Looking for a dedicated Long driver.

[vegasandre]

Hi Guys. wonder if you could point me in the right direction. 
Looking for my 1st dedicated long driver. 
Looking for the Krank head but not sure of loft and shaft/shaft length. 
I am 5'11 and 190lbs.  a little older -but that isn't important. 
Just hit 132 CHS pretty easily with stock driver.  
the usage for this driver will be to hit goals indoors in sims or use in some LD competition (if things progress) and not to be used on a course.
thanks for your input. 
 

Edited January 7 by vegasandre

[DTorres]

On 1/6/2025 at 5:49 PM, vegasandre said:

Hi Guys. wonder if you could point me in the right direction. 
Looking for my 1st dedicated long driver. 
Looking for the Krank head but not sure of loft and shaft/shaft length. 
I am 5'11 and 190lbs.  a little older -but that isn't important. 
Just hit 132 CHS pretty easily with stock driver.  
the usage for this driver will be to hit goals indoors in sims or use in some LD competition (if things progress) and not to be used on a course.
thanks for your input. 
 

Hey Vegas,

 

   What driver are you currently hitting?  Ex-Long Drive competitor here. Krank has a variety of great heads the prior generation (the X) is fairly the same as the new one(Fire) and even their older models are still great for training and light competition. I’d find one in the 4-6 degree range. Callaway has made some of the best Long Drive heads though and their older XR16 LD 5* can still be found used and is PHENOMENAL and if you use Callaway drivers right now they shafts can be transferred over. Cobra also makes a variety of LD heads but they are a bit more scarce, you can however still find a brand new Head only 7.5 degree Aerojet LS for around $150. All three manufacturers are great options and are all adjustable loft.

 

Shaft length you are going to want 47.5-48” playing length. 46” is USGA legal limit length but WLD and most long drive events the limit is 48” . The longer the shaft the faster your ball speed, this isn’t accuracy golf this is long drive. Flex will be dependent on you and conditions, most competitive long drivers will have 2-4 complete drivers of different specs. If you want all out ballistic speed you will want to follow suit with the recent trend of long drive, Very light and Very Flexible shafts.  We are talking 40-50 gram and ladies-regular flex max. 5-6 years ago when I was competing it was opposite we were all swinging 3x-4x stiff flex. Again this isn’t accuracy golf so with the lighter whipper shafts we long drivers have found that you will get the most ball speed out of these types of setups. When Martin Borgmeir broke his setup down recently he basically reiterated the same. He even removes the weight from his driver head and replaces the hole with a sticker to reduce weight. The name of the game is tee it up high and smash it to the moon with ballistic speed. Get one in the grid then swing all the way out of your boots. Feel free to shoot me any questions. I competed in WLD qualifiers and tournaments in 2018-19
 

 

[vegasandre]

12 hours ago, DTorres said:

Hey Vegas,

 

   What driver are you currently hitting?  Ex-Long Drive competitor here. Krank has a variety of great heads the prior generation (the X) is fairly the same as the new one(Fire) and even their older models are still great for training and light competition. I’d find one in the 4-6 degree range. Callaway has made some of the best Long Drive heads though and their older XR16 LD 5* can still be found used and is PHENOMENAL and if you use Callaway drivers right now they shafts can be transferred over. Cobra also makes a variety of LD heads but they are a bit more scarce, you can however still find a brand new Head only 7.5 degree Aerojet LS for around $150. All three manufacturers are great options and are all adjustable loft.

 

Shaft length you are going to want 47.5-48” playing length. 46” is USGA legal limit length but WLD and most long drive events the limit is 48” . The longer the shaft the faster your ball speed, this isn’t accuracy golf this is long drive. Flex will be dependent on you and conditions, most competitive long drivers will have 2-4 complete drivers of different specs. If you want all out ballistic speed you will want to follow suit with the recent trend of long drive, Very light and Very Flexible shafts.  We are talking 40-50 gram and ladies-regular flex max. 5-6 years ago when I was competing it was opposite we were all swinging 3x-4x stiff flex. Again this isn’t accuracy golf so with the lighter whipper shafts we long drivers have found that you will get the most ball speed out of these types of setups. When Martin Borgmeir broke his setup down recently he basically reiterated the same. He even removes the weight from his driver head and replaces the hole with a sticker to reduce weight. The name of the game is tee it up high and smash it to the moon with ballistic speed. Get one in the grid then swing all the way out of your boots. Feel free to shoot me any questions. I competed in WLD qualifiers and tournaments in 2018-19
 

 

 

Thank you for all of that great info. 
That confirms a lot in my mind. 
Right now I only have 1 driver that I use on the course. Don't have anything else yet. 
TM Q10 LS with 45" Ventus Red TR 7x shaft.     Typical type stuff.
I would say the odds of me signing up for a senior LD competition down the road are slim. But not zero. 
But I do want to get to 140 CHS and whatever that equates to in Ball speed (200?) at least on a sim. 
The ladies flex shaft seems to be the trend lately. The Length is what kind of freaks me out as I am not a Big dude like Martin /Kyle/Bryson/Fast eddie. 
Maybe I get one experimental club that gets me to that goal and then I stop or maybe it just continues and compounds..IDK yet. 
But I do kind of love it..  Its kind of a freak show at the range though. Need to pick the less empty times. LOL
Still working on getting to the left side better ala Kyle.. so I think there is a lot left on table. 
Thanks again!
 

