Gusty Winds?
Swing Changes To Cope
As a golfer growing up in the Bay Area of northern
California, I played a lot of golf in windy conditions.
In fact, some of my best golf has been on days when
the wind was high. I had a high finish in the 1986
British Open and more recently won the Hawaii State
Open in winds that gusted to more than 70 mph. I
have always found it a fun challenge, and the experience
in my early years has strengthened my overall game.
I often tell my students
that those who play a lot of golf in the wind and
learn how to deal with it in terms of swing techniques
and the right mindset are going to be better golfers
on calm days as well. With that in mind, consider
the following techniques to help you stay balanced
and manage your game when playing through the wind.
Attitude Management
If you go into
a round of golf when the wind is in the 15-mph range,
which we will use here as median speed to define
a windy day, you must understand and accept the
conditions. Realize that it is going to be harder
to shoot a great score and that you may even be
a shot or two higher than your average. By the same
token, keep in mind that things have a way of evening
out on a windy day.
For example, a par-4
hole you ordinarily play with a driver and a 6-iron
may take a 3-wood second shot if it's playing into
a strong wind. Or, you may not be able to reach
the green in two at all. If this is the case, consider
the hole a par-5 on this day and play it as such.
At the same time,
remind yourself that the long par-4 that usually
requires a 3-wood second shot will on this day call
for only a 6-iron. Or, the par-5 you normally can't
reach in two will be reachable with the wind now
at your back.
One way or the other,
accept the windy conditions and play them accordingly.
To do so is to take a long step toward having a
much better day than the guy who complains about
it.
The mental approach
is important, but there are certain mechanics or
swing techniques that are designed especially for
windy conditions. They involve your setup to the
ball, the swing itself, club selection and other
factors that will complement a positive attitude.
Addressing The Ball In The Wind
A major problem
on windy days is keeping your body from moving in
ways that ruin your chances of making an effective
swing. When the wind is strong and blowing into
you, it is apt to push your body laterally to the
right in the backswing. With the wind at your back,
it could push you laterally toward the target. In
a crosswind, you could be blown back on your heels
or onto your toes. In other words, maintaining good
balance is a big issue.
To deal with this
problem, first widen your stance. Spread your feet
farther apart at address than you would normally.
Also, concentrate your weight on the insides of
your feet and push yourself into the ground with
the muscles of your outer thighs. Think of yourself
becoming a camera tripod carrying a heavy camera,
with the legs stretched out to keep the camera from
toppling over. Another image of this would be standing
on ice and doing the splits, pushing down and out
with your legs.
All of this becomes
even more important when putting. Greens are usually
out in the open, not surrounded by trees or mounds
that might cut the wind a little, so standing over
the ball to putt makes you more vulnerable to the
wind moving your body. Again, widen your stance
and put pressure on your outer thighs. You might
also turn your knees inward the way Arnold Palmer
always putted to enhance stability over the ball.
These techniques also apply when playing chip shots
and short pitches.
Ball Position
When the wind
is blowing directly into you or coming across your
line of flight, your shots should fly on a lower
trajectory than usual. You want to play under the
wind, as the saying goes. To do so, you must play
the ball farther back in your stance. With the driver,
play it at least a few inches inside your left heel.
With fairway woods and the longer irons, play the
ball in the middle of your stance. For the middle
and short irons, align the ball to the right of
the middle a few inches. If the wind is really strong,
go a few inches back with all the clubs.
Playing the ball back
in your stance helps prevent your body from moving.
It also promotes catching the ball first. The more
solidly you hit the ball, the more it will fight
the wind, get distance and go where you want it
to.
When the wind is at your
back, you want a high shot to take advantage of
it. In this case, play the ball in the normal positions
in relation to your feet.
Clubface Position
Be sure the clubface
is square at address. You might even close it a
little by angling the face a tad to the left of
your target line. This effectively delofts the club,
making a 5-iron, for example, into a 4-iron. Now
you can trap the ball, as we say, and hit it on
a lower trajectory.
Grip
You want a strong
grip with your left hand. Make sure it is turned
to the right so you see at least two knuckles. It
is imperative that the face not be open -- facing
to the right of your target -- at any time when
playing in windy conditions. A strong left-hand
grip helps the wrists release and square the clubface
in the impact zone.
Swinging In The Wind
Just about all
golfers, including the best of them, are inclined
to swing off tempo on windy days -- usually with
too fast of a tempo. There is a psychological element
to this. You are uncomfortable, maybe a little irritated
by the wind seemingly forever in your ears, and
you want to get the shot over with. This forces
you to speed up your routine in preparation for
playing the shot and consequently swing too fast.
Of course, if you
have accepted the conditions as we recommended at
the beginning of this article, this may not be a
problem. But even then, strong winds affect concentration
and incite a faster swing than is normal. To compensate
for this, make a conscious effort to start the backswing
slowly. It's a mind-over-matter issue, and the mind
has to dictate to the body.
