Now that's something you don't see everyday...LDA competitor at the Range

[lefty74pgh]

So I went to my local club to hit balls this afternoon and there was just a few folks on the range, as normal. About 30 minutes into my session I notice a guy walking up to hit next to me, but something was different he wasn't wearing or carrying clubs that most people would show up to the course or range with. The first thing that stood out was the KRANK staff bag and about 6 drivers, but then I notice the KRANK hat and the rather large frame of the man. I thought to myself, "This should be interesting".

 

At the time, I was hitting 7 irons to a pin about 165-170 yds and I notice him warming up and hitting SW's to the shorter green. Then all of a sudden I notice that he's hitting SW to the green at 165-170yds. I have never seen a SW hit that far and especially that high. I had my headphones on, so I couldn't actually hear the sound at impact, but I can tell you that it was unbelievable to witness a golf ball get hit that way. I don't consider myself a long hitter, but I can get it out there around 280+ with the driver and seeing that was amazing.

 

After a few more SW's it was go time and the headcovers came off of about 4 drivers. I couldn't help myself and stopped on occasion to watch the show. He proceeded to hit drives that were 380-400yds with a draw that was over-cooking. I'm guessing at the yards because I've never seen a ball hit that hard and that far. After a few different drivers he seemed to find one he liked and began to just kill it. I stood about 10 yds behind him to see it in true form. He hit a few that were tight draws that were hard to follow the total distance, but it's something to see in person.

 

When I got home I looked him up and his name is Landon Gentry. His stats show a BS of 227mph and the longest recorded distance in a competition is 429yds. It was very impressive to see and I thought I would share with the GOLFWRX community.

 

[Architect]

That's awesome!!!

[kwooten31]

Cool story, wish I could run across something like that.

[jons1]

I've had the pleasure of watching Jamie Sadlowski at Orange County National driving range, and it's really unreal. I've seen most of the "long" PGA Tour guys, and they look like boys compared to the places these LDA guys can put the ball. Jamie could probably outdrive 90% of the PGA Tour players with an iron, and all but the likes of Bubba or similar with a hybrid (which he hits 350 normally). I can't help but think, can't they back it off and dominate tournament golf... but in most cases they can't. Fast twitch muscle freaks aren't all that steady to roll the rock I guess.

[Camelgolf]

I watched a guy on our range, took about five of his swings to finally be able to see a ball. Comes off their faces a lot faster than you would expect

[rbhan12]

Wonder how long Bubba, Tiger, Colsaerts, or Woodland could drive with a 48" driver.

Also

[Fade to Black]

[quote name='rbhan12' timestamp='1390794335' post='8540647']
Wonder how long Bubba, Tiger, Colsaerts, or Woodland could drive with a 48" driver.

[/quote]

Driver length isn't going to add 20+ mph clubhead speed.

[jons1]

 

The top 5 LDA guys could hit the ball at least 50 yards further than the longest PGA Tour player. Bubba looks like grandpa next to these guys. And you're average PGA Tour player isn't even on their radar 80+ yards behind them.

 

Here's an analogy of sorts. Guy in your group hits a ball and it only goes 200 yards. You nut one and hit it 300 yards, and everyone remarks how much longer you are and how far you can hit. OK, that's LDA guys to PGA Tour players as well. They are on another planet longer than even long hitting players.

[SatelliteGuy]

Do we honestly think Bubba, Woodland, or maybe Tiger couldn't grab one of the LDA guy's sticks and goose one?

Honest Question.

[Rob G 89]

I find your title funny because every day during summer where I practice I wee a LDA senior competitor practice. He has 5 drivers and device that measure swing speed and practice is work boots. He let me measure my swing speed was averaging about 125 but he said he saw 5 power leaks that was killing my distance. He let try some swings with the 48 inch and I couldn't hit it worth a crap.

