How are we ever going to bridge the gap?

[The_Power]

The Jason Zuback interview on the RE/MAX telecast where he was talking about finals day and said something like “you train and prepare for this day 364 days of the year and its so disappointing when you don’t quite execute”, was a revelation to me, I had no idea there were people working that hard in this sport

This sport only supports a handful of people professionally, so by definition most of the RE/MAX finalists are working other jobs for a living, and have nothing like the time for this kind of dedication.

So my question is this, with the likes of Sadlowski and Zuback already better than everyone else, and doing this professionally and working harder than everyone else, how are we ever going to bridge the gap

[ukrainien]

depends how much you want it. work takes up 40 hours per week. there are 168 hours in a week. do you think zuback didnt have a job before he won his first wldc?  plenty of time to get as good as you want to be - if you are willing to make sacrifices - which clearly zuback has done!

[The_Power]

Dan I would luv it if my job only took up 40 hours per week, maybe I just need a new job

[ukrainien]

see what i mean. theres always an excuse. im not having a go. im the same

[The_Power]

You're right Dan, haven't hit a ball since the London City Airport gig a month ago, and even then we only got 4 hits!

[ukrainien]

f me, im not as slack as you!

[The_Power]

I'm not that slack normally, I've been recovering from an operation on my right knee, just didn't want to throw another excuse in there

[boris yamhill]

there are events that jz and js have been in and not won.
there are always favorites. but there are a handfull of guys who could
win. except you phil, you got no shot!!! hahahahhah

[The_Power]

Lol Boris 5 years ago I would have given you an argument but these days I'm inclined to agree

[The_Power]

Yeah but smart is no fun, sometimes the truth really hurts

[Mikee]

I don't think that the gap will be bridged from a training stand point.  Look at Jamie he is freak of nature, as well as Jason.  It will take another, natural freak of nature to beat these guys.  Then when this new guy wins or whatever he will join the ranks of Jamie and Jason.  A lot of what the top hitters have is natural talent/ability.  If you don't have the time spend or want to spend the time training and your not naturally LD talented then you will never reach the top of the sport or even the foot hills. 

Maybe in the future there will be guys who compete full time for a year then work full time the next year.  That might be easier on the hitters bodies', if you could find a job that would allow you to work 15hr a week for a year and then 60hrs a week for the next. 

[MikeB]

Just guessing here, but I don't think all these guys do is train. The money is in exhibitions. I recall Fister saying that the year after he won the worlds, he spent a huge amount of time in Asia
doing shows- even right before the WLDC. It would not  surprise me if they do 50-80 of these per year. Add in all travel (training during travel is impossible) and you're looking at being on the road close to 50% of the time. I'm sure its difficult to fit in a continuous training routine

Mikeb

[callawayrep]

The Jason Zuback interview on the RE/MAX telecast where he was talking about finals day and said something like “you train and prepare for this day 364 days of the year and its so disappointing when you don’t quite execute”, was a revelation to me, I had no idea there were people working that hard in this sport

This sport only supports a handful of people professionally, so by definition most of the RE/MAX finalists are working other jobs for a living, and have nothing like the time for this kind of dedication.

So my question is this, with the likes of Sadlowski and Zuback already better than everyone else, and doing this professionally and working harder than everyone else, how are we ever going to bridge the gap

The same way everyone on the PGA tour closed the gap on Tiger, somewhat.....
EVERYONE will just have to start working harder, there's no gimme's anymore

[The_Power]

Yes but everyone on the PGA Tour is a professional and does golf full time.

[callawayrep]

Yes but everyone on the PGA Tour is a professional and does golf full time.

there was a time when every guy on the PGA tour had a second job as well..... Ben Hogan was the first guy who actually practiced, Adan look at the legend that created. I couldn't imagine competing without practicing these days. This is called evolution, and training full time and practicing for free with another job to pay your bills is the evolution of Long Drive. It's just time to get used to it.

the human body can get used to anything....

[The_Power]

I like your term second job, however, there is so little money in longdrive that I would say most people are in the category of having a primary job plus longdrive as a hobby interest.

This is what makes me think the guys at the top now are going to remain at the top for a long long time.

[callawayrep]

I like your term second job, however, there is so little money in longdrive that I would say most people are in the category of having a primary job plus longdrive as a hobby interest.

This is what makes me think the guys at the top now are going to remain at the top for a long long time.

Sorry for the misrepresentation of importance to job standing.... I mean what you stated.
everyone is human, everyone is beatable

[jfk]

So the prevailing thought here is, correct me if i'm wrong, that practicing or training everyday will make you better at LD?
i really dont think that is the case, it definately helps if its putting or chipping your talking about, but power drives? wouldnt it burn you out?  i think intelligent volume is better than greater volume, obviously everyone has differing recovery rates from exertion but i still think less is more, you just have to figure your recovery rate out. I know someone who made the worlds open semi final and was only hitting 100 balls a week and weight training once or twice a week, didnt make him champ but i dont think training everyday would have either.

[The_Power]

You could be right John, I just know that I for one would luv to be able to take 6 months off work so I could focus on longdrive full time

[KH]

Phil,
if you had a chance to train 6 months as a  true pro without having to worry about nothing else than becoming as good LDer as possible how would you train? How would your optimal training schedule/periodization plan for those 6 months (or lets say from this moment to the end of october) look like?