How to play the game of golf in the rain
By JDWilliamsRU, 27th Mar 2011 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutGuidesSportsCoaching
Playing golf inthe rain presents its own unique challenges. By becoming aware of the difficulties associated with this extreme weather, you can play tot he best of your abilities.
Main Body
Playing golf in the rain requires a different approach than in normal condition. The most important aspect is to keep both yourself and your clubs dry. A round of golf usually consists of around 4 hours, so to get wet at any stage is both uncomfortable and impractical. Why Impractical? Well once your clubs become wet, especially the grips, you will find you tend to grip the club harder unconsciously as you are afraid of the club slipping. This results in a restricted swing as your normal swing would be more fluid and relaxed. This will both reduce distance and cause problems with the return path of the club-head, or swing-plane, as you return to the ball during your forward swing. Of course this problem is also exacerbated by your golf-glove getting saturated. Again this will cause a tighter grip.
It is essential that you have wet-weather equipment, including trousers, jacket, hat and of course a study large umbrella. Also you will want to consider a cover for your bag and trolley and a spare glove or two.
In dry conditions the dimples of the golf ball help create air-flow around the ball and make it fly further. If it is raining then the water in the atmosphere, and the rain that your ball hits as it travels will reduce this aerodynamic capability. Therefore it will be necessary to raise a club to compensate for this shorter distance. Say for example you hit a 7 Iron 170 yards, you will need to hit a 6 Iron or maybe a 5 Iron to get the same distance in the wet. Pretty amazing really!
Another point to consider during rain-play is how short the ball will carry and the fact that your ball will not run as far as normal dry conditions would allow.
Your ball will stick quicker and stop shorter. You may have to consider pitching shots up high and dropping the chip-shot from your repertoire, unless you can re-adjust your distances very quickly during the round.
Putting too will present problems, depending if the greens are poor draining. Putting across water on a green is like putting through syrup, you will need to be more aggressive but also of course if you overshoot the hole, in theory your ball will stop shorter which may be considered a bonus.
Indeed aggression is one of the major aspects in playing golf in the rain. Always attack the pin and do not be afraid, playing short in this type of condition is a sure fire way to score badly. Enjoy the round and try to smile it will help you stay in a positive mental frame of mind and increase your scoring opportunities.
Comments
8th Feb 2012 (#)
I was quite surprised that this playing in the rain actually raises aggression in players. Thank you for sharing
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