Why Fighting the Wind Is Costing You Shots
Why Fighting the Wind Is Costing You Shots
Playing golf in the wind doesn’t have to mean fighting it. Into the wind, more effort is rarely the answer.
Every golfer knows the feeling. The wind gets up, and the instinct is to grip harder and swing harder. But hitting harder often creates more spin, and more spin gives the wind more to work with. The shot that looked powerful off the clubface climbs, stalls, and finishes well short.
This was the heart of this month’s Members’ Coaching Call, a live session where Julian works through a topic in depth using the Timeless Golf Swing® philosophy, and members bring their own questions and videos into the discussion. Here’s a taste of what came out of it.
More Club. Less Effort. Lower Flight.
Rather than manufacturing an aggressive punch shot every time the wind blows, the smarter starting point is simply taking more club and making a smoother swing. Less loft brings the trajectory down, and less effort helps control spin. As an illustration discussed on the call, a 180-yard shot into a 10mph headwind can lose around 20 yards, with the effect growing considerably as the wind increases.
“The conditions may have changed. Your need to move freely hasn’t.”
Wind has a habit of making golfers tense, bracing themselves and gripping harder without realising it. But that tension is exactly what interferes with rhythm and the ability to swing freely, which is the opposite of what a windy shot actually needs.
What Changes When You’re Playing Golf in the Wind
Keep it around 5 out of 10 or less, even when the wind is tempting you to hold on tighter.
The less time the ball spends exposed to the wind, the less opportunity the wind has to move it.
Three clubs together, then two, then one. A one-minute way to feel the clubhead before you play.
Five Videos That Go With This Session
If you’d like to take these ideas further, these five videos from the Proper Golfing library pair well with what we covered on the call.
This is just one call. Every month, members get a live coaching session like this one with PGA Professional Julian, the full recording and a written Members’ Insight to revisit afterwards, and access to the complete Proper Golfing library, so playing golf in the wind is never something you have to figure out alone.
propergolfing.com
Be There for the Next Live Call
Become a member and you’ll be booked in for our next Members’ Coaching Call, built on the same Timeless Golf Swing® philosophy, plus the full recording library, every Members’ Insight write-up, and ongoing support from Julian between sessions.
Members join us live from the UK, Canada, New Zealand and beyond.
Julian has been running these calls every two weeks for over five years, and many members have been with him for all of it. Every call is loaded into the library with its own video recording and written Members’ Insight.
