Michael Breed on HItting into the Wind

I've posted material on hitting knockdown shots before, but this tip from Michael Breed has some info you don't normally get. He covered this during The Golf Fix on Monday night, and they posted a short version at golfchannel.com:



Let me pick out the extra info Michael has here (and some things he mentioned on the regular show):

• Michael specifically says you should pick out a club that is either (a) two clubs longer or (b) 20 yards longer than you would normally use. However, he's demonstrating this on the 7th hole at Pebble Beach, a DOWNHILL shot. Note that he says you can go three clubs longer; on the show he actually said the three-club guideline might be better for a downhill shot to further minimize the time the ball spends in the air. That's an important piece of information to have!
• Note also that not getting enough lower body action or shoulder turn can cause this shot to slice badly. You need to keep your lower body relaxed so it can move normally and help you square up the club face. This is important even on approach shots that you aren't playing into the wind. If you just maintain the connection between your upper arms and your chest (which I've talked about a lot on this blog) you'll make the proper moves automatically.
• He also mentions using an abbreviated backswing and followthrough to keep the ball down, and this is important when hitting any kind of knockdown shot. On the show he specifically mentioned keeping your hands at shoulder level or below. You can see this in the video as well.

Bear in mind that many of the short game shots you normally hit, even in good weather, are hit with these same techniques. Many short game shots are just knockdown shots. Master this technique and you'll improve your short game as well as your wind game.