Distance wise, how big an impact does winter have?

[Mr_T]

As the title says, on average what how much would you expect to lose distance wise? And are there ways of making up that distance?

 

[DelB]

About 10%, I was stunned to read recently! Just take more club!

 

[CMAC]

if no rain and its mild right now you might find some folk in South England keeping their summer distances as there's no grass growth and hard fairways, the temp drop from avg 24 to avg14 though must play a part in reducing the distance, but changing ball can then help compensate.

 

[Hobbit]

Depends on the air temp and softness of the ground. I find I need 1 extra club when firing into a short par 3. But if you're hitting a driver onto a soft fairway you can lose anything up to 30+yds.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I try and just club based on each shot. T the moment there are some holes at my course that are wet and you have to fly them in all the way and others that still afford a bit of firmness and you can afford to play a lower running type of shot. It's more about distance to the flag for approaches as everything is stopping first bounce on the greens and you've got to be brave enough to take enough club to get it to middle and back positions

 

[Imurg]

Seems I post this every year but here goes..

All golf balls are optimised to work at 70 degrees Farenheit. Above that temperature there is no real effect on performance.
For every 3 degrees F below 70 you will lose 1 yard of distance purely down to the temperature.
So if at 70F you hit the ball 200 yards, at 31F (a whisker below freezing) you are 39F below 70 = 13 yards so you'll hit the ball 187 with exactly the same shot - obviously that's not going to happen so that makes a difference too.

Now you know why it can be useful to know the temperature at any one time - you can make an adjustment based on this principle.

There will be other factors at work - wind, soggy ground, extra layers impeding your swing - they're all variable but will have an effect too.

How to overcome this - take a club or 2 extra, use a lower compression ball to combat the cold, hit the ball higher with the wind or lower into it or don't play in the cold!

 

[AllyLodge]

Watch this


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrbrLnZ8drU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[SocketRocket]

My driving distance drops from the forum average of 340 yards to around 338. And thats uphill into the wind.

 

[MadAdey]

My driving distance drops from the forum average of 340 yards to around 338. And thats uphill into the wind.

Stop hitting it like a girl then and swing like a man..........

 

[DavidO]

I'd certainly read 10% in a mag somewhere recently...

I'm looking forward to the summer now, see if all my winter golf has paid off!

 

[MadAdey]

I always find adding 10% to every shot to allow the lower temperatures and the soft wet ground with no run. so at 180 yards I would hit a 6 iron, but add 10% so I am now looking at 20 yards so will grab a 4 out instead.

Hope that helps you as it seems to work for me.

 

[Huwmawr91]

My driving distance drops from the forum average of 340 yards to around 338. And thats uphill into the wind.

and how far does your husband hit it?

 

[Dave B]

In the summer I use an 8 iron to carry up to 150 yds and stop dead on the greens, however in winter with colder weather and winds I can use anything from a 6 to a 7 depending on wind conditions and temperature.