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Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice?

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Re: Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice?

#41

Post by ascendant »

jasonwilk wrote: post #28

I have been playing golf since I was 6 years old (I am now 25, running a YC company and whiteyboard). I've played competitively, going all over the country and even got a full scholarship to a NCAA Division 1 university for the sport. I can honestly say that this guy does not stand a chance, and here is why. 1. Golf, especially when it comes to playing professionally, is more of a mental sport than physical (both str…

Keep it up. I'm sure people who dismiss him with a laundry list of reasons why he's going to fail add fuel to his fire.

Re: Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice?

#42

Post by DanielStraight »

jasonwilk wrote: post #28

I have been playing golf since I was 6 years old (I am now 25, running a YC company and whiteyboard). I've played competitively, going all over the country and even got a full scholarship to a NCAA Division 1 university for the sport. I can honestly say that this guy does not stand a chance, and here is why. 1. Golf, especially when it comes to playing professionally, is more of a mental sport than physical (both str…

How many hours of golf do you estimate you have played? At what point did you become "good"?

Saying you've been playing for 19 years means nothing. That could be 1 hour a week or 40 hours a week.

Re: Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice?

#44

Post by num1 »

Something I recently realized is that if this theory is true I have a big problem on my hands. See I love flying, and it is one of my life's goals to fly in professional competitions. However flight time in airplanes routinely cost $100 or even $300 an hour. My goal might end up costing me a few million dollars.

Re: Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice?

#45

Post by synnik »

jasonwilk wrote: post #28

I have been playing golf since I was 6 years old (I am now 25, running a YC company and whiteyboard). I've played competitively, going all over the country and even got a full scholarship to a NCAA Division 1 university for the sport. I can honestly say that this guy does not stand a chance, and here is why. 1. Golf, especially when it comes to playing professionally, is more of a mental sport than physical (both str…

So what you are saying (whether you meant to or not) is not that it is impossible to become a pro in 10,000 hours... but rather that your training has be to be focused on what "being a pro" really means.

If he were to integrate your exact points into his training, it certainly sounds like enough time to resolve your issues.

Re: Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice?

#46

Post by gcheong »

Here's one of the original papers that put forth the theory of deliberate practice and the 10,000 hour rule (though in the paper it is given as a 10-year rule):

http://projects.ict.usc.edu/itw/gel/EricssonDeliberatePracti...

The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance also covers a wide range of research on performance and expertise in various areas http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Expertise-Performance-Handbo...

Re: Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice?

#47

Post by jwb119 »

alecco wrote: post #16
kenjackson wrote: post #6

Here's his blog with some updated info: http://dannychampion.com/blog.php His improvement seems to be fairly rapid. I guess if this is your sole pursuit, not that surprising. But nevertheless makes I'm rooting for him. I think it would be testament to the theory.

Sports training usually shows diminishing returns. In particular, if you overtrain you plateau or get worse.

do you have a citation or any evidence for this?

Re: Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice?

#48

Post by jordan0day »

jpwagner wrote: post #29
bayleo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, he definitely optimized on his choice of sport by selecting one of the few where the advantages of age and genetics are minimized.

not a golfer?

I have to presume you're taking some offense at a perceived slight against golf?

Of all sports, I think it's fair to say age and genetics are less important in golf than, say, football. bayleo's statement seems fairly accurate to me.

Re: Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice?

#49

Post by hugh3 »

jpwagner wrote: post #29
bayleo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, he definitely optimized on his choice of sport by selecting one of the few where the advantages of age and genetics are minimized.

not a golfer?

If you're implying that age and genetics do play a big role you're right, but what other "proper" sport is comparable? Most sports nowadays are dominated by folks who are clearly genetic freaks.

Re: Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice?

#50

Post by flatline »

ignifero wrote: post #38

I 'll probably be buried for this, but how is this "hacker news"? I thought HN was moderated

Not so much moderated - some links are occasionally killed, usually as spam. How is setting out on a new venture to both succeed technically and profesionally - and test a hypothesis that has been bandied about HN quite a bit - not hacking related?
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