Golf forum

Well I was in a good mood today after the US Open Result. I picked up a delivery of Junior Golf Clubs this morning and looked at the new Young Gun 3 Woods. I couldn't believe how soft and whippy the shaft is in the club. I thought it might be too soft even for little kids. I then had an idea:

What would happen if a brute like me hit this little kids club?

Well hopefully if it works the video is below. The club flexes in the initial takeaway and during the backswing is bent the wrong way, it corrects this at the top of the swing as it flexes fully back the other way and then lets me deliver it into the ball fully loaded. I was hitting it a full 230 yards on the fly and straight with at time a 10-15 yard draw. I can't believe how good this club is for £20. Its in my bag tonight for a Matchplay Competition. Going to have some fun with it.

This shows that what I said regarding the little junior club I tried at the range when I took a nine year old down for a swing is correct. I too hit this little club, a nine iron further than my own 8 iron. It is all in the shaft and that was prompted me to open a thread on this subject.

I will have to get myself one of these, as it is obvious that the shaft would suit me.

Most regular golfers play with a driver shaft which is far too stiff to faciltate maximum distance for their individual swing speed.

The video demonstatrates a Long Drive technique which is only normally seen in LD tournaments: Using the shaft as a 'whip' by using counter-flex at the top of the back swing. Such is an excellent way to secure close to maximum possible shaft energy return.

However to use this technique requires excellent timing, particularly when a 50" LD driver is used!

Most regular golfers could add 20 yards or more to their drives by using ladies' shafts, but it is much easier to drive consistently with 'broom sticks'  as one does not then need to syncronise oneself with the shaft's timing / leverage.

So, it's not a magic little club - simply the laws of physics at work.  

But I must now be a really good golfer then if I can time it and hit it consistantly?

The combination of this little club and my 48" Broom Stick is working very well at the moment on the course.

Yes Chris. I genuinely was impressed with your timing. But, it can get very funny when someone does not having your excellent feel and tries to use the counter kick set up.

It is also hilarious when a world class LD performer uses that extreme technique, has a full follow through, and lashes themself across the back with a 50" club!

When that happens they usually claim to be a Catholic seeking penance, but I have my doubts. (No offence to Catholics intended). 

Jon T,

Excellent point Jon. I only do that if I have hit a blinder. I find it more repeatable to continue hitting well in quick succession. Usually though when you hit well with the first ball or two; hit longer with the second; and then are about to hopefully continue to hit further in that groove the marshall shouts out "You are through to the next round with that distance (or you've won), STOP HITTING."  I was doing that in last year's England L.D. Championship, in post-flooding Farnham and was extremely annoyed to be stopped particularly as no balls were running and every extra yard had to be won with pure carry.  I recall hitting faster and faster so that I could get another (hopefully further) ball in before the last ball was measured and I was stopped. Marshalls are often idiots who often miss more than the most obvious point.

It is a particularly good point as one way of hitting well is strict compliance with one's pre-hit routine and usually this takes a while.

I should have technically researched the next point which I am about to make, so as to explain it better and indeed check its efficacy, but I will nevertheless try and explain it crudely but understandably: Within our body we have what I perhaps wrongly call 'twitch fibres' or 'fast fibres.'  I could never make top grade as a sprinter because I didn't have enough of those in my legs. Instead I ran marathon and (further) ultra-long distances.   

As golfers, and more so as Long Drivers, we have to get our twitch fibres working very quickly. I do stretching every day and work with very heavy weights, as well as taking creatine.  A trainer at the gym informed me that it takes close to 30 seconds for one's fast fibres to fully recover after a muscle 'explosion.'  If this is true then there is a strong argument for using every possible recovery second.

As I've said I have not yet researched the truth (or falacy) of his advice but perhaps a medical scientist can cast some light on this? 

P.S. We normally have 2mins. 45 secs. in which to hit 6 balls in each round. Only the longest ball in each round counts. To count the ball has to land in, and stay in, a 'grid' which usually measures approximately 45 yards wide.

Jon,

Although arguably not the longest legal ball, the ball used in virtually all LD comps. is the 'Pinnacle Long Drive.' The organisers supply the balls and each competitor must keep them visible at all times.