[jons1]

[quote name='DirecTVTechGuy' timestamp='1390795850' post='8540815']
Do we honestly think Bubba, Woodland, or maybe Tiger couldn't grab one of the LDA guy's sticks and goose one?

Honest Question.
[/quote]

No. At best those guys generate around 130mph clubhead speed, where the top LDA guys are 150mph. They aren't in the ballpark at all. They had a long drive contest of sorts between bubba and jamie and jamie airmailed his ball by 50 yards on just the fly alone (and you could tell jamie wasn't even going after it). BTW, he was using a 45" driver too.

[robbie91]

Awesome story. I would have had to ask him if I could swing one of those monsters.

[SatelliteGuy]

[quote name='golfpros1' timestamp='1390796115' post='8540857']
[quote name='DirecTVTechGuy' timestamp='1390795850' post='8540815']
Do we honestly think Bubba, Woodland, or maybe Tiger couldn't grab one of the LDA guy's sticks and goose one?

Honest Question.
[/quote]

No. At best those guys generate around 130mph clubhead speed, where the top LDA guys are 150mph. They aren't in the ballpark at all. They had a long drive contest of sorts between bubba and jamie and jamie airmailed his ball by 50 yards on just the fly alone (and you could tell jamie wasn't even going after it). BTW, he was using a 45" driver too.
[/quote]

I'm a tad skeptical... Sadlowski swings out of his shoes.... The PGA guys look fast but controlled... From an accuracy standpoint no way... But I would be willing to wager Tiger " COULD " generate a lot more speed than he does...

Maybe I'm stupid...

Monte could school us all in a heartbeat.... Maybe he'll chime in and throw a dart at my head!

[pdaero]

Lefty, good to see you post about this! I was at my local Golfsmith one time, and i heard a cannon go off in the booth. A guy (LDA competitor) was hitting some drivers about 370-390 with 205 ball speed. Absolutely insane. Former baseball player and stocky like me (5'11, 190-200).

[jons1]

Look at these stats:
[url="http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.02401.html#2013"]http://www.pgatour.c...02401.html#2013[/url]

The fastest recorded swing on the PGA Tour for the 2013 season was 130mph... mind you, the fastest.

[media=]http://youtu.be/LWp2WwnIw5g[/media]
[media=]http://youtu.be/G5TKiGRDGx0[/media]

head to head, against the big hitters on the pga tour, he flew their drives by around 50 yards with a 45" driver.

[SatelliteGuy]

[quote name='golfpros1' timestamp='1390798240' post='8541015']
Look at these stats:
http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.02401.html#2013

The fastest recorded swing on the PGA Tour for the 2013 season was 130mph... mind you, the fastest.

http://youtu.be/LWp2WwnIw5g
[/quote]

I believe you man..

I'm saying that Tiger could probably generate more speed if he tried to....

That's my thought... Not discrediting your info.

[Jsjones]

[quote name='DirecTVTechGuy' timestamp='1390797453' post='8540951']
[quote name='golfpros1' timestamp='1390796115' post='8540857']
[quote name='DirecTVTechGuy' timestamp='1390795850' post='8540815']
Do we honestly think Bubba, Woodland, or maybe Tiger couldn't grab one of the LDA guy's sticks and goose one?

Honest Question.
[/quote]

No. At best those guys generate around 130mph clubhead speed, where the top LDA guys are 150mph. They aren't in the ballpark at all. They had a long drive contest of sorts between bubba and jamie and jamie airmailed his ball by 50 yards on just the fly alone (and you could tell jamie wasn't even going after it). BTW, he was using a 45" driver too.
[/quote]

I'm a tad skeptical... Sadlowski swings out of his shoes.... The PGA guys look fast but controlled... From an accuracy standpoint no way... But I would be willing to wager Tiger " COULD " generate a lot more speed than he does...

Maybe I'm stupid...

Monte could school us all in a heartbeat.... Maybe he'll chime in and throw a dart at my head!


