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When you are playing into the wind the one thing you want to work on is controlling the trajectory or the height that you hit the golf ball.

If you hit the ball as high as you usually would when there is no wind, then obviously the wind is going to influence the ball as the ball goes up and into it. If you are playing into the wind, it makes it very difficult to get the ball through it and if you are playing in a cross wind, the ball is going to get blown either over to the left or over to the right, depending on which way the wind is blowing. Playing with the wind will make the ball fly much further than usual. So the wind will really influence the ball once it is off the ground.

The best way to approach playing, when playing in the wind, is to hit deliberately low shots, or punch shots, where you are working on keeping a very low trajectory to the golf shot. In order to do this, you need to alter a few things at set up.

First of all, when you set up to play shots with a lower than usual trajectory, play the ball slightly further back in your stance than you usually would. If you are a right handed golfer, play the ball more to the right than you usually would.

Make sure that you push your hands forward. This means really keep your hands to the left of the golf ball at address. You want to work on keeping a really straight line from your left arm and then extend that directly down the shaft of the club so if you were looking from your left shoulder directly down to the golf club head there would be just one continuous line down your left arm and the shaft of the club. This is an absolute key to hitting a very low, controlled trajectory golf shot. You do not want to use your wrist during the swing. If you use your wrist and set your wrist during your golf swing, either on the back swing through impact or into the follow through, you will start to see more height coming into the golf shot. Set your left arm and the club shaft very straight and in one continuous line.

With your hands forward, you will notice that you have more weight on your left side than usual and you want to keep your weight on your left throughout the shot.

These key set up points will allow you to swing in a way that you will hit a low trajectory golf shot. You have got the weight on the left side, the ball slightly further back in the stance and the hands forward, now you want to take that straight line from your left shoulder and down the shaft of the club, into the back swing as you move the club head away from the ball and maintain that straight line. Do not allow the wrist to hinge as you usually would, just keep the left arm and the shaft of the club in a very straight line. You will only be able to swing just above waist high and you will find that you have a very restricted back swing length doing this.

Now make sure that you keep that straight line with the left arm and the shaft on the down swing and through impact, really angling the shaft forward as you strike the ball and not allowing the shaft to tilt backwards, as this would put height on to the shot. As you strike through the ball with the shaft of your club leaning forward towards the target, rotate your body towards the target and maintain the straight line of the left arm and the golf club.

You will finish in what is called a laid off position. The golf club head is lower than your hands when it finishes and it is a very stunted finish. If you struggle to keep your left arm and club in a straight line then a great practice drill you can try is to take an alignment pole or a garden cane and set yourself up to hit this shot with the ball further back in your stance and your hands forward.

Place the alignment pole behind the grip of the golf club so that it sits behind your left arm and on the left side of your torso, resting on the left side of your ribcage. This will now allow you to pivot from your ribcage or from your left shoulder and you physically will not be able to set your wrist as you swing through. If you keep the pole touching your left ribcage as you swing back you will not set your wrist and similarly if you keep it touching your left ribcage as you swing through, it will give you that low club head finish, that laid off finish and you will hit the ball deliberately low, on a very low trajectory.

If you work on that on the practice ground and next time it is windy take it on to the golf course, you will have no problem being able to play well in less than ideal conditions.

A ball that is hit higher is more affected by the wind and therefore less accurate in terms of distance and direction.

Hitting the ball harder will often create a higher flight which in turn can reduce accuracy.

If you do not make any adjustments when playing in the wind, then you will hit the same golf shot that you always do. The ball will fly at the same trajectory and height as usual and you will find it difficult to control the golf shot. You must make adjustment to your set up position, to lower the height that you hit the ball at in the wind.