How do you play/practice in 20+ mph cross winds?

[Deleted]

Seeing we are now getting regular high winds, I've got two questions.  When facing a 20+ mph cross wind off the tee, what is the best way to play this shot?  If there is little room to aim way right or left, what do you do?  i

Also, is there a way to create these high cross winds to be able to practice?   Thanks all!  

I'm off to find my hat and shirt that were blown off in this week's Web tourney!

[Brighttail]

Well there are a couple ways. If the wind is blowing left to right at 20mph you can:
1. Aim way far left and let the wind bring back the ball, hopefully into the fairway.
2. Aim straight and use draw to keep the ball as straight as you can against the wind.
3. Aim a little left like to the edge of the fair way and use less draw thus playing a combo shot that will draw a bit into the wind but come back into the fairway.

Personally when the winds get higher than 15mph I usually play the combo since the red cone gets much smaller after you go beyond that one grid left/right/up/down. The other thing to note is in the higher winds, you can put all the fade/draw on it you want, it will 'run out' near the end of the shot and the wind will take over.

Aside from that it is just practice.

I have a TGC Practice-PGA Championship tour. The first one not the second one that is unlimited. The first two rounds are 18-22mph if you want to practice it.

[Deleted]

Playing on the XB1 I find that in high winds of 15mph+, multiplying the wind speed by 3 + ⅓ and swiftly clicking that amount on the D-Pad in the opposite direction (ie 20mph winds going due E therefore 60 clicks + additional 6-7 clicks due W) generally gets me pretty close to my target.

My thumb is usually dead after having to make so many clicks and it takes a little time but if it's a sacrifice I have to make then so be it!

I'm on CC-B but I see the first round of the latest Web tourney is being played in 20mph conditions so am going to try it in the week for a bit of fun.

[wvridgerunner]

I agree with Brighttail, when the winds are upwards of 13mph, I use a combo of draw fade, and moving the aiming marker. Anything under 13, I usually just draw/fade. It's basically just trial and error. I've played in high winds enough now, that I can usually land my tee shots within >4yds or less of my intended target (if I make a good swing). I also take loft off my driver, so the crosswind doesn't affect the ball quite as much.

Keep in mind, when you draw/fade or change loft, you really have to be accurate with your swing. During my 2nd round of the Price Cutter Championship yesterday, I was having trouble keeping my swing inside the red cone. As a result, my score really suffered that round.

[Deleted]

Aug 9, 2015 9:18:27 GMT -5 Brighttail said:

Well there are a couple ways. If the wind is blowing left to right at 20mph you can:
1. Aim way far left and let the wind bring back the ball, hopefully into the fairway.
2. Aim straight and use draw to keep the ball as straight as you can against the wind.
3. Aim a little left like to the edge of the fair way and use less draw thus playing a combo shot that will draw a bit into the wind but come back into the fairway.

Personally when the winds get higher than 15mph I usually play the combo since the red cone gets much smaller after you go beyond that one grid left/right/up/down. The other thing to note is in the higher winds, you can put all the fade/draw on it you want, it will 'run out' near the end of the shot and the wind will take over.

Aside from that it is just practice.

I have a TGC Practice-PGA Championship tour. The first one not the second one that is unlimited. The first two rounds are 18-22mph if you want to practice it.

The three ways Brighttail pointed out are all different, yet good approaches depending on your style.  I agree with him and J.D. that in high winds I use #3, the combo approach.  I move the aiming reticule over what I think is roughly half of the distance (I don't use a click method, just use feel) I need, and then I use a draw or fade (whichever is required) for the other half or so to negate the wind.

I find the problem with #1 in the high winds is that your ball lands and then rolls out in the direction of the wind, sometimes a large amount. 

Number two is a good approach, but if it is with a Driver or wood, it makes your red cone get quite small, and then any mishit can be disaster.  Its not that bad of an approach with a shorter iron on approach, but on longer approaches with mid to long irons, you also have big sensitivity to the lie, so you can get a double cross or underestimate the lie the other way and the wind still takes it away.

Number three, for me, takes a balanced approach.  You may be off a little in your aim, but you can make it up by being a little off the other way with the draw/fade.

A lot of math gets involved for me, too for distance control.  Especially for diagonal winds.  Picture the hand on a clock.  A perfect tailwind is  pointing 12 o'clock. A perfect headwind is pointing 6 o'clock. So a left to right points to 3 o'clock, and a right to left points to 9 o'clock.

Now, here is where I may lose some people, but I actually do this and can do this in my head...  A perfect diagonal wind points at 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, and 10:30.  If anyone remembers some way back math from high school, there is the 'pythagorean theorem' that basically means that a square plus b squared equals c squared.  A perfect diagonal wind in the c part.  so if you get a 20 mph wind coming equally at you and to the left (Pointing at 7:30 o'clock), then c squared is 20*20 = 400.  Math tells me that a squared and b squared is roughly 14*14 = 196.  so 196 + 196 is very close to 400.

So you are actually hitting it into a 14 mph wind in your face and a 14 mph crosswind to the left. 

