In honor of The Open this week....

This post is meant to give you a few pointers on how to play in the strong wind you might see at the British Open....or Texas...

First and most important is the old saying "when it's breezy, swing it easy". There is nothing more true when playing in the wind. I watched Luke Donald's press conference today and he said he hit a 114 yard 7 iron because of the wind. Any more club would have lofted too high into the wind, so he hit a smooth 7 iron. This is exactly the play that good players will make, and average amateurs will not. Average players will try to hit a hard wedge or 9 iron and almost always come up very short.

Playing in the wind is very tricky because it takes a lot of feel to judge the wind strength and direction. How much will the ball be blown to the right after I hit it? How strong is the wind into my face? 2 club wind? 30 yard wind? How do you know??

The feel comes from playing in the wind often, but one trick is to watch the flag stick and how it is blowing. As a general rule, if the wind is blowing hard enough to have the flag looking full, the wind is somewhere between 20 and 30 mph, so that would equal anywhere between 2 and 3 clubs depending on the shot you choose to hit. So use this as a starting point, and don't be afraid to play and practice in the wind to develop your feel.

2 ways to play in the wind:

1. I've heard Jack Nicklaus played this way for a while. He would judge how much wind there was and how much it would move his ball in the air, and he would hit a standard shot aiming to a point where the wind would blow it to the target. No special stance, launch angle or club selection, just estimating the wind direction and strength. I don't recommend this approach.

2. This is the way I suggest to play in the wind and the way almost all modern players play. KEEP THE BALL LOW. The only time I get the ball in the air is a downwind shot, and even then I am careful because the wind can knock the ball down instead of push it forward. The key to keeping the ball low is to take more club and swing smooth. Slower club head speed means lower ball flight and more control over the shot. To keep the ball low swing smooth, choke up on the grip of your club, play the ball a bit further back in your stance, and abbreviate your follow through. Use one or a combination of more than one of these factors in order to produce the shot you need to hit.

Don't be afraid of going to play or practice in the wind. However, if you are practicing in the wind, practice your wind shots, and not your standard shots. If you are playing in the wind, try not to get too frustrated, the more you play in the wind the better feel you will develop and the better you will be able to manage your game. So watch the British Open closely this week and watch the different trajectories of the shots hit by the players if the wind is blowing, and the different swings they use to produce those trajectories.