Control your ball flight in the wind

When playing in windy conditions, do you change your technique, or do you just struggle to control your ball flight the ball like most Highveld golfers?

Scotty has some advice for you to help deal with windy situations, but as with all other tweaks to technique, it will require some solid practice sessions at the World of Golf before you take it onto the course.

The first fundamental is club selection:

Most amateur golfers opt for a lower loft club, like a 3 or 4 iron, which they then de-loft further by playing it way back in the stance. This causes a minus loft at impact, which in turn often causes a “top” or at best poor contact, which lacks control. In these situations, it would be better to take a higher lofted club, like a 5 or 6 iron, where you are likely to achieve better contact.

The second fundamental is the ball position:


This should be set up back of centre (not as far back as described in the first fundamental), which will help to keep the ball flight lower and therefore be less affected by the wind.

The third fundamental is to shorten your rotation:

Less rotation creates less compression of the ball and therefore less spin is imparted. Remember that more spin tends to cause your ball to balloon or spiral out of control in windy conditions.

The final fundamental is to shorten your swing:
This will happen in the backswing when you shorten your rotation, but you also need to shorten your follow through. A good indication of a good follow through for better ball control in the wind is when your hands finish below shoulder height, as in pic

There is no time like the present, so let’s see you at the World of Golf during the windy season!