Talent?

I have a quick question. Am very interested in what people believe on this one:

I understand the argument that there are genetic predispositions to easing someone into a specific field, but what is talent? God-given ability to be better at something, magic, genetic happenstance, non-existent, hard work paying off? Some critics say you have to have talent, as if it’s something some people have and others do not. Look at the current PGA Tour members, is there something that all of them have? I’m curious to know what people think.

Have a great weekend!!

43 Responses to "Talent?"

sara says:

April 23, 2011 at 9:58 am

This is a great question. I guess I would think of it like the talent to do well in school (I don’t say intelligence because I think there are a LOT of kinds of intelligence besides that). This takes an aptitude for a certain kind of intelligence, along with a particular temperament that’s okay with following certain kinds of rules, and the ability to intuitively figure out what to study, what teachers are “looking for” on exams and papers, etc.

Now, some people naturally do seem to have these characteristics and, especially at the high school and even into the college level can do very well in school without an extreme amount of effort. Other students may work very hard – perhaps much harder – to reach the same scores. It’s not that they *can’t* do it, at least in most cases (some students legitimately have learning disabilities or sufficiently messed up home lives that this probably isn’t truly the case), but it’s going to take a lot more hours and dedication to accomplish the same thing. I don’t think this is all about economic status or your upbringing, because I’d say I was one of the people for whom school came easier while my sister was not, and she definitely had to work a lot harder to accomplish some things that for me came quite easily, particularly math courses. The key, I would say, is that hard work can make up for quite a lot of natural talent.

However, at the very very top level of a profession (for school, maybe think a tenured professor at Harvard or Yale), I’m not so sure if that’s true – seems like that is reserved for individuals who have both an unusually high level of natural talent AND work very very hard on top of that, plus have other personality characteristics like drive/motivation/etc. that not every person has. As a grad student myself, now, I can tell you that despite always feeling at the “top” of the classroom in high school and college (often in terms of both talent and effort level), that is nowhere near enough to get you a tenure track position at one of the top research universities. You have to be one of those who is in the very top tier in terms of natural talent, work ethic, passion for research — and, you have to have a bit of luck along the way! So I think when you’re talking about someone being “good” or “excellent” about something, there can definitely be some trade-offs between talent and effort/doing extra work. But at the elite level in any area of life, I think both probably need to be present.
Quiet Jim says:

April 23, 2011 at 10:53 am

Dan you’re my new hero. Found you on Newser so 1400 hours to world famous is not too shabby. good luck
Quiet Jim says:

April 23, 2011 at 11:12 am

to answer the question god given ability is mostly the 5 inches between the ears, however,you are exploiting a loop hole in the system. you couldn’t do this with baseball(even starting young with T-Ball)or chess for sure and there must be others. ballet comes to mind.
There is a professional online poker player in your area with a lot of time on his hands who also happens to be a world class golfer. Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt. You are also going to need a mental coach really soon. he can help you with that by recommending a guy who helped him.
admin says:

April 23, 2011 at 11:12 am

lol, thanks Quiet Jim
D'Ronica Devyn says:

April 23, 2011 at 11:26 am

I think it’s a combination of things, with genetics being the least of the components.

My mom played basketball in high school, I don’t have an athletic bone in my body, in fact, neither does my brother or my sister.

As far as practice goes, I could practice for a million hours and I would never be as good as Michael Jordan.

In Jordan’s case, it was god-given talent + hard work.

So, to sum up, I think you need a little bit of everything and whole lotta luck.

Good luck to you

D’Ronica Devyn
admin says:

April 23, 2011 at 12:14 pm

Thank you for the educated and interesting response, Sara. I’d agree that some things tend to come more “naturally” for some people and the interesting thing, to me, about that is the research show that often those who are naturals in a field are passed by those who are forced to work hard developing their stride because the later people develop a good work ethic and learn how to out in the necessary time and concentration to take it to the next level.. I’m very interested in this topic
admin says:

April 23, 2011 at 12:15 pm

Mental coach is a must, thanks Quiet Jim
admin says:

April 23, 2011 at 12:17 pm

Thanks D’ronica.

