Let’s face it. Drilling it deep has its thrills. It also has its benefits. Longer drives make for Shorter Approach Shots. It’s easier hitting the green when using your sand wedge than your 6-iron. Shorter approach shots mean more greens hit regulation, and that helps chop strokes off your golf handicap.

But drilling it deep doesn’t work if you’re hitting your second shot from the woods. Often the only option from there is punching out to the fairway. While that’s often a smart move, it also costs your strokes. What you want is to drill it deep but keep it in the fairway or at least in the first cut of the rough.

In other words, you want a combination of distance and accuracy.

The five golf tips below can help you achieve that:

1. Keep it simple — Some weekend golfers use two golf swings—a driver swing and an iron swing. If you use two swings and it works, that’s fine. More power to you. But using two swings means you have to learn the basics for two swings. Other golfers use one swing. Keeping it simple is good. It lets you use the same basics throughout the bag. It’s easy to get comfortable with the basics when you’re repeating them every time you swing.

2. Use a solid foundation — How wide is your stance? Some golfers use a narrow stance when hitting driver. It’s almost impossible to ramp up with a narrow stance. You can’t turn or shift your weight without losing your footing. Widening your stance creates a solid foundation for your swing and boosts stability. Also, keep your arms loose and your grip light. You want just a bit of tension in your hands and arms. It makes you feel athletic and powerful.

3. Control your backswing — It’s great to make a full shoulder turn on your back- swing. But if you go too far back with your shoulder turn, you just waste energy. In fact, it does more harm than good. It short-circuits power and inhibits control. Instead, take a nice full turn and when your shoulder stops. That sets you up for both power and control. Reaching for the little bit extra in power seldom helps. It just throws your swing off.

4. Match your club and hips —You want to feel as if your right hip and the club move into impact together. It’s a simple downswing key to strive for when going deep. It’s a better move than just turning your body as fast as possible. That’ s because it matches your arms to your body turn, producing consistent tempo and improving club control. Swinging the club wildly with no thought of the club head leads to weak drives off the tee,

5. Make it fluid — Your golf swing isn’t a bunch of set position points. It’s a dynamic motion. As one pro golfer says, it doesn’t have to look good, but it does have to be fluid. So hold nothing back when you swing. Instead, let it all go, with your lower body turning hard toward the target. Your arms and hands should feel like they’re begin pulled through the ball. And don’t try to steer the club, a common mistake we see in our golf lessons all the time.

Here’s a golf drill that can help you drill it deep with good control:

One cause for inconsistency off the tee is swinging your driver like an iron. It causes pop-ups, thin shots, and worm burners. Below is a drill that teaches you to Swing the driver hard and level:

Line up four balls in a row about 4 inches apart. Now hit each one with your driver. After you hit the last ball, check your tees:

• If the tee is leaning forward, you hit too high on the ball, which can lead to thin contact and worm-burners.

• If the tee is out of the ground, your downswing was too steep, which can lead to pop-ups and fat shots.

• If the tee looks like it did when you first stuck it in the ground, you made a level swing—the key to solid ball striking.

Repeat the drill until the tees never move.

If you can’t get the tees to stay put, try imagining the clubhead coming into the Ball like an airplane landing or that you’re driving a nail straight into the back of the ball.

Above all don’t hit down on the ball like you would with an iron. Level it out. You’ll generate a more penetrating ball flight and more yards.

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