Immediately you will answer yes to my question in the title. It is an understood tenet of golf that the wind does affect your ball flight, distance, and accuracy. I have played in strong wind conditions and make the necessary aim adjustments to ensure that my ball travels on the line that I need to chip close to the hole. As the wind blows, I often notice that the wind does not affect my results as much on my chips as on my regular shots. I understand that the height, distance, and contact play a critical role on longer shots, but I am less confident that this happens when chipping.

Hopefully I have caught your attention so that your have continued to read the rest of my article. Over the years, I have found that the wind definitely affects my chipping. It has to be blowing fairly strong for me to adjust my aim point, but I do something automatically that has made a tremendous in my short game. I club down, thus forcing my ball flight to be lower and less affected by the windy conditions.

I am not surprised by the video above. It just seemed like a natural thing to do. Of course, wind is just one of the many influences that we consider when chipping. If used properly, the wind can help soften your short approach shot allowing us to more aggressive. It really depends on which way the wind is blowing.

As a basic rule of thumb, into the wind I club down one or two and hit the same way. This will produce the same distance I intend without worrying about coming up short. This rule only applies when I do not have to fly over an obstacle like a sand trap or long grass.

When playing with the wind, I use the same club or one higher. I try to make the same contact as normal because I find that playing with vice against the wind has less influence on my ball flight and distance. I know some of you will say that playing with the wind has a tendency to knock our ball down, but I find this to less of the case in the areas that I play. Your conditions and course conditions will determine how my rule of thumb applies to your game.

If I was to answer my question of the day, I would answer “yes, but”. When determining how to play your ball in the wind when chipping has so many influences that it is difficult to provide a definitive answer. I use my rule of thumb of clubbing up and down as my starting point. The rest is determined by the actual playing conditions of the day.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!