The Effects of Wind on a Golf Shot

[iacas]

I thought some here might find this interesting... 10 MPH crosswinds and 15 yards offline? Even I was surprised by that one.

[tristanhilton85]

Awesome video... my home course gets some crazy winds during April for some reason.... What was shown in the video matches up with my experience on the course.

[saevel25]

Oh yea, definetly and then if you add in side spin at all, whooo you can get some serious curve on a ball.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Wow! That quartering wind simulation is nuts.

Great soundtrack to the video too!

[bunkerputt]

Wind makes a tremendous difference.  People underestimate the wind probably more than they underestimate break on a putt.  Yesterday, 4-iron from 110.  This is the time of year in Texas when the fronts move in.  Gusts were 40+ mph.  Here are some things I've picked up:

* No baseball caps.  They don't stay on.  Wear a skull cap and cover your ears.  The wind on your ears affects the pressure which affects your equilibrium and balance some.  Plus it's quieter and easier to get into a happy place when you play.

* Slow everything down.  The wind makes you rush.  You have to fight it and keep your pace and rhythm slower.  It will help your swing not to mention course management, giving you time to think and make better decisions.  You will be required to make some interesting decisions like playing two feet of wind on a putt.  Speed is killer in the wind.  Swinging smoother helps you hit it lower with less spin.

* Don't expect to get everything close.  These aren't scoring conditions.  You're best takeaways aren't score here, they are confidence in improving your course management.  Score follows eventually.

* Sink into your quads more and take a little wider stance on every shot.  This is key for me as a big, top-heavy guy.

* Firmer grip.  You feel more comfortable and it gives your brain a sense of control.  It helps to calm you down and mitigates the nerves factor.

* When playing with serious wind, take two less clubs and swing hard.  You need to swing hard to create spin, otherwise your ball gets knocked out of the air.  When playing into serious wind, take 4 or 5 more clubs and swing easy.  You have to take a lot more club hitting into the wind than with it.  This is what I've found out works.

* Don't maintain your handicap when it is extremely windy.  The course rating means nothing now, so the calculation isn't sensible.

Other than that, stay patient because it takes time to learn how to play in the wind.  Move to Texas if you really want to do well.  (shameless plug)

[jamo]

NIce video. Wind I think is the one element I can't stand. I'd rather play in the snow than the wind, because I can never figure out if the ball is going offline because of a bad swing, or because I misread the wind. I liked the first part of the video the most, because it really puts the intuition golfers develop into numbers. For instance, if you don't understand drag and lift, you'd never know why the ball goes higher when you're hitting into the headwind. We've all seen it happen, but this video was a pretty good explanation as to why.

[saevel25]

Wind doesn't bother me much, unless its randomly gusting. If its a constant wind i can tell. I hate when its gusting because you might wait a while over the ball more. I am really quick through my preshot routine, so once i decide i am addressing the ball its pretty fast. I don't want to stand over the ball to long.

Other than that, you get use to adjusting. But having a more consistant ball flight helps. If you slice and pull the ball, its tough because you might hit a big slice that geos with the wind, but then you might pull it and you still hit it out to left field. If you know you hit a fade or a draw every time, it makes things alot easier.

Headwind and tailwind. I always try to hit a high shot with tailwind, because it will go lower, so i like to clubdown a club and swing a bit harder. If its into the wind, i will club up one or two clubs, then choke down on the club a bit and hit a very smooth lower boring ball.

[threejack]

ooh this will surely help me. it gets very windy at the course I've been playing. I'm like ten minutes from the ocean but surrounded by hills so wind comes through hard.

i am a pretty good disc golfer actually (much better than I am at real golf) and a headwind is known to destabilize the disc while the tailwind will stabilize it. does the same go for a gold ball where a headwind would increase the effect of sidespin?

[DaSportsGuy]

That is crazy! 65 yards is rediculous!

[Stewie007]

Last time I went to hack at some balls it was very windy. I was kind of upset because I couldn't really tell which shots were "good" shots. Once, I aimed with the wind a bit to see what happens and every time I hit the ball nice and straight. All of my shots moved right, the slicers considerably more than usual.

You not only have to take into account the wind gradient (had to look that up because I couldn't remember the term for it, hehe). If you are feeling heavy winds at ground level, you can expect the winds to be generally heavier as it gets near its peak. With nothing to impede the wind, it can be more consistent and stronger. My wood shots would lose a lot of velocity which knocked yardage off considerably when it was blowing harder.

I find that the wind does throw me off balance when it gets a little heavy. I wiffed a ball  once or twice because of it, hehehe. It was funny I lined up, started the backswing and half way a huge gust of wind blew in and by the time I swung the club I was moving backward, of course I lost my footing. Of course this had to happen as one of the attendants was checking the yardage with a range finder (which I liked, by the way; much more accurate that way). I was completely embarrassed.

[shortstop20]

Originally Posted by threejack

ooh this will surely help me. it gets very windy at the course I've been playing. I'm like ten minutes from the ocean but surrounded by hills so wind comes through hard.

i am a pretty good disc golfer actually (much better than I am at real golf) and a headwind is known to destabilize the disc while the tailwind will stabilize it. does the same go for a golf ball where a headwind would increase the effect of sidespin?

Yes.

I've played a good amount of rounds in the wind and I can attest to what's shown on the video. With a headwind, smooth 3/4 swings with a cut off follow through are your friend.

Earlier this year I was playing in a tournament and on one of the holes my intended line for the ball was actually out of bounds but I had to play it there and just let the wind take it back to the fairway. Trying to play a cut into a right to left wind or a draw into a left to right wind doesn't work very well. Just trust the wind to do it's job, aim accordingly and play your normal shot shape.

[DoGolf Rob]

what a great video!! I gew up playing in Northern England. I lived just down the road from Royal Lytham (British Open course) so have played hard courses in crazy winds. The best and simplest solutions are the obvious ones. try and keep the ball low into a head wind, and put the up high with a tail wind. Dont try and fight it (hitting a cut into a cross wind to try and "counter" it) just aim into it and let the wind do it thing.

I wonder when someone will being out an Anemometer app? (wind speed meter)

[Zeph]

Nice video. Pretty much sums up my experience with the wind. Tailwind will gain you a club or two. Headwind will lose you twice the amount you gain in tailwind. Crosswind will f*** up everything. Makes me feel a little bit better about my round in the 30 mph winds today. :-) It was fun to hit my 8i 180 yards though. Playing in the wind is not that big of a problem as long as you hit the shot you intended. But the second you overdraw a shot, hit it straight instead of a draw or god forbid fade/slice it, you are in for trouble. What might have been an OK lie without wind can end up with a lost ball in wind (true story x10).

[DoGolf Brian]

I've actually seen a similar video in the past. Really makes you think! I play here in the Valley (Los Angeles) and we get some unpredictable winds. Glad to have a better idea of the consequences!

[iacas]

More, from TrackMan:

[mvmac]

More, from TrackMan:

When it's breezy, swing easy

(Or take more club and make a slightly shorter backswing).

[Keith White]

I play a flat windy course and it helps when  go other places.  earn how to control the ball in the wind, and don't change a thing when you have no wind.  Too many players are conservative and smart in the autumn/winter then thrash it all over the place when it's calm and sunny, makes no sense.

[saevel25]

When it's breezy, swing easy

(Or take more club and make a slightly shorter backswing).

Probably a great general tip for a lot of golfers.

To me it is hard to really peg an exact value to what the wind does. Usually I just club up and try to feel the distance out. From Ohio, we do get wind from time to time, but not routinely enough for me to actually be able to practice it consistently or get a set number of yards the wind affects my shot.