Cold
Most golfers have probably heard that the ball doesn’t fly as far when it’s cold outside. Everyone seems to have their own theories on how much the cold affects distance. We’ve seen all sorts of different numbers thrown out there on forums, some of them very wild. It is true that the physics of the ball flight dynamics change due to temperature (23). But, to be honest, the reduction of yardage due to cold air is likely much less than you think. Titleist says “distance loss of 1.5% for every 20°F reduction in temperature.” This equates to 3 yards on a 200 yard shot. That’s likely not as much distance as you are losing during your rounds.
Stat guru, Lou Stagner, shows that this extra loss of distance is not just in your head. Using Shotlink data from the PGA Tour from 2010 to 2020, he illustrated how driving distances dropped as temperature dropped, just as we would expect (24). However, the drop in distance is not 1.5% per every 20 degree drop in temperature as Titleist reports. When looking at driving distances for temperatures between 95 and 55 (40 degree drop) Lou’s data shows a distance loss of 4.6% instead of an anticipated 3% drop. Where does this extra 1.6% loss of distance come from? Is Titleist wrong? That seems highly unlikely.
In another graph Stagner released, he showed a steady drop in club head speed as the temperature drops (24). Why does clubhead speed drop in cold weather? Is it the added layers of clothing like most people would think? Possibly. But one would think that with millions of dollars on the line and clothing sponsors that shower players with free gear, they could find clothing that isn’t so restricting on their swing that they notice a loss of distance. Losing 1.6% of total driving distance due to clothing alone would surely lead to sponsor changes and the return of 1990’s baggy clothing. Where does this mysterious 1.6% come from then?
Muscle Performance in Cold
Studies show that at moderately cool temperatures, even brief exposure to cool air results in almost immediate decreases in muscle strength and power (2,3,6,7). Gatterer et al showed even at temperatures as warm as 68 Fahrenheit, decreases in performance are already beginning and performance decrements increase as the temperature drops further (3). Further, past studies “stated that almost any level of cooling can reduce muscle power” (12). The effects of the cold on muscle performance show effects all over the body. Jumping power (which is highly correlated to drive distance) is significantly impaired at even low levels of cooling (6). Other studies also point to decreases in jumping performance due to decrease peak strength and peak power (2,3,6,7,19). “Bergh and Ekblom, 1979 best demonstrated this relationship finding the height of the jump decreased with a decrease in muscle temperature at a rate of 4.2% x degree C” (7).
Sticking with the lower body, we also see decreases in postural control and dynamic balance (3,6) with cold weather. Castellani and Tipton show that even cooling of the feet is enough to impair balance (6). We wrote an entire article about the importance of balance in the golf swing so we probably don’t need to elaborate on the importance of that here.
Looking at the rest of the body, we see effects everywhere. We see decreased range of motion due to “increased joint and tissue stiffness” (7). Decreased stretch-reflex and stretch shortening cycle (7) which we see in various body parts during the swing. This stretch shortening cycle is a major power generator during transition of the golf swing. We also see decreases in coordination of movements (3), decreases in hand strength and dexterity (8,13,14,17,18), as well as decreases in visual acuity, general alertness, and reflexes (3). It is speculated that “muscle coordination might be more affected…. than muscle velocity or power” and that this coordination deficit may become larger with more complex tasks such as a golf swing (3). It’s clear the effects of cold on the body are wide ranging and significant. Let’s see why all this happens.
Why Exactly Does Performance Suffer? (Warning! It’s about to get real nerdy)
In cold weather, the body redirects the flow of blood away from the extremities and into the core in order to protect our brain and other vital organs (2). The decrease of blood flow to the extremity muscles leads to muscle cooling as well as decreased delivery of fuel to the muscle, decrease in nerve conduction, and a decrease in the speed of muscle contraction. Cold also decreases ATPase activity and ATP utilization, delays cross bridge formation, decreases nerve firing rate, and increases coactivation of antagonistic muscles. We also learned earlier how cold impairs the ability of muscle spindles to trigger the stretch-reflex which is a major source of power development (6). These are the changes that happen within the body which lead to the decrease in strength, power, coordination, etc that we learned about earlier.
Scoring
In 2023, Jowett and Phillips (22) released a paper detailing the effect of weather conditions on scoring in The Master’s golf tournament from 1980-2019. They chose this tournament since it has famously hosted on the same course every year making comparisons easier. Their main finding was that the best predictor of scores for rounds 1 and 2 was the “wet-bulb temperature”. Wet-bulb temperature takes into account air temperature as well as air humidity. They found significant negative association with air and wet-bulb temperatures; meaning, as the temperature goes down, the scores go up. For those wondering if damper conditions often found in the cold were a reason for higher scores, the authors noted “precipitation during play and the dampness of the ground (as quantified by rainfall up to ten days before play) do not have a consistent and statistically significant effect on the competitors’ performance.” With all we’ve learned so far, it’s not hard to see why scores are so affected by the cold. But can we do anything to combat this?
