How To Play Golf In The Wind?

Every amateur golfer dreads playing golf in the wind. Even if you are one of the top players, playing in the wind completely changes the game and you have so many more variables to take into account to make the perfect shots. Knowing how to play golf in the wind is an art and will take plenty of trial and error to master.

Aside from mastering a few swing techniques, you should also have some common sense and understand that reading the wind and the wind direction can have a significant impact on your game. Being able to discern what the wind will do to your golf ball will help you make better decisions and compensate.

If you are someone who struggles to play golf in the wind, you have come to the right place. This article aims to help you improve your game in windy conditions. While this might not be a step-by-step article, we have identified a few tips. Essentially, these tips could help you better your game and learn how to play in the wind.

What You Should Expect When Playing In The Wind

Even if you are a great golfer, many of the best players can often find themselves struggling in the wind. Before we dive into some of the tips that could help improve your game, you should understand some of the common mistakes or miscalculations that players make when playing the wind. You would want to avoid these as much as possible.

Avoiding Spin

We all know that playing shots harder will result in having more spin on the golf ball. Since the wind already affects the shot and direction, you want to avoid adding too much spin to your shot. Having as little spin as possible should be a great way to make sure that you can play the ball straight and more accurately.

Unless you can perfectly judge the spin on the ball, you might want to avoid playing with a spin on the golf ball. It will take plenty of practice to make sure that you can add enough spin on the ball to not have it severely affected by the wind.

Mistakes Are Exaggerated

Another thing to keep in mind is that any mistakes that you make will be significantly exaggerated. You might be thinking that a small minor mistake will not have as much impact on the game, but it will be massively exaggerated. The wind does not allow you to make these minor errors and get away with them.

It is important to make sure that you play a flawless game to the best of your ability and being more consistent should have an even better effect on your game. You will be able to judge the wind slightly better and be more consistent to the green.

Great Strikes Are Rewarded

You will also notice that great strikes are rewarded and you will yield some incredible benefits from striking the ball in the center and having a good swing. Much like your mistakes will be exaggerated, you will find that a good strike will often travel much better and could reduce the effect of the wind on the golf ball.

You should try to play a few practice swings to make sure that you get the perfect alignment of your club on the golf ball and maximize the strike and connection. It should help you withstand some of the negative effects of the wind.

How To Play Golf In The Wind Top 7 Tips

If the wind picks up, it should not be any reason for concern and with a few minor changes to your game, you could find yourself still succeeding and playing a great game of golf. We have identified some essential tips to integrate into your game to make this possible. You can use these tips to significantly improve your game in the wind.

1.      Loosen Your Swing

Many players might think that you need to hit the ball harder to achieve more accuracy and the harder you hit the ball, the less the wind will affect your game. However, the opposite is true and you might find the ball deviating more with a harder swing. It is best to slightly loosen your swing in the wind for better results.

2.      Hitting Under The Wind

While it is complicated to adjust the trajectory of your shot, you can adjust your shot to lower the trajectory and have less loft when playing the game. By playing the ball an inch or two behind your standard stance, you can keep the trajectory lower. This might enable you to miss a lot of the wind when playing and be more accurate.

3.      Compensating For The Wind

If you are struggling to play some of the finesse shots to compensate for the wind, you might have to accept that there is a wind and you need to use it in your favor. While this can be tricky, you will eventually learn how to compensate for the wind and improve your accuracy. You can use the wind to help guide your shot around obstacles and even improve distance.

4.      Ensure You Have Good Balance

If you are accidentally playing shots off balance or occasionally slicing the ball, you will find that the wind will significantly amplify these problems. You should make sure that you have perfect balance with a lower center of gravity. This is also the reason why many amateur players struggle to play in extremely windy conditions.

5.      Playing With The Right Clubs

Aside from choosing the right club for the shot, you should also make sure your club is the right length. As we have learned, playing with longer golf clubs can give you more distance. However, it will also create more loft, which means the golf ball goes up much higher in the air. The downside to this is that the wind will have a far greater effect with balls being too high.

If you have a complete set of clubs, you can change your clubs and find something slightly shorter to reduce the loft the ball gets in the air. It should help to reduce the impact of the wind and better your chances of playing a straight shot. Unfortunately, this takes experience and a complete understanding of your golf clubs.

6.      Choosing The Right Golf Balls

Many players might not know that different golf balls can have a different effect on your game. The dimples on the golf ball directly correlate with the aerodynamic effect the ball will have in the air. When choosing a golf ball, you need to make sure that it complements your style and your game for maximum results.

However, the same golf balls you use for your traditional game might not be the best for windy conditions. You want to have as little drag as possible. You might want something with a shallower style of dimples to make sure that you have less of the problems when your ball comes into contact with the wind.

7.      Practice Makes Perfect

The only way to improve your game in the wind is often practice. The more you practice, the better you will become in the wind. If you notice windy days outside, it might be a good idea to head over to the driving range to focus on your accuracy. You will find that the wind affects you slightly more when playing with the driver.

Wrap-Up

The wind can help you win games, but it can also help you lose games. It is best if you can get used to playing in the wind and you will notice that your game significantly improves the more you do it. These tips should help you make the most of the windy conditions, but we would love to see some of your tips for windy conditions we might have missed.