Always puzzled me how some people can hit same almost same drive distance into head wind

[Joehuggy]

Although I think this may have something to do with having a lower spin rate.

Can anyone comment on this?

I also read that striking the ball at the top of the sweet spot, almost skying it, but not, would produce low spin rate/ flyers..

[Joehuggy]

This is an interesting article

http://www.rotaryswing.com/golf-instruction/golfequipment/golf-launch-monitor.php

[Timothy Voyles]

Originally Posted by Joehuggy

This is an interesting article

http://www.rotaryswing.com/golf-instruction/golfequipment/golf-launch-monitor.php

tldr... gonna have to read that one at home, way too long to try and tackle at the office. Thanks for the link, looks super informative!

[Beachcomber]

This topic has been discussed before.  With the advancement of and adoption of Trackman - a lot of old myths and philosophies related to proper golf swing and techniques go out the window.

A little off topic, but I'd love to start a small business where all that is offerred is access to Trackman.  Have a hitting bay or two (could be indoors), setup some nice cameras to record the practice session... And simply give golfers access to this type of technology hitting their own golf clubs.  No pressure to buy anything... Simply a means to practice and disect their numbers.  Who wants to start a franchise with me?

[BuckeyeNut]

The wind effects everybody the same.......

Solidly struck shots will be effected to a lesser extent, but they will most definitely be effected.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by Joehuggy

Although I think this may have something to do with having a lower spin rate.

Can anyone comment on this?

I also read that striking the ball at the top of the sweet spot, almost skying it, but not, would produce low spin rate/ flyers..

Regarding hitting into a head wind... The lower a golfers spin numbers, the less effect wind is going to have on the ball.  If the said individual couples the low spin number with a normal to below average launch angle (lower)... Well, the wind is going to have less effect on their drive (shot).  The reason is this particular shot (low launch angle + low spin) will not carry as far and will be out of the effects of the wind.

Also, this is why you will see a lot of punch shots at the Open this week.  Players will be trying to keep a 'low traj' by lowering their launch angle and not let the ball get up into the wind.  But a properly struck punch shot can go just as far as a full swing in normal launch conditions with solid contact.

You will notice in the article that you linked... The real secret to solid contact - is by increasing your smash factor (ball speed vs. club head speed)... Simply having secondary axis tilt (head and core behind the ball) with forward shaft lean, slightly leading hands, and sliding the hips laterally toward the target.  If you can master this swing sequence - and maintain a flat left wrist at impact (don't cast the club) you will bomb the driver - and wind (normal wind conditions here in North America ~ 5 to 10 knots) will have little impact on your ball.

- Secondary Axis Tilt

- Head behind the ball

- Core sternum behind the ball

- Forward Shaft Lean

- Hands slightly head of the ball at impact

- Flat left wrist

- Right shoulder lower than Left at Impact

- Maintain the wedge

[iacas]

Paging Greg Lee! :)

[ApocG10]

Lower attack angle helps with distance in win, say at just before bottom. A more boring flight, in my experience.

[gwlee7]

Originally Posted by iacas

Paging Greg Lee! :)

IIRC, this article is from several years ago when I was still working with Chuck.  I played a lot of good golf while taking lessons from him.  We just grew apart as he became more and more "technical" while searching for the "biomechanically" perfect swing.   While Dave, Erik, Mike, James, et al can get very technical too, I let them worry about all of that and just try to do what they tell me to do.   As I put it to Dave and Erik while I was in Erie, "You guys can figure all that shit out.  Just tell me what the **** to do and I'll work on it till I get it right".

We are making great progress.

[jetsknicks1]

I read a golf tip from Greg Norman years ago that actually works for me, maybe some of the technical guys here can explain why. When driving into a strong wind. I angle the tee as far forward as I can without the ball falling off the tee. I find that I will hit more of a "Line drive" that cuts through the wind. I can't explain why it works, but it does for me.

[joekelly]

BuckeyeNut, although i may agree with your ideas about the wind, i cannot agree that the word you used, 3 times, is the word you actually want to use in this case.  Both 'affect' and 'effect' very similar but not the same.  Not trying to be pedantic but there are limits to web acceptance and good usage and who knows, maybe some high school kid may read these threads.

For our information,  from the online dictionary.

Usage note
Affect 1 and effect, each both noun and verb, share the sense of “influence,” and because of their similarity in pronunciation are sometimes confused in writing. As a verb affect 1 means “to act on” or “to move” ( His words affected the crowd so deeply that many wept ); affect 2 means “to pretend” or “to assume” ( new students affecting a nonchalance they didn't feel ). The verb effect means “to bring about, accomplish”: Her administration effected radical changes.

So i think simply change all 'effects' to 'affects' and the sentence and ideas will be good to go.

But i want to add that according to normal meteorological standards the wind closer to the ground surface will be less compared to elevation. So on a windy day, next to the grass, hardly any wind but at 50m above the surface the wind may howl at 40 mph. So keep the ball as low as possible. Stingers are good.