Practicing in the wind.

kid2

kid2

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I was out at the new range last night.....Well it went into administration along with the golf course thats its tied to about 3 years ago and it has re opened again as well as the course.....

The wind that was about wasnt even funny.....I was getting second thoughts as i opened the door from reception onto the range and was asking myself was there much point......

Anyway i braved it and got my basket of 100 balls and warmed up as usual with my 7 iron..... The wind was straight into us and i just eased the first few balls at the 100 yard mark before i began hitting it full.....
6 balls in a row i hit solid straight out of the screws.......They traveled to 150 yards and just kept climbing and climbing as i watched i thought...That ball looks like its getting closer....It dropped at 100 yards......:rolleyes:

Hit a few drives through it and realized there was no point in hitting full shots as the wind was just crazy...I hit some punched irons just to get a feel for it but there was no point...So i just concentrated on 50 and 75 yards and my wedges.....

Is it just a wasted exercise practicing in those conditions.......I also think that its really a waste of balls too just pitching to 50 or 100 yards off of mats when in reality on the course its rare you'll have a decent lie.......
 
I don't think any practice can be 'wasted'- it's all good.

For me, there's 3 elements to good golf (in this order):

1. Consistent quality connection between club and ball
2. Power
3. Consistency in direction

So even in the wind you can just concentrate on impact.

Financially speaking, it would be best to practice into a driving net! I really wish my club had one but I imagine this would hit their range profits somewhat. Unfortunately, I've only got a wee garden.
 
well at least you should have learnt that wind can be 3, 4 or 5+ clubs more required - most poeple I play with haven't got that far in years.
 
Wasn't just a breeze today it was proper gale force stuff. I play golf for enjoyment not an endurance test. As for paying for range balls when it's like this unless you are just concentrating on strike quality it is a waste of time and money IMO
 
Most of us play when its windy so why wouldn't we practice that aspect, weather is one of the few elements of golf that you can't deliberately introduce into your practice and must rely on nature providing the conditions for you so its good to make use when we can

I've played with wind strong enough to send the ball behind the tee box of my FC's tee shot (admittedly he'd sky'd it off the tee but still it was quite something)

This week sun, wind & rain on both range visits so far with similar expected tomorrow (not a covered range) and I quite like the chance to practice with a wet glove and the distraction of getting rained on
 
Went for a quick practice today, but didn't hit any full shots. However I have been regretting it this evening, if I'm going to practice may as well practice whatever the weather, I would still play a round in this wind!
 
Played 18 with Hawkeye last night and it was hard in the wind. Silly at times but good experience to be trying to get a score out of the conditions. I wouldn't really be interested in practicing in such strong winds as I'd be concerned about starting to sub-consciously swing too fast when I see the ball coing up short (I know I shouldn't but I know my foibles). I would be worried about the swing being blown out of kilter and to be fair it isn't fun.
 
I've been drilling a change in posture over the last couple of sessions and glad the wind was gusting, would hate to think I can only hold it in perfect calm conditions

Homer are you sure using the word 'foibles' isn't worthy of an infraction :lol:
 
I put 4 balls in the water on the par 3 3rd today, had to put the 5th one 25 yds left for it to land centre. Then had a comedy moment trying to jump onto the island in the water to retrieve 1 ball and went knee deep in quickmud :angry: Had fun with the wind behind me though getting to the par 4 greens in 2 which I'm nowhere near usually.

Actually today and Wednesday despite the awful wind I've been getting lots of bogeys and doubles (plus 2 pars and a few disasters) which is very good for me anyway
 
I arrived for my lesson yesterday evening to a ridiculous wind and had to cancel the lesson as the practice range is the most open space on an already windy links course which was practically unplayable
 
It's been blowing a hoolie here for the last 5 days. I hit a 6i on Sunday as well as I can hi a 6i and it carried about 106 yds. I know it was that as I had 103 to carry the water :D

My swing has been all over the place so was hoping for a bit of practice last night but as Homer said, it was a bit silly at times and I didn't really get much out of it. The wind doesn't affect shanks though, I did learn that.
 
When I'm at the range I couldn't care less how windy it is, I don't use the range for seeing how far shots go anyway.

You can feel if the strike was good or not and see where the ball starts. After that I'm not bothered where it goes.
 
Region3 said:
When I'm at the range I couldn't care less how windy it is, I don't use the range for seeing how far shots go anyway.

You can feel if the strike was good or not and see where the ball starts. After that I'm not bothered where it goes.
Click to expand...

+1 although it was downwind at the range yesterday so another reason not to bother about distance (plus awful range balls).

I did play 18 on Tuesday and 27 on Wednesday and it was exhausting getting battered by the wind the whole time. Looks a bit calmer today.
 
I was out practising last night but I was on the course. I'd much rather play in the conditions than hit shots off the mat to an unidentified target - it's useful for judging the strength of the wind and how it will affect shots into particular holes. Example, last night, our 4th was playing straight into the wind, which is the prevailing direction. The approach to the green has to stay right of the hole, as the bad trouble is left, but you're generally hitting the ball from above your feet. I hit quite a few punched shots from about 130 yards, trying to control it into the wind and keep it to the right hand side. I'm guaranteed to face that shot, or something similar, over the course of the season, so it wasn't a waste of time at all.
 
Practice the strike and don't both where it goes. And driving range balls are crap don't go the real distance of a normal ball

Main reason I'm a member at Wearside is the practice field use your own balls and collec them and not that many people on it
 
If you plan on playing when it's windy, then you have to practice when it's windy too.

Quieter arm swings, taking spin off shots, clubbing up/ down.
 
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