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What is a 1 club wind in your opinion?

Space Bandito

Space Bandito

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I was playing in some heavy wind today, steady around 20mph with gusts over 30mph

Most shots into the wind I'd just pull an extra club and hope it went well. I've never really given it any more though than that logic.

Does anyone dechambeau it? Is there a wind speed at which you're pulling one or two extra clubs vs just muscling up on your usual shot?

I'm really curious as there were definitely a few shots where I had wished I had pulled 2 clubs instead of one, but I never even thought to consider it.

Posted by my thumbs.
 
A general rule of thumb is the shot plays 1% longer for every one mph of wind. Example a 200 yard shot with a ten mph headwind will play 220. Your mileage will vary depending on how much you spin it and how high you hit it. Also, remember that a shot is rarely dead into the wind. With irons, I will hit more punch shots into a wind and keep the trajectory down unless it's a driver. The modern ball doesn't spin very much off the driver, so I just play my normal tee shot into a wind.

In your example of a 20 mph wind - my 8 iron goes 160 yards so with that wind I would need a 192 yard club. Most people tend to not take enough into a stiff wind, especially if they didn't grow up playing in a windy area of the country.
 
Hey Peter, I think 1 club is around 15mph.
 
Into the wind, I play it like every 10mph is a club, but I generally don't even account for it unless it's at least 10. So, using that logic, 20mph wind will usually require 2 extra clubs for me. The math rarely works out nicely though.

Trying to muscle a shot in the wind tends to not be a good idea because you'll probably add more spin and perhaps get even less out of the swing.

When it's breezy, swing easy.
 
shanewu said:
Into the wind, I play it like every 10mph is a club, but I generally don't even account for it unless it's at least 10. So, using that logic, 20mph wind will usually require 2 extra clubs for me. The math rarely works out nicely though.

Trying to muscle a shot in the wind tends to not be a good idea because you'll probably add more spin and perhaps get even less out of the swing.

When it's breezy, swing easy.
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This is true. Though I did have a couple of pleasant surprises today giving it a whack.

Posted by my thumbs.
 
It thinking about it more, I imagine ball speed plays a huge factor.

If you have a headwind of 10mph and a ball speed of 120, surely you don't need to club up as much as someone who had a ball speed of 100, no?

Or is that moot due to one player having a longer carry already?

Posted by my thumbs.
 
Really depends. The big factor is how I'm planning on flighting the ball. Is it a long iron or short iron. Up hill or down. Some shots into a 10mph wind I'm hitting my normal shot cause I'm playing it lower and might have a little draw spin on it. Others, might take 2 clubs cause I'm going to loft it up for a soft landing and hoping the wind will help hold it back.

I am no help at all to your question I guess.............Ha-Ha!
 
If I was hitting into a 20+ mph wind coming right at me I would have no qualms pulling 2 clubs up. 3 wouldn't be a bad idea because better contact gets better results so the more sure your stroke the better.
 
pmm21 said:
It thinking about it more, I imagine ball speed plays a huge factor.

If you have a headwind of 10mph and a ball speed of 120, surely you don't need to club up as much as someone who had a ball speed of 100, no?

Or is that moot due to one player having a longer carry already?

Posted by my thumbs.
Click to expand...
If you are hitting the same distance shot ball speed would be similar no? Just different clubs used to obtain that ball speed?

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DataDude said:
If I was hitting into a 20+ mph wind coming right at me I would have no qualms pulling 2 clubs up. 3 wouldn't be a bad idea because better contact gets better results so the more sure your stroke the better.
Click to expand...

Poster must be a young man.

I’m with you on at least 2 clubs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
0-10mph one club up into wind and same club or one less with
11-20mph 2 clubs up into wind and one less with wind.
 
A 20 mph headwind is easily 2-3 extra clubs for me. More often 3. I long ago accepted that trying to overswing into a strong headwind all but guarantees disaster for me. Club up even more and swing it easy and balanced to hit it solid. It won't go too far past even if you absolutely nut it.
 
tahoebum said:
A general rule of thumb is the shot plays 1% longer for every one mph of wind. Example a 200 yard shot with a ten mph headwind will play 220. Your mileage will vary depending on how much you spin it and how high you hit it. Also, remember that a shot is rarely dead into the wind. With irons, I will hit more punch shots into a wind and keep the trajectory down unless it's a driver. The modern ball doesn't spin very much off the driver, so I just play my normal tee shot into a wind.

In your example of a 20 mph wind - my 8 iron goes 160 yards so with that wind I would need a 192 yard club. Most people tend to not take enough into a stiff wind, especially if they didn't grow up playing in a windy area of the country.
Click to expand...

The golf instructor Andrew Rice actually did a little experiment by himself on his practice tee with a wind gauge and came up with calculations similar to yours. A 10 mph wind meant 10 more yards per 100 yards of distance (100 yard shot plays 110, 200 yard shot plays 220, etc). But I'm not sure it's entirely proportional for a 20 mph wind and so on. Also, the longer a shot plays, the more the wind will have an impact on that shot. So the "1 club wind" thing is a myth because it varies based on the distance of the shot to be played.
 
Snickerdog said:
0-10mph one club up into wind and same club or one less with
11-20mph 2 clubs up into wind and one less with wind.
Click to expand...

That’s pretty much what I’ve always figured.


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Usually go an extra club up at about 10 mph and play a knockdown shot to not let the wind affect it as severely.
 
20 mph gusting to 30 is definately more than a 1 club wind; 2, 3, or 4 more clubs would be needed depending on the particular situation.
 
Snickerdog said:
0-10mph one club up into wind and same club or one less with
11-20mph 2 clubs up into wind and one less with wind.
Click to expand...

You club up when there's no wind?
 
arydolphin said:
The golf instructor Andrew Rice actually did a little experiment by himself on his practice tee with a wind gauge and came up with calculations similar to yours. A 10 mph wind meant 10 more yards per 100 yards of distance (100 yard shot plays 110, 200 yard shot plays 220, etc). But I'm not sure it's entirely proportional for a 20 mph wind and so on. Also, the longer a shot plays, the more the wind will have an impact on that shot. So the "1 club wind" thing is a myth because it varies based on the distance of the shot to be played.
Click to expand...

In the example I gave with a 20 mph wind on a 160 yard 8 iron(for me) shot, I said it would play 192 yards(20% longer). For me that would be a 5 iron, making it a 3 club wind. In the chart above, the 20mph wind indicated a 28.4-yard loss on a 140-yard shot. The 1% rule for every 1mph of wind works since it would calculate to be a 28-yard loss.
 
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Some good info in here.

In the past I did 10mph for every 10 yards


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So many variables here. As someone said earlier, you're rarely hitting straight into the wind. So, now we have to consider shot shape. If I'm hitting a fade into a right to left quarter wind, then I'd need more club than if I'm hitting a draw into a right to left quartering wind. Assuming we're talking about approach shots or tee shots on par 3 holes, if the pin is back, I'm fine with letting the ball drop a little short so I might not club up as much. If the pin is in front, I might take an extra club to make sure it's on the green, even if behind the hole.

To answer the original question, a one club wind would be the wind speed that would make your ball go long or short an equivalent distance to the gap between your clubs. That distance is likely different for everyone depending on their gaps, too.
 
A 1 club wind for me, with how high I hit the ball, is anything over like 5-6 mph. And it's an exponential curve, not linear.
 
if it's at 5mph I'm starting to debate an extra club. Loads of peak height for me with a bit of extra spin, it's going to chew on my ball as it goes.
 
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