Your long irons (3,4,5) are more susceptible to a headwind and your SW and LW are less susceptible.  I think the PW to 6 irons act roughly inline with the multiplying by 1.5 into a headwind equation.

I hope I didn't confuse you even more, and believe it or not, even with all of that in my head, I still play by a lot of feel in those very high winds.

[Deleted]

Never considered the third method myself but it makes a lot of sense and one I'll definitely be giving a go.

[Brighttail]

Aug 9, 2015 13:28:37 GMT -5 @swaeromotion said:

 

Your long irons (3,4,5) are more susceptible to a headwind and your SW and LW are less susceptible.  I think the PW to 6 irons act roughly inline with the multiplying by 1.5 into a headwind equation.

I hope I didn't confuse you even more, and believe it or not, even with all of that in my head, I still play by a lot of feel in those very high winds.

I agree with many of the things you have said except the lower end clubs.  I find that in a cross wind, i have to aim further against the wind or use more fade/draw to counter the wind for the shorter clubs vs the longer irons.

I use a click method so for driver, 3iron if the wind is 12mph cross, I click over 9 or 10 clicks.  For the same wind for a PW I click over 12-14 clicks.

[Brighttail]

Aug 9, 2015 13:33:18 GMT -5 @sirpaulmartin said:

Never considered the third method myself but it makes a lot of sense and one I'll definitely be giving a go.

Note: I only use this for drives due to the shrunken cone.  On approach shots, even with 20mph winds i will draw/fade only.

[Deleted]

Aug 9, 2015 13:44:53 GMT -5 Brighttail said:

Aug 9, 2015 13:28:37 GMT -5 @swaeromotion said:

 

Your long irons (3,4,5) are more susceptible to a headwind and your SW and LW are less susceptible.  I think the PW to 6 irons act roughly inline with the multiplying by 1.5 into a headwind equation.

I hope I didn't confuse you even more, and believe it or not, even with all of that in my head, I still play by a lot of feel in those very high winds.

I agree with many of the things you have said except the lower end clubs.  I find that in a cross wind, i have to aim further against the wind or use more fade/draw to counter the wind for the shorter clubs vs the longer irons.

I use a click method so for driver, 3iron if the wind is 12mph cross, I click over 9 or 10 clicks.  For the same wind for a PW I click over 12-14 clicks.

You are correct, I meant more for distance control as far as the headwind and tailwind for the SW and LW.  But the crosswinds are just as brutal with the wedges, sometimes more.  I didn't clarify enough.

[Deleted]

"How do you play/practice in 20+ mph cross winds?"

Very, very poorly.

[Deleted]

Great replies. Much appreciated. I'm not a designer but can we create a hole and have the high cross winds for practice?

[Deleted]

Aug 9, 2015 13:46:04 GMT -5 Brighttail said:

Aug 9, 2015 13:33:18 GMT -5 @sirpaulmartin said:

Never considered the third method myself but it makes a lot of sense and one I'll definitely be giving a go.

Note: I only use this for drives due to the shrunken cone.  On approach shots, even with 20mph winds i will draw/fade only.

Great tips mate, thank you. Just managed a -2 in the first round of the latest Web tournament in 20-21mph winds, which isn't too bad for a CC-B player I guess, and using that method on the drives most definitely helped.

[Deleted]

While its not the exact same wind speeds, try the wk32 Euro event under tournaments. It has 17-18 mph winds for the 1st round.

[Deleted]

Aug 10, 2015 14:12:10 GMT -5 @swaeromotion said:

While its not the exact same wind speeds, try the wk32 Euro event under tournaments. It has 17-18 mph winds for the 1st round.

I see only 4 players have submitted scores thus far and none have gone under par so I'm guessing we're talking crazy golf here Bob?

Will give it a go though.  I'll report back with the bad news.

Update: Sod that for a game of soldiers. Gave up after 4 holes as I don't fancy shooting 100+. It's a good advertisement for any CC player who moans (me being one of them) about the difficulty of the courses we've been facing lately. I have never experienced holes like that Euro one and praise the Lord I never have to again.

[disturbed932]

Aug 9, 2015 13:44:53 GMT -5 Brighttail said:

Aug 9, 2015 13:28:37 GMT -5 @swaeromotion said:

 

Your long irons (3,4,5) are more susceptible to a headwind and your SW and LW are less susceptible.  I think the PW to 6 irons act roughly inline with the multiplying by 1.5 into a headwind equation.

I hope I didn't confuse you even more, and believe it or not, even with all of that in my head, I still play by a lot of feel in those very high winds.

I agree with many of the things you have said except the lower end clubs.  I find that in a cross wind, i have to aim further against the wind or use more fade/draw to counter the wind for the shorter clubs vs the longer irons.

I use a click method so for driver, 3iron if the wind is 12mph cross, I click over 9 or 10 clicks.  For the same wind for a PW I click over 12-14 clicks.

Also, depending of the green firmness and the pin location, it's sometimes better to use a 9-iron "pitch" instead of ballooning a SW into a 20mph cross wind. However, this is just as difficult because the probability of hitting less than 100% increases and the bounce can vary greatly.