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from the he'll-never-make-it-to-Carnegie-Hall dept.
The Atlantic has an article on Dan McLaughlin, the "average guy" who spent six thousand hours working on becoming a professional golfer
Seven-plus years ago, aged 30 and unsure even of which hand to grip a golf club in, McLaughlin quit his job as a commercial photographer, took in lodgers to cover the mortgage, husbanded his savings for green fees, and set out to make the PGA Tour, home to the world's elite golfers.
He created a catchily named blog to document his quest, and in short order the Dan Plan commanded magazines spreads and TV spots. Along the way, it drew an avid community of followers riveted by the spectacle of a regular Joe living out an everyman fantasy. No less captivated: a salon of leading figures from the science of learning and human performance.
What could you achieve if you committed to something completely, all-in, no excuses? How far could you go? For five years, McLaughlin cast everything else aside—career, money, even relationships—to put this to the test. But then his back gave out. He pushed himself to the limit and still came up short.
The article follows Dan's attempt to follow the idea, popularised in Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, that 10,000 hours of practice is the main factor in developing any skill to world class expertise.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 14 2017, @01:04PM (3 children)
> So he bets everything on an overly simplified, mostly bullshit idea...
This. I've had the chance to work with some Olympic cyclists and they are not like normal people. One had a resting heart rate of 25 beats/minute, could *smoothly* spin the pedals (under moderate load) at over 200 rpm and also had a reaction time about half of mine, based on the dollar bill test. He could consistently catch the bill http://sploid.gizmodo.com/the-mathematical-explanation-for-why-you-cant-catch-a-f-1776551693 [gizmodo.com]
He also did the 10,000 hours (probably more)--for a number of years it seems that he practically lived at the Montreal (indoor) velodrome and/or training on the road. Made possible because his wife was supportive and had a good Canadian government job.
Oh, and he wasn't (as far as I could tell, and I spent a lot of time with him) ever using banned drugs.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Monday August 14 2017, @03:13PM (2 children)
I think there may be a difference between Olympic quality and professional (not a sports fan, so could be wrong). Yes, the final "best in the world" tier needs something special genetically. But to sustain yourself based on payments from your sport probably doesn't need that level of expertise.
I'm not sure of his financials, but I think he may have achieved his goal early on. If his blog was able to sustain him during his practice, then I would consider him "professional". And that shows he has additional talents that are required of entertainers (athletes are entertainers, right?): charisma. He told his story and people wanted to know about him and his pursuit of sports.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 14 2017, @07:09PM
Lots of Olympic class athletes don't earn enough from their sports:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/08/10/i-won-gold-in-1984-like-many-olympians-today-i-worked-day-jobs-to-get-there/ [washingtonpost.com]
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-36-olympic-athletes-do-for-a-living-2012-8/?IR=T [businessinsider.com]
Not sure who the billions the IOC gets goes to, maybe it goes to some athletes ( http://www.businessinsider.com/olympics-inc-inside-the-business-of-the-ioc/?IR=T#ioc-subsidiary-1-the-national-olympic-committees-that-build-the-teams-in-each-country-5 [businessinsider.com] ) but it certainly doesn't go to many (most?) of them.
It's one of those star jobs. If you're the #2000 tennis player in the world nobody really cares, if you're lucky maybe you can have a job as a coach. Otherwise don't quit your day job.
Whereas if you're the #2000 tax accountant in the world you're probably doing extremely well.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 14 2017, @10:06PM
The Dutch women's football team (soccer for yanks) just became European champion. In recognition of this achievement, the Dutch Olympic committee awarded the team an "A" status, meaning that from now on, the team members are supported more or less as if this is a job. For the coming 12 months, renewal after that is unclear.
In the USA, maybe top sporters can make a good living for themselves, even if they're not playing baseball, american football, ice hockey or basketball. In Europe, naah.