[bsawyer7]

So just as a little background:

I'm a baseball player turned golfer after college. I've just recently started playing with regularity but I'm still not very consistent. However, the best part of my game is that my driver is fairly accurate and can go a mile. I've driven multiple par 4's. My "stats" right now are on the lower end of what you'd consider competitive I guess that's what I'm here to ask about.

I'm not looking to travel or get very competitive but would love to do some local competitions. Yesterday I got my swing and ball speed measured for the first time and had 120mph swing, and 181mph ball speed using an 8.5 degree loft adams with a stiff 65g shaft. Even with the 8.5 degree shaft my loft angles coming off were 14 degrees or higher pretty regularly and the guy helping me said the shaft had a low kick point, whatever that is. I picked up just a stock x-stiff taylormade burner with a 9.5 degree loft and got the loft down to 13 and occasionally 12 degrees with roughly the same carry of about 290-295. So, having never trained for it at all, having not even remotely swung a club set up for long drive, at 120mph with 181 ball speed with a hand me down driver do you guys think I could at least keep it interesting in a local comp with the right equipment?

[upanddown_420]

I doubt it but good luck if you decide to try it

[Jetlv25]

In all honesty to really compete in LDA I think you need to be above 130 mph on swing speed or at the very least the high 120's. The elite guys go well into the 140's to low 150's.

[bsawyer7]

My dad plays all the time, and gets new clubs probably more often then I buy new clothes, so I always just get his used ones, which are usually all of 6 months old. Problem is he doesn't hit it nearly as far as me and hits it very low, whereas I hit it high. So all my drivers and clubs are all geared for a smaller guy with lower club speed and to help him hit it higher.. I need pretty much the opposite.

On a flat hole with no wind I can hit a good drive 315-320, so i figured if I got a longer shaft, in a X-stiff with a nice 8 degree head or so that would add yards, wouldn't you think? I did a little research and club comparisons and the shaft on my current driver says its a stiff but it apparently plays somewhere in the middle of a regular and stiff, not exactly a true stiff. I'd like to get fitted at a real golf shop, all I've done thus far is do a little fitting at Dick's, which is apparently not advised...

I guess what I'm asking is has anybody been in the same boat? Hitting it in the low 3's with no training and a stock driver that wasn't meant for them, and then after a switch to a better suited driver did they notice an improvement? I'm always seeing these advertisements for bang and geek clubs talking about adding 30-40 yards...ha that'd be fine by me.

[bsawyer7]

Thanks for the input guys. Another issue with my current driver that's probably one of the biggest things I should've mentioned is the length. I'm just over 6'0 and my dad is 5'7, being hand me downs his drivers are built for him. I just measured, and the entire length of my club standing straight up is 46", with the length from the very end of the grip to the beginning of the head being just above 42". The club length if I'm standing addressing the ball is around 44". I've seen suggestions about length adding up to 3-4 mph per inch of extra shaft, which makes sense. If I can keep my rotational acceleration constant with a longer shaft, then physics proves the head speed would have to increase with a longer shaft. Anyways, I suppose now my newest question is when guys talk about 48" drivers and stuff how is that measured, and can I really expect an extra 3-4 mph per inch if I can keep my swing consistent?

[bsawyer7]

Jetlv25, on Aug 15 2009, 04:47 PM, said:

In all honesty to really compete in LDA I think you need to be above 130 mph on swing speed or at the very least the high 120's. The elite guys go well into the 140's to low 150's.

This is why I'm asking, I just started playing regularly, have never done a single exercise in my life geared toward golf, I'm swinging a club that's apparently very short for long driving, and with a shaft nowhere near stiff enough. I know I'm starting to nag, I'm just asking if there's potential, not if I'm ready to enter a competition next week. I gotta believe the guys who can hit it 375+ started out hitting it 315 at some point before they got the training and proper equipment.

[newkidontheblock]

well i bet you wouldn't have trouble in local ones unless some big time names came because in a local area you probably wont have to many people getting over 350 and at 120 you might want to try xx stiff I swing at about 115 and I use x stiff and it can sometimes be to weak ( like mid round and I'm real stretched out)

[Shanks For The Memories]

bsawyer7, on Aug 15 2009, 05:37 PM, said:

Jetlv25, on Aug 15 2009, 04:47 PM, said:

In all honesty to really compete in LDA I think you need to be above 130 mph on swing speed or at the very least the high 120's. The elite guys go well into the 140's to low 150's.

This is why I'm asking, I just started playing regularly, have never done a single exercise in my life geared toward golf, I'm swinging a club that's apparently very short for long driving, and with a shaft nowhere near stiff enough. I know I'm starting to nag, I'm just asking if there's potential, not if I'm ready to enter a competition next week. I gotta believe the guys who can hit it 375+ started out hitting it 315 at some point before they got the training and proper equipment.

These long drivers have swing speeds nearing the 160s, and they have to be able to make solid contact every time. If you can hit every single shot at least 350, then it's time to consider it, but ask yourself how often you even achieve that.

A lot of people get into a "wishful thinking" state of mind, where they block out their bad shots, and simply say, "well I hit this drive 300, and this one 320" but forget about the 210 slice, and the 170 skyball.

Being a competition long driver requires nearly endless practice, as well as a ton of conditioning. If you want to try it, then enter a local contest, but understand that it's not as simple as swinging a club hard, it's swinging hard, hitting it dead on striaght, and doing it every single time.

[idrive400yards]

Coming from a baseball back ground myself and a few others that I know of, it can be done. The only thing that you can do is give it a try. You can get "used" LD equiptment on a few sites, but you have to be careful of where/from who you get it from.

You don't have to swing 160 like a previous post said. Some swing high 120's low 130's, some swing mid/high 130's to low 140's, very few swing above 145. But just like regular golf, you have to make great contact if you go lower than 135 to get the distance.(1.5 and above smash factor)

Where are you located? And BTW, I still use some of my baseball strength training in LD.

Mike Brody

GEEK LD team Co-captain

[Ubers]

Go hard at it mate, give it a go!

...Hi Mike, how are you mate? :-) Thought I'd say g'day.

[idrive400yards]

Ubers, on Aug 19 2009, 08:46 AM, said:

Go hard at it mate, give it a go!

...Hi Mike, how are you mate? :-) Thought I'd say g'day.

Here is a story about the poster above. His name is Nathan, plays professional golf over in Aussie. He contacted me a couple of years back because he was in the states trying to qualify for a few PGA events. We met up at my driving range to hit a few, and since he didn't qualify for the tourny over here in NC, he decided to give LD a shot. I let him borrow one of my drivers a couple of days before the district finals, to get used to the added length. he has a technically sound swing to begin with, so the transfer over wasn't as tough for him. He did the last chance qualifier on Friday to get in, came in 2nd, if I remember correctly. Well on Saturday, he lit it up. Made it all the way to the semi finals. I don't think he hit a ball shorter than 400 to advance thru. This was his first ever try at longdrive. He doesn't have a very fast swing(high 120's low 130's) but it is technically sound. I guess the moral to this is you never know unless you try.

As Nathan said, Go hard at it mate, give it a go! I agree with him.....You may fail at first,(I still do) but if you keep up with it, you just never know..

[ChxDigLongBall]

With a longer driver you might get your swing speed up to what the guys who can compete in LDA do. Having competed in a few local qualifiers, it's not worth wasting your time and or money unless you can get a few balls out over 370. They guys who are looking to travel will come from near and far to qualify and not many of the local guys end up making it anywhere. All they get is 6 swings and a lighter wallet. But, if you really think you can get the ball out there around 375 minimum, have at it Haas.