Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
If you play golf in Bahrain you will be well aware that, at times we have to deal with some seriously windy (and sandy) conditions, they certainly make life more difficult for us on the golf course, but with some small changes to your technique and a bit of knowledge you can learn to overcome the conditions to produce a winning score, or at least finish your round!
The first thing to understand is that strong wind will accentuate the spin you already have on the ball, every shot you hit with an iron imparts backspin on the golf ball, the harder the golf ball is hit the more backspin the ball has which will make it fly higher, this makes it easier to be blown off line. So in order for the ball to bore through the wind and stay on line to the target, it needs to have less spin.
The only way to achieve less spin is for the ball to be hit 'softer' or with less clubhead speed. A shorter backswing than normal will help to lower the clubhead speed, but also to physically swing the club slower will really help to take the spin off the ball. A good length of backswing for a wind shot will help keep the ball lower.
Of course if you achieve a slower and shorter swing you will not achieve the same distance of shot, significantly shorter infact. So to make up the deficit you have to select a club with less loft, for example: I would normally hit an 8 iron 150 yards, into a strong wind I may try and force a 7 iron and hit it harder, but I would of course be imparting more spin on the ball making it more difficult to keep on line. The correct course of action would be to use the 'wind swing' with a 6 or even a 5 iron, this would produce a very flat trajectory without much affect from the wind, giving us the desired result.
Beware, though, this shot needs practice to perfect. Pick out a target on the range, ideally if it is windy, and have a play using different clubs until you achieve the correct low flight that reaches the target. This should give you an idea how far you hit your wind shot and you can go from there, you really will benefit from experience, so try it!
The Royal Golf Academy opens its doors on January 1 2009. For more information on how you can become involved in the tuition programmes and improve your game contact Chris Kelby at c.kelby@theroyalgolfclub.com