No athletic bone in your body? Just out of curiosity, how long have you said that?
Richie says:

April 23, 2011 at 3:09 pm

I consider ‘talent’ to be a God-given predisposition to initially do something better than most, which includes what we generally describe as ‘IQ’.

The interesting thing is that outside of the realm of sports, significant research has shown that this ‘talent’ is completely irrelevant in predicting who will be ‘world class’ or ‘elite’ in any field. Regardless of initial ‘talent’, the elite in any field have achieved that status through sustained, purposeful deliberate practice. There is no evidence that any shortcut exists.

Again, the exception is found in the innate physical traits required to play some sports. I’m 5’10″…I would have never played center for the Lakers…even with 100,000 hours of deliberate practice.
Dick Kusleika says:

April 23, 2011 at 3:50 pm

I don’t think I could say it better than Sara, but… I think you need talent(result of genes) and skill(result of work) to do anything. It’s the combination of the two that will determine your lot it life. If we put them both on an arbitrary 100 point scale, then you might hypothesize that it takes 160 to be a PGA golfer. If you’re a 60 on the talent scale, you better work harder than every other person. If you’re a 90, it will seem to come easier to you than others. If you’re a 40, you probably won’t get beyond the Nationwide tour no matter how hard you work. Of course, these number are made up and you can’t measure them anyway – it’s just a thought model.

I consider things like drive, motivation, courage, etc. to be a abilities like any other. You may be born, for example, with a predisposition to take risks or you may develop that ability through practice. Which brings me to my next point.

It’s easy to think of golf as an ability and imagine a couple of sliding scales measuring talent and skill. But almost everything is more complex than that. Golf isn’t an ability, it’s the combination of 100 abilities. Some of those abilities are probably more important than others. Now instead of two sliding scales, there are 200 and they’re weighted. If you list the top ten abilities necessary to be a golfer, baseball player, actuary, and homemaker, each list would probably have a lot of “soft” abilities. If you crack under pressure, it doesn’t matter how well you lag putt, throw a curve ball, evaluate risk, or parent. You have to have drive, courage, self confidence, and discipline to be at the top of any field. Throw in a good short game, and you can be a great golfer. Throw in patience and teaching ability, and you can be a great parent.

Do you need talent? Yes, there’s some minimum level you need to be a high achiever in your field. That minimum is less than most people think, I’d wager. People use lack of talent as an excuse not to do the work. Since you can’t measure talent anyway, how would you know if you had it unless you put in the effort and failed? At that point you can say “I did the work, but just didn’t have enough innate ability.” And you’d be so much better for the experience, you’d move on and be successful in some other area.

Finally, this really has no bearing on The Dan Plan. If I could measure your talent and told you that you didn’t have enough, would you stop? I doubt it. Everyone has to fill in the hours and days until they die somehow, so spend it working on making the most of whatever talent you have. I’m spending mine commenting on a blog post when I should be at the practice green. And tomorrow I’ll be complaining that I can’t break 80.
Richie says:

April 23, 2011 at 4:56 pm

I’ll ‘agree to disagree’ with those that believe talent plays any role in determining elite performers…or speeds up the process by which that level is achieved.

I hold this opinion only because in my reading I’ve seen that this subject has been researched extensively, and the connection between world class performance and innate talent…of any amount…just hasn’t been found.

A powerful study of British school children learning to play a musical instrument is cited in ‘Talent Is Overrated’. Only one factor dictated how quickly any one student progressed from one level to another: the number of hours of practice. If one student made it to a level faster, it was only because they practiced more each day/week than other students.

It’s a fascinating book that I highly recommend.
Alex says:

April 23, 2011 at 5:22 pm

Most people upon seeing a 5 year old playing the piano effortlessly at a high level with no visible effort would immediately think of talent. Those same people upon seeing a 5 year old lifting weights heavier than most 6 year olds could manage would probably think the 5 year old was physically well developed for his age.

Say we have two identical twins who have exactly the same bone and muscle structures and strength. One is given daily golf lessons, the other is not. The two play a round golf together. The one with daily golf lessons will win.

