In my last column, I discussed effortless power in the golf swing. Hitting the ball long and straight with little effort is something nearly all golfers seek.

Ninety percent of getting effortless power is the effortless part.

Most golfers spend years living in paradox—if it takes this much effort to go 100 yards, then it must take twice as much to go 200 yards—and they continue to swing with powerless effort.

Hopefully you’ve spent the last two weeks working on your effortless swing. This week, I’ll examine the other 10 percent. It’s the sexy part of a swing, the part that makes the ball go far.

For a right-handed golfer (vise versa for a left-handed golfer), when you swing back, you take out 90 degrees by bending the right elbow. You also take 90 degrees out by cocking the wrists.

During the downswing, these measurements must be put back in place by the time you reach impact. And, since it takes a little time to straighten everything out again, you must start this motion well before impact.

To hit the ball further, righthanders must speed up the rate at which they unfold or straighten the right elbow and unleash the wrists. I call this motion the “throw.”

The club head moves too fast to be kept up with by the conscious mind—to try is a fool’s errand. The result is a rigid guiding or steering the club which is slow and has less control. We must throw the club head loosely, with reckless abandon.

Golfers need to lose control to gain control. Gravity accelerates objects at a constant rate. Trusting gravity to swing the club head around a circular path into the ball is vital.

This is very similar to a child on a swing. When they want to go higher, an adult can give them a push at the top of their swing. The push is a rapid burst—then the child is free-swinging under the guiding hand of gravity. They swing in a perfect arc every time.

Successful golfers swing through impact, not to it. The club head must accelerate as it hits the ball.

I suggest you take 10 practice swings a day, snapping the club head freely and loosely with the wrists and elbows, and making it swish. As you go through the swings, make the swish louder and louder. Allow the wrists to rehinge and, for righties, the left elbow to fold on the follow through.

Keep in balance, and enjoy your newfound distance.

Steve Pratt is a golf instructor at Lindero Country Club in Agoura Hills. Visit his website at www.hititlonger.com.