Long Drive Contest

[wrx_junki]

A golf course near me is going to hold a long drive contest in a few weeks for the first time and I'd like to compete. You get 5 chances and longest in fairway will be measured. I'm guessing they will be doing this on the first hole which is about 400 yards that has about a 30-40 foot drop from the teebox. The wind is usually coming into us but on rare occasion is with us.

Anyways, any tips from who those of you that have competed in these?

Going to most likely borrow a friend's R9 for this competition since I hit that about 10 yards further than my current driver.

[DriverTees]

Don't try to wreck the ball. And don't only hit your driver when you're practicing on the range.

[wrx_junki]

Don't try to wreck the ball. And don't only hit your driver when you're practicing on the range.

For future replies, please something more useful than this. What's wrong with hitting all driver when practicing at the range and trying to wreck the ball?

A good suggestion might be something like what ball I should use. From my experience, the Callaway HX Hot and Pinnacle FX Gold has gone the longest. I have not tried the TopFlite Freak which I hear is quite long.

[senorchipotle]

tee the ball up high and in front of your left foot. open your stance a little, and you'll also want to get more separation between you and the ball because you want to catch it with both arms fully extended at the very bottom of your swing get your lead shoulder as far back as you can in your takeaway. drive down and through with your left knee leading and your right shoulder coming under your chin hard like you want to knock it off. keep your angle as long as you can, until your right elbow passes where your belt buckle was at address. now, roll your wrists like you're cracking a whip as hard as you can, and watch it fly.

this is not a very repeatable swing unless you practice it a lot, and has a high degree of difficulty. but, if you get 5 chances and you're a 11 handicap, chances are you'll hit it clean and straight at least once. i practice this swing at the range cause i use it in wide open fairways. when i hit it good, i can fly the back fence pretty easily which is 290 yards away and about 40 feet high. when i miss it, it goes dead right.

[microcrayfish]

Seems like all of the guys in last year's Remax World Long Drive Championship final were using those Zero Friction tees so you might want to check those out and apparently all Long Drivers of America (LDA) sanctioned competitions use Pinnacle Gold FX Long balls so maybe they will be your best bet.

[goblue107501]

Don't try to wreck the ball. And don't only hit your driver when you're practicing on the range.

For future replies, please something more useful than this. What's wrong with hitting all driver when practicing at the range and trying to wreck the ball?

I would guess that he is saying to stay within your swing and don't try and kill it. When you overswing bad things can happen. There is a fine line where you can eek out a little extra, and losing control. Also, I think he was just saying when you warm up before the contest to go through a normal progression and not just pull out a driver and swing hard. Hit a bunch of soft irons and work your way up to the driver.

A good suggestion might be something like what ball I should use. From my experience, the Callaway HX Hot and Pinnacle FX Gold has gone the longest. I have not tried the TopFlite Freak which I hear is quite long.

I have never been in one, but I would guess they would supply the balls so that everyone is hitting the same thing. If that isn't the case, I would use whatever you feel is the longest for you. People put different amounts of spin on balls and that makes a huge difference. Personally, I would use any of the lower spinning premium tour balls, Pro V1x, Bridgestone B330, Callaway Tour ix, etc.

One swing thing that works for me when I want to hit a ball hard is to flex my knees at address. This helps me to coil my body a little more and get a longer backswing without getting out of control.

[RC]

Would agree with opening up the normal stance a little, take it back low and long, and get one good one in play, well out there before going for every last ounce of strength... nothing worse than not having a single shot in play.

[SpringBokVol]

Get your first in play with a nice controlled swing... then open up and let fire. Use the Pinnacle Gold FX Long ball.

[mhodar13]

As for balls, I am pretty sure that Pinnacles are widely accepted as the best pure-distance balls out there. And regarding the zero friction tees, I use the 2 5/8 inch ones, and I don't notice any difference from the plain wooden ones other than they make it easier to align your ball for your drive, and (best of all) they rarely break! Me and a friend played 18 holes Sunday and combined only 1 tee broke! It was on a 9 iron shot, so more of it was in the ground and it snapped. My friend killed the only tee. I do sometimes forget them though cuz i'm so used to the wooden ones snapping every single time. I'm getting better at remembering though lol.

