Windy conditions

When at all possible try and let the wind be your friend. On down wind shots, especially tee shots try and get the ball up in the air a little higher than normal. It should give you more distance.

If you know how to curve the ball in both directions, again try to ride the wind. If you can’t just know that if the wind is blowing left to right and your natural shot shape is left to right it will curve more, but also should go a little farther. If the wind is right to left and your normal shot shape is left to right, the wind will knock it down and it won’t go as far as normal.

The hardest shot for most of us is when you are playing into a head wind. Most people just want to try and hit it harder, this is the last thing you want to do. By trying to hit it harder you are just going to spin the ball more which in turn will make it up shoot and get knocked down.

The best way to play back into the wind is to play the ball back in your stance a little; take one or two more clubs; make a 3/4 backswing and 3/4 finish; also try and swing just a little easier.

By playing it back in your stance with more club it should launch lower, but by swinging easier you are trying to take spin off of the ball which can help it bore through the wind more easily instead of up shooting when you swing to hard.