Edited January 8 by vegasandre

[DTorres]

I would highly recommend selling that driver and buying a Cobra AeroJet LS 7.5 degree. You can find them on ebay right now for $149 brand new head only with adapter. Then I would buy a gamer every day shaft and start buying up used Long Drive Shafts from House of Forges EBay. House of Forge makes amazing shafts and you can buy most of them for around $100 used directly from them(Normally $250-$300 shafts). You could end up with a very competitive setup for about $250. I actually personally use this head because I can crank it up to 9 degrees for everyday golf or bring it all the way down to 6 degrees if I’m trying to smash on one.

 

You could absolutely make a run at the senior division if you’re already cooking that speed with a regular driver!  Age is irrelevant in golf, plenty of senior WLD CRUSH IT further than me and I’m a lumberjack myself. The length won’t be to long! You will just have to adjust a little bit, and the further you progress in your speed training the more freely your body will

produce the optimal arch to deliver the club! One thing you will have to do with the longer club is

1) tee it up higher

2) put it a little further forward and out in your stance and really try and swing up. 
 

this will produce the least spin and account for the extra length of the shaft and provide the MOST speed!

 

Power is not speed. SPEED is Power

Edited January 8 by DTorres

[vegasandre]

Awesome- that was fire...  I really appreciate all that info. 
Going to research that shaft site now.. And look for the head too. 
Further down the rabbit hole I shall go..
I have some crazy golf/handicap goals and not sure how this LD stuff is going to affect that...But as of now it is a blast and it seems to be helping with overall synching.

[vietnameeh]

HOF is actually located close to you

 

if you can get in touch with Alex White hes also located in your area, he is the general manager for HOF. he can get you setup with a HOF shaft (some of their shafts are made by LA GOLF)

 

I also agree with DTorres, cobra aerojet 7.5 is really cheap right now.

 

I have that as my practice driver. and have two 5.5* aerojets.

I also have a krank driver.

 

if you are patient LD clubs do pop up on ebay/facebook market place from time to time, i just wouldn't pay too much for your first club.

 

Also 132MPH with stock driver and you are older..... you can def compete

 

 

Edited January 14 by vietnameeh

[vegasandre]

On 1/13/2025 at 4:32 PM, vietnameeh said:

HOF is actually located close to you

 

if you can get in touch with Alex White hes also located in your area, he is the general manager for HOF. he can get you setup with a HOF shaft (some of their shafts are made by LA GOLF)

 

I also agree with DTorres, cobra aerojet 7.5 is really cheap right now.

 

I have that as my practice driver. and have two 5.5* aerojets.

I also have a krank driver.

 

if you are patient LD clubs do pop up on ebay/facebook market place from time to time, i just wouldn't pay too much for your first club.

 

Also 132MPH with stock driver and you are older..... you can def compete

 

 

thank you . 
Based on Dtorres above as well as research  I took this first step. 
Since I really wanted to try the Krank Fire Pro -I ordered a 7.5 head (as I want to use it on the course also ..)
I then ordered a HOF 46"  - senior flex shaft (I guess with adapter will be like 47 in) for LD stuff  (I know it isnt a maxed out setup but I wanted to go halfway first. )
I also ordered a regular Ventus Black TR 6X shaft - (for course use)

It's a start. I want to see what happens . 
The Head is kind of back ordered too. Not sure when it arrives. Got the HOF shaft already. 

[pgabroc]

This thread has been so helpful!!!

[CROCN]

If you can find a used Kinetixx Velocity or Hypersonic shaft, they are really good shafts with good stability and torque values for the softer flexed shafts. I have used the HOF shafts, but would only use the ones made by LA Golf. Just now testing the TPT Nitro shafts but my fellow competitors really like the 20 and 21 Hi models. Just got back from a competition in Dallas, and the Hypersonic D10 performed the best for me with ball speeds topping out at 210, but realistically in the 199 to 202 range. Good start to the season especially in the cold, rainy environment. 

Good luck with your training and don't forget to stretch 3 times a day. 

 

Also, there is a Callaway Paradym LD head and Kinetixx LD30 shaft for sale in the GolfWRX classifieds currently.