How Can I Play Best In Cold Conditions? (Video) - by Dean Butler
How Can I Play Best In Cold Conditions? (Video) - by Dean Butler

So the question is; how can I play best in cold conditions? Well, first of all two things. We need to keep warm and secondly we need to adjust our club selection. If it’s cold, that means the ball isn’t going to travel as far as it would do on a sort of a normal warm day or even a hot day when the ball travels further. So let’s start from the moments we wake up and we’re going to have a game of golf. The first thing is, you’ve got to keep warm. So the first thing is, let’s put layers on; so first thing is a base layer. So a if you’re a bit like me, you’re not the slimmest guy in the world, it’s going to feel a bit like a straight jacket when you got it on. It’s all about layers and insulation. So put a nice base layer on, a nice tight fitting one as they all are and then from there just a normal shirt, sweater and most people have a round neck or a zip to keep the cold out and then a jacket and of course the jacket would have to be windproof for sure or even water proof depending water conditions out on the day.

So first of all we’ve insulated ourselves. We get to the golf course and we think right, I’ve got myself prepared nice. I’ve had something to eat, hopefully in the clubhouse because we need to get some fuel inside the body to generate heat as we go around the course. And then how often do you actually go to the golf course without warming up? Is it just a typical thing sort of thing I see, just a couple of swings and then we’re off? You need to warm up. Maybe do some stretches; warm yourself or just stretch your muscles. You can’t just go to a gym and go to a machine; you need to warm up first of all. Same thing in golf as in exercise; warm yourself up, maybe just kind of walk briskly to the first tee. So we’ve got to the first tee, we’ve got our clothes on, we’ve done a few warm-ups, we’ve got some fuel inside. On the golf course what can we do to keep warm? Well the most obvious one? It’s let’s walk around the golf course. Maybe you can’t, maybe you can’t walk around the golf course – on the bogey. If you’re on the bogey, let’s make sure that we’ve got a towel on the seat which is an insulation from the cold seat to our bottom. Next, make sure we’ve got plenty of warm drinks inside, okay? So again every few holes is about a nice hot coffee but a no-no is alcohol. Alcohol thins the blood and keeps you cold, not warm. So there we go before the course, at the course on the course and now what we need to do is adjust your club selection. So if it was an 8 iron and it’s a cold day, take a club more. Believe me; you’re going to have to hit the club more because the ball won’t travel as far. And all you have to do then, is just go down the grip for a little bit more sort of control, take a club more than what you do and just swing and hit the ball. So that’s the best way of playing and preparing yourself for cold conditions. Hopefully you’ll take that on board and get more out of those cold days ahead. 2014-05-15

So the question is; how can I play best in cold conditions? Well, first of all two things. We need to keep warm and secondly we need to adjust our club selection. If it’s cold, that means the ball isn’t going to travel as far as it would do on a sort of a normal warm day or even a hot day when the ball travels further. So let’s start from the moments we wake up and we’re going to have a game of golf. The first thing is, you’ve got to keep warm. So the first thing is, let’s put layers on; so first thing is a base layer. So a if you’re a bit like me, you’re not the slimmest guy in the world, it’s going to feel a bit like a straight jacket when you got it on. It’s all about layers and insulation. So put a nice base layer on, a nice tight fitting one as they all are and then from there just a normal shirt, sweater and most people have a round neck or a zip to keep the cold out and then a jacket and of course the jacket would have to be windproof for sure or even water proof depending water conditions out on the day.

So first of all we’ve insulated ourselves. We get to the golf course and we think right, I’ve got myself prepared nice. I’ve had something to eat, hopefully in the clubhouse because we need to get some fuel inside the body to generate heat as we go around the course. And then how often do you actually go to the golf course without warming up? Is it just a typical thing sort of thing I see, just a couple of swings and then we’re off? You need to warm up. Maybe do some stretches; warm yourself or just stretch your muscles. You can’t just go to a gym and go to a machine; you need to warm up first of all. Same thing in golf as in exercise; warm yourself up, maybe just kind of walk briskly to the first tee. So we’ve got to the first tee, we’ve got our clothes on, we’ve done a few warm-ups, we’ve got some fuel inside. On the golf course what can we do to keep warm? Well the most obvious one?

It’s let’s walk around the golf course. Maybe you can’t, maybe you can’t walk around the golf course – on the bogey. If you’re on the bogey, let’s make sure that we’ve got a towel on the seat which is an insulation from the cold seat to our bottom. Next, make sure we’ve got plenty of warm drinks inside, okay? So again every few holes is about a nice hot coffee but a no-no is alcohol. Alcohol thins the blood and keeps you cold, not warm. So there we go before the course, at the course on the course and now what we need to do is adjust your club selection. So if it was an 8 iron and it’s a cold day, take a club more. Believe me; you’re going to have to hit the club more because the ball won’t travel as far. And all you have to do then, is just go down the grip for a little bit more sort of control, take a club more than what you do and just swing and hit the ball. So that’s the best way of playing and preparing yourself for cold conditions. Hopefully you’ll take that on board and get more out of those cold days ahead.