This Guy is Really Long…
November 9th, 2012 | 
Author: Last week I had my first opportunity to work with a professional long driver. Having never taught one before I was not sure what to expect, but I knew that with TrackMan I could help him become more efficient and ultimately make him better at his profession. I must admit though – I was nervous about how to go about things prior to our meeting.
The fine young gentleman I taught was Patrick Hopper – already an accomplished and successful long driver that finished in the top 10 in Remax World Long Drive Championship in 2010.
He arrived with a golf bag full of 48″ drivers (all USGA spec) and after chatting for a while he shared that his tendencies were high fades and he sometimes struggled to find the grid. When he started hitting I was in shock – these were the highest and longest golf shots I had ever seen. We even had to get him to aim a little to the right so as to not rain down drives on the golfers warming up on the far side of the range over 350 yards away. The photo below shows how much the ball actually compresses into the face before departing in a hurry….
Can you say compression?
After watching him hit about a dozen drives we took a look at his TrackMan numbers for a few of his better shots:
- His average apex height was just over 200 feet which was massively high
- His spin rate at 2800 rpm was high
- While his club path was 5.5 degrees outward he tended to hit too many weaker fades which indicated a heel strike
We set out to lower the trajectory and encourage baby draws with a strike point that was very slightly favoring the toe side of the club. After some work and “chipping” a few drives at around 120-125 mph he started to get the hang of a straighter club path and an improved strike point.
Here is a comparison of his best shot before and his best shot after…..
His best before the changes...
The shot above indicates a slight toe-sided strike which was not his tendency in the early going. The shot below also indicates a similar strike point, but now with a more appropriate launch angle, better spin rate and 15 extra yards.
The best after...
Keep in mind that the above shots were hit with newer Titleist NXT Tour golf balls into about a 10-12 mph headwind!
What an amazing talent this young man is – I was amazed at how calm and sincerely pleasant he was to work with. At the end of the day he received the same lesson I give golfers everyday – improved distance via better efficiency and improved accuracy via an understanding of how your swing should cause the ball to respond. Keep an eye on Patrick Hopper.
That really was fun!
Posted in Long Game | 
Tags: accuracy, apex height, baby draws, club path, crush the tee ball, efficiency, long driver, longest golf shots, lower the trajectory, patrick hopper, spin rate, straighter club path, strike point, Titleist NXT Tour, trackman, trackman long drive, trackman numbers for long drivers
Hi Andrew, great article. I understand that for players with lower swing speeds, a higher launch and higher spin is beneficial to optimise difference. As the swingspeed gets up, lower spin is more preferential. How did you know what would optimise a player with this swing speed? Was it a case of trial and error, or is there data out there showing optimal launch conditions for different swing speed? Would be grateful if you could reply.
Thanks
Adam young
Hi Adam,
Good question! There are essentially three things that will get a golf ball to “fly” optimally – club speed, launch angle and spin. The more club speed you have the lower the spin and launch need to be in order to reach optimal distance. With decreased speed the launch and spin need to “bolster” what the club speed could not do in order to keep the ball in the air. With the help of TM I have created a chart for swing speeds from 65 to 105 mph and the launch and spin requirements go down as the speed increases. I thus knew that he did not need much spin (2000 would be fine) and actually would do better with a lower launch to optimize distance. Joe Miller launched his winning shot at the World Champs at just over 10 degrees. We need to get Patrick’s launch and spin down and as a result I asked that he get himself a 2.5 degree club (!!) and gave him a few things to work towards in order to lower the launch.
Hi Andrew,
Interesting to see a long driver under analysis. I would love to know what the rest of his game is like, does he actually play the rest of the game ? Have any of the long drivers ever made it on the tour and vice versa ? How accurate do they have to be ? Or is it just a separate skill that they have developed which cant really be transfered to the game itself. Patrick looks like he’s spent a good few hours in the gym, but still has amazing flexibility, his back swing reminds me of a young John Daly ! Is a back swing that long really necessary ?
A few to answer there, thanks Alex
Any chance you’ll show the chart you mentioned?
I would also like to see that chart please too, very interesting.