It’s time to review some good thoughts for playing shots in the wind. Spin is not your friend when playing in the wind so tee your ball lower, swing at about only eighty percent of your normal power, put the ball a little farther back in your stance, and try to limit the size of your finish position all in the interest of trying to keep the trajectory of your shots lower and take some of the spin off the ball. It is also a great idea to use a less lofted club than the shot would require and choke down to limit the club head speed again in the interest of trying to limit the spin, keep the ball low and penetrate the wind more. You will also have to decide how well you can shape your shots as you can choose to fight a left or right wind by playing a draw or a fade to help keep the ball headed straight, or just aim left or right enough to let the ball ride the wind and end up where you want it. Taking an extra practice swing to help understand how to find and maintain balance swinging on a windy day is also critical because to hit the ball well you first have to ‘hit the ball’. And maybe one of the most difficult things for us to do is to make the choice to just cut our losses and lay up in places where we would normally go for it and allow your short game to make up for what the wind does to those risky long shots.
Play well, Dave Lengyel