[Drifterland]

A golf course near me is going to hold a long drive contest in a few weeks for the first time and I'd like to compete. You get 5 chances and longest in fairway will be measured. I'm guessing they will be doing this on the first hole which is about 400 yards that has about a 30-40 foot drop from the teebox. The wind is usually coming into us but on rare occasion is with us.

Ah... To kill a ball... Like that dude said open the stance a little and flare out your left foot so you can really turn hard. Tee it up well forward and high so you catch it slightly on the upswing to take off spin and get a better ball flight.

One of the best ways to create speed at the bottom is to make the proper back swing. Keep it wide and really shift your weight onto your right foot. But the main thing that creates the best hit is to take the club off the ball with your body, almost throwing the club to the top, once you are all the way back wait for it, wait for it... Let gravity start the club down, not you or those over tensed muscles. Once it starts down just turn and you will crush the doo out of it. The shot you should try to hit off the tee is in this thread, I go into more detail. http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthr...ght=power+fade

[YamahaJay]

Don't waste your money on the Freak,its not as long as the HX Hot Plus. The Noodle+ (Taylor Made ball) I think is a hair longer than the HX hot and the Taylor Made TP Black is very long also. I have tried about every ball out there and the HX, Noodle+, and Black seem to be the longest for me out of everything I have tried. I have heard that a harder ball have more distance but thats not the case at all for me. The R9 is LONG as well as the Burner. There are so many variables that some clubs and balls might be longer for some but not for others, but these are the longest I have seen IMHO. I'd set the R9 to 9.5 degrees,and blast away at a range to see if you need to adjust the degrees. My SS is between 109-117 so if yours is close this might help. I have never tried the FX long(about the only ball I haven't hit), so if you have time to play a round or 2 try as many different balls that you can to see what works and make sure you hold the club as far up the grip as possible(choke up as much as you can with out tossing the driver).

[wrx_junki]

Sent a couple 290-300 with roll today which I do not think will be close to winning. Looks like I will need to hit the right rough right before the trees for a good roll forward. I think I will need to get it out 320-330 to have a chance.

[Dub]

Sent a couple 290-300 with roll today which I do not think will be close to winning. Looks like I will need to hit the right rough right before the trees for a good roll forward. I think I will need to get it out 320-330 to have a chance.

Crap that is long.....I don't even know where to begin to offer anything other than for you to have fun and obviously stretch and warm up well. Don't get hurt and then not be able to play for a while due to some injury.

Knock the cover off that rock!!!!!!

[wrx_junki]

I was only hitting it anywhere from 200-240 at the beginning of the season so I'm assuming that anyone who is fairly young can get it that far out. The bad thing is when I want to hit it far, I usually play a considerable draw of about 20 yards or so.

[Three Putt]

I entered one of the Remax ones 2 years ago. I think a lot of it depends on the conditions, definetly have one driver you like that can ride the wind, and have one that you can punch through the wind.

I had a 48" long Alpha 6* with a UST V2 XX shaft. I teed the ball up with 4 inch tees and let it fly. Only problem was it had rained all day and the wind was a constant 15 to 20 mph in the face. I ended up 5th at 301, winner was 327 (Same guy hit it 374 on the same grid 2 months earlier).

If it's a serious competition your best ball of course will be an aggressive draw that will get some roll, swing out of your shoes and be happy if 2 out of 6 balls find the grid....also pop about 3 Alleve's an hour or 2 before you hit.

Good Luck

[right handed phil mickelson]

Ha yea. I originally played the Pinnacle Gold Fx Long ball which is extremely long. I'm playing the Top Flite Freaks which I don't think is as long as the Pinnacle. I say use Pinnacle.

[wrx_junki]

Tried a couple tee shots with the ball teed up at my left foot and the ball way higher than normal tee height. Result was a massive duck hook. I guess I'll work on it next time I am at the range.

I have a few choices for driver: FT-iQ with the Fubuki in 9°, Adams Speedline in 10.5°, Burner with a Saishin? in 10.5°, or a R9 with Motore in 9.5°.