It is all well and good to say that you should be making an easy swing when playing in the wind, but how do you do that, exactly? It is hard enough to master your regular golf swing, so making an adjustment to that swing in order to swing softer could seem like quite the challenge. Fortunately, it doesn’t take much in the way of adjustment to take your regular swing down to an ‘easy’ level.
During an upcoming practice session, spend some time working on your easy swing by using the keys listed below.
Choke down slightly on the grip. You don’t want to go too far with this adjustment, but it does make sense to choke down just a little bit from the end of the club when you are making an easy swing. Choking down is going to take some of the speed out of your swing naturally, which is a great way to get started. Going down too far on the grip will lead to a punch shot rather than an easy swing, however, and that is not what we are looking for here. Come down just away from the end of the grip and then proceed with your usual swing.
Use a wider stance. We mentioned this point briefly earlier in the article. If you are going to make an easy swing, one of the best things you can do is to widen your stance by an inch or two. A wider stance will usually lead to a shorter turn on the way back, and that shorter turn is going to take some of the pace out of your swing. Just as with the previous tip, you don’t want to go too far with this idea. Move your feet just a bit farther apart than usual and then move on with the shot.
Use extra club. This is a tip which is commonly overlooked, yet it is a great way to play better golf in the wind. Simply by using one extra club, you are naturally going to feel free to make a soft swing. When you are holding just enough club to hit the target with a perfect shot, you will feel like you need to make an aggressive swing in order to cover the full distance to the hole. With extra club in your hands, however, it will be much easier to make a relaxed swing. You will know it isn’t going to take your full effort to cover the necessary distance, so you can relax and focus on solid contact above all else.
Making easy swings successfully comes down to practice, just like everything else in golf. You aren’t going to master this shot if you never work on it at the driving range. Spend some time during each practice session hitting just a few shots with easy effort – this is a great way to warm up – and you will soon feel comfortable pulling this play out of the bag during an actual round.
