Family is a word we use a lot around ULD™. We consider our members as part of our family and the family of the sport of long drive. Our membership contains a few actual families that compete together. We have brothers, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, and more. There is a very interesting family that competes in our North Florida League. John Dean II and his son John Dean III are a perfect example of family enjoying ULD™ together.
Here is a fun Q and A session we had with John II.
What drew you to start competing in the sport of long drive? How did you come to compete in ALD?
I stumbled across World Long Drive on youtube last year while I was traveling, and instantly loved it. I watched as much of it as I could find and began watching Joe Miller, Jamie Sadlowski, Kyle Berkshire, Justin James, and Maurice Allen. Those guys are so much fun to watch for all their differences in styles and swings. At the time I would play golf may twice a year and WLD brought me back to wanting to play again.
What do you enjoy most about competing in ALD?
I enjoy how easy it is to get involved, the competitiveness, and the physical aspect of the sport. I guess what I enjoy most is pushing myself to new limits.
How do you like watching your son compete? How does he like watching you? Do you guys practice together?
Watching my son swing and compete makes me smile and laugh. I know he has the opportunity to be better than I ever can be. Not only because he is starting early than me, but because he has this natural swing that is perfect for long drive. I do not even try to coach him because I want him to develop his natural swing and I think that is more about repetitions. Unfortunately we do not get a lot of time to practice because of our area, but I do plan on building a simulator that will allow us that opportunity soon. We had so much fun on our trip to the finals this year and I really look forward to that again next year.
Are you both golfers? Or just long drivers?
I try to play golf twice a month with my dad in his weekly scramble, but with work, it is hard to find the time. My son is just a long driver. He wants to go play golf just to drive the golf cart.
Tell us something you two also like to do together outside of ALD.
Outside of long drive we like playing video games together, sometimes he will workout with me, but mostly we just have fun wrestling around and annoying his mother. If you ask her I am sure she would tell you we are Pros at that.
–
My background as a professional race car driver has made long drive an enjoyable sport for me. I can have fun without taking it too seriously, although I do want to win. The pressure is almost non-existent for me. I have spent most of my life strapping into race cars with a lot of money on the line, so when I walk up to the tee box with 2 minutes to hit six balls as far as I can, it really is not nerve-racking for me. I enjoy the competition and I love the sportsmanship of the sport and the other players. I can see myself enjoying competing for a long time to come.