Combatting the Effects of the Cold
The first and most obvious thing to do is to wear the appropriate clothing. “Clothing represents the most important modifiable factor influencing the magnitude of physiological strain” (4). Layering is important which traps pockets of air between the layers creating more insulation from the cold. Merino wool is the optimal fabric to be worn against the skin as it has “greater thermal insulation properties and water absorbency than synthetic.” (3). Moisture wicking is important because as fabric becomes wet, is loses its insulating capacity. If windy, the outer layer should be made of a synthetic fabric that does well to stop the wind from penetrating through the layers. In very cold weather, a face covering should be worn to help pre-warm and humidify the air to protect airways. It also acts to improve overall comfort level in cold temperatures. (3). It is important to make sure your clothing does not restrict your range of motion as that could significantly impact your swing.
Note: Cotton is discouraged since it retains too much moisture.
Gloves
Our hands are our connection to the club. Many teachers and players say the hands are the most important part of the golf swing. They need to be protected from the cold as well. Hand function starts to decline rapidly in temperatures under just 59 F (2). We’ve already learned how cold affected the hands’ ability to produce grip strength and perform precise tasks (8). Interestingly, core body temperature and not hand temperature was the best predictor of hand function (14). This sounds extremely odd at first, but it does make sense when you break it down. If the core is cold, the body will divert blood from your extremities to keep the organs warm and working. This means the hands will get less blood, even if your hands are kept warm by gloves/mittens. So, while gloves/mitten are extremely vital in cold weather, if you don’t properly dress the rest of your body, the gloves won’t do you much good. In fact, finger dexterity can be maintained as effectively by heating the core as well as it is by heating the hands (13). Take care of the core first, then make sure you take care of the hands. Wearing gloves but allowing your core to get cold is like paying to insulate the walls of your house but leaving all the windows open.
Warm up
Warming up before a round is important regardless of the temperature but it becomes increasingly important in cold weather. We learned earlier that as muscle temperature drops, jump height reduces by a rate at 4.2% for every 1 C drop (7). Fortunately, the inverse is also true. “Exercise performance improves 2-5% for every 1 C increase in muscle temperature” (3). This is in line with other research on the topic showing a dynamic warm up can significantly improve lower body power output (12). The increases from a warmup basically undo all the negative effects we see from the cold. As muscles work, the body sends them more blood and the muscles warm up. This warming of the muscles increases delivery of fuel to muscles, speeds up nerve conduction, increased speed of muscle contraction, and increases muscle spindle ability to aid the stretch-reflex. Basically, it can work to undo all the bad stuff that happens when we are exposed to cold.
A big caveat here: the benefits of a warmup fade quickly. Gatterer et al. warns us that “muscle temperature needs to be maintained, otherwise a rapid decrease in muscle temperature can also occur upon cessation of exercise” (3). This is especially important in golf where there is a lot of down time. The golf swing takes an average of 1 second to perform. An average par 4 takes around 15 minutes to complete and we only complete (hopefully) 2 full swings in this 15-minute period. That’s 2 seconds of whole body warming and 898 seconds of muscle cooling. Of course, walking will help to negate this effect as the muscles are being actively used between shots. Riding in a cart will likely show larger decreases in muscle temperatures though we could not find specific research on this. Therefore, we recommend to all golfers, even walkers, to not think of a warmup only being done before a round on cold days. This warmup really needs to carry on for the whole round. You’ll need to specifically find ways to keep all your muscles active between shots. Walking will help but you need to remember that you not just walk before a round to warmup. It needs to be more dynamic than that. You may feel silly but bouncing, jumping, performing squats, pushups on a bench, torso rotations, and so on will all help to keep the muscles active and warm between shots. Your playing partners might (most likely) look at you funny or make fun of you but if you are able to maintain higher muscle and core temperatures than they do, you’ll be the one laughing at the end of the round. Don’t let your muscle performance and therefore your scoring suffer because you let your temperature drop during the round.
Nutrition
You can likely deduce that all this extra effort will burn a lot more calories. Performing in the cold is already enough to increase your energy expenditure by 10-40% even without the consistent warm up through your round (5). Therefore, making sure you are ingesting calories during you round is very important. If you haven’t read the Nutrition Article yet, you may want to check that out because we aren’t going into that much detail here. The basics of cold weather nutrition is that the availability of glucose may be impaired in cold weather, so it is very important to make sure you have a lot on hand (and in your blood) during the round (5, 10). Carbohydrates are the best way to quickly increase blood glucose. In the nutrition article, we spoke of the importance of keeping blood glucose elevated during a round and how a dip impacts performance. This appears to be even more important in cold weather. So, when it’s cold make sure you keep extra snacks on hand.
Surprisingly, hydration level does not seem to be as important as nutrition. Research has shown that dehydration “does not impair vasoconstriction or shivering, and does not increase danger of hypothermia” (5). Be sure to check out the article we wrote on hydration during golf to see how hydration affects your round; but it appears that extra hydration may not be needed in the cold.
