We design a phase function to precisely tune the central lobe size of the Bessel-like beams with the axial distance z. We further deduce the analytical formula of the central lobe size evolution with the propagation distance. Experimentally, we perform the precise control of the central lobe size in the direct space with our phase function loaded on the spatial light modulator. The measured evolutions of the Bessel-like beams with different lobe parameters agree well with the analytical and simulated results, which verifies the reliability of the phase function. Furthermore, the transverse intensity profiles at the longitudinal location of the peak intensity can be well fitted by the Bessel function.