Driving the golf ball is what it is called when you hit from a tee box at the beginning of a hole. It's usually done with the golf ball elevated on a golf tee.

People who are unable to get any amount of length on their drives begin each hole at a disadvantage simply because they are several yards behind where they should be when they hit their second shot.

The first key to hitting longer drives is to relax. Sounds easy enough, right?

Yet many people tense up when it comes time to drive the golf ball. Then they proceed to try to hit the ball as hard as they possibly can. It's often referred to as trying to kill the ball.

But the way to hit longer golf drives is to relax and let your golf club do the work. Remember the club is designed to hit the ball far so make a nice relaxed swing and let the club do what it's designed to do.

Another one of the great golf long drive tips involves you having the proper grip on the club.

When you're holding the golf club, you should keep the club out of the palm of your hands. While holding the club with your top hand, the club should run from the bottom of your pinkie to the top joint of your first finger.

By gripping the club more with your fingers you'll actually be able to create a hinging action when you hit the ball. This will help you get extra speed and power in your swing. In turn, this will create great distance for your golf drive.

You should also make sure that you keep your grip loose. It may seem that the harder you grip the club the harder you'll be able to hit the ball but this isn't true. So keep your grip loose and watch how the distance of your drive improves.

Another very important factor in achieving greater driving distance is the angle at which the ball is hit. To achieve the best angle you should keep your swing as flat as possible before hitting the ball. That way you'll actually drive the ball. If your golf swing isn't flat then you could very well pop-up the ball.

Of course how the ball is teed plays a role in the angle as well. You don't want to tee the ball too high or too low. As a general rule the ball should be teed so that when you place the driver next to it, the driver covers up about half the ball. You may find you like to tee the ball a little higher or lower but covering half of the ball is a good starting place.

Just following one or two golf long drive tips will help improve the distance on your drives. Head out to the range and practice a couple and you'll be seeing longer drives in no time.