Age and Gender
One very quick note: Older age and female gender are both associated with decreased ability of the body to regulate core temperature in cold weather. These populations will need to be aware that they will need a longer, more thorough warmup and more clothing than other populations (2,3,20).
Summary
· Cold weather reduces ball flight by 1.5% due to changes in aerodynamics
· Shotlink data shows 4.6% reduction in driving distance when temperatures drop from 95 to 55
· Muscle performance is significantly reduced in cold temperatures leading to reductions in clubhead speed.
· The best predictor of scoring changes due to weather is changes in temperature.
· Appropriate clothing is vital to maintaining core body temperature and muscle temperature
o Wear layers, Merino wool base layer is best due to moisture wicking properties
o Avoid cotton layers
· Core temperature is more important to maintaining hand function than hand temperature itself
o Gloves are important but keeping core temperature warm is more important
· Warmup before and throughout your round to negate the negative effects of the cold on muscle performance
· Having extra snacks and more carbohydrates are important in cold weather.
References
2 Bubnis, M. A., & Hulsopple, C. (2022). Human Performance and Injury Prevention in Cold Weather Environments. Current sports medicine reports, 21(4), 112–116. https://doi.org/10.1249/JSR.0000000000000946
3 Gatterer, H., Dünnwald, T., Turner, R., Csapo, R., Schobersberger, W., Burtscher, M., Faulhaber, M., & Kennedy, M. D. (2021). Practicing Sport in Cold Environments: Practical Recommendations to Improve Sport Performance and Reduce Negative Health Outcomes. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(18), 9700. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189700
4 Castellani, J. W., & Young, A. J. (2012). Health and performance challenges during sports training and competition in cold weather. British journal of sports medicine, 46(11), 788–791. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2012-091260
5 Castellani, J. W., Young, A. J., Ducharme, M. B., Giesbrecht, G. G., Glickman, E., Sallis, R. E., & American College of Sports Medicine (2006). American College of Sports Medicine position stand: prevention of cold injuries during exercise. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 38(11), 2012–2029. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.mss.0000241641.75101.64
6 Castellani, J. W., & Tipton, M. J. (2015). Cold Stress Effects on Exposure Tolerance and Exercise Performance. Comprehensive Physiology, 6(1), 443–469. https://doi.org/10.1002/cphy.c140081
7 Patterson, S. M., Udermann, B. E., Doberstein, S. T., & Reineke, D. M. (2008). The effects of cold whirlpool on power, speed, agility, and range of motion. Journal of sports science & medicine, 7(3), 387–394.
8 Bleakley, C. M., Costello, J. T., & Glasgow, P. D. (2012). Should athletes return to sport after applying ice? A systematic review of the effect of local cooling on functional performance. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 42(1), 69–87. https://doi.org/10.2165/11595970-000000000-00000
10 Young, A. J., & Castellani, J. W. (2007). Exertional fatigue and cold exposure: mechanisms of hiker's hypothermia. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme, 32(4), 793–798. https://doi.org/10.1139/H07-041
12 Dixon, P. G., Kraemer, W. J., Volek, J. S., Howard, R. L., Gomez, A. L., Comstock, B. A., Dunn-Lewis, C., Fragala, M. S., Hooper, D. R., Häkkinen, K., & Maresh, C. M. (2010). The impact of cold-water immersion on power production in the vertical jump and the benefits of a dynamic exercise warm-up. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24(12), 3313–3317. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181f212e2
13 Brajkovic, D., & Ducharme, M. B. (2003). Finger dexterity, skin temperature, and blood flow during auxiliary heating in the cold. Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985), 95(2), 758–770. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00051.2003
14 Flouris, A. D., Cheung, S. S., Fowles, J. R., Kruisselbrink, L. D., Westwood, D. A., Carrillo, A. E., & Murphy, R. J. (2006). Influence of body heat content on hand function during prolonged cold exposures. Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985), 101(3), 802–808. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00197.2006
18 Barnes, W. S., & Larson, M. R. (1985). Effects of localized hyper- and hypothermia on maximal isometric grip strength. American journal of physical medicine, 64(6), 305–314.
19 Carlson, L. A., Fowler, C., & Lawrence, M. A. (2019). Agility and Vertical Jump Performances Are Impacted by Acute Cool Exposure. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 33(6), 1648–1652. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002129
20 Tajmir, P., Grierson, L. E., & Carnahan, H. (2013). Interactions between cold ambient temperature and older age on haptic acuity and manual performance. Canadian journal on aging = La revue canadienne du vieillissement, 32(2), 195–202. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0714980813000184
22 Jowett, H., & Phillips, I. D. (2023). The effect of weather conditions on scores at the United States Masters golf tournament. International journal of biometeorology, 67(11), 1897–1911. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-023-02549-6
23 Allen,T., Bowley, A., Wood, P., Henrikson, E., Moreales, E., & James, D. (2012). Effect of temperature of golf ball dynamics. Procedia Engineering, 34, 634-639.
24 Melton, Z. These 2 charts show how cold weather affects distance off the tee. 2020. Golf.com