In the last article I covered some tips on helping you to lower your scores. In this article we will do the same. Often, we do not make the proper decisions on the shot at hand. For example, playing on a windy day. We may not make alignment or proper club selection changes to adjust for the windy conditions or we may play our ball position in relation to our foot position the same as in a wind situation where changing your ball position is necessary. For example, irons are normally played from a ball position that is slightly forward of center of your stance. Meaning and inch or two closer to your target foot. Foot closest to the target after you set up. A wind blowing towards you from your target we need to have our ball placement slightly back towards our trail foot. This will keep the flight of the ball lower and less affected by the wind. The higher the ball flight the more affect the wind has on it. Especially if your ball flight is higher than the surrounding trees. Good luck on that one. On a head wind which is the most challenging of all wind directions the ball will not carry as far as it would with no wind. Keeping this in mind and depending on the strength of the wind choose a longer golf club. The wind may mean going from a seven iron that you would normally use from this distance to a six or five iron. Again, depending on the strength of the wind coming towards you. Now the real important advice. Do not overswing which is the tendency. Normal rhythm and tempo. If you try to force it or this meaning speed it up the chance is you will miss hit it. No matter what, in most all swings you take do not change your rhythm or tempo. There may be a few but not many.

Other wind directions. Down wind (wind traveling in the direction of your target). Ball will carry farther. Change club selection. Shorter club than normal for this distance. Determined by the strength of the wind. The ball will fly higher because you are using a more lofted club. In winds that we call downwind (towards the target) instead of a seven iron which you would usually use from this distance you may need to use and eight iron or maybe a nine iron. The higher your shot the more the wind will carry your ball. Keep in mind also that your ball position is played from its normal position. No adjustment. Only changed when playing against the wind. Important. If you do change your ball position (some players move it more towards their target foot to increase height to increase distance) your chances increase dramatically for a miss hit shot. Sidewinds. Blowing winds across the fairway. Not much to change here but your alignment. Allow for the wind to move your ball flight in its direction. Fades may become slices and draws may become hooks or may be straighter shots depending on the wind direction. Allow for this when setting up your alignment. Aim further right or aim further left.

Now a tip on preserving your golf club grips. Replacing grips can be expensive. Far to often we replace them earlier than is necessary. When they get shinny and slippery, we feel they are getting worn out and need to be replaced. Most often this not the case. It is just a build up over time of dust, dirt and sweat from you palms. Before you make the decision whether to replace them or not clean them. Warm or hot water, dish soap and medium steel wool is all that should be required. If they still come out a bit shinny or still a bit slippery then take a wood file or a rasp and lightly run the file or rasp over them. If they still look like and/or feel not right then replace them. Try these procedures first and in most cases save yourself a few dollars. When the cold temperatures arrive in the fall time slippery grips can be a real problem. The slippery the feel the tighter we grip. To much grip pressure leads to swing problems.