If we have those twins in a difference scenario – one is given daily golf lessons but never plays in tournaments and never plays with more than one person watching him. The second twin plays daily and is either playing in a tournament or is playing with a large group of competitive golfers and has multiple audience members watching every shot. Put them both in a tournament and the tournament-only twin would win assuming he had solid fundamentals.

What’s my point? Well the amount of weight you can lift, the speed you can sprint or the height you can jump come down to two things: your body and your effort. The more fired up and motivated you are the better you can do. After Bolt broke a sprinting world record at the Olympics, reporters asked him if he had ever posted a faster time in training. He said that the stadium and the thousands of people watching make him run much faster than he ever could in practice.

Things like playing the piano and being good at golf or tennis are complex tasks that cannot be performed well through sheer force of will. In Tennis and Golf we perform best during practice, when we are relaxed. PGA Tour golf is not relaxed golf. Tour players are able to play well under immense pressure.

Those who don’t make it through Q-School probably play the same level of relaxed golf as the others, but were unable to ‘handle the pressure,’ they can’t play pressure golf well. What’s the solution to the problem of translating relaxed golf skill into tournament golf skill?

‘The inner game of tennis’ suggests one needs to lose attachment to winning and play shots in a relaxed mental and physical manner.

This is all very well but I don’t think there is anyone who could play a relaxed shot with millions of dollars and a huge title at stake. Serving for the match can be the toughest part mentally, similar to entering the final hole knowing if you make par you’ll win the tournament. It’s going to be difficult.

One possible solution could be to practice a lot of ‘stressed’ golf. You mentioned before that you would jog around the putting green and then try to make a putt. You also mentioned that the academics you’re working with tell you to stop when you lose focus for the day. What will happen if you lose focus in the middle of a tournament? There is no way you can simply call it a day, but at the same time there is no way you’ll be able to play your best golf.

Imagine a golfer getting to the putting green in the morning and deciding not to leave until he holed 500 5-foot putts in a row. If he doesn’t get it until dark, he goes home when he can’t see the ball, gets up the next day and starts again. Not just putting but all the different strokes. Practicing until 300 yard drives within 10 yards of the target, requiring hundreds in a row. Every day. Doing that would push this guy to breaking point. Physical and mental exhaustion, frustration, anguish, insanity. He would risk complete burn out. He would also learn a lot about his body and mind operates. One could imagine that he would learn to compartmentalize his physical and mental/emotional discomfort. Letting the stress wash over him and still execute what he wants to do. I would imagine every top PGA player would be able to do this to some extent. The difference between world #50 and world #1 is mostly between the ears as they say. How could one develop this skill of playing under pressure? The same way as anything else – a lot of practice.
admin says:

April 23, 2011 at 6:40 pm

Thank you all for the comments, I think there is a lot of good written in these posts and truly appreciate the time you have taken to express your thoughts about talent. It’s a topic that is discussed often with people when talking about what I do and everyone has an opinion on the subject. Personally, I hope to demonstrate the possibilities that pure hard work allows in life. However, I am just one person and being one person the results are not exactly conclusive either way, depending on where I am in the 10,000 hour, a “talent person” could always argue that I “had it” or “didn’t have it” and that is why reached whatever level I will reach. It’s a somewhat similar argument to creation V evolution. There’s good scientific research showing how children become outstanding professionals, and then there is the idea that some people are born with it.

Alex: I hear you about the importance of practicing with pressure in order to get the experience necessary to become a seasoned Tour Pro. And, no matter what I do (my coach and some performance experts have devised ways to simulate some pressure) it will never be anything close to the real thing. You are right adjusting to those conditions takes practice and the idea with The Dan Plan is that as soon as I’m playing full golf, every round will be played with consequences. Joining every men’s club possible, entering every amateur tournament, playing for lunch money, whatever ways there is to put some pressure into the game.

For the time being, I must get to the point where I have amazing control of the mechanics of the swing and distance/shape of shots. No matter how much you can withstand the pressure of playing on the Tour, if you can’t hit the ball where you want it to go in practice you’re not going to be very good in competition

For me, hard work is the way to go. It’s hard to say if golf, or any pursuit, would come more naturally to someone else, but no matter where you start, you’re not going to make it to the highest level without paying your dues. Regardless if talent exists, a good work ethic makes a champion.

