The Elements of Golf: Dealing with Wind from Every Direction

Tips for Playing in the Wind

Into the Wind

• One of the most common things I see with amateurs while playing into the wind during breezy conditions is swinging far to hard. Probably one of the most counter productive things you can do while playing shots into the wind is swinging harder. My simple tip here, and you’ve surely heard this, “When it’s Breezy, Swing Easy...in addition, you should take more club and put the ball back slightly in your stance. On your finish, keep your hands a little lower than you normally would post impact. 

Side Wind

• When the wind is blowing left to right or right to left you need to consider a few things. First, be very conscious of your typical shot shape...wether you fade it or draw it. Second, be aware of where the pin position is as well as where greenside obstacles are while you hit approach shots into the green. When driving off the tee, be aware of where potential obstacles are as you fire it down the fairway. From there you simply need to strategize. Based on the wind direction and it’s speed, how you shape your shots typically and where you want the ball to end up, you need to come up with a realistic plan on where to align yourself. Most golfers really only have one shot shape they hit consistently but if you are someone that can work the ball both ways, you’ll need to decide wether to “ride the wind” or “hold it up against the wind.” Example (for a right handed golfer), if it’s blowing left to right you can hit a fade and “Ride the wind” or hit a draw and “hold it up into the wind.” 

Down Wind

• It’s fairly obvious that the ball will go further when the wind is blowing from behind you. I always go back to this one piece of advice I heard Tom Watson say years ago... “The key to hitting downwind is to swing full speed so to spin the ball more in order to fly it higher.” I agree with this advice, but I will caution you that It is hard to get the ball to fly higher since the breeze generally flattens your trajectory out...but I do still like this advice as a thought to have. The ball will travel farther with the added roll that comes from the lower trajectory. Taking less club goes without saying here, but being fully aware of your carry yardages in calm conditions will help you decide how to gauge what clubs fo hit in downwind conditions.