If you’re a golfing enthusiast, you will be aware of how the wind keeps affecting your shots. The wind can affect the shot in many ways. A perfectly executed shot could land miles away from the hole, while an ordinary shot can glide in the air to land awfully close or prove extremely worse. Normal wind speeds, like up to 30 mph, can affect the golf ball’s path drastically. It can be frustrating to deal with the wind when playing shots. Concentration won’t help either, as the wind has no respect for your expertise in the sport.
You can’t just rule out playing golf on account of wind, we’re too in to the game. So how can we get a hold of a shot with the wind messing it up from all directions? Here are some tips for you to help overcome this barrier and conquer playing in the wind. But first let’s take a close look at the affects fast blowing wind has on the execution of our shots.
Top Effects of Wind on a Golf Ball:
A normal golf ball weighs just 1.68 ounces. The weight of the ball is too low to tackle the challenge of a fast blowing wind. We are penning down the most evident effects that wind can have on a golf ball.
- The wind can totally change the amount of carry on a ball, with different speeds. According to observations, a ball launched at an angle of 14.7 degrees with a speed of 130 mph, carried about 184 yards in calm air. This totally changed when the wind blew at 10 mph and with the same angle of launching and ball speed the ball carried up to 166 yards only. While at 20 mph, under same circumstances, the ball carry was recorded at 143 yards only.
- The wind also affects the maximum height achieved on each shot under different wind speeds. The ball tends to move higher in the air than normal and land short.
- The landing angle of the ball also changes drastically, with different wind speeds.
- Headwinds and tailwinds have different effects. At high wind speeds, headwind can cause double as much problems, while tailwind may be helpful up to some extent.
- The head and tail wind decide the landing, bouncing and rolling of the golf ball too.
How to Ride the Wind?
- When faced with windy conditions, we generally tend to hit the ball harder so that it may sail through the wind to the desired destination point. This theory is wrong though, as with hitting the ball hard, you will create more backspin which will land the ball too short. Try to take a lighter shot. This will get a lower lift and may manage to swerve beneath the blowing wind to reach the hole.
- If you need to get the ball over an obstacle, hitting the ball lower is not an option. In this situation, observe the direction of the wind. If you hit the ball in the correct direction, the wind will drift the ball closer to your target.
- To maneuver the ball towards the target, you can use an extra club and choke the shot. Choking down will give you more control on the shot. This will result in less speed and help the ball reach closer to the target.
Playing in the windy conditions certainly has it’s challenges. No single golfer is totally immune to the affects of the wind. As you have just read, playing in the wind is a skill you must develop. Following these tips, you will be able to conquer those windy conditions and soon it will become a specialty in your arsenal.