Dick: You are right, if you told me that I was talentless and didn’t have a chance, it would just make me work that much harder to prove you wrong

Richie: ‘Talent is Overrated’ is definitely worth a read, I recommend it to anyone interested in this subject, too.
Robert says:

April 24, 2011 at 12:55 am

Talent is a word people use when people have no idea what is going on.
You can always get the maximum out of your potential and optimizing that, hard work, smart work, and diversity practice allows for a lot more than people give credit for.

Load of so called talented people that never makes it out.
They lack the work ethic, they dont learn to fail and deal with and move on to take risks.
Success is more about failure, taking risks, and a good plan, which I guess you could need a talent for

GL on you plan.
Esam says:

April 24, 2011 at 5:22 am

I acquire the Dan Plan in a blog in China.And I am just a young student of college.
Your havior is good that encourage me to do what I want to do.
I hope I can study English for 10000 hours too,by the way,My English is alway poor.
I hope you can succeed in the future and I will pay attention to you.
GOOD LUCK!
shinetins says:

April 24, 2011 at 5:55 am

Hi Dan, I learn about your story from a Chinese blogger. I have a great interest in the potential of human beings and the 10000 hour theory introduced in Outliers. Here’s one thing very important. The power of 10000 hour practice does NOT simply lie in the long hours and self-discipline. There’re some methods to follow. For example, you need to be concentrated and keep self-awareness during your practice. Namely, in the golf practice, you never let the movements of your body flow automatically without knowing how you are moving. You are paying attention to every motion of your muscles. Second, you need immediate feedbacks, either from an experienced coach, or by observing how you were doing last time in the self-conducted vedio.

I didn’t read your blog carefully, so I’m not sure whether you already know about the above points. Hope you’ll make it!
Priscilla says:

April 24, 2011 at 12:35 pm

Talent to me means starting young, and having sufficient funding for a good teacher. This might be because I know placing too much belief in ‘talent’ brings people nowhere. I think any mention of the world ‘talent’ just stops people from working hard.
Jason says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:02 pm

Only one honest and important answer. The greatest ball striker and one of the all time greatest golfer’s of all time Ben Hogan……. he did not have natural ability, it took him ten years as a professional golfer to start becoming a winning player, and thousands of hours beating balls and practicing. He had no trainers or coaches, he made his career by working not by talent. Dan can make it as well as anyone who puts the work in. Now go practice Dan!
admin says:

April 24, 2011 at 2:17 pm

Thanks Jason,

It’s true, determination trumps all! We will take this to the moon if necessary!
Jason says:

April 24, 2011 at 3:10 pm

You know it brother!!!!!
Eminfan says:

April 24, 2011 at 6:30 pm

Dan. YOU ARE MY HERO! Never give up your plan.
admin says:

April 24, 2011 at 6:53 pm

Thank you, I most definitely will not!
Robert says:

April 25, 2011 at 3:14 am

Talent is grown.
Take a look at the talent code book you find out why.

I would for practice do the following for developing talent, do the drill you usually do, then find 10 variations to do it that either work or dont work, do these in less than 10 minutes with high focused concentration, no phones on etc…

Now, go get a coffe or rest for a few, then do it again, or do some other drill that way.
The trick is to get just above or beyound your current ability but not hard enough so its impossible.

The brain likes when you almost got it but not really, adding a load of variation in a shorter time, makes you more focused and learn faster and develop more talent faster.
I apply the above, for my golf game and I aim to make the local pro tour here, at age 47…and currently a 9 handicap.

Its also useful to start mapping how it feels like when the body moves properly in the motion which is best done with eyes closed..
Brett Slater says:

April 25, 2011 at 4:25 am

Some great insight here… No one mentioned Passion, though. I think if you have enough Passion for something, you’ll do whatever is necessary to pursue it… If one is passionate about golf, or software development, finance, or what-have-you, he or she will practice, educate, train, pursue that passion — without fear of failure or shortfall… And if the ultimate goal isn’t reached due to whatever limitations may arise that are beyond the pursuer’s control, my bet is that he or she will still find themselves happy and fulfilled.

