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An Average Guy Who Spent 6,000 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer

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Re: An Average Guy Who Spent 6,000 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer

#21

Post by jxramos »

icelancer wrote: post #19
icelancer wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The average person isn't able to spend ~7 hours a day, every day for 4 years, on a non-salaried activity. I basically did this over 6 years, 3-5 hours per day on a non-earning activity to eventually launch the business I now run. In the last 3 years I've averaged 60-70 hours per week at work, only recently earning close to my last salary (about 65% as of last check) as a Data Scientist. It's doable enough. Just very…

Also the "10,000" hour rule (which has obviously been debunked) isn't really about 10,000 hours of focused practice on the task alone. Focused work and previous experience in other domains transfers into the activity/goal you chase. Being a Data Scientist gave me a huge leg up about understanding data structures and statistical analysis, huge in my field. Formerly a software developer, I was able to install, configur…

Just wanted to offer some kind congratulations and best wishes on your endeavors.

Re: An Average Guy Who Spent 6,000 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer

#22

Post by icelancer »

jxramos wrote: post #21
icelancer wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the "10,000" hour rule (which has obviously been debunked) isn't really about 10,000 hours of focused practice on the task alone. Focused work and previous experience in other domains transfers into the activity/goal you chase. Being a Data Scientist gave me a huge leg up about understanding data structures and statistical analysis, huge in my field. Formerly a software developer, I was able to install, configur…

Just wanted to offer some kind congratulations and best wishes on your endeavors.

Thank you. I really do accept it. :)

This is how I like to think about my journey, stolen directly from the link I posted in these comments from Lyle McDonald (perhaps without the DEGREE of acerbic attitude...):

"Quick note: I’m turning off comments for this series of posts. The first reason is so I don’t have to delete the invariable trolling. The second is that I’m also not interested in atta boys or whatever. I spent the last 5 years pursuing this goal for myself. Whether folks supported it or thought I was an idiot was never relevant to what I was going to do. So neither positive nor negative feedback is needed nor wanted."

I've had to pivot the company twice, both times destroying much of what I thought it was going to be, once breaking my heart. But I've reached a zen-like mode as I grow older with the ability to simply... well, work. As it gets tougher, I get better at churning and slogging and fighting. I think that is the true way to know if something is your life's work, whether it is "successful" by any measure other than your own.

I'm lucky in that it generates revenue and I employ a lot of people and provide for them, and my family. But I can say without a doubt I'd be doing it anyway even if it didn't, because I did do that for 6-7 years not only without pay, but at negative returns given that I self-funded the entire venture.

Re: An Average Guy Who Spent 6,000 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer

#23

Post by yakult »

Pulcinella wrote: post #5

I feel like there is some confusion between being successful and being professional. You could deliberately practice a sport or music for ~10,000 and be really damn good, but that doesn't mean you will go pro. That part is about luck and connections. Just because you are very skilled doesn't necessarily mean you will be "spotted" or "discovered" for example.

Going pro depends significantly on the economics of supply and demand, if it's defined as 'finding enough people to pay you to do this for a living'. It's easy to go pro as a plumber. Not so easy when you have to compete vs 300000 people for a PGA slot.

Re: An Average Guy Who Spent 6,000 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer

#24

Post by yakult »

denimnerd wrote: post #12
Pulcinella wrote: post #5

I feel like there is some confusion between being successful and being professional. You could deliberately practice a sport or music for ~10,000 and be really damn good, but that doesn't mean you will go pro. That part is about luck and connections. Just because you are very skilled doesn't necessarily mean you will be "spotted" or "discovered" for example.

golf has open tournaments. no need to be spotted it's literally just up to your ability and nothing else

You need access to expertise, equipment, grounds, peer competition. These all require money and/or connections.

Re: An Average Guy Who Spent 6,000 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer

#25

Post by jacalata »

nostrademons wrote: post #20
danso wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Folks who decide to do a 10,000-hour challenge are probably already in some kind of elite group, in terms of wealth and free time (nevermind patience and perseverance). The average person isn't able to spend ~7 hours a day, every day for 4 years, on a non-salaried activity.

TV? The stats are that the average person watches 5 hours and 4 minutes of television per day, every day, for decades. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_consumption

Holy shit. I hope a significant amount of that is background noise rather than an actual use of time.

