i am 15 years old and i have been playing golf for about a year now and can hit the ball for about 300 yards and i would say the maximising factor for distance for me is gripping it and ripping it i cant do anything else. i say to myself i'll just swing smoothly so it will be more accurate but i always find the distance factor wins everytime!!! So my advice is hit it as hard as you can but to within your limits and so you stay balanced