Passion is what drives. Talent is the by-product. I don’t know any awesome golfers who hate the game, but I know a ton who suck and love it.

Good luck in YOUR pursuit, Dan. Lotta people rooting for you.
Charlie says:

April 25, 2011 at 11:29 am

In most cases the people at the pinnacle of performance-based activity have indeed invested thousands of hours of work to reach that level.

Having coached high school runners for several decades, however, I believe that some people have a natural, genetic predisposition to excel at running, and given similar levels of training – even to excess – will retain an advantage over those who don’t. Some 9th graders run far, far faster and more efficiently than others. And in four years of similar training, the naturally “talented” ones will be faster than those who aren’t. In some cases, much faster. I believe that cardiovascular systems can be vastly improved; stride patterns, posture, and arm carriage can be made more efficient; and so on… But I think that Runner A may still have a build or a biomechanical advantage over Runner B that no amount of training can overcome, provided that B is doing comparable (though not necessarily equivalent) training. That’s why most marathon runners have a particular type of build which limits their ability to become world-class shotputters – and vice versa.

In most cases, though, I agree with the consensus that at the highest levels of performance, in sports and art, attributes of mind and heart will determine how well a person performs. As malleable as these, too, can be, I’m inclined to think they are a reflection of things that are formed relatively early in life, if not in the genetic code.
scott says:

April 25, 2011 at 2:57 pm

I’m convinced talent is really an ability to imitate. Having a natural aptitude for something is the ability to quickly identify the best way that others perform a task, e.g. hitting a golf ball, and imitating that well enough to achieve a similar outcome. That is, being able to hold the picture of a pro swing in your mind, and controlling your body to enough to make a similar motion. True success in any endeavor, however, comes from internalizing the motions or material until a deeper understanding can be achieved. That level is the one that takes “10,000 hours.”

The conclusion is that while ability to imitate will get you started quickly, the deeper understanding comes through practice. As others have pointed out, “genetic predispositions” seem to make a difference primarily in terms of physique. If you don’t have a combination of flexibility and fast-twitch muscles, then your body will be a substantial hurdle to becoming a pro golfer. People like Dustin Johnson, for instance, seem to have both those qualities in spades, and will therefore always hit the ball with more power. Then again, Corey Pavin made it work, and his build is more average than most (read: he’s tiny).
Mike says:

April 25, 2011 at 7:11 pm

Hello Dan,
Genetics will give you potential on strength, muscle twitch, and ligament response. So you have that predetermined and training will move closer to the maximal point of the components. Just because you can hit a ball a great distance does not mean you will be successful, but it may cover up other errors in your game. The goal of being successful in golf or life is minimize variation (consistency) and know your limitations (the distance each club will perform.) With both of those items mastered you will be able to dissect the course, pick the clubs needed, and put the ball within a zone of predictability.
My favorite inspirational quote is:
If you say you can or if you say you can’t, in both cases you will be correct.

You can!
Regards,
Mike
admin says:

April 25, 2011 at 9:26 pm

Robert, Brett, Charlie, Scott and Mike: Thank you for your comments. They all have a lot of knowledge in them and I appreciate the time you spent to write out your thoughts on “talent.” Hard work, passion, determination, hours and having a base genetic ability to control one’s body seems to be a general consensus. It’s hard for me to say what my “base level” is, but one thing for certain is that golf is not something that I was bread to do or a skill that I have been developing since childhood. I wish there was a group of 100 people doing this experiment so that the results would be a bit more conclusive, but as far as I know this is a solo experiment. Since it is one person, it doesn’t necessarily prove anything, but at least can help shine a light onto the possibilities of an average guy putting in 100 percent.

