Unveiling the True Motivation Behind My Need for Speed: "You're Gonna Need More Than That!!

So to this day, those words I'm not even sure were intended for me specifically, but they stick, and oh boy did they stick that night. It was the Round of 16 at the 2019 World Long Drive Championships. I had barely squeaked in to the final 16 by winning in a playoff for the last spot in my grouping. It was my first time in a real televised event, and this is the reason why I ended up pushing my club head speed to its limits years later.

The year was 2019. I hadn't seriously been back in the game of Long Drive as I was busy pursuing other aspects of my life. It was just a hobby I happened to be slightly above average at, without much practice, maybe a few weeks' worth. I went to a local qualifier for the World Championships. I hit the ball decently well that day and was lucky enough to secure a spot at the World Championships. I was excited since after taking multiple years away from the sport but still following along, I hadn't been to the World Championships since 2014. So, to be returning was quite exciting. A week then passed, and I was asked if I'd like to fill a spot in the Rochester tour event since it was very last minute but only about a 3-hour drive from my residence. I gave it a couple of hours and then committed to going since at this point I was busy with my new career and wanted to make sure the timelines worked. I had one week to prepare.

This was not only my first tour event of this season but my first ever!! See, back when I started this sport in 2008, tour events were much different, and for me at the time, a much larger commitment. So I had always chosen to do small events that were more convenient travel-wise, usually matching up with a qualifying event or something similar for cost reasons. So I tried to play it off as not such a big deal and just show up and hope for the best. Although the event was great and let me connect with many old friends again, I also hit quite well. Above expectations, you could say, as I ended up round by round making the Top-16 at the tour event. My QL in my left glute was on fire, so I don't think I could have really done much better, but it set a positive tone for the World Championships a little over a month later.

I did take that month and tried to improve the best I could, practiced much more often, and had my ball speed up to a whopping 213mph during a clinic at my then club. I felt like I was in a good spot. The World Championships were in Thackerville, Oklahoma, a much different feel than Mesquite, NV, where I had been to worlds every time prior. But nonetheless, I felt good. The first day of the competition came and went, and I did well enough to advance. The second day, same thing, with a few Magic 8 balls to win my sets (it's a term, nothing else). It brought us into the final 32, which is then split into two groups of 16, and the top eight from each group advance. So, on this day, I ended up in a tie for 8th place, meaning I needed a sudden-death playoff to either secure my spot in the top 16 or be eliminated. I ended up edging out my fellow competitor in that playoff and was on my way to my first television appearance the following night. At this point, I hadn't even booked a room since, well, the odds were I wasn't going to be hitting in the finals, so I wouldn't need a room. Some extra planning needed to be done, but it all worked out. After some interviews and things for the broadcast section, a good night's sleep and a full day of anticipation, we were on our way back to the grid to hit under the light.

Now, for those who are new to the sport or unfamiliar with it, the finals have always been and should always be held in the evenings under the lights. In the past few years, it hasn't been the case, but it always seems to carry more significance. When you look back at the older events, the finals were always held at night under the lights. For myself, who has followed the sport since a young age and has yet to experience this, it was a big deal, and the nerves were definitely there. Not only that, but my first match was against a 2-time world champion and multiple tour winner that season. So, I had my work cut out for me.

On the range, we were all set up beside the person we were to be matched against, so I just went about my way warming up, probably too excited, hitting too many balls for my conditioning at that point. As we got closer to our match, I heard the words muttered, "you're gonna need more than that." It was right after I thought I had hit a good drive and I was just like, "Huh? Is he talking to me?" as it came from the person I was going to be hitting against in the next 20 minutes or so. I tried to think nothing of it as maybe he was talking to himself or something. So the time came for our match. I got to finally, after all these years, walk out onto that stage under the lights. It was the longest and shortest 10-15 minutes of my life. I was to go first, after a commercial break of course, where my nerves just grew and grew. The words "the grid is clear, play away" were said. I then proceeded to blast all 8 balls out of bounds, getting out of rhythm, missing left and right. All I could do is put a fake smile on my face and wait for my competitor to hit a single ball in play to put me out of my misery. Well, one swing, two swings, three, four, five. Now I'm like, there is no way he is going to do the same thing. On the 6th swing, and finally, what felt like hours but in reality was about 2 minutes, I was put out of my misery and got to walk off the stage.

Why the words "you're going to need more than that" stuck with me? Well, at the time, I knew I wasn't the fastest. There were plenty of guys faster than I was, and if push came to shove, my best versus their best wasn't going to cut it in an all-out battle. I knew it before I even got on the tee that night. Being reminded didn't help, obviously, but I will say this: if it was intended for me, it worked, and I actually applaud that gamesmanship and truly respect it if that was ever the case.

After this, I was determined to get faster. Within 6 weeks, I had eclipsed 220mph, which at the time was a somewhat big deal. Handfuls of guys at that point were doing it, but the bar just kept getting pushed higher and higher. So I had to keep going since I told myself no one would be able to utter those words to me on the tee box ever again, as it honestly wasn't a good feeling knowing you likely didn't have enough when push came to shove. I would much rather my competitors wishing me to miss than know I couldn't catch them. Sure, I did give up some consistency, and sure, there are now those faster, of course, but at certain points over the last few years, I could say I'd put my best against anyone else's best. It would then be determined by the bounce on the ground, not the speed at which it left the face.

There is no pretending that speed isn't intimidating in the sport of Long Drive. The best in the world are generally among the fastest in the world. If we follow the trend in professional golf, it's really not that much different, barring a few exceptions along the way. For some reason, people feel the need to point out more than what is actually happening on average. The driving distance category on the PGA Tour is quite a good predictor of potential earnings. I don't even understand why people argue this. My only assumption is that it stems from laziness in their own game or ego, as they don't want to put in the work, but stats are stats. On average, longer is better at any level. With the future being what it is, the juniors and NCAA players coming up the ranks are faster than they have ever been, and those are your next PGA superstars.

What you can take away from this whole story is that it doesn't matter where you start. The room to improve and get better at something you are passionate about can be achieved. Is it hard work? Sure. Is it lots of time spent in the unknown? Sure. But over time, you put the pieces of the puzzle together, with some failures along the way. If you choose to continue learning and then putting it into practice with some obvious trial and error in the mix, once you have your system in place of what works, it can all be put together in a way that makes sense for you. I know coach those wanting to do similar things in their golf space, gain speed and distance. I help them skip the mistakes I made, the things that have big promises with very little true outcome. By the end, I want them to be self-coachable. The goal of a good coach should always be to not only build a great client but also pass along the information in a way that can be digested and used by the client at any point in time in their future. only coming back for a second set of eyes as a confidence booster as to what they are doing is still on the right path.

If you are an avid golfer or an up-and-coming Longdriver who wants to gain more distance, get as fast as possible, head over to my training and clinics page and send me a message on how we could work together remotely/online to help you hit the ball further and longer than ever before.

RG