Wind affects every golfer, some handle it better than others. I want to talk about techniques that will improve your consistency. Some people suggest throwing grass in the air. I do not think this is the best way to judge the wind. If you think about it, the ball will get much higher in the air than how high you can throw that grass up. Look at the tips of the trees, unless you are not on a tree lined course, then the grass throw will work. The tops of the leaves on the trees are a great indicator of which way the wind is truly blowing, especially if the wind feels like it is swirling near you.
I was playing in a tournament in Florida and had 165 yards to a par 3. The first guy took out an 8 iron not feeling much wind into his face, he came up well short into the green-side bunker. Before even seeing what he had hit I was already equipped with a 7 iron in my hand and flighted the ball lower to keep the wind from hitting it. The key was looking at the tips of the trees and seeing a steady wind blowing in towards me.
Tom Watson was a big fan of clubbing up until he felt like he had enough to get to the pin. I am not a big fan of this, it takes too much feel and you cannot rely on your golf swing.
Whenever there is a windy day, and you have the luxury of hitting into the wind on the range, go out and do it! I want you to focus on not swinging the club any faster than you normally would, this is actually a bad thing. By trying to compress the ball harder with a faster swing speed, you may actually cause the ball to spin harder and have the wind affect it more. Take half shots with all of your irons and practice on your follow throw only going half way up. This will make the ball go a little straighter and keep it from spinning left or right.
The next thing is ball positioning, make sure the ball is close to your back foot. This allows the club to be de-lofted and in turn lowering ball flight. I think practicing these shots also help your tempo and make the down wind shots, or no wind shots a lot easier. Practice into the wind on the range every chance you get, it is a big game improver. The last thing I want to say is embrace a windy day, if you have a good mentality about it, then you already have an advantage over the guy who is complaining about how strong the wind is.
Jordan Fahel