All of the responses on here are great and I thank each and every one of you for contributing. I will have many more questions as this evolves and hope that you will stick around to share your thoughts. Thank you!
Alex Xu says:

April 26, 2011 at 3:25 am

Hi I’m from China and I find your story rather interesting and encouraging.
I am about to start another career which I was totally unfamiliar with, wish we could both succeed
Smokey says:

April 26, 2011 at 7:54 am

The same thing that makes a professional basketball player is the same thing that makes a professional golfer. There is no difference. It’s a combination of athletic skill, practice and coaching, and luck.
Wilde says:

April 26, 2011 at 12:07 pm

I read in a book once that talent is the product of natural ability multiplied by the amount of effort put in. For example, if we were to put numbers on it, let’s say you have the natural athletic ability of about 7 out of 10. Your effort is obviously a 10. That puts your talent at 70 out of 100. Tiger Woods has the natural ability of 10 and effort at near a 10, leading to a near perfect golfer. If somebody who has done nothing but sit on a couch and eat, as well as physical issues such as joint problems, he would have a very different result in this experiment than I think you will. The difference maker, as you are showing, is the effort put in. Somebody with a natural ability of an 8, but puts in the effort of about a 2, will be waaayyyy outdone by somebody with half the natural ability, but puts in the effort required. I don’t think that talent is mere natural predisposition. I think that talent is something controllable, and I’m excited to see where you will take this. Keep up the plan, Dan!
Sean says:

April 27, 2011 at 7:16 am

Hi Dan, first off, allow me to say that you have my deepest respect for testing out the 10,000hour theory. As a psychology graduate, I was exposed to the 10,000 hours to expertise early in my formal education. In my humble personal opinion, I would differentiate talent and expertise as 2 separate but somewhat overlapping concepts. They might or might not be mutually exclusive. Talent, to me, is the ability to learn better, faster and easier in relative to the majority others. With this definition, using your example, not all of the pro golfers on the PGA tour is talented, but most if not all of them have developed a certain level of expertise enough to qualify for the pro tour. With all due respect to others who have commented, if talent is a God-given pre-disposition “gift”, then it would mean that an untrained albeit talented person can play pro golf. I would put my neck out and say that even the most talented person would require some amount of training (maybe not 10,000hours) to develop expertise. Look at how Roger Federer (who started off without a coach) had to get a coach to learn what natural talent couldn’t give. It is the ability to learn ahead of others that is the defining factor. All the best to your quest!
admin says:

April 27, 2011 at 8:14 am

Thank you for this comment and for the kind words, Sean. I appreciate you reading the blog and taking time to write a reply. I definitely believe that no matter who you are, you need to work to get to the upper echelon levels..

Thank you for all of these wonderful comments! Sorry I have not had a chance to personally reply to them all, but am humbled by the response and truly appreciate the time and effort. There is some wonderful knowledge here!
Tom says:

April 27, 2011 at 11:40 am

This is an interesting topic. There are two aspects that are consistently cited when coaches describe athletes. One is natural ability and the other is that he/she is “coachable.” I do think that there some merit to the point of view that some people are genetic lottery winners. For example, you cannot coach a skinny 5’4″ kid to be 7′ and solid muscle. But one thing that all great athletes possess is the ability to mimic an athletic move. In other words, they can perfectly execute a coaches direction.

In a game such as golf where timing and strength are key components, I do expect that you will find your natural ability will ultimately limit your success. At the same time, I believe that dedication will lift you above average. I am looking forward to seeing how far you can get.
Alex says:

April 27, 2011 at 11:59 pm

Quick comment – I think ‘talented’ is often a word for people who learn quickly (but aren’t necessarily any better in the long run).

Of course, if you learn quickly then you’re probably more likely to persevere as well, so there can be a snowball effect.
carey says:

April 30, 2011 at 11:42 am

I am surprised at all of these references to basketball and the fact that just because someone isn’t tall enough they could never be great at basketball. Has no one ever heard of Spud Webb, he was 5′ 7″.

