Calling Big Hitters. Most Common Reactions / Comments You Get As a Big Hitter

Calling all other big hitters. A little about my self. 2 handicap and hit it far. I'm 6-4 250lbs. Probably average 320 carry 340 total on drives. My bombs go 370-385 with standard length drivers. With Long drive drivers i can touch 400yrds in the right conditions. Swing speed on track man averages 127-131. Ball speeds between 185-190 for on course swings. When I swing as hard as I can I can touch 144mph swing speed.

Fellow big hitters, And I know you are out there. What are the most common reactions/comments you normally get. I thought I'd catalogue mine and see if I'm not alone in this.

1. The one upper. By far the most common. People LOVE to tell me about that one guy they know or met in passing who is always even longer than me. Not sure why they feel the need to do this? Knock me down a peg? Not really sure but it happens nearly every time without fail. This is the most annoying.

2. The compensator. They will swing crazy hard and hit poor shots to try and "keep up" when they only hit it 250 on a great stripe anyway. They see your length as a subliminal assault on their own manhood. Silly, but primal and understandable.

3. Mr. No biggie. Pretend like it's nothing special and carry on with their round, even though they clearly want to say something . This is by far my preferred reaction.

4. You must have played other sports guy. "Did you play baseball and or hockey" this is the second most popular question.

5. The worshipper. This dude after every drive you hit ooohs and awe's after every drive. While this is pleasing on a narcissistic and superficial level. It can take you out of your game, cause you feel like now every drive is a performance where you have to deliver the goods. Then you find yourself swinging harder than you should.

6. The Patronizer. This is usually a man in their 50's who for the rest of the round will comment on your game without you asking while patronizing the **** out of you. Even though your handicap is a solid 10 strokes below his. Not sure why this occurs but it's happened enough to be noticeable. And it's always the same guy. The 50-59 year old white guy. Every. Single. Time. Close second in annoyingness to mr one upper.

7. The inquisitor. Do you do long drive? Ever though about going for your tour card? How tall are you? How fast are you swining. The questions are relentless and for the most part friendly and tolerable. This guy is not annoying, just curious.

8. The good playing partner. Complementary without being over the top. Stays in his game and doesn't feel threatened or intimidated by your length. Usually a down to earth guy with a lot of perspective. Is way above the typical dick measuring that goes on with a lot of people.

Anyway, these are just the most common reactions and comments I get as a really long hitter. I want to know if there is some consistency out there from other long hitters and if they see the same patterns too. So how bout it big hitters? Weigh in and let me know what you get.

I am definitely not a long hitter in comparison. I average about 250yd and can get 270yd maybe once a round.

As a spectator I fall in the #7 inquisitor category I guess. I usually commend the guy / gal for that skill and ask something along the lines of "have you ever got launch numbers." Then I don't even mention it for the rest of the round.

My buddy swings 130+ and has probably heard them all, can't be sure. But I've played probably 100 rounds with him and the most often sentiment I've heard was "holy @#$&!!!!"

Seriously, never witnessed most that you've intimated other than awe.

First off...welcome to THP!

THP definitely has some big hitters, but the numbers you're stating I'm not sure I've seen in person. There was a guy from Callaway that played in a THP event recently that was a very long hitter, but this might be past that. I'm no where near those numbers, so I can't really help you there. I try to be as #8 on that list as possible though no matter who I'm playing with.

Thank you for the welcome! I'm glad to be here. It was only on my mind today because, my random playing partner today was the patronizer to a T. And it got me on the train of thought. Yea, I'm definitely an outlier in the distance department, now if only I had the time to dial in my 100 yard and in game! Lol

welcome to thp. it's a fantastic place to be. what i love about this place is that it's made up of average joes who just love golf and love talking about it. nobody is trying to one-up anybody else; we all want to see each other play great golf and have a blast doing it.

i've never played with anyone who has your length. the closest i've come is a buddy who swings out of his shoes, and when he catches one it's in the 330-340 range, but more often than not he misses a little and suffers a lot of distance loss.

as a player of average distance (240-260), i'm guilty of being 2, 4, 5, and 7, though i try to be 8!

glad to have you

I'll say 'nice drive' and when I get it out there 240yards and down the middle he'll say it to me.

I'd probably just offer up a few "wow's" or "awesome's" as a good compliment. Lets face it, its pretty awesome to see.
And besides that.... then I'd just simply offer the same old "nice shot" or "nice ball" if indeed it was a well played shot (as per where it landed) just like I would say to any other person who makes a good tee shot or as it might be said to me after one.

The only time I have been truly impressed by a long hitter was this past July on the first hole at Catalina Island golf course. I watched a nineteen year old kid that weighs about 175 pounds fly the green on that hole with an M2 driver. I think that's about 312 yards. I didn't say anything other than wow...but I was thinking..yeah this kid could go pro. Good for him.

Hitting it long is one thing, but hitting it long where it's supposed to be is what impresses me.

I wish I had all of you as playing partners. I usually go solo when I play and it's been a bad stretch recently. That's what I never get about a few of the bad ones, the beauty about golf is that unless you are playing for money on tour... Your trying to beat yourself from last round. I hate when I can silently tell when people are competing against me without saying they are. Its an ego thing I feel that is so washed upm

I demand two videos:

1 - 140+mph swing speed so we can enjoy that!!!!
2 - Some sort of guitar smashing.

Welcome to THP!

I just want to see someone hit it that far. I have never seen anything remotely close to this far.

I'm far from a serious long player(270-280) but it has been a long time since anyone I've played with out drives me.

