A-Z of Power
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J is for Jeff Flagg
The 2014 RE/Max World Long Drive Champion shares his power secrets
Thirteen inches. It’s an inch longer than your average ruler… and the distance by which Jeff Flagg won the 2014 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship. The former minor league baseball player hit a 365-yard, 20-inch drive in the final. His opponent knocked his ball 365 yards, seven inches. Flagg, 29, picked up a cheque for $250,000 – and the title of the biggest hitter on the planet. We caught up with him to find out how he did it.
You only started competing two years ago, so to be world champ already is pretty impressive…
It is amazing and has completely changed my life, but, like all the top long drive guys, I still think I have some room for improvement. There are some mechanics in my golf swing that are not complete yet and I can definitely get stronger.
What have been your best swing stats so far?
During the final qualifier for the world championship in Mesquite, my fastest clubhead speed was 147mph, my fastest ball speed was 217 or 218mph and my longest drive went 463 yards. That drive was fun. It was about 20mph downwind, so I just tried to hit it high and let it ride the wind.
And you think you can get faster?
I can. My goal is to do this by building an efficient golf swing. I say this, because, like most people, my really good drives come through timing rather than swinging as hard as I can.
So your swing thought isn’t to ‘hammer the ball into oblivion’?
Far from it. My aim is to try and put the same swing on the ball that I put on my wedges and irons. I feel like if I can do this then everything will be connected and aligned, leading to effortless power.
Are you any good at “normal” golf?
I’m not dreadful, but I am not Tiger either. I played about six times all of last year and tend to card around 78 or 80. My goal for this year is to really improve my short game, because I want to become as good a golfer as I can be.
What’s been the best reaction when someone has seen you hit the ball? My friends persuaded me to come down to a club-fitting session and pretend I’d never hit a ball before. This rep had been watching old golfers swing it 80mph or 90mph, then I smacked one that was over 130mph. The noise was so loud he almost fell off his chair!
K is for Karl Woodward
This 65-year-old still owns the world record for carry distance
Karl Woodward is, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest driver in the world. In 1999, he hit a ball 408 yards, through the air. The distance is measured, under strict criteria, from the tee to where the ball pitches, not where it comes to rest. It’s a record that has remained unbeaten for 15 years – and now Karl wants another crack with a radical new club that’s been designed solely to go miles. We caught up with the Brit to find out what’s going on.
When did you first realise that you had become a super-hitter?
I kind of discovered by accident. In 1991, I was hitting drivers at a festival in Wallasey and one went 395 yards. A golf geek in the crowd said we should measure it properly and submit it to Guinness World Records because the current record was 392 yards. He was right. I’d broken the world record.
Is it true Guinness changed the criteria for the world record soon after?
It did, but I had quite a big hand in the alterations. After I hit the 395-yard drive, a lot of fame-hungry Americans began hitting off towers with 55-inch drivers in a bid to beat my mark. I didn’t feel this was a true reflection of sporting ability, so I suggested Guinness change the rules. The new criteria stated that the record now concerned longest carry distance and golfers had to use a normal club and ball on level ground. I set that record for the first time in 1993 and have bettered it several times since.
What is the current mark?
408 yards and 10 inches. I set that record back in 1999 live on Sky Sports and it nearly killed me. I was almost giving up through tiredness when I suddenly caught one sweetly. It landed right in the centre of a bunker that was just over 400 yards away in the centre of the grid. I’ve never been so pleased to drive it in a bunker in all my life.
What’s your long driving secret?
Years ago, I slipped a disc in my neck. I was out of golf for three years, but when I came back I was suddenly able to swing much faster. The injury left me with no nerve response in my right arm and shoulder, so my brain can’t tell my arm to slow down.
You’re not built like most long drivers…
I am 11 stone soaking wet, so I am no Schwarzenegger, but I have always played a lot of racket sports and I have got very strong hands and forearms because of that. At the end of the day you have got to hang onto the thing.
You’re still hitting it pretty long…
Yeah, about a year ago I was banned from a driving range. At the end of the range was a main road that goes from North Wales to Chester. I don’t normally hit driver there, but I was goaded into trying someone else’s. I only hit one, but I leathered it and it flew the net at the end of the range and hit a bus. It careered off the bus and ended up in a pub car park.
Does your distance help on the course?
At Crondon Park Golf & Country Club, the closing hole is an 840-yard par 6 with water in front of the green. I was 10 yards through the back in two. My second shot was driver off the deck. Half-a-mile in two shots.
Do you think your record will be broken?
I certainly hope so, because I am planning to break it! The way technology has changed in the last few years is incredible. The driver I am holding here is a prototype made by Bloodhound SSC, a group of British engineers aiming to break the land speed record but also design a record-breaking driver (they asked us to mask the design in this picture as they don’t want people to see it yet). I’m hoping to hit the finished version over 500 yards next year.
Excuse us, did you say 500 yards?
It is substantially further than the current record, but the guys and I think it is achievable. If we threw a couple of million at the project, we could get it done in a couple of months, but they are self-funded and running in conjunction with the world speed record attempt, so it takes time.
How to smack it 400 yards: Karl’s tips for bigger hits
1: Ignore the ball
Give somebody 10 balls and tell them to hit them as far as they possibly can. Then take the balls away and tell them to swing the club as fast as they can. The average is 12mph faster without the ball there. My coach used to sit behind me saying ‘there is no ball there’ and eventually I believed it.
2: Lift off at impact
Like all really long drivers, I come up onto my tiptoes at impact. I am almost bolt upright at impact, and I’m convinced this adds speed. If you are going to try this, line your ball up with the heel of your club at address, as this will compensate for the amount you pull the club in prior to impact.
3: Go beyond parallel
Like John Daly, I go way beyond parallel at the top of my backswing. On a good day, I can see the clubhead out of my left eye. Then I know I am in a position to start my downswing.
4: Create as much lag as you can
Until a few years ago I had never heard of lag and releasing the club late. When I heard about it, I went back and looked at pictures of my swing. Sure enough, my hands arrived at the ball way before my clubhead. In some pictures my hands are there and the clubhead is still up by my right ear! I’ve always been able to drag the clubhead back to the ball.
L is for Loft
Expert club maker Tom Wishon on why the ideal loft depends on your swing speed
Less loft doesn’t always mean more distance. One of the biggest misconceptions in golf equipment is people thinking that the lower the loft on your driver, the further you will hit the ball. Drivers with low lofts might help the John Daly’s of this world, but the rest of us mere mortals will actually get more distance with a higher loft.
Imagine you are using a garden hose and trying to get the water coming out of it to travel as far as possible. Now, suppose someone turns the water pressure down (which is equivalent to a slower swing speed). The spray will immediately lose distance. So what do you do to get some of that distance back? You raise the angle of the nozzle. It’s the same thing with the driver. If you have a very fast swing speed (ie the hose is on full blast), you can get maximum distance with a lower loft. But if you have a slower swing speed, you need more loft to get maximum distance. What you cannot do is pair a slow swing speed with a low-lofted driver. That is equivalent to lowering the water pressure and lowering the nozzle angle, and then wondering why you’re getting wet feet.
Get the right loft for your swing speed. The average male golfer swings their driver at about 90mph (see mph, right). With a nine-degree driver, their carry distance will only be around 206 yards. With a 13-degree driver, carry distance will be around 213 yards, which could equal a total distance gain of well over 10 yards. To get the most out of the nine-degree driver so many people are keen to purchase, you’d need to be swinging it over 100mph, while still maintaining control.