You know what Dan, if you work hard enough for long enough and do all of the right things, and most importantly you belive that you can do it, the green jacket is yours.
admin says:

April 30, 2011 at 12:01 pm

Cheers Carey,

Being from Atlanta, I definitely remember Spud Webb! Thanks for the comment and for the encouragement
Dara says:

May 1, 2011 at 3:42 am

I think that having a particular physical attribute may make it easier to learn something, especially when it comes to a physical skill. For example, I have never been able to run fast- I’ve always been the slowest in whatever crowd I might have been running with (mostly confined to gym class). I’ve never made any attempt to improve, because I have no desire to. But someone who was always fast would have an easier time becoming a runner.

I just stumbled across your blog. I’m would like to see some posts as to how the heck you are funding this. I, too read Talent is Overrated. And it made me think- a lot. The 10,000 hours thing was actually discouraging to me- my preferred hobby- ballroom dancing- I began 6 years ago, taking one lesson a week. For a while I was able to take 2-3 lessons a week, but now I’m back to one. I don’t see any way possible I can ever get to 10,000 hours of practice in my remaining lifetime! It’s expensive. And I have to work just to pay for life- right now one lesson a week can be hard to fund sometimes. Plus, I need a partner (which I don’t have) who would also be able to put in the 10,000 hours!

So I’d like to see some posts about how the heck you are funding this! I see that perhaps you can have very low living expenses, but all that coaching has to add up too, right? Are you still doing some photography? I’m much more interested in this aspect of your plan than the details of all the golf lessons. I’d also like to know if you are seeing improvement in your skills.
admin says:

May 1, 2011 at 12:08 pm

Hello Dara, Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Talent and for finding the blog!

As far as funding goes, first off I would say that you don’t necessarily need 10,000 hours of coaching, but deliberate practice that is guided by coaching. And this is the amount of time it takes, theoretically, to become an outstanding expert.. The way I currently do this is have one one-hour lesson with my coach, where we go over a few necessary improvements and then I spend the next 6 days working on those. Then, the next week hopefully I’ve gotten down what he wanted me to work on and we can work on the next step.

Going into this 100 percent and full-time like I am, I saved up money for the past few years living very frugally and putting away about half my paycheck every week. But, this isn’t necessary, too, and if you were able to dedicate one or even a half hour every day after work (or before) you would see some amazing improvements over time. The important thing to remember is to always work on your weaknesses and be sure you are cognitively engaged in what you are working on.

Thank you for the response! Dan
B Reid says:

May 1, 2011 at 12:58 pm

This 10,000 hour learning ‘rule’ has been quoted by many but questioned by few. The idea originally came from the hours required to become a chess grand master! Other research has concluded that in sport there should be no fixed hours for acquiring excellence and that the emphasis should be put on the quality and not quantity of coaching and practice.
admin says:

May 1, 2011 at 1:28 pm

I hear you, B Reid. The quality is what is important. It takes a very large amount of quality hours to make it to the top!
Tom says:

May 2, 2011 at 6:14 am

Dan:

I thought a lot about this topic over the weekend. I am a 10 handicap and I am always trying to find ways to improve my game. I will also disclose that I am 6’8″ 260 lbs and played sports on the collegiate level. (Not golf).

I have been struggling with several things over the past year. I have not been able to hit a high draw with my irons and I have been fading my drives a bit too much. The one instructor I have been seeing wanted to change my swing and I was just not comfortable with his instruction because in looking at the tapes, I felt my swing looked correct. So I tried switching instructors this past weekend and he immediately pointed out that my grip was incorrect. It felt uncomfortable at first but within a few minutes I was piping my drive down the middle. By yesterday afternoon I was able to hit a high draw with the swing I thought was correct. All of my shots were ten yards longer and had a better trajectory.

So what’s my point? My point is that I am coming around to your point of view about the concept of dedication, practice and instruction as a means to an end. But I am also now thinking that the correct coaching is critical. The fact is that you could potentially spend 10,000 learning the wrong thing and go nowhere. Now the question is how do you recognize when you are heading in the wrong direction?
admin says:

May 2, 2011 at 9:05 am

Thanks for the response Tom,

From everything I’ve read or been told by true performance experts, having the correct eyes on your development is as crucial as putting in the practice itself. It is not impossible to improve through proprioception alone, but it would probably take many fold more hours. Have the right people observing your mistakes points you into the correct way to practice. Right on, Tom. Thanks!

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