What does it take to win a men’s World Long Drive competition?
Everyone can think of that one friend who hits their driver a bit further than the rest of the friend group.
Whether they’re an ex-baseball player, another type of athlete or just a guy with good genetics, maybe the topic of long drive has been brought up. World Long Drive is back, but what exactly does it take to win a men’s competition?
Colton Casto, a 27-year-old from Snohomish, Washington, won this last weekend in Memphis, Tennessee, with a winning ball of 380 yards, and this victory was a long time coming.
Casto has been working with his coach, Bobby Peterson of One Stop Power Shop, out of Newton Grove, North Carolina, since 2018. Peterson has produced many world champions, such as Kyle Berkshire and more, but Casto’s journey has been a lengthy one.
Peterson owns the OSPS training center, where his athletes hit on simulators and on a lit, outdoor driving range. Training typically consists of multiple hitting sessions, resulting in hundreds of balls hit. Casto has spent eight full weeks at OSPS since the beginning of the year.
When Casto started with Peterson in 2018, his swing speed was around 140 mph and his ball speed topped out at 210 mph. The top ten long drivers swing speeds are now in the 147-169 mph range with ball speeds averaging in the 212-230 mph range.
“Colton and I have put in a lot of work. After the last competition in Denver, he decided to come back to OSPS where we worked on some things to correct his 14 to 15 inch low point in his swing, ” Peterson. said “This was causing him to close the face too quick and flip it. We drilled on that all week long pretty intensely, putting in 200 to 400 balls a day.”
Casto came out on top in Memphis using a Callaway Paradym Long Drive Head set at 2.5 degrees and a 48″ Kinetixx Hypersonic D10 shaft.
“I couldn’t even talk after the win. It has been such a grind to get to this point,” said Casto.
Added Peterson: “He did the work, came to Memphis and it all came together. I couldn’t be prouder of what he did and of all the OSPS members. We had 10 in the field last week, and seven made the top 16. That’s two wins in a row for us, and we look forward to the next event.”
You can learn more information about World Long Drive here.