Re: An Average Guy Who Spent 6,000 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer

#26

Post by SamReidHughes »

nemo44x wrote: post #10

Going pro shouldn't be the mark of success on this endeavor. There are a very limited number of seats and very likely pros have committed well more time. The fact he got to a 2 handicap is evidence you can become a master. Especially since he suffered a physical limitation after about 6k hours. Talent matters. Age matters. The ability to "get it" faster matters. Access makes you get it faster. But to go from no game…

You know, a 2 handicap is far from being a master. The gap from 2 to +2 is bigger than that from 12 to 2. And a +2 is quite good. But if you're a +2, how do you get yourself to be a +3? Pray to the golf gods? The gulf there is vast. And even then, you're far, far from PGA Tour level. Those guys are good.

The way I'd put it is, this guy made himself be a competent golfer. He could average 2 over the course rating on the better half of his rounds. Not bad. Really, that's an achievement many golfers would dream of. He's broken 70, and what more is there to life?

I met a guy that started in his 60's after retiring. He hit scratch by the time he was 70.

Hearing that there's only 326,000 active golfers actually makes hitting the PGA Tour sound much more realistic than I would have thought. You only have to be one in two thousand. Edit: Thanks, no, it's 1 in 326,000, which makes way much more sense.

Re: An Average Guy Who Spent 6,000 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer

#27

Post by mmel »

>“We [talked] about the idea of quitting everything to pursue something single-mindedly and whole-heartedly,” McLaughlin recounts. “Did you need talent or was it all about hard work?”

Why not apply that mindset to commercial photography, the field he was already in?

Re: An Average Guy Who Spent 6,000 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer

#28

Post by nostrademons »

jacalata wrote: post #25
nostrademons wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TV? The stats are that the average person watches 5 hours and 4 minutes of television per day, every day, for decades. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_consumption

Holy shit. I hope a significant amount of that is background noise rather than an actual use of time.

Some of it undoubtedly is, but I suspect that there are a number of people who actually watch 7+ hours of TV per day. Remember that TV watching is concentrated among older people; the average for 18-24 year olds is 2 hours/day, for 65+ year olds, it's 7 hours/day, and even for just 50+ year olds it's > 6 hours/day. [1] "Media multitasking" is concentrated among the young, those Just thinking back to my childhood in the 80s, I could totally believe this. I'd come home at 3:30, watch the entire Disney Afternoon until 5:00 when my mom would get home, pretend I hadn't been watching anything, then watch the news with her (6:00-6:30), have dinner, and then usually watch an hour or two more of primetime. That's about 4 hours a day, as a 9-year-old.

These were the habits of three whole generations (Silent, Boomers, and Gen-X) and half of another (Millenials). I don't watch any TV now, but that's because computer games and the Internet replaced it in my teenage years.

[1] http://www.marketingcharts.com/featured-24817

Re: An Average Guy Who Spent 6,000 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer

#29

Post by SamReidHughes »

yakult wrote: post #24
denimnerd wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

golf has open tournaments. no need to be spotted it's literally just up to your ability and nothing else

You need access to expertise, equipment, grounds, peer competition. These all require money and/or connections.

Golf is cheap. You could spend $1000 on equipment, get a yearly pass for $2300 right outside Google HQ. Spend $50 or is it $100 to join the men's club -- they'd love for you to join -- and get your NCGA handicap. Done.

Read the greatest kung fu manual ever written, "Five Lessons" by Ben Hogan, or use some other book. I met one kid that modeled his swing off of YouTube videos and with that got himself to a scratch handicap.

The real cost is time.

Re: An Average Guy Who Spent 6,000 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer

#30

Post by Multiplayer »

SamReidHughes wrote: post #26
nemo44x wrote: post #10

Going pro shouldn't be the mark of success on this endeavor. There are a very limited number of seats and very likely pros have committed well more time. The fact he got to a 2 handicap is evidence you can become a master. Especially since he suffered a physical limitation after about 6k hours. Talent matters. Age matters. The ability to "get it" faster matters. Access makes you get it faster. But to go from no game…

You know, a 2 handicap is far from being a master. The gap from 2 to +2 is bigger than that from 12 to 2. And a +2 is quite good. But if you're a +2, how do you get yourself to be a +3? Pray to the golf gods? The gulf there is vast. And even then, you're far, far from PGA Tour level. Those guys are good. The way I'd put it is, this guy made himself be a competent golfer. He could average 2 over the course rating on t…

You misread that. It's 326,000 PER pga tour spot.
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