I’d consider myself to be a decent golfer. On a really good day, I’m capable of breaking 80 (even though I’ve only done so on four occasions), thanks largely to my short game and my putting.
I don’t smash the ball massive distances off the tee, but I’ve been hitting some of my longest drives recently and my iron play is solid (if not spectacular).
In short, I have the ability to produce good golf, even though it doesn’t always happen. My handicap index is 10.3 and I’ve been hovering around that mark for the last 18 months or so.
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Clearly, golf is a volatile sport. Sometimes you’ve been putting in good work on the driving range and you’re confident about your game, but you can’t hit the ball out of your shadow when you reach the golf course. Other times, you have a terrible range session and absolutely flush it on the fairways.
There’s a randomness to mid-handicap golf and that’s something we all accept. Often, there’s no rhyme or reason. But one thing that is pretty close to a guarantee for me is that I’ll crumble in windy conditions.
It’s not just the conditions; it’s also the mental battle. When I stand on the tee of a downwind hole, I know I need to take advantage as I’ve inevitably made a blob on one of the preceding into-the-wind holes.
This adds its own pressure, not dissimilar to reaching the tee of a par 5 where you know you can get home in two. There’s an urge to capitalise and this can often lead to over-hitting or poor rhythm during the swing.
Even if you hit good shots, playing downwind isn’t easy. Yes, your drives can sail miles down the fairway if you get the right trajectory and combine that with a firm bounce, but approach shots aren’t easy, especially in firm summer conditions.
The wind tends to knock the ball out of the air, which means it’s hard to judge landing distances. A lower flight and a bounce before the putting surface isn’t a recipe for getting close to the flag.
Sometimes, you can hit the perfect shot, only to see your ball pitch on the back of the green and topple off or even fly the putting surface altogether. Chipping downwind also presents its own challenges, too.
And we all know how difficult it can be when playing into the wind. As someone who hits the ball high and with a decent amount of spin, I really struggle in crosswinds or when playing straight into the wind.
It’s not just the difficulty of the physical adjustments, it’s also the pressure that such holes exert. On a long par 4 into the wind, you know you have to hit four perfect shots to make a par. It’s not ideal to have those thoughts swirling around in your head.
I also have no idea how to deal with a left-to-right crosswind, especially on long holes where driver is almost essential. I generally hit a high fade, so even if I start the ball on the left side of the fairway, it’s normally disappeared into the gorse or dunes 100 yards right of the start point by the time it finishes its flight.
The trouble is, when I aim out miles to the left, I tend to flip my wrists and hit it low and through the wind, resulting in a lost ball on the other side. It’s a conundrum I’m yet to solve!
However, I’ve been thinking a lot about my wind play of late and I’m determined to improve. So, I’ve set myself a five-point plan to follow…
A common sight when it’s windy!
(Image credit: Howard Boylan)
The plan
No more drivers
On holes with a strong left-to-right crosswind, I’m going to stop pulling driver out of the bag. I may occasionally opt for a 3-wood as I hit this club a fair bit lower, but only if I’m striking it nicely on the day. My 7-wood flies too high, so it’ll mostly be a 4-iron, even on par 5s.
On most par 5s, I can still reach the green in three shots if I take a 4-iron off the tee, and on long par 4s, I only need to be somewhere near the green in two. I’m happy hitting 3-wood off the deck, so even on 400-yard holes, I have a chance of being around the putting surface in two.
You have a chance of par if you’re within 50 yards after two shots; you don’t have a chance of par if your first ball has sailed off the planet right.
Develop a draw
I’ve always struggled to move the ball from right to left, but have I actually spent time working on embedding that shot shape? No, and while it can be tricky for a fader to learn how to hit a draw, it’s far from impossible. When it’s windy, I’m going to spend an extra 15 minutes before my rounds hitting draws on the range.
Two or three clubs more
Every golfer is familiar with the phrase “when it’s breezy, swing it easy”, but making yourself actually do that is tricky. It feels counterintuitive in some ways – the hole is playing longer because of the wind, so it’s tricky to hit the ball softer rather than harder.
But, from now on, that’s what I’m going to do. If I need to hit a 5-iron from 150 yards or an 8-iron from 120 yards, that’s fine. I’m pledging not to swing above 75% into the wind, so if two or three more clubs are required to hit a certain distance as a result, that’s okay.
Calculating yardages
I definitely need to work on my yardage calculations both into the wind and downwind. At the moment, I throw some grass up and conclude ‘that’s a 20-yard wind’ or ‘that’s a two-club wind’ without any semblance of a process or logical working out.
I’m looking to improve my visualisation, too. Playing in a breeze means different trajectories both downwind and into the wind, so it’s important to have a clear picture of the shot you’re about to attempt and how you want to execute it.
Keep the mind quiet
I’m done with putting pressure on myself on downwind holes and building things up to be extremely difficult into the wind. It’s a terrible cliche, and you hear the pros say it all the time, but it’s important to stick to the process and control what you can control.
Instead of thinking ‘if you get a good one away here, you could reach the green in two’, I’m going to run through a checklist of fundamentals and have a clear picture in my mind of what I’m trying to achieve.
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