The Effects of Wind on a Golf Shot

[Lihu]

8 minutes ago, natureboy said:

He may not be well respected by a lot of folks on here, but I like a suggestion Michael Breed made where his standard approach in a crosswind is to club up by quite a bit (2-3 clubs) and hit an easy curve against the wind. So club length, loft, and trajectory for carry distance plus a little of the club strength / distance bled off by the relatively small amount of fade or draw spin working against the wind to hold the line (but not really ballooning because the rate is fairly low).

Why do you think he's not respected around here?

[natureboy]

13 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Why do you think he's not respected around here?

It's just a personal, general impression. There was one thread (short game practice time for better players) where he got dumped on a bunch. May have been more for that particular idea, but I saw few caveats saying he was at least sometimes on the mark. I've read a lot of threads (don't tell me there's one just for him now ) where I've yet to come across much that's positive about him.

That's just been my experience. A poll might reflect a different average viewpoint.

Edited December 18, 2015 by natureboy

[vangator]

3 hours ago, Lihu said:

To be fair, the 108 was on my rental car. It was sitting in the sun.

It sure feels like 120 or hotter. I've been in Vegas in 125 degree temperatures and it felt about the same.

You are serious about Southern France? What is the price range in that region?

 

I was very serious about southern France. I was looking in the Languedoc region.  Cheaper than Provence.  Property was under 100K.  Back in my HS days, I was president of the French National Honor Society.  Was pretty fluent.  Now I only know the swear words.  But, like I said, I'll only be able to do vacations.

[Lihu]

2 hours ago, vangator said:

I was very serious about southern France. I was looking in the Languedoc region.  Cheaper than Provence.  Property was under 100K.  Back in my HS days, I was president of the French National Honor Society.  Was pretty fluent.  Now I only know the swear words.  But, like I said, I'll only be able to do vacations.

Cool. Sounds like a nice plan for retirement!

[boogielicious]

Gentlemen. Please stay on topic. We can talk about courses, the Languedoc region and their underrated wines, but not in this thread. This thread is about wind.

I find the quartering wind is where I underestimate the most. It usually because the direction fluctuates from cross wind to quarter. So you play it like a cross wind, but come up short.

[DaveP043]

18 hours ago, natureboy said:

He may not be well respected by a lot of folks on here, but I like a suggestion Michael Breed made where his standard approach in a crosswind is to club up by quite a bit (2-3 clubs) and hit an easy curve against the wind. So club length, loft, and trajectory for carry distance plus a little of the club strength / distance bled off by the relatively small amount of fade or draw spin working against the wind to hold the line (but not really ballooning because the rate is fairly low).

I think the idea of taking a substantially longer club and swinging easy is good.  However, I think most golfers struggle to have a single consistent shot shape.  Attempting to hit a controlled fade or draw in a nice strong wind is probably well beyond the ability for most of us.

[Fourputt]

14 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I think the idea of taking a substantially longer club and swinging easy is good.  However, I think most golfers struggle to have a single consistent shot shape.  Attempting to hit a controlled fade or draw in a nice strong wind is probably well beyond the ability for most of us.

This is true, but that doesn't negate the basic premise that taking a longer club (2 or 3 clubs isn't too much) and swinging easier is the way to mitigate the effects of a head wind.  An easy swing imparts less backspin on the ball, and backspin is what makes a ball climb in flight.  Usually when a player hits a shot that balloons into the wind, it's because of too much back spin.  

Swing easy for a lower trajectory and better headwind shots.  I don't have the ability to bend the ball at will, but I can still maintain a certain amount of control just by minimizing backspin.  An easier swing also imparts less sidespin.

[natureboy]

4 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

I think the idea of taking a substantially longer club and swinging easy is good.  However, I think most golfers struggle to have a single consistent shot shape.  Attempting to hit a controlled fade or draw in a nice strong wind is probably well beyond the ability for most of us.

True, but since you are counting on a fairly small curvature anyway but the primary effect is from less loft and easier swing then average outcome should be acceptable. Better players will just gauge and pull it off with more precision.

Maybe higher HCPs can also shift the target line into the cross wind a bit unless there's trouble along the straight line?

Edited December 19, 2015 by natureboy

[DrvFrShow]

How about the effects of a cold wind on the golf swing?

[SavvySwede]

11 minutes ago, DrvFrShow said:

How about the effects of a cold wind on the golf swing?

It was 40F today and I was hitting 5irons straight into a 20-25mph wind and they were going 40-60 yards shorter than normal. Wasn't trying to flight them down or anything, just watched them climb and climb and climb until they started to come backwards. I figure I lost an extra 20-25 yards compared to the same wind at 70F.

[natureboy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_gradient