[/quote]

Tiger is one of the most aggresive, violent swingers in my opinion. Not too much left in the tank.

[epixep]

3 inches is lot more club, roughly the difference between a 9 iron and a 3 iron (lofts aside).

Not disagreeing with the points made so far, just saying the comparisons aren't valid.

[theboypinoy]

[quote name='lefty74pgh' timestamp='1390788634' post='8539981']
So I went to my local club to hit balls this afternoon and there was just a few folks on the range, as normal. About 30 minutes into my session I notice a guy walking up to hit next to me, but something was different he wasn't wearing or carrying clubs that most people would show up to the course or range with. The first thing that stood out was the KRANK staff bag and about 6 drivers, but then I notice the KRANK hat and the rather large frame of the man. I thought to myself, "This should be interesting".

At the time, I was hitting 7 irons to a pin about 165-170 yds and I notice him warming up and hitting SW's to the shorter green. Then all of a sudden I notice that he's hitting SW to the green at 165-170yds. I have never seen a SW hit that far and especially that high. I had my headphones on (Avenged Sevenfold, Rise Against) so I couldn't actually hear the sound at impact, but I can tell you that it was unbelievable to witness a golf ball get hit that way. I don't consider myself a long hitter, but I can get it out there around 280+ with the driver and seeing that was amazing.

After a few more SW's it was go time and the headcovers came off of about 4 drivers. I couldn't help myself and stopped on occasion to watch the show. He proceeded to hit drives that were 380-400yds with a draw that was over-cooking. I'm guessing at the yards because I've never seen a ball hit that hard and that far. After a few different drivers he seemed to find one he liked and began to just kill it. I stood about 10 yds behind him to see it in true form. He hit a few that were tight draws that were hard to follow the total distance, but it's something to see in person.

When I got home I looked him up and his name is Landon Gentry. His stats show a BS of 227mph and the longest recorded distance in a competition is 429yds. It was very impressive to see and I thought I would share with the GOLFWRX community.

Well the CLBC's are flowing (LA BALA DE PLATA) and it's time to wrap this up.
[/quote]

We have a few Long Drive guys in the area. It's ridiculous. When they're on the range (easily identifiable by the KRANK bag filled with drivers), I try avoid being next to them.

[jons1]

[quote name='epixep' timestamp='1390798716' post='8541049']
3 inches is lot more club, roughly the difference between a 9 iron and a 3 iron (lofts aside).

Not disagreeing with the points made so far, just saying the comparisons aren't valid.
[/quote]

LDA guys hit their 45" drivers around 390-400 (just carry distance).

Here's a video for you:

[media=]http://youtu.be/VDThOdPizOM[/media]


He hits a 29" driver over 400 yards. Driver length has less impact on distance than you think.



To put this in perspective, when JS was with Adams, he'd go through 20 drivers in competition because of caving the heads in (the long drive versions that are thicker). How many heads do you hear PGA Tour players caving in that are normal models?

[davidw88]

There just saying that the pya pros aren't trying to hit it as hard as they possibly can, they have to hit them straight, these fellas are just trying to hit it as far as possible, I bet they could get a few more mph out of there swing if they tried, maybe not as much as them but would be a bit closer.

[bNeill]

[quote name='davidw88' timestamp='1390806213' post='8541509']
There just saying that the pya pros aren't trying to hit it as hard as they possibly can, they have to hit them straight, these fellas are just trying to hit it as far as possible, I bet they could get a few more mph out of there swing if they tried, maybe not as much as them but would be a bit closer.
[/quote]

The grid is actually really tight at those speeds.

[davidw88]

[quote name='bNeill' timestamp='1390810144' post='8541629']
[quote name='davidw88' timestamp='1390806213' post='8541509']
There just saying that the pya pros aren't trying to hit it as hard as they possibly can, they have to hit them straight, these fellas are just trying to hit it as far as possible, I bet they could get a few more mph out of there swing if they tried, maybe not as much as them but would be a bit closer.
[/quote]

The grid is actually really tight at those speeds.
[/quote]

But they only have to hit one out of 6 in it, not every shot.

