11, Charbonneau was hit by a vehicle in a parking lot in St-Hubert, Que., and died from his injuries a week later.īelanger says he considered him a good friend. "Alexis has been racing here for almost 10 years now, he's been our track champion in 2021 during the pandemic year, and this year," he added. "Alexis was really loved in the racing community and he was an upcoming star, 26 years old," said Cornwall Motor Speedway Assistant Promotor Martin Belanger. Racing in eastern Ontario and western Quebec, mini-stock driver Alexis Charbonneau was a fan favourite wherever he competed. In fact, I smashed the driver a few times and realized why people have become addicted to this sport.A popular Quebec race car driver who died unexpectedly this month is being honoured at a local race track in October, thanks to an outpouring of support from the racing community. So I added what I dubbed as the "spring and swing effect," and it essentially felt like I was jumping through the ball with a little more force. He watched Vlooswyk and I hit and said the major difference between us was that she has a spring in the follow through, which made me look like I was hanging back initially in my swing. I could hardly get the ball in the air without it turning into a low slice.īreed then instructed me to tilt my shoulders even more, to have my head cocked back, and to place the ball just outside my front foot. Initially when I set up to the driver, I was in a normal driver stance: shoulders slightly tilted and ball just inside my front foot. The loft of a long driver is typically five degrees and the shaft is 50 inches. Swing instructor Michael Breed, and host of The Golf Fix on the Golf Channel, took me through the differences of setting up for a "normal" driver compared to a long driver. These common characteristics help create the power needed to take some outrageously aggressive cuts at the ball.īeyond having the physical ability, the setup to the ball is just as important. In what is described as "golf fit," long hitters on the pro tours and Long Driver competitors have many similarities: they're flexible, they use their legs in their swing, have a strong core, and have good balance. She focuses on keeping her back and shoulders loose, an important component throughout a day of competition where she can hit upwards of 76 balls at speeds of 120 mph. Lisa Vlooswyk (aka "Lisa Longball"), who is a seven-time national champion in Canada, maintained that shoulder mobility is essential, and finds that too many people lift with their arms, rather than turning their upper body. Oh you thought was done helping you get distance! Nope, here he goes again with another great exercise to bomb it #golf #golfer #golfswing #golffitness #longdrive #worldlongdrivechampionship #bang #fitness #athleteĪ video posted by Anya Alvarez on at 1:41pm PDT Since the swing is built from the ground up, she has found that having stability in her lower body provides her power to accelerate through the ball. Her raw power is astounding, and as I watched her hit balls on the range, I thought to myself, "How does someone similar to my size generate so much speed?"Ĭarlborg says she focuses mostly on lower-body strength. She holds the record for women with a 391-yard drive. Then I met Sandra Carlborg, a four-time World Long Drive champion from Sweden. Hitting it far came naturally, so I never thought about what I could do to add distance because I had plenty to compete on tour. Over time I learned better technique, but overall, power was part of my game. At one point he told me, "If you're going to hit it like a girl, hit it like a big woman."īasically he meant, "Swing as hard as you can." My dad gave me men's clubs that were far too heavy for me, but he believed that if I swung heavier clubs it would help build my golf muscles. At this event, 274 yards is chump change and it would take me a driver and a full wedge to reach Tim Burke's championship winning drive last year of 394 yards. My ego, however, was deflated this week when I covered the World Long Drive Championship. I averaged 274 yards and considered myself a "beast." Not to brag, but when I played on the LPGA tour, I was in the top 10 in driving distance.
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