My experience, I usually only hear a comment on the first tee, typically from those 50+yo guys, "look out we're playing with a young back" or "ahhh, to be young and strong/flexible." Usually doesn't continue after that and anyone under age 50 typically doesn't comment at all, but probably because I don't have the eye-popping length the OP does.

The rare times I do play with a bigger hitter, I leave it at "nice ball/drive" when they hit one well. With a chuckle of astonishment to myself when we find their ball 300+ out. I try very hard to limit my comments on others' games.

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Guitarguy35 said:

I wish I had all of you as playing partners. I usually go solo when I play and it's been a bad stretch recently. That's what I never get about a few of the bad ones, the beauty about golf is that unless you are playing for money on tour... Your trying to beat yourself from last round. I hate when I can silently tell when people are competing against me without saying they are. Its an ego thing I feel that is so washed upm

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I think that is the beauty of competition. Why shouldn't they "compete" with you? I think it is only natural to want to keep up with your playing partner.

I golfed with a guy Matt Brown, that was in the Remax competition 3 or 4 years.
He averaged around 340-345.

I said wow a few times, and once told him to let me hit first, otherwise my ball would land at the same time as his.

He knew he was long so I didn't keep applauding and confirming it.

I think he really enjoyed it that I acknowledged his distance, but didn't gush about it.

I usually hit about 250. Sometimes 270.

The only people I impress are 10 year olds, and the older crowd that drives 200 yards.

Some of the older guys always say " Back in my day......."

But now it seems some of them can't see past 200 yards.

I do enjoy playing with the older guys.
Some or them kill their drives, 260-270.

When they tell you they 74 years old, and they look about 62ish.

I'm sure I would compliment the power a couple of times, but I would probably want to spend the round talking about guitars and music.

I play alot of solo rounds as well, but don't have anywhere near the distance you do (I saw 170 ball speed once on a launch monitor, but that was everything I had plus whatever I had in reserve... and it kinda hurt!) But you still get comments from people you're paired up with that don't know you and don't often play with people capable of putting it out there 300+ on occasion. I usually just smile, say thanks and ignore the rest (in a cordial way of course.) On the other side, I've played with a few guys that are pretty long, but not quite 180+ ball speed long. I'll usually just tell them nice shot, or an occasional wow or something. But I try not to make a big deal out of it and try to keep the conversations on the course as positive as possible.

But I agree with Dan. Take a vid of a 140+mph swing so we can all enjoy it!

Welcome to THP!

Personally, I'm not the longest and I'm not the shortest but I've always found that to be humble is the best approach with any reaction you find yourself receiving.

Welcome to THP.

I'm certainly not the longest hitter, but I am longer than a lot of the people I play with. If they compliment my shot/distance or anything, I always say thanks and leave it at that. I don't try to look for hidden meanings behind the compliment.

Once in a while I'll get a "wow" if I'm playing with someone new, but my usual playing partners are used to me outhitting them, so it's just part of the round. I did have someone try to start a fight with me after I won longest drive in a tournament. I'm only 5'9" tall, so apparently it's impossible for me to hit a golf ball far and I must have been lying. It's physics, bud....

I play with a guy regularly that is about your build and hits it pretty close to your distance. I guess I've gotten used to it, he's my longest tenured golf buddy. My most common response is "holy $#!T" followed by a high five. It's fun to see someone that can send it like that, it's just not in my repertoire. I've had some folks be impressed that I can launch it pretty good for a midget, but I'm nowhere near your level.

I can push just over 300 on a good day. Most guys I play with hang around 250 or less (both randoms and regulars).

Most comments are like "can you hit that for me too". My usual response is "sure if you don't mind looking for it three fairways over" because inevitably those nice straight long drives that I'm hitting degenerate into banana slices or massive pull hooks. At that point the driver gets put away and the five wood comes out.

I don't hit it like that any more...One, I'm 38 and not 18 any more but two, I'm trying to slow my swing speed and hit fairways. I hit one 360 this year and got a few looks and a "Dammmmmnnn!" but the number in my head when I tee off is 275...If I can hit it 275 and in the fairway, I'm really happy. Frankly, these days, if it is in the fairway at 250 I'm happy. I played pretty well yesterday (for me) and didn't hit one past 280. I'm sure my swing speed will go back up as what I learn in my lessons takes hold but it has been a while since I've gotten a big reaction.

I do have a tendency to swing for the fences on the range and I've had a few people stop and watch but it does nothing for my game or scores. Finding fairways has been as difficult as finding Waldo in one of those books...

My best long drive story? I was 17, a senior in high school, and the club pro caught up with me and my teammates on the 18th. He asks if he can tee off with us and get back to the club house. Naturally we accommodated him and he took a big swing and drove the ball out to 270ish on top of a hill in the middle of the fairway. I pulled my steel shafted 3 wood and cranked one to about 300...he didn't realize it until I put my head cover on with a big 3 on it. He just looked at me for a minute, shook his head and drove off in his cart.

Those were the days. I still like hitting a long drive but I've swallowed my long drive pride a bit since I started playing again.

SouthernShred said:

I don't hit it like that any more...One, I'm 38 and not 18 any more .

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You say that like 38 is old. As I am 51 I suppose I must be dead.

rollin said:

You say that like 38 is old. As I am 51 I suppose I must be dead.

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lol...I'm well aware 38 isn't that old but when I have a couple of friends have children who are seniors in high school, I notice. I also notice I'm a lot more sore after a round than I used to be lol.