I have been teaching golf exclusively now for 17 years. I retired from full time competition in the fall of 1994 after competing for nearly 25 years.
During that time period where I was committed to full time playing, I have had the great fortune of working on my game with some of the finest instructors in the business. Playing on tour also opened the door for me to meet and play with some outstanding players. I learned a lot from their insights and to acknowledge all those who helped me learn and understand this complicated game, I would run out of room in this article. I mention this because I have experienced a lot in the world of golf. I have hit balls next to John Daley and have seen his ball sailing through the sky. I have witnessed the ball control of Mac O’Grady and Moe Norman while they hit shots with my clubs. David Leadbetter adjusted my grip in 1993, Jim McClean improved my posture, and I went down the stretch and was tied with Greg Norman in his “heyday” with 9 holes to go in the 1989 Australian TPC and so on and so on.
In the last year I have seen something on a regular basis that I believe is so impressive and phenomenal that I want to draw attention to it. For more than 4 years I have watched a young athlete swing his clubs. During that time his physique has changed but not his demeanor. I believe he is a special and gifted athlete and I have been privileged to mentor him and give advice to him. Last year he was somewhat frustrated because he lacked control. Control with the golf ball really means a combination of things. Control over the shape, trajectory and distance the ball travels I was sure that he was probably over-swinging and that by dialing his “effort” back, his control would improve. Well I was wrong. His dad mentioned that he thought he was getting stronger and perhaps he needed to have his shafts changed. This proved to be a tremendous learning experience. I was able to witness first hand the raw power and speed this young man was rapidly developing and then it hit me. His club speed was off the charts! I knew he was hitting it far but had know idea how far he could really hit it. He entered into a long drive competition and advanced to the next stage of qualifying. The rest, as they say, is history. A few months later he was competing on a world stage in the finals of the Remax World Long Drive Championship. He finished runner up at 16.
I have been watching him gear up for his return to the Remax and just recently he entered a competition in Southern California placing second with average drives of 380. Not bad considering he put the long drive stick down for several months and focused on his pitching! The day before the competition he pitched a shutout and struck out 12 batters on the campus of Cal State Fullerton with several major league and college scouts in the stands. Early the next morning he was driving golf balls around 380.
His club and ball speed is higher then it was at this time last year. His club speed is about 150 and ball speed is 210 miles per hour. His balance is back helping him with finding the center of the club and he is motivated. He is exempt into the final stage and the time is drawing near! Domenic is faster and stronger then last year and this equates to more distance if he is able to coordinate that power for a couple of swings at the right time.
It won’t be long before we see long drives nearing the 500 yard distance mark. Will he be the first to reach it? I believe it won’t happen this year but it’s not too far away and he could just be the man to do it!
Leave a Reply