causing slicing when the clubface is square to open, or pulling when the clubface if closed) after the clubhead is pushed to the outside, when the leading forearm is rotated to square too early in the downswing before the final release phase.
Guess-T says:

April 16, 2013 at 9:12 pm

Does anyone read this guy’s post from start to finish?
Richard Chen says:

April 17, 2013 at 8:42 am

These should be easy reading for people with knowledge of golf mechanics. People without having studied, nor learn golf mechanics, nor having interests in golf mechanics probably will not want to spend time reading about golf mechanics.

A golfer does not necessarily need golf mechanics knowledge to play well, but this knowledge can be a great advantage to fix problems. Recently, Charlie Rose interviewed Nicklaus at length on PBS television just before the Masters, which interview is available on the Charlie Rose website. Nicklaus at one point basically said that he learn enough of golf mechanics from his childhood and lifelong instructor to be able to fix problems right in the middle of a round by himself without having to go back to his famous instructor. This is an advantage, as a competitor cannot get couching from the outside during the round, other than from his caddie. In the interview, Nicklaus also talked about his ability to visualize the clubhead, and the body arms hands and such. The top players such as Nicklaus and Bobby Jones are well versed in golf mechanics.
Richard Chen says:

April 17, 2013 at 8:42 am

These should be easy reading for people with knowledge of golf mechanics. People without having studied, nor learn golf mechanics, nor having interests in golf mechanics probably will not want to spend time reading about golf mechanics.

A golfer does not necessarily need golf mechanics knowledge to play well, but this knowledge can be a great advantage to fix problems. Recently, Charlie Rose interviewed Nicklaus at length on PBS television just before the Masters, which interview is available on the Charlie Rose website. Nicklaus at one point basically said that he learn enough of golf mechanics from his childhood and lifelong instructor to be able to fix problems right in the middle of a round by himself without having to go back to his famous instructor. This is an advantage, as a competitor cannot get couching from the outside during the round, other than from his caddie. In the interview, Nicklaus also talked about his ability to visualize the clubhead, and the body arms hands and such. The top players such as Nicklaus and Bobby Jones are well versed in golf mechanics.
Robert Johansson says:

April 17, 2013 at 11:51 pm

12 year old chinese now qualified for the tour event there breaking Tianlang Guan record.

http://youtu.be/n6JLqIprTDw

seeing someone make the cut in the Masters is fuel for millions of kids in China.
Robert Johansson says:

April 17, 2013 at 11:51 pm

12 year old chinese now qualified for the tour event there.

http://youtu.be/n6JLqIprTDw
Robert Johansson says:

April 17, 2013 at 11:53 pm

Its likely a bit more, and kids have a little faster advancement than someone starting at 30, its not much but cant deny the brains growth phases at those ages.
Robert Johansson says:

April 17, 2013 at 11:56 pm

Dan, mechanically, I dont like the right hip staying at set up, your swing 3 years ago shows what the body wants to do naturally.
Letting the right side follow along will help lowering the risk for back injury and add some distansce and elevate timing somewhat.
Sima says:

April 18, 2013 at 5:12 am

I’m afraid I’m unable to view that here. It’s about Aden Ye (Ye Wocheng), is it?

There are certainly kids out there learning early and practicing hard. But Tianglang Guan is probably not touching that many people just yet. Of course, it’s not so much about appealing to the kids; it’s more about appealing to the parents (and future parents) as they will be the people to push the kids through the years of private training, fly them overseas at every opportunity, and spend a million or so USD each year in the process.

There are certainly plenty of millionaires in a position to do that. But with average city incomes in the $500/month range, it’s hard to say just how many kids are likely to have the chance. But millions I doubt.

I guess all that counts is that with enough driven parents, some will drive their kids all the way to the PGA.
Robert Johansson says:

April 18, 2013 at 8:52 am

Ye Wocheng yes
Richard Chen says:

April 18, 2013 at 8:56 am

This is to clarify the meaning of the term “rolling the arms” back used in the prior post.

