by: Edwin Shackleford

Driving is one of the most important aspects of golf. A good drive will eliminate the need for chipping and for taking long putts. What you want is to lengthen your drive or give it more accuracy. Here are a few tips to start you off with driving.

Proper grip is important in driving. If you grip your club too tightly, you might get too uncomfortable to make an accurate shot. If you grip it too loosely, then you might see your club fly along with your golf ball. What you want is to grip it properly. For everyone, your less dominant hand (the one you don't use for writing) is essentially a strong factor. You don't want the club to be positioned too high in your palm and you don't want it too low either. A diagonal position is a preferred grip of the club with respect to your less dominant hand.

Your dominant hand should be less dominant. Don't let that hand grip the club too tightly or too loosely. This will not help you with your drive. You want it to be loose and relaxed. You might want to put a gap between your first and second fingers. This will give you more power and proper angle to your shots making your drive longer and more accurate.

You should make sure your hands are linked together. Try sticking out the thumb of your less dominant hand and covering it with the palm of your more dominant hand. This will ensure that your grip is tightly secured by your two hands. It would also help your shot as your more dominant hand supports your less dominant hand and vice versa.

Proper alignment is needed. You should align your club's face to the direction you want your ball to go to. After that, align your feet with your club and as you prepare your drive just stay parallel with your club's face pointing your shoulder and hands in the same direction.

You should also have the proper stance with regards to your ball position. Try doing this if you don't know how. After aligning your shots, first put your feet together keeping them pointed to the ball. Then try to move your left feet outward a little. After that do the same thing with your right foot. Keep on doing this until you feel you are comfortable with your stance. Just remember that your feet should also not be more than shoulder-width apart.

The next part is the swing. This is one where you need to practice doing it correctly. You want your shoulders and hands and feet to be loose and relaxed. Try swinging the golf club back and forth just to get into the proper rhythm and create a flow to your golf swing. Remember not to sacrifice your accuracy just to bring in more power to your shot. A balance between the two is better.

To achieve more distance to your swing you want to go through these checkpoints. You must check if your upper body is coiling properly. Your base or your feet should be rock solid and stay intact with your lower body. Your left knee (or right if you are left-handed) must turn past the golf ball as you coil your upper body and your arms must be extended to their full length to achieve maximum swing.

Another trick to achieving distance is to tee your ball higher. This will help you achieve two things. The first one is a better angle on your launch as your club face will hit your ball at a lower place. The other thing is it will help you reduce friction from too much backspin from the ball.

Remember that driving is not easy to master. Even professional golfers have a problem with accuracy of their shots. The thing to remember is to check your stance, your grip and your swing. Don't be scared to ask for advice if you know you need it. You will also need to practice. Try practicing your swing before you play. Remember the checkpoints and ask for feedback from your trainer if you feel you are doing something wrong.