Then again, if your
nature is to be up-tempo in your swing, you can
simply go with it. Just be sure the pace of the
swing does not vary. It should be the same in the
backswing and downswing. Personally, I've never
wanted the club to spend too much time at the top
of the backswing, where the wind can get at it and
alter the swing plane.
The Swing Itself
In windy conditions,
including when the wind is blowing into you or coming
from the sides, you should shorten the length of
your backswing. The club does not get to parallel
in the backswing, even with a driver. The best example
is Tiger Woods' "stinger swing," in which he uses
a 2-iron (usually) and with a shortened backswing
and follow-through, drills the ball low and with
a bit of a hook.
It is true that once
the ball is hit, the length of follow-through really
doesn't affect the shot. The ball doesn't stay on
the face long enough. But if you think of shortening
the follow-through, you are more apt to shorten
your backswing, which is the main goal. A shortened
follow-through will also result, giving the whole
motion the look of a punch shot.
You should also consider
softening the left arm in the backswing. In other
words, do not stiffen the left elbow at any point
in the swing. You don't bend it to a 90-degree angle,
of course, but just keep it slightly bent. Actually,
a tension-free left arm is a good idea under any
conditions but is especially effective in the wind.
It helps prevent coming "over the top" in the downswing
and swinging the club across the target line from
right to left -- the slicer's path. With a soft
left arm, you generally get a nice right-to-left
flight pattern.
In The Physics of
Golf, Theodore Jorgensen maintains you get a stronger
hit when the left elbow is levering, as it is when
you keep it from stiffening. I agree with that notion.
By levering, it means that the elbow will straighten
out at impact and become another uncocking action
to go along with that of the wrists.
Playing In The Crosswinds
When the wind
is blowing across your target line, it is just a
matter of aiming more to the right or left to allow
for the wind. How much you allow is a judgment call
and most likely a matter of experience. There are
no set rules. With that said, I would suggest in
a left-to-right wind that you aim a little more
to the left than you first think you need to. Pick
a spot left of the target, then add another few
yards to the left of it. The reason is there's a
tendency even among the best players to let the
ball out to the right when the wind is from left
to right.
Finally, you definitely
want to play a low shot as a way of avoiding the
ball going out to the right. The swing itself is
your everyday bread-and-butter action. You do not
change the swing planes or do anything different
with your hands.
The right-to-left
wind is everyone's favorite, especially chronic
slicers, because it almost invariably produces a
right-to-left or hook flight, which is nice to see
for a change. In this wind, play your standard shot
with your bread-and-butter swing. You don't have
to knock the ball down low, but you should play
it back in your stance a bit, as that makes it easier
to start the ball to the right.
Advanced golfers might
want to tinker with hooking the ball into a left-to-right
wind and cutting it into a right-to-left breeze.
Old-time players liked to do that. Nowadays, with
the dimpling on the balls making it difficult to
put a hook or fade spin on it, you should just aim
to the right or left as much as you think you have
to and let it ride to the target on the wind.
Club And Ball Selection
I don't recommend
using a different type of ball in windy conditions
than you regularly play. This is because you are
probably going to miss a few more greens than usual,
and getting up and down with chips and pitches is
going to be important to your score. You want to
hit those recovery shots using a ball you're familiar
with in terms of the feel for distance.
Adapt your club selection
to the wind you will be playing in. Replace certain
clubs with others that will be more effective in
the conditions. For example, I will typically leave
my 5-wood at home and put a 2-iron in the bag because
it is a better club for keeping the ball low. I
will also go with stronger-lofted wedges. For example,
carry a 54- and a 58-degree wedge instead of a 56-
and 60-degree wedge. This helps keep the pitch shots
lower.
Otherwise, in terms
of club selection in windy conditions, you pretty
much throw your yardage book away. You may have
to hit a full 8-iron for a 90-yard shot if the wind
is strong enough. I would go even further and say
that if you think you need an 8-iron for a 90-yard
shot into a gale, take a 7-iron instead. This will
encourage you to not swing hard at the ball. The
worst thing you can do, especially going into the
wind, is to try to kill the ball. All you get is
a riser, with the ball soaring up into the wind
with a lot of backspin and going nowhere.
On the downwind side,
you will need to take less club, but keep in mind
that there will be a lot less spin on the ball and
it's going to run a good bit after landing. One
way to counter this, paradoxically, is to hit the
ball a little harder and lower, so you put as much
backspin on it as possible. However, the most sensible
approach is to play a run-up to the green if there
is no obstruction -- a bunker or water -- in the
way.
When
you do have danger in your direct line to the hole
and the wind is at your back, just play away from
the hole and take enough club to run the ball past
the trouble. Accept that you will probably be putting
back toward the hole. That's better than playing
out of a bunker into the wind. What's more, putting
into the wind is better than the reverse.
In
closing, let me remind you that when the wind is
high, see it as a fun challenge. Instead of getting
angry, mad or nervous, get determined and play smart.
-- Kris Moe is the director of
the Kris Moe Golf Schools at Sonoma Golf Club in
Sonoma, Calif., and Kauai Lagoons in Hawaii. He
can be reached via e-mail at info@krismoegolfschools.com
or www.krismoegolfschools.com |
