How to Golf in the Wind

There are many weather conditions that can affect your golf but the wind is probably the worst. Even though you could have the ideal stance, the right setup position, and the right club choice, if the wind is blowing excessively hard in one direction or there is a cross wind, your ball will not fly where you wanted it.

Beginner Golfers

Windy conditions can be really maddening for the beginning golfer. Even if the weather is perfect for golf, beginners can have problems controlling the golf ball, so you can envisage their annoyance when the wind starts to blow. To become a better golfer, you’ll have to discover how to golf in diverse conditions. Your local golf course could be dry or wet throughout the year or it could be affected by strong gusts. Also, if you travel to other courses in a different area, you might experience different wind and weather conditions.

Links Courses

If you are serious about becoming a good golfer then you will have to find out how to adjust your game to suit the conditions. As you can imagine, the links courses of Great Britain can be very demanding because of 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 as they changed the story of golf evermore. American golfers like Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, and Ben Hogan all arrived on the shores of Britain and mastered the windy links. Since then, The Open has had Champions from several countries around the World.

The Wind Direction

As golf courses are not laid out in a straight line, different holes can face a different direction which makes it difficult to judge the wind direction. Therefore, the 1st step is to feel where the wind is coming from. On a links course you usually get a prevailing wind direction that can be constant. Now and again, the wind direction changes during the day so you have to take that into consideration.

On some inland courses where there are low and high areas to the course, you could face with swirling wind conditions. Also, you could be playing your approach shot from a secluded position but the green may be exposed to high winds. So it’s not always enough to check the wind direction and speed where you are playing from, you have to also look to the flag or the trees near the green to get a feel for the wind conditions.

Club Selection

The next step is 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. Most 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 solution to hitting into the wind is to choose a lower lofted club and to not hit the ball with more force than normal and to take a stance with your feet closer together for extra stability. When hitting with the wind choose a higher lofted club than usual.

The worst adversary of a golfer can be the wind, even the pros can find it difficult to predict the wind and how it will affect their ball. Probably the most difficult wind condition is the cross wind; it takes a lot of practice and experience to be able to estimate how much you have to compensate in your direction to the target. Playing golf in the wind is just one more factor that makes golf such a challenging and interesting game. To be a better golfer you will just have to learn how to control your ball in the wind, and that implies playing more golf on windy days.

Mick Euan Tait has been a golfer for over 35 years but had to change his swing due to lower back surgery. Learn all about the Golf Swing Guru that showed him The Simple Swing that puts less strain on the back than the conventional swing.