As a keen amateur, my research into golf technique has led me to the conclusion that if you want more distance with your golf shots you need to look at 2 separate but related items - swing speed and making solid contact.

If you want to hit longer, you must know how both these work. The best golf swing tip I know is to be aware of which areas to focus on in order to improve specific key areas of your game. I found to my cost it's no good just getting general golf swing tuition or a pro to give you golf swing instruction that doesn't focus in on your specific objectives. Whether you are going for online golf instructions or local golf lessons, you need to know exactly what you want to achieve. In business jargon - be very 'target orientated' in your quest for golf instructions. Do you want to be better at driving, or do you want to know how a basic golf swing works? Do you want to know exactly what a proper golf swing is or do you just want to generally get better at golf?

In my years of research, here's what I found gave me an advantage over my buddies. Knowing how to execute a proper golf swing is one thing. Hitting a long golf shot is another. You can hit the sweet spot 100 times in a row, you can get all the golf instruction money can buy, but the ball isn't going anywhere unless you connect with sufficient club speed.

So what simple things can you do to hit the sweet spot with power more regularly?

For starters put these seemingly obvious golf swing tips into action if you are not already doing so:

Golf Tips For Longer Golf Shot Distance - A Proper Golf Swing Needs Optimum Swing Speed

1. Tee the ball higher

Most of us amateurs are needlessly teeing the ball too low. Either we have not listened properly in our golf swing lessons or we forgot what our golf instructor said because there was too much to take onboard in too little time over the course of our chequered history of golf swing tuition. Do this! - Peg your ball at least half a ball higher than the top of the driver when it's flat on the floor. Please purchase two & three-quarter inch tees and then train yourself to barely push the peg into the ground. You will then be able to catch your ball on the upswing and raise the height of your shots. This will, in turn, lower the amount of backspin.

2. Don't chop down on the ball

Make really sure you are not chopping down into the ball on impact. You must have a level golf swing. Work on this. A level golf swing is a result of a proper golf swing. If in doubt, get some more detailed golf swing instruction either online or in person. Several online golf programs are available to purchase if you don't want to go the golf pro instructor route. The free advice online is often too limiting and normally is just a vehicle for upselling some other golf products. Golf swing on line tips can give some good advice, but sites can contradict each other on the same point, so you end up getting confused. Your best bet is to buy an online instruction program that is tried and tested and is geared towards your particular needs. In my case that's wanting to be driving a golf ball further than my buddies!

3. Place the ball forward in your stance not in the middle

This one may seem a really obvious one to you, so apologies if so. Many amateurs incorrectly position either in the middle of the stance at address or slightly toward the back. This mistake exaggerates any golf swing problems, particularly hitting to the right. You have to keep behind the ball at impact something you will hear talked about a lot in online golf swing instruction.

4. Remove tension

This one, for me, is really so much easier said than done. So many golf swing lessons whether online or otherwise, are a bit glib about this point. It's a real power-robber. I have to work on this constantly. Possibly my worst golfing bane. Here's what I try to do to correct it. Hold the driver securely, but don't choke it with a death grip! Some golf swing tuition says to hold with fingers rather than hands. You can get good free advice online on this point if you're are prepared to look around for long enough. The gist of it is as follows:- If it's all too tight you are unable to "whip" the club through. Imagine the whipping action of a tea-towel on someone's butt. A small piece of cloth can hurt. This is due to the speed. Same with a proper golf swing. Faster hands at impact is true for both tea-towel and golf skills, or so I find!

5. Drill your low takeaway

Here's a real killer golf swing tip. The whole point of a proper golf swing is to widen the arc of your club as much as humanly possible. Why? Ever been on a kiddies roundabout? Centrifugal force is massive on the outside, but non-existent on the inside. There you go - the physics of the golf swing! It's all about speed, man. The average pro swings at 100 mph. Tiger swings at 125 mph. Ok, us amateurs are never going to be Tiger, but at least it's good to know the theory of what works! A good drill is to place a tee two foot behind the ball and then try to clip it before you begin lifting the club on the back swing. A wider arc also stops you topping the ball which is what I did consistently until I learned this drill. I learned it from an online golf instruction program, not from golf pro lessons.

6. Set the club at the top

Some golf instruction says "pause at the top". Other golf tuition programs say "Take a shorter backswing". These two things don't add up. Myself and most of my buddies always took a shorter backswing - to be safe rather than sorry. Well I learned that you have to 'ski for fall' in golf in order to increase your swing speed and in turn achieve greater golf shot distance. To hit longer drives, you can't afford to 'hurry love'. The thing that changed it for me was when one online golf lesson told me to imagine at the top of the backswing the shaft of my golf club was a "clothesline" on which I could hang my washing. That made me take a full backswing and just go for golf shot distance every time.

7. Finishing the swing

Many amateurs - me included - do stuff that's pretty good during our golf swing sequence, but fail miserably to finish the swing properly. We end up looking like a beginner, not like someone whose just executed a proper golf swing. Can online golf swing lessons teach you how to finish properly? Well, I guess that's down to personal preferences. For me, I like to come to grips with a problem in my own space and in my own good time. I don't like the idea of someone breathing down my neck. So personally, I get a lot from the various golf instructions programs you can purchase online. Everyone's different so each to their own. From what I have picked up from my favourite online golf lesson, I am trying to drill the following into my finish:- My knees must be touching, I must have my tummy button pointing to the target and my golf club must swing around my left shoulder. Good balance or not at the end will tell you automatically if you got it right.

8. Mental and Physical

Besides the various techniques associated with good golf swing instruction, there are mental aspects to adding driving distance.

You need to make a mental picture that you really mean business as you begin to address the ball. I am a karate blackbelt instructor and there are lots of focus techniques I could talk about. But the main one here is to "Boss" the ball. In your mind, you control the ball and the space into which it is going to be hit hard and your trusted weapon is your club. There is nothing that can stop you and your use of the proper golf swing you possess sending the ball far into the golf shot distance.

To summarise, I talked about eight really obvious golf swing tips to put into practice if you want to increase your swing speed while still making solid contact with the ball. The reason you want to increase your swing speed is because science dictates you must swing with more speed in order to increase your golf shot distance. Good luck and enjoy your golf this weekend.