The human arm is very flexible, so that the leading arm can rotate in three major ways. (1) The leading arm can rotate the forearm from the elbow down only without moving the elbow, and without turning the upper arm nor the shoulder like turning a fairly loose screw with a screwdriver without moving the elbow. (2) The arm can be rotated from the upper arm by moving the elbow and the upper arm, but without moving the shoulder. (3) The arm can be rotated by turning the shoulders. A combination of all three of the above actions can be used to rotate the arm.

The modern backswing tries to minimize the first two ways of rotating the leading arm during the backswing, so as to simplify the downswing. Instead of having to control three types of leading arm rotation during the downswing, the modern swing tries to reduce control to only one type of leading arm rotation during the downswing at the final release by reducing rotation to the shoulder controlled type of leading arm rotation.

Sam Snead in his book “The Drive” said to take the clubhead straight back from the ball for the first foot (or two or more) during the start of the backswing in a one-piece takeaway. Taking the clubhead straight back along the target line at the start of the backswing tends to minimize rotating or rolling the leading arm inwards from the elbow down, and from the shoulder down, while encouraging turning the leading shoulder (and the trailing shoulder with the shoulders closing) to bring the leading arm back (in one-piece without the first two types of lower arm rotations.) Such one-piece takeaway minimizes rotating the leading arm independent of the shoulder turn. It minimizes rolling the forearm, and rolling the upper arm.

After the one-piece take away, an upright backswing will continue to supress the tendency to roll the forearm and to roll the upper arm independent of the shoulder turn during the backswing.

At the top of the backswing, the back of the leading hand faces to the front of the player, as a result of the shoulders turning to well closed. This facing of the back of the leading hand is kept for the first part of the downswing until the final release phase when the leading hand has swung down almost to the ball. This is to ensure the clubhead is kept inside until the final release. The shoulders are still a little closed up to the final release point, which ensures the leading arm has not rotated back yet to keep the clubhead inside, and to keep the clubhead from swinging to the outside prematurely.

During the final release, when the hands have swung down almost to the ball, the leading shoulder turns up and to close (ie. the leading shoulder turns to behind the trailing shoulder) to rotate the leading arm back to square. This leading shoulder action to pull and to rotate the leading arm back to square will pull on the last two to three fingers of the leading hand to “fling” the clubhead back to square, and to add the final 50 percent additional amount of speed to the clubhead during the final release, as if the clubhead is propelled forward towards the target by a sling of the type used by David as mentioned in the Bible.

Pros playing since they were young kids and even since they were babies have a lot of flexibility in their shoulder turns to perform backswings with minimal leading arm rolling back from the elbow, and from the shoulder down. The occasional player will most likely not have the flexibility to make pro style shoulder turns during the backswing. Some arm rolling may be unavoidable, but these can be reduced with a one-piece takeaway, and with a fairly upright backswing, so that any arm rolling will be reduced to the extend that it can be fairly well controlled during the downswing by using compensating techniques.
Richard Chen says:

April 18, 2013 at 10:03 am

Correction:

…… During the final release, when the hands have swung down almost to the ball, the leading shoulder turns up, and it turns from slightly closed to slightly opened (ie. the leading shoulder turns to behind the trailing shoulder) to rotate the leading arm back to square. …….
bluecollar01 says:

April 24, 2013 at 8:45 am

Hi Dan,

I live in Omaha and only started playing golf about two years ago. Which par 3 course were you playing in the shot? Westwood maybe? I’ve played most of the par 3 courses in town trying to learn the game. It’s a small world! Good luck and congratulations on the progress you’ve made so far.
bluecollar01 says:

April 24, 2013 at 8:45 am

Hi Dan,

I live in Omaha and only started playing golf about two years ago. Which par 3 course were you playing in the shot? Westwood maybe? I’ve played most of the par 3 courses in town trying to learn the game. It’s a small world! Good luck and congratulations on the progress you’ve made so far.

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