Into the Wind vs Down Wind & The Effect On Your Ball

Playing in a strong wind is undoubtedly the hardest of all the weather conditions to score well in. Good shots can be blown off course in an instant and bad shots often result in your ball never being seen again. There are certain things in your technique that you can apply to make your windy rounds more successful, but we will look at that in other articles. In this article I just wanted to make you aware of a simple fact... 

Playing into the wind has more effect on your golf ball than playing downwind. 

Most golfers don’t realise that the wind has far more effect on your golf ball when playing into the wind than it does from any other direction. As an example if you are playing in a 30mph wind, a drive that is hit directly into the wind will usually lose around 55 yards of carry. If you hit the same drive with the same 30mph wind behind you, your drive will only carry around 25 yards further. Playing into the wind also accentuates any slice or hook spin on the ball causing the ball to veer further offline. Playing downwind actually reduces the effect of any sidespin and keeps your ball more online. 

As you can see above, a 30mph wind has more than twice the effect on your golf ball as playing into the wind as it does downwind. This is due to the backspin that is imparted onto the ball at impact, and the drag that is created by the golf ball flying in the opposite direction to the wind. As the wind speed drops this difference becomes smaller, but it is still incredibly significant and should always be factored into your choice of club. 

Average Amateur 6 iron Comparison for Into and Down Wind