<P> According to professionals, flexibility, technique and form are very important in a drive . A flexible player is able to generate a longer drive by having the ability to swing with a wider arc, creating more thrust . Some of the world's longest drivers who are not professional golfers but compete in Long Drive contests such as the RE / MAX World Long Drive Championship, such as Jamie Sadlowski and Mike Dobbyn, are capable of regularly hitting a ball over 400 yards and over 220 mph . </P> <P> Two time World Long Drive champion Sadlowski is of average height and slight of build but is able to generate lengths of up to 445 yards far beyond those of some of the more powerfully built professional golfers because of his unique flexibility and leanness of build . Motion Golf, a company that creates sophisticated 3 - D swing animations of players, has deduced that in his swing he rotates his shoulder 166 degrees, but his hips move only 49 degrees; Tiger Woods averages around 85 degrees in comparison . He claims that the secret behind his usually long drive is to "Think swing fast, not hard ." </P> <P> However, the world record holder, Mike Dobbyn, whose longest drive is a world record 551 yards, is 6'8" and a muscular 310 pounds, implying that raw power is also very important, particularly in the left shoulder and right pectoral (for a right - handed golfer) and in the twitch muscles on the left side . Several of the past RE / MAX winners such as Sweden's Viktor Johansson have also been at least 6'5" and near 300 pounds and five time winner Jason Zuback was an amateur powerlifter . </P> <P> In February 1971, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first person to golf anywhere other than Earth . He smuggled a golf club and two golf balls on board Apollo 14 with the intent to golf on the Moon . He attempted two drives . He shanked the first attempt, but it is estimated his second went more than 200 yards . </P>

What is the average drive for a golfer