Cheating the wind.

[bobmac]

Most of us love playing downwind golf, sidewind isn't too bad but into the wind it's a card wrecker.
It need not be.
Accept the fact the ball will go less distance off the tee and try and swing normally.
The approach shot is the killer.
130yds? 9 iron....into wind hit it harder
130yds strong wind...8 iron, hit it harder.
The harder you hit it, the more spin you get, the higher it will go.

I'm sure most of you have heard of the punch shot.
This shot is played mostly from close in, say under 50yds.
Pw/Sw, down the grip, ball back in the stance a touch and a half punchy swing.
In the wind, this shot can also be played mush further out.
This then becomes the knock down shot.
Instead of hitting the 9 iron harder into the wind, switch to a 7 or even a 6 and simply play the punch shot.
Down the grip, ball back in the stance a touch and a half punchy swing. DO NOT HIT IT HARD.
This will knock the ball in low with enough spin to stop quickly into the wind and will not be blown around too much as it stays low.

Give it a try, you will soon be smiling into the wind when all around you are coming up short.

 

[teegirl]

Have to say this is a very good tip. It worked very well on Thursday when Bob was inches away from his virgin hole in one, using a 7 iron (I think), on a short parr

 

[Smiffy]

Have to say this is a very good tip. It worked very well on Thursday when Bob was inches away from his virgin hole in one, using a 7 iron (I think), on a short parr

Must have been very short!!
Do they have 60 yard par 3's up there??????

 

[bobmac]

Must have been very short!!
Do they have 60 yard par 3's up there??????

Very droll

 

[Tiger]

Thanks Bob. Out of curiosity if you were to play this shot in calm conditions how much distance would you expect to lose? 15/20 yards?

 

[jammydodger]

Watch out you dont shank it though as you're coming from the inside and the ball is further back in the stance. It may also go a little right as you havnt reached your normal ball position. I usually tee it up a little off the toe , is this sound advice Bob or just my own way of doing it ???

 

[ScienceBoy]

Mine always get draw spin jammy, am I doing it wrong?

 

[bobmac]

I usually tee it up a little off the toe , is this sound advice Bob or just my own way of doing it ???

Which ever way works for you JD as it depends on how far back in the stance you have the ball.
I only meant about an inch back of centre towards your back foot.

Out of curiosity if you were to play this shot in calm conditions how much distance would you expect to lose? 15/20 yards?

I wouldn't normally play it in calm conditions, but it's best to experiment for yourself.

Mine always get draw sping jammy, am I doing it wrong?

I think you're trying to deloft the face by rolling your wrists, hence the draw spin.
Hit is softly and you wont have to deloft the club to keep it low.

 

[Tiger]

Bob not suggesting that I'd play it in calm conditions just trying to understand how to select club. i.e. if I'd normally hit an 8 iron should I hit a six?

 

[ademac]

Thanks Bob, will definitely be trying the technique as I hav a naturally high shot and really struggle in the wind!
I will be having a few practice holes after work tomrw so will try and hit "knockdown" shots with my woods off the tee.
Thanks again!

 

[Whereditgo]

Not so much the head wind I find problematic, but the cross wind, especially off the tee with driver. On Saturday I resorted to taking 3 wood and hybrid a couple of times as I can hit a draw more consistently with them and hold the line.

Wind changed direction yesterday so the course played much easier, 190 yards out and blocked by trees 30 to 40 yards in front of me, simple - 7 iron to pin high - it was that strong!!

 

[StrangelyBrown]

I use the knock down shot a lot as it can get quite windy on the bottom half of our course. I was hitting knocked down 4 irons on our longer holes quite successfully.

However, I hooked one OOB on the first hitting a knocked down 6 iron, now I know why. Cheers Bob!

 

[kid2]

Most of us love playing downwind golf, sidewind isn't too bad but into the wind it's a card wrecker.
It need not be.
Accept the fact the ball will go less distance off the tee and try and swing normally.
The approach shot is the killer.
130yds? 9 iron....into wind hit it harder
130yds strong wind...8 iron, hit it harder.
The harder you hit it, the more spin you get, the higher it will go.