[FrankfurtDave]

Towards the end of last year we had a long drive pro practicing at our range

http://www.europeanlongdrivers.com/players/alexander-lange-ger/

really nice guy and easy to chat too. Got to play one round with him and it was frustrating but really fun to watch. Where I was taking my 5 Iron he was on a PW and just hitting it smoothly.

He was going for qualification for the European Tour in Sept but haven't seen him since to find out how it went, although from a quick search it looks like it did not go well.

[Cochese23]

That is really cool you got to see that. I saw some long drive exhibition guys about 10 years ago and they were freak long back then. Guys now are just insane.

Longest guy I have ever seen hit a ball in person is Bubba. I saw him hit a drive on the front edge of the 10th hole at Whistling Straights during the 2010 PGA. The hole was playing 376, slightly up hill and pretty much no wind. That is probably like 330-340 yards, all carry. That is REALLY long. But LDA guys could do that with a 3 wood. Golfpro1's comparison of an average guys 200 yard drive vs a 300 yard drive is about right. The LDA guys are that much longer.

[apprenti23]

Is tiger even in the top ten in driving distance anymore?


Great story OP must've been extremely cool to watch that amazing talent!

[lefty74pgh]

It was definitely amazing to see up close. I'm not sure what was more impressive to see between the drivers or the SW. The SW was literally going out and so high in the air and just kept carrying.

I didn't want to be "That Guy" and break out the phone and take some pictures or video. Also, what was amazing was the guy was about 6'3 ish and probably 230-240lbs and his swing was controlled. The head was pointing down at the ground and he would just unwind and boom.

[Cochese23]

Yeah the iron distances are crazy too. Feherty and Baker-Finch were freaking out at how long Leishman was yesterday during the Farmers and he is hitting PW from 150, not a sandy from 170..... That guy can probably hit a normal 6 iron like 240

[Sean2]

We have a gentleman who practices at our facility from time to time who won the Senior LD last fall. I've hit balls next to him on the range on occasion. Oy vey...

[JustTheTips]

And at how many feet of altitude was that demo and what were the wind conditions? Jamie gives a good show but there is a reason why he didn't bust out a 29" driver at remax and hit one 400 yards.

When Jamie showed up at a nationwide event he didn't bomb the ball out 400 yards. He hit about 350 which was only about 6 yards farther than the next guy in the field. [color=#000000][size=3]Kokrak is long (most of us are not getting a hole in 1 on a 409 yard par 4) but he isn't clearly longer than guys like bubba or woodland. [/size][/color] LDA is not golf. It is very hard to draw any conclusions about what guys like Gary Woodland or Dustin Johnson would be swinging if they took 24 months to work on just maximizing power.I would be surprised if they didn't bump up from ~125 to the 140+ range. If they get up to that last level (~150mph) I don't know if I would go that far. PGA pro's are selected for golf skills. LDA pros are selected for golf power. The odds of a guy being in the top 10 (versus maybe top 1%) is very low.


[quote name='golfpros1' timestamp='1390799190' post='8541073']
[quote name='epixep' timestamp='1390798716' post='8541049']
3 inches is lot more club, roughly the difference between a 9 iron and a 3 iron (lofts aside).

Not disagreeing with the points made so far, just saying the comparisons aren't valid.
[/quote]

LDA guys hit their 45" drivers around 390-400 (just carry distance).

Here's a video for you:

[media=]http://youtu.be/VDThOdPizOM[/media]


He hits a 29" driver over 400 yards. Driver length has less impact on distance than you think.



To put this in perspective, when JS was with Adams, he'd go through 20 drivers in competition because of caving the heads in (the long drive versions that are thicker). How many heads do you hear PGA Tour players caving in that are normal models?
[/quote]