Golf instructors teach their students to swing every club with the same tempo and effort. Many of us, however, find it hard to heed this advice.

It’s much easier to make a compact, rhythmic swing with a wedge than it is with a driver, in part due to the difference in the clubs’ length. But while few golfers try to “kill” a short-iron shot, the urge to overswing the big stick gets the best of many. They turn the shoulders and hips too far going back, with the arms and hands losing control and the club dipping toward the ground. Instead of producing extra distance, they actually lose power because the body’s parts are out of sync.

If you have a habit of taking the driver back too far, this simple drill will teach you the value of keeping things short and sweet.

It’s not necessary to swing hard to hit long drives. In fact, a shorter, more efficient swing always works better than whaling away.