Snowed in; cabin fever hitting critical levels

I’m pretty sure the majority of us Portlanders are feeling a bit like this right now:

shining jack frozen

It’s not that it has been especially terrible. After all, just about 5 or 6 inches of snow fell, which then froze over, keeping the streets dangerous to drive on for the past 3-4 days, but when you live in a city where this type of thing happens once every 5 years the infrastructure is not there to plow and keep things flowing. Just yesterday most of the city got a warning message on their phones to stay off the roads:

That was a first for me. The snow began to fall on Thursday and on Friday and Saturday I managed to walk about ten miles a day exploring the icy city, sledding, and enjoying a couple snow days. Then yesterday hit and the sidewalks/streets were so slick it was precarious even to walk to the corner store. The majority of the day was spent held up inside without much news. I did, though, have a good talk with Goal Guy Stuart last night.

Our talk was a bit of catching up as we hadn’t gotten on the horn for a few weeks, then we went into what the next chapter of The Dan Plan needs to be.

Stuart mentioned how a journey like mine can be broken into chapters and without figuring out what the next chapter should be one can continue wandering in the same direction without the appropriate steps towards the next breakthrough. In a sense, this is how the dreaded plateau happens.

He asked me what had worked lately and I talked about how much I learned by seeing Bruce down in Palm Springs 2-3 times a week. I feel like I made some critical breakthroughs in my game while in the desert and Stuart asked why I wasn’t still down there and what I needed to do to make it so I could work with my (or any high quality coach currently in Portland while Bruce is down in the desert until May) coach as much as I felt like I needed to. We also talked about a few different people who’s success stories we could relate to my project and what they went through to make it. A lot of it comes down to having a pair of eyes on your progress on a regular basis.

Bruce mentioned the same thing to me a couple months ago. He said that the only way he saw this as a possibility was if I had a pair of eyes helping me stay on track. He has told me a number of times that when I leave a lesson my swing is looking great and I am hitting the ball well, then I go and practice for 30 hours (with the best of intentions) just to revert to old habits. It feels like a Sisyphean task at times.

Stuart encouraged me to write about this to see if anyone in the reader brain-trust had any ideas. The simple solution is to get very wealthy so I can afford to spend the next 3 years under the near-constant eyes of a coach. Well, not sure how “simple” that is, but the point is that in order to start that next chapter and make the continued push forward something needs to change.

This could be as simple as filming my practice daily and then posting it for my coach to offer advice. Or perhaps moving somewhere warm where I could work on the range and be an understudy of a good coach. Any ideas are appreciated.

I’m not sure how to start the next chapter of The Dan Plan, but after hearing the words of Bruce and Stuart I believe that something needs to change in my daily routine. There is a way to accelerate progress and whatever it takes is what I need to be doing next.

For now, back to a bit of snow. The course might open as soon as tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

photo-3

9 Responses to "Snowed in; cabin fever hitting critical levels"

Dave Petersen says:

February 10, 2014 at 7:52 pm

How about a bit of both? At this stage you probably need both frequent physical connection (you’re not trying to be a good weekender), and hopefully technology can add an additional boost. If the tech is useful (for other than marketing internet golf lessons), you serious competitors will be using it.

I think you need to find a place where you are working side by side with others who have similar goals. There isn’t a profession out there that isn’t being altered by a combination of technology and our own human mobility. If the hungry players and coaches are in FL, TX, CA, etc. you need to go or find that peer group at home. I think deliberate practice, includes maximizing the experience to the extent possible, and always looking for ways to get more out of it.

If you’re a musician in the USA, and you want to make the big time, sooner or later you have to come to terms with NYC, Nashville, and LA. All the practice in the world won’t get the job done if you’re not running with the best. Sooner or later, you have to start working with your intended peer group.
Han says:

February 10, 2014 at 10:22 pm

Might it be possible to join a college or university team for practice? I would say they are about the same level as you are right now or playing around scratch already. This gives you the chance to pull yourself to their level.
Richard Chen says:

February 11, 2014 at 6:08 am

“Golf is played between the ears” is a classic saying of golf. In the video “The Science of Golf,” one of the top golf coaches said golf is the application of physics on Earth. Bobby Jones had a degree in engineering, and he wrote that he had seen tour level golfers attempt impossible shots based on physics. Sometimes the violation of physics can be subtle like using an iron swing to hit a teed up drive with the hands way in front of the ball at impact (ie. severe late hit.) An iron swing would have a lot, to full weight “posting up” on the leading leg during the downswing enabling the hands to get way in front of the ball (ie. hands closer to the target than the ball) by impact. It is like using a broom stick to sweep dust off the floor. The handle of the broom is lean forward and down to “trap” the dust with the hands in front of the bottom of the broom stick. This leaning of the broom stick is the lean called for in an iron shot, but if applied to the driver shot, bad results will usually be produced, as the long shaft of driver will tend to be twisted. The action of using a fly swat is more akin to using a driver than using the broom stick. The hand is “behind” the head of the fly swat at impact. Thus, for an iron shot weight is on the leading leg for the shot by “posting” up on the leading leg during the downswing. For the driver with the ball teed up, the common setup is to have 60 to 70 percent of the weight on the rear leg during setup (ie. address,) the head positioned more toward the rear leg, and the weight of the upper body and head are kept to the rear side until after impact.

