Long drive head vs regular head?

[wakefield724]

I signed up for this years amateur long drive championships. This is my second year of golf. My swing speed is 118.2 average and I’m lifting to build more stronger fast twitch muscles. I hope to swing 130 by August. 

I been shopping for long drive drivers an I’m so confused and lost. Why are they so cheap? Yeti and brute sells for under $150. I currently use a Taylormade burner 9.5 with xstiff but 44.5” but I know for long drive I’ll need 48” xx-stiff

so what’s difference between long drive heads and normal heads? Why don’t people golf with long drive heads such as low degree Krank, yeti, and such? How do I choose a club when there’s no place to test them? 

[Piz]

The long drive stuff is non-conforming.  Also...long driving is a sport unto itself and, as such, somewhat peripheral to the game.  Combine the two and you have a commitment that doesn't seem worth the time to golfers interested in turning in lower, and legitimate, scores.  Hence the relatively lower cost of long drive components.  

[wakefield724]

5 hours ago, Piz said:

The long drive stuff is non-conforming.  Also...long driving is a sport unto itself and, as such, somewhat peripheral to the game.  Combine the two and you have a commitment that doesn't seem worth the time to golfers interested in turning in lower, and legitimate, scores.  Hence the relatively lower cost of long drive components.  

I’m glad you mentioned that. The rules State my clubs must be USGA conformed clubs. So does that mean yeti, Krank and brute are not conforming?  

[WUTiger]

Would regular golfers use long-drive heads if they were conforming? Probably not, LD heads are too inaccurate.

I've watched a couple of long-drive events on TV, and half the drives end up OB. A 350-yd. drive doesn't help much if your second shot is a chip back to the fairway from the treeline.

[NM Golf]

A few years back the LD powers that be made a change to the rules and added that all clubs must be USGA conforming. Most of the guys now use driver heads from major manufacturers, although in lofts not available to the general public. 2017 Champion Justin James used a Callaway XR. 

I certainly don't mean to discourage you, but long drive guys have swing speeds in the neighborhood of 150mph. Your 118 or 130 if you can attain it, are not good enough to compete. Perhaps wrk on your regular swing, and become a good all around player. 118mph club head speed is certainly good enough to a good player.

Edited January 18, 2018 by NM Golf

[billchao]

13 hours ago, wakefield724 said:

so what’s difference between long drive heads and normal heads? Why don’t people golf with long drive heads such as low degree Krank, yeti, and such? How do I choose a club when there’s no place to test them? 

Long driver heads have much lower lofts than their regular counterparts. Most people don't have the swing speed and skill to use them effectively on the course (or at all, really).

13 hours ago, Piz said:

The long drive stuff is non-conforming.

@NM Golf mentioned it, but Long drive equipment must conform to USGA rules. I think it had to do more with length of the club than the head design, though. I believe they were using conforming heads in competition.

If you look on the list of conforming driver heads, Krank drivers are there, for example. According to Krank Golf, last year was the first time they've ever introduced a non-conforming driver.

[Piz]

Sorry about that.  I didn't know about the 2016 rule change regarding club length.  Thanks for the correction.

[wakefield724]

There’s a 6 degree Krank with 50 inch xx stiff shaft on eBay right now for $100. If I cut the shaft 2” I’ll be good to go? 

[Club Rat]

42 minutes ago, wakefield724 said:

If I cut the shaft 2” I’ll be good to go? 

Before you make any alterations to the club length, I would suggest you use the club "as is" for training purposes.
You can always choke the club 2"-3" to see how it reacts and then decide if you would want to trim the tip and butt ends or tip only or butt end only.

Almost all areas have LD qualifying competitions in the US.
Get involved with them and attend them.
Ones that I used to attend would have Pros who allow participants to swing and test their clubs.
They generally have 6-10 different drivers in their bag.
Also, mingle with other competitors and introduce yourself.
Most will always be willing to share thoughts about equipment, likes and dislikes what not.

Also, Golf Expos held around various cities, usually have Long Drive exhibitions.
It's an opportunity to speak with LD Pros and maybe pick up pointers on training, equipment ideas and other general discussion or questions you may have.

Long Drive competitions are great fun, I have attended as a spectator at the finals several times in Mesquite.

I had a friend who competed for several years and placed / ranked in the top 50.
I would join him locally at golf events when he was hired to hit drives for all teams.
In between groups when there was gaps, I would swing his clubs for fun.
He gave me several clubs and components, heads and shafts, grips, etc over the years to build clubs for him.

It was a great experience and fun to attend the local qualifiers back then. 

[iacas]

On 1/17/2018 at 10:38 PM, Piz said:

The long drive stuff is non-conforming.

That's not accurate. They have to use conforming equipment.

Oh, others got to that already. Sorry.

@wakefield724, what's your swing speed now? Most long drivers have multiple clubs all very similar because they'll crack the face every 200 balls or whatever.

[jamo]

On ‎1‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 2:07 PM, wakefield724 said:

There’s a 6 degree Krank with 50 inch xx stiff shaft on eBay right now for $100. If I cut the shaft 2” I’ll be good to go? 

Bear in mind that cutting two inches off the shaft will increase the stiffness and throw off the swing weight.