late as possible, and then swishing through the ball. This is similar to flicking your wrists when using a badminton, squash, or tennis racket.

Golfers who are inclined to hit at the ball with their hands rather than swinging through the ball find that they lose a lot of power, and hence distance.  Your power comes from your body, not from your hands.  If you want to drive the ball further, don’t hit the ball with your hands – let the club do the work it was designed to do.

Of course, you will want to choose the right club for the distance of the hole.  Obviously, you will want to choose a driver for the longer holes to get maximum distance, but for shorter holes like Par 3s, you will likely want to choose a smaller club like an iron.  You will want to try and get as close to the hole as possible, but you also don’t want to overshoot the green either.

The best way to know how far you can hit specific clubs is to get on the driving range.  Because golf isn’t an exact science, there are a lot of variables that come into play with the golf swing.  But if you practice a lot, your chances of hitting the ball consistently are much higher.  Plus, you will know which club is your hundred yard club and which one is your 50 yard club.

After you have driven the ball, you’ll (hopefully) be in the fairway.

FAIRWAY SHOTS

Once you have driven off the tee box, you will probably be faced with a second shot, hopefully from the fairway.  Of course, we hope that you’ve been able to make it to the green, but on longer par 5 holes, that’s just not realistic for most golfers.

The lie of the ball in a fairway shot will dictate how you hit your next shot.  In some friendly games, your opponents may allow you to put the ball up on some grass.  This will emulate, in a way, a tee since you cannot use a tee with a fairway shot.  In tournaments or serious money games, you will probably have to play the ball as it lies, so it’s a good idea to know how to hit an effective fairway shot.