I'm sure most of you have heard of the punch shot.
This shot is played mostly from close in, say under 50yds.
Pw/Sw, down the grip, ball back in the stance a touch and a half punchy swing.
In the wind, this shot can also be played mush further out.
This then becomes the knock down shot.
Instead of hitting the 9 iron harder into the wind, switch to a 7 or even a 6 and simply play the punch shot.
Down the grip, ball back in the stance a touch and a half punchy swing. DO NOT HIT IT HARD.
This will knock the ball in low with enough spin to stop quickly into the wind and will not be blown around too much as it stays low.

Give it a try, you will soon be smiling into the wind when all around you are coming up short.

All good Bob....But a question for you....I dont tend to struggle too much with the wind from short distance but say from 160-180 mtrs out from a par 4 after a drive....How should a 16 handicapper play them....If im on a long par 4 into a strong wind i will nearly always hit a 3 wood or a 4 iron and play it as a par 5.....Long iron or wood off the tee and maybe 2 short irons into the green and hopefully off with a par or bogey at worst....Mind you it doesnt always happen like that but am i playing these wrong...

One thing our course has in its defence is that its nearly always windy....Its situated in a valley.....
Its something that i struggle with is the longer shots into the wind as im just concentrating on keeping my ball in play.

 

[viscount17]

Played Royston on Sunday in a three/four club wind (Royston is, well, hilly, very open, windy on a calm day, (oh and did I say it was hilly?)

we were getting every permutation of result from from the wind, timgolfy tee shots on one hole, to way wide on another.
Into wind I tee down, up club (if possible) and hit hard - mind I was still short from 120 yards hitting uphill, into wind with a 6-iron

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Played today. Very, very windy and very tough. I actually played pretty well (no really) and to be honest took the approach that most of the par 4's over 400 yards and all the par 5's that played into or even slightly across the wind would be out of range and took them as 3 shotters and used my shots. It meant I could just focus on a smooth swing off the tee and with my second and could play the approach with conviction knowing the wind would hold it up. It worked pretty well too

 

[big_russ]

My son played 9 holes on Sunday morning behind the junior comp and the pro usually walks out with them to give them some on course coaching and I was asking him how is best to play in the heavy winds that were blowing. His answer was simple, club up to what ever you think, 2, 3, or more and swing as easy as possible to put the minimum amount of spin on the ball. Also try to keep the ball below the height of the tree canopy.

 

[Swinger]

If that don't work there is always a putter.

If you have a bunker or pond to go over. Just skim a 4 iron across.

 

[Imurg]

It might be me but I tend to have more problem judging a downwind shot. I'm either not taking enough off or taking too much off and not getting there.

Don't mind into the wind though..

 

[HickoryShaft]

Nice tips Bob - thanks for the pointers.

Another problem I had playing in it this weekend was just keeping the swing together - the wind (gale more like) was buffeting me around as I even took my stance never mind about when making the swing but when I did you could feel it was moving around so hits were well.....hit and miss! My son even mentioned it when I hit a couple and said it looked like I was going to fall over. I guess just choose as short a swing as you think can get away with and widen the stance?

Also the ball was oscillating all the time - not just on putts but also tee to green. Apart from being very very off putting I was just thinking about the open last year when people were not grounding the putter at all before a stroke to avoid a penalty is this right and does it still count on a normal strike off the fairway (or in this rounds case usually from the rough)?

 

[bobmac]

A good point Hickory.
If your club sits on the ground behind the ball and you have taken your normal stance, you have officially addressed it. If the ball then moves, it's a one shot penalty and it must be replaced. This applies to the green and rough/fairway.
If however you haven't officially addressed it and it moves, there is no penalty and you must play it from where it comes to rest.
Taking your stance and not grounding the club behind the ball means you have not officially addressed the ball.