GOT WIND?
1. high handicapper: easy does it!
One of the best ways to control your contact and trajectory in windy conditions is to hit the 3/4 shot known as a punch shot. Keep your weight centered over the ball, shorten your backswing to 3/4 length, take an extra club, and finish with your arms extended into your follow through. Not only will this keep the flight of the ball down slightly, but it will improve your impact conditions and help move your divots slightly ahead of the golf ball.
2. mid handicapper: don't fight it!
Often times players try to "hold" the ball up against the wind by curving it one way or the other. While it sounds like a great idea, sometimes conditions are too severe and curving the ball up against the wind turns into a low-percentage shot. Take double bogey out of play by riding a right-to-left or left-to-right wind and pick a target near the middle of the green.
3. Low handicapper: map it out!
Most courses have a layout map on the scorecard or a yardage book available for purchase in the golf shop. Take out your map, go outside, and look for an American flag, trees, or anything that will show wind direction around the golf shop. Most clubhouses are built on a high point on the property, so this is a perfect vantage point to record the wind's direction before your round. Mark it on your map with a couple of arrows, and refer to it throughout your round when you are in a sheltered area and are unsure which way the wind is coming from.
Arron Olsen is an Instruction Writer for Golf Infuzion Magazine. For more articles for Aaron click here >>
JANUARY 2012 GOLF INFUZION MAGAZINE 43