The longest permitted driver in LD comps. is 50" which is measured by placing the club vertically standing against a wall, standing it on its toe. If one measured a competition L driver the USGA way (by placing it at 60 degrees) then it would measure approximately 49" and thereby be approximately 1" illegal (by length) for course play. All shafts are legal if they are not too long. However, just like in regular golf the heads must be legal and what is legal (or I should say 'conforming'  ) is set out in the massive lists of conforming driver heads on the USGA web site.

Long drive heads are manufactured to maximum allowed tolerances and are thus far less resiliant to abuse. They can be expensive but hit further in the right hands. Most golfers are totally unaware of the top five driver heads as usually only LD competitors buy them. Serious LD competitors (and serious golfers) only use custom built clubs. There are many reasons for this. John Pettitt is the expert on custom clubs, otherwise look on any master club builder's web site for reasons.

For those interested in LD these are the key sites:

www.longdrivers.com (watch the video in the top LH corner of p1) - America / World Champs. Inter alia contains excellent  instructional videos)

www.longdrivers-eu.com  (European tour)

www.incepta.ca  (World Long Drive forum, on page 6 or thereabouts of the General section I have a directory thread setting out the 50+ LD web sites. I also have a thread listing the World All-Time best distances for each age category)

www.virtualgolfsociety.co.uk (general thread p2 - history of LD in Europe)

The English LD Championship is on 19 July, and again at Farnham GC. Just turn up at 10am to try to qualify for the afternoon finals. No need to pre-book. www.longdrivers-eu.com The televised European Champs. will this year be held in England - at Whittlebury Park on 13 / 14 September.

The World Champs. are always held in Oct'r. in the USA. www.longdrivers.com

Roughly how far will you need to hit the ball to qualify on the 19th July?

Colin,

Difficult to say. If you are in the Open Division (that is under 45 years old) then if 16 or less competitors turn up (quite possible) then you will qualify for the afternoon final. Not so many competitors are attending each event this year as different rules are now operating:

Last year a route to the European Finals was to gather points at each event, a bit like Formula One racing. This year that route has been cancelled so some hitters who have already qualified at earlier national championships will not bother to turn up.  

Distances at events vary enormously with the weather and  ground conditions. If you go into the tour web site www.longdrivers-eu.com and then tap into 'Competition Results' followed by 'European Championships 2007' and then open up each championship you will access the day's score sheet.

You play in groups of four and the top two hitters in each group progress to the next round. Leastways, that is what usually happens.

It is not difficult to get into the afternoon finals, and almost as easy to then progress through the first round. If two opponents OB then you only need a qualifying drive of 260 yards, or whatever, to make Round 2. If you finish in the bottom two, of four, in Round 1 there is always a second chance to progress further by winning the Losers Group. So, its a double knock out event in that respect.

After that, unless something silly occurs, such as say only half a dozen people entering, it will be tough to progress further as it would not be unusual to find yourself in a group of four where a couple of the guys were hitting in excess of 350 yards. To be even remotely competitive, beyond Round 1  in the Open Division, you would need - at the very least - to regularly be hitting 330yards + on your golf course in summer. (Long Drive distances are BOTH carry and run on).

Hope that helps.

If any questions asked of me have gone unanswered it is because I have very recently covered  questions raised under other threads.

Thanks V just so we're clear I can bairly knock the ball past 200 yards downhill with the wind behind and with a frozen lake at the end of the range but i do know someone that i think should have a go at this, dont know about regularly hitting 330+ but i have seen at least this distance more than once and he seems to be getting more consistent. Its not until you actually see someone hit a ball this far that you realise how much waffle you hear about the driving distances that some claim to hit regularly. I will advise him about the comp and see what he says.

Thanks for all the prompt and detailed responses.

Colin  

You are a good friend to him Colin.

I always say "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

There is nothing to lose except a few Euros entry fee.  Every Long Driver (like all other sportsmen)  in the world is humiliated many times over. A newcomer has nothing to lose, and will gain everyones' respect for trying. 

If he enters then advise him to go with what he's got. The maximum change (if any) should be one inch added to his driver if he is consistent at the moment, plus a new grip if needed. That could gain him a potential 2-3 yards extra if he can handle the slight change. (If he adds an inch he'll have to re-grip anyway!) There is no overnight fix which will secure big extra distance.

Many golfers would be terrified of taking on L.D. competitors so do not be disappointed if he says "No." Most golfers have no interest in it anyway. It's a brutal sport which, if taken seriously, can tear an unprepared body apart. As much as I love it, I would not recommend it.