Driving in the wind

[IM Golfer]

Hi,

Need advice as to driving in the wind.
I tend to hit my drives high at the best of times, but in the wind they tend to "balloon".

Wind behind = OK ... swing smooth and watch it fly

Wind against ... swing smooth and it balloons

Wind left to right* ... aim a bit left, swing smooth and sometimes see it drift aimlessly right.

*with left to right wind, is it best to try and hit a draw to hold the ball into the wind?

Any advice welcome!l

[GregJWillis]

Re: Driving in the wind

In the wind, your angle of attack has to be shallower. Take the club back very low and for as long as you can. You also have to take some spin off of it, do this by letting the hands set and release passively, not letting them accelerate hard, but smoothly at the ball. This should keep the ball lower. Another thing to add is move the ball back just a little (about 1 ball's width).

Draws into the wind is a very good way to keep it straight. It is recommended that you have good control of he amount of draw you can put on it, depending on the strength of the wind.

[IM Golfer]

Re: Driving in the wind

Thanks Greg for the tip.

Ok, I'll try that - move the ball back a bit, keeps hands passive.

but ...

What about follow through? Should I try and curtail my followthrough to keep the ball lower as well?

And what about tee height?
With the big faced driver these days, folk say to tee the ball high enough so that half the ball is above the driver face.
The manufacturers also say that the optimium contact is made when the ball hits above the centre of the club face, rather than the middle.

How would this situation be affected by strong winds?


If I can get this sussed out I will be a very happy bunny indeed ...

[Mizunoman]

Re: Driving in the wind

It depends on the style of course you play. For a tight track I would suggest finding a club you can hit off the turf (or at least a very low tee) that drives the ball on a low piercing flight which runs maybe 20 or 30 yards when it lands. A plus handicap golfer I play with regular makes a habit of hitting a low 2 iron which is almost topped but goes nearly 220-230 into the strongest winds. You would be hard pressed getting the driver to go that far through the air, the added advantage being that cross winds dont affect it as badly either.

For wider courses you can try hitting the driver off the deck. This may sound suicidal, especially with today's grapefruit sized heads but it can really be a great shot into the wind, you get similar distance to a normal drive (maybe 20-30 yards less but not a lot of height. The only problem is that mis cues are common and you sometimes find the ball heading off at an odd angle (especially right). But if ou have plenty of space it can be a stroke saver. If you try it and like it consider spending 30 or 40 bucks on an old school small headed driver (Titleists 976R comes to mind) and carry it instead of a lob wedge or 5 wood (which are no use in strong winds anyway) and use that on the holes into the wind but keep your driver for the downwind holes.

D.