The wind and other weather conditions is just one more factor that can affect your golf game. Even though you could have the perfect stance, the proper setup position, and the correct club selection, if the wind is blowing excessively hard in one direction or there’s a cross wind, your ball won’t fly where you wanted it.
Golf Beginners
The wind can be very maddening for the beginning golfer. Even if the weather is ideal for golf, beginners can have problems controlling the ball, so you can imagine their displeasure when the wind strengthens. To become a better golfer, you’ll have to learn how to golf in diverse conditions. Your local course could be dry or wet throughout the year or it could be affected by wind. Also, if you play other courses in a different region, you might face different wind and conditions.
Links Courses
If you really want to become a better golf player then you will have to become skilled at how to adjust your game to suit the weather. As you can imagine, the links courses of Great Britain can be really testing due to their exposed position. Probably, that’s why it took 60 years for an American to win The Open. Those first American Open Champions are still household names because they changed the history of golf evermore. American golfers like Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, and Ben Hogan all came across the Atlantic and mastered the blustery links courses. Since then, The Open has had Champions from several countries around the World.
The Wind Direction
Because golf courses are not arranged in just one direction, different holes can face a different direction which makes it difficult to calculate the wind direction. Therefore, the first step is to know where the wind is coming from. On the links you usually get a prevailing wind that can be constant. Sometimes though, the wind direction changes during the day so you have to take that into consideration.
On several woodland courses where there are low and high areas to the course, you may be faced with swirling wind conditions. In addition, you could be playing your approach shot from a secluded point but the green may be exposed to high winds. So it’s not always sufficient to check the wind direction and speed where you are playing from, you also have to look to the flag or the trees near the green to get a sense of the wind conditions.
Golf Club Choice
Next, you have to select the right club. First you must know that a head wind will affect the ball’s distance but not as much as a tail wind. Many people believe that a tail wind will help their golf ball fly further than it really does. In reality, you will only gain approximately 10% distance when hitting with the wind but you will loose about 20% distance when playing into the wind. The key to hitting into the wind is to select a lower lofted club and to not hit the ball harder than normal and to take a stance with your feet closer together for more stability. When playing with the wind choose a higher lofted club than normal.
The wind can be a golfer’s worst enemy, even the pros can have a hard time predicting the wind and how it will affect their ball. Possibly the more difficult wind condition is the cross wind; it takes lots of experience and practice to be able to judge how much you have to compensate in your aim to the target. Playing golf in the wind is just one more aspect that makes golf such a interesting and challenging game. To be a great golfer you will just have to learn how to control your ball in the wind, and that means playing more golf in windy conditions.
Mick Euan Tait has been a golfer for over 35 years but had to change his swing due to lower back surgery. Find out about the Golf Swing Guru that showed him The Simple Swing that is easier on the back than the traditional swing.
