_edited_.png)
_edited.png)
Shea Emry: From Two-Time Grey Cup Champion to 400-Yard Drives in World Long Drive
Updated: Oct 1
The first time Shea Emry entered a long drive competition, he didn't get a single ball on the board. A few months later he hit one 429 yards. For a man who spent his football career as a CFL linebacker, two-time Grey Cup champion and, by his own count, twice voted the nastiest player in the league, the new sport came with one big upgrade. "We're just hitting golf balls," he told David Stark. "No one's trying to hit me in the head right now."
Raised by coaches, built on every sport
Emry grew up in a coaching family in Vancouver. "My mom and dad were, are both still coaches," he said. His mom coached track and volleyball for decades, and his dad was an Olympic trials decathlete. Shea was "a track guy from the get-go," but he didn't stop there: "I grew up playing hockey, basketball, golf, baseball, soccer, you name it."
Football took him to Eastern Washington, where his first start as a linebacker came against a top-ranked opponent: "My first ever start as a linebacker, playing college football, was against West Virginia, when they were ranked number five." From there it was the CFL, two Grey Cups, and retirement in 2015.
A question on the couch
After football, Emry lived in Whistler and tried a lot of things. The push toward long drive came from home. "I'm sitting on the couch one day and my wife got into bodybuilding and she's like, you're working out, you're super strong, what are you doing with your body? Like, what are you pushing yourself towards?"
Scrolling Instagram, he kept seeing long drive clips, and in 2022 he signed up for a simulator tournament in Richmond. "I got zero drives on the board." He went back anyway. "The second time I went down, like a month later, I got second place. Then I went and came first and then I went to an outdoor tournament and won that. Then I went to the Western Canadian, like Team Canada qualifiers, and I hit 429."
Calm on the biggest stage
That run earned him a spot at the World Long Drive Championships. The format is round-robin: groups of hitters, six balls a set, points for each. Emry hit 397 yards there; on the last set, the world champion hit 413.
What stood out to the people around him wasn't the distance. A long drive veteran who had been on the tour for about eight years told him he couldn't believe how relaxed he looked: "I don't know how you got up there, so calm, so cool." Emry's answer was pure football perspective: "Man, we're just hitting golf balls." The same veteran told him his composure, not his distance, was why he got the invite.
The secret is not swinging hard
For a sport built on raw speed, Emry's key thought is surprisingly gentle. "Don't try and hit it hard. My key is not hitting it hard." He compares it to track: start with a smooth one, "350, nice and smooth, maybe 75 percent," then build.
The numbers still get big. His ball speed best is 221 mph, his swing speed sits around 135 to 140 mph, and he swings a long drive club with a 48-inch shaft and 4.5 degrees of loft that cost about "750 bucks USD." At around 250 to 255 pounds, he'd like to get to 235 to 240, "cause it's a speed sport." His training is a mix of the gym, mountain biking with his kids, yoga and lots of stretching.
The football habits still help. He pays attention to details the way he did before games: "Did you do enough film? Were you in the tub? Did you lift the way that you needed to lift this week?" And on competition day, "adrenaline's a hell of a drug."
Why kids shouldn't specialize at six
Emry is blunt about early specialization. "The specialization from the age of six is not working and kids are getting hurt," he said. He worries about athletes who reach their twenties knowing only one sport and calls it his mission to spread the word: the best athletes in the world "played all the sports."
He's living it at home. This year has been "the year of exposure" for his kids: CFL games in Vancouver, and a trip to the Harry Jerome track meet, where his daughter came away saying, "I love this, I'm doing triple jumping and hurdles."
Snowballs, axes and Sphere Guide
Emry's business life is as unusual as his sports career. After running an axe throwing company for four or five years, he looked for a way to diversify. "I am a professional snowball maker," he said. "My team and I have made over 250,000 real snowballs," all for a snowball fight experience that works "essentially like paintball, but with snowballs." He has spent the last decade in team building, and with his wife he co-founded Sphere Guide, a curated marketplace of coaches that he says now has 400 coaches worldwide using the app.
Key takeaways
Fail first, then iterate. Zero drives in his first event became a 429-yard qualifier within months.
Smooth beats hard. Emry's key thought in a speed sport is not to swing hard.
Composure is a skill. Football pressure made a long drive stage feel simple, and it got him noticed.
Let kids sample everything. He sees early specialization causing injuries and one-dimensional athletes.
Competitive drive can change sports. Retirement from football wasn't the end of competing.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Shea Emry?
Shea Emry is a former CFL linebacker and two-time Grey Cup champion who retired in 2015. Since 2022 he has competed in long drive golf, and he is also an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Sphere Guide.
How far does Shea Emry hit a golf ball?
His best is 429 yards, hit at a Western Canadian qualifier. He hit 397 yards at the World Long Drive Championships, and his ball speed best is 221 mph.
How did Shea Emry get into long drive?
After his wife asked what he was pushing his body towards, he entered a simulator tournament in Richmond in 2022. He got no drives on the board the first time, then placed second, then started winning events.
Comments