The satisfy the physics law of the Conservation of Linear Momentum (rather than of Angular momentum,) theoretically the upper body weight shift should be in opposite direction from the arm swing direction during the downswing. At the start of the driver downswing, the arms, hands, and the clubhead swing away from the direction of the target, which means the upper body should shift somewhat in the opposite direction towards the the target (ie. the leading side) during the first phase of the downswing, according the the physics Law of the Conservation of Linear Momentum (mv =MV.) When the arms and club have swung down to the initial release point, the arms, hands, and club start to swing in the direction of the target, rather than in the opposition direction to the target, the conservation of linear momentum implies that the upper body weight shifting reverses in direction to shift away from the direction of the target.

In slow motion picture sequences, the body weight shifts to the leading side during the first phase of the downswing, as the leading heel of the leading foot is replanted down, and the upper body shifts away from from the direction of the target later during the release phase of the downswing (the release phase can be considered to be when the arms starts to swing toward the target after swinging away from the target during the initial phase of the downswing.)

mv=MV. m is the mass (weight) of the arms, hands, and the driver club together. v is the directional velocity (ie. a “vector” quantity in mathematical terms) of arms, hands, and the driver together. M is the mass of the main body. V is the velocity of the body. Because the main body is much heavier than the arms, hands and the driver, the shifting movement of the body is much less toward and away from from the target during the swing, although enough to be visible in slow motion sequences. The body movement can also be minimized by “digging” in with the inside of the read foot during the release, so as to have the weight of the Earth itself as part of M, sort of like Hogan saying pushing off with the front-inside of the rear foot in the ball hitting-phase. Thus, muscle power can be used to modify the pure workings of the law of the conservation of linear momentum by using leg driving to bring the weight of the Earth itself into the equation.
thedanplan says:

February 11, 2014 at 7:13 pm

Hi Han,

That’s a good idea and aligns well with what Dave was saying. I have seen many practice around where I practice and I might as well join in and make it a competition of sorts. At least that would add some much needed regular pressure matches.

Cheers,

Dan
Aaron says:

February 12, 2014 at 10:16 pm

Hey Dan,

Definitely seems like you need to take this to the next level and move to wherever you can be in order to practice and play full time with others who will push you, as well as get more regular coaching.

You can do this, but it seems to me that you are definitely stalled out in your approach, as well with this blog.

If you’re going to make this work, you need to commit to more involved blog posts with more real detail about the ups and downs, plans to play tournaments and post results for people to follow, updating and discussing your handicap, etc.

Your lack of transparency is starting to kill this project. That is an honest assessment from a fan.
Crescos says:

February 13, 2014 at 9:17 am

I completely agree, I don’t know what the minimum course load is to compete but this should offer a cheaper and option to get high tier training and competition.
August Darula says:

February 14, 2014 at 10:29 am

Stay Strong Dan, Here in New Hampshire I’ve been snowed in for the past three months and have had to resort to putting in my basement and such. Read a lot of books and watch some golf on TV. Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses and that’s what this period of time is for. Goodluck we all believe in you
Jess says:

February 17, 2014 at 9:10 am

I’ve often thought that what you’re doing would make a good subject for a PhD, in fact your last year has been pretty typical of a 3rd year PhD doldrums. Considering you’re unwilling to go on the speaking/motivational circuit, sponsorship to carry out research might be an alternative way for you to support yourself while you finish out your 10,000 hours.

If you could identify an appropriate supervisor and work out an angle with which to turn your project into a PhD, they could help you get funding, and you’d have access to coaching, gyms, facilities etc. through the university as well as potentially a competitive golf team to play with.
Jafar says:

February 18, 2014 at 8:08 am

Dan,

You need to be your own coach. Asking others and looking for others will fail you because of time and money. If you want feedback on your swing, you need to setup an indoor hitting area so you can hear the sound you make.

This alone and being alone will allow you to focus on what you need to every time you swing the club.

You have to practice mentally and figure out how the clubhead works, and how to trigger your mind to ensure it works each time. Getting instant feedback from the sound instead of watching a ball travel 100+ yards will allow you to progress faster.

Good Luck in your adventure.

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