After applying one golf tip at a time for 40 years and never putting it all together to drive the ball with consistent power and accuracy, I finally have realized the problem. I need to incorporate every tip I’ve ever received into one swing.

First, you try it.

Put your ball on the tee so that half of it is above the top of your grounded driver head. Stand behind the teed-up ball and pick out a target. Find a spot not far from you on line with that target and make that your aiming point. Stand next to the ball with your feet together. Now take a very small step to the left with your left foot so that the ball is lined up with the inside of your foot. Now take a large step to the right with your right foot so that your feet are shoulder-width apart. Without bending your knees, bend over at the waist until you feel you are at a comfortable address point. Now just slightly flex your knees, but don’t bend them. Stick your tail out slightly. Convince yourself you now are in an athletic stance, even if you couldn’t fit a piece of paper between the bottom of your sneakers and the floor on your high school jumper.

Stare at the back of the ball. Now tuck your left shoulder toward your chin, so as to give yourself a better shot at taking the club back on an inside path. Take the club back on the inside without bending your left arm. Whatever you do, don’t pick the club straight up. Drag it along the ground. This is a good time to be thinking that you want it to look more like an airplane taking off than a helicopter. Once you’ve been dragging the club back for a while on an inside path, begin to think about your shoulder-turn, but here’s the trick: You don’t actually want to think about turning your shoulders. Instead, think about turning your chest and back so that at the top of the swing your back is to the target and when you finish it your chest is facing the target.

Anyway, once you’ve been turning for a while and decide it’s time to bring the club down — for me, when my lower back starts to bark is usually a good cue — pause for just an instant. This will enable you to begin the weight transfer. After the ever-so slight pause, begin your downswing by shoving your back knee toward the target. In theory, this will bring your hips along for the ride.

After pausing and kicking the knee, tuck the right elbow close to your body because if it flies you’re inviting a slice. Think about swinging the clubhead out toward right field. Make sure to keep your head still, so as not to get ahead of the ball. If your chin moves forward, you’re cheating yourself of power. Keep that head, from crown to chin, still until after you strike the ball. Right before making contact, attack the ball, driving through it, and don’t stop swinging until you have hit yourself in the back really hard with the shaft of the driver, proof that you have finished your swing.

Make sure to memorize all these steps and think about them with each swing because if you forget to think about one of them it could ruin the entire swing and trigger ruination of the entire round, which would spoil your weekend and leave you in a miserable mood as you report to work Monday, knowing you won’t have any bragging material with which to bore your co-workers. They’ll be happier, but you’ll be miserable.