Welcome to WGT, rickertt. Be careful. It's addicting! :-)
Yes,
you can start your backswing and increase or decrease it while still
holding down your mouse button. Your swing
and your ball is not affected by the "smoothness" of your backswing. However,
if you are in your backswing for too long (around 5 seconds) you will
have less forgiveness on off-center hits. You'll know you're holding it
too long if you see the vertical lines that define the "hitting zone"
start moving closer to the larger, middle line. If you notice this, you
can decrease your power to zero, and release the button. You can then start your whole swing sequence from scratch.
You can also release your button and let the swing meter go all the way
through without clicking. Your player will swing and miss the
ball, similar to a practice swing. There is no penalty for doing this.
The
only way to see a significant increase in distance is to use credits
for better clubs. You can search the forums or use the FAQs to see
alternate ways to get credits besides purchasing them with your own
money. Most common ways are to place well in tourneys and completing third party offers.
To gain more distance with your current clubs really depends on
wind conditions and what type of slope your ball lands on. If you are
hitting with a tail wind, you can put back-spin on your ball to give it
more loft and allow it to carry a little farther. If you are hitting into a
headwind, try putting top-spin on the ball so if will roll out a bit more. (Use the little dot on the ball in the bottom-right of your
game window to impart spin. Move the ball to the top of the ball for
top-spin and to the bottom of the ball for back-spin.)
Hope this helps. I don't mind playing some rounds with
you if you have further questions. Happy hitting.
hesomist