First tee jitters

Khamelion

Khamelion

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Yet again at another forum I let first tee nerves get the better of me, having a laugh with the other players, I'm reminded of my past indiscretions and inability to clear the ladies tee box. I try to change the subject to clear my head, but the thought is in there now.

Anyhow, I line up my first shot of the day, then physically shaking I line up my third shot of the day as I play a provisional, due to the first going well let into tree and nearly onto the 9th fairway. The starter pipes up, that's new, everyone's been going down the right today. Well there's nothing like being different, even the provisional flirts with the trees and passes by.

This kind of set the tone for my round in the north east king of kings at Rockcliffe, with confidence rock bottom and my swing all to pot, I would say my consistency left, but it never arrived. I made par on some holes, birdied one, doubles and trebles on others where the ball decided it would like a swim.

All in all a nice walk in the sun for the most part, but today, Mark Twain got it spot on.
 
I suffer baaaaaaad with first tee gitters durring comps. Played a big comp on friday and the 1st was only playing 305. Even still i find it best to smash your driver as hard as possible. I find that this at least makes you commit to the shot
 
Dave if you want ill give you some lesson I mean see my bomber at the first 320yards middle of fairway!!! Not forum distance either

Na mate just messing

just tee it High and hit it smooth that's my moto
 
Wayman said:
Dave if you want ill give you some lesson I mean see my bomber at the first 320yards middle of fairway!!!
Not forum distance either

Na mate just messing

just tee it High and hit it smooth that's my moto
Click to expand...


Yes that was a Cracker mate :thup:
Witnessed ( and admired ) by me , Lump and Lincoln Quaker

Then again......There are so many fairway sprinkler heads on that course , are you sure it didnt hit 1 of them:D
 
Wayman said:
Dave if you want ill give you some lesson I mean see my bomber at the first 320yards middle of fairway!!! Not forum distance either

Na mate just messing

just tee it High and hit it smooth that's my moto
Click to expand...
Did the starter say anything about how far that drive went?
 
For me, the secret is to play within yourself. Set an sensible goal, e.g. it might just be a 240yd punt with a 3 wood or a 3/4 driver, and just nudge it out there.

There is nothing to be frightened of, and by playing to a reasonable goal, even if you duff it you're still left with a simple nudge up the fairway.
 
Hobbit said:
For me, the secret is to play within yourself. Set an sensible goal, e.g. it might just be a 240yd punt with a 3 wood or a 3/4 driver, and just nudge it out there.

There is nothing to be frightened of, and by playing to a reasonable goal, even if you duff it you're still left with a simple nudge up the fairway.
Click to expand...

This to me is great advice, I try to think about what I want to do not what not to do.

Pick a target swing easy and........
 
Khamelion said:
Yet again at another forum I let first tee nerves get the better of me, having a laugh with the other players, I'm reminded of my past indiscretions and inability to clear the ladies tee box. I try to change the subject to clear my head, but the thought is in there now.

Anyhow, I line up my first shot of the day, then physically shaking I line up my third shot of the day as I play a provisional, due to the first going well let into tree and nearly onto the 9th fairway. The starter pipes up, that's new, everyone's been going down the right today. Well there's nothing like being different, even the provisional flirts with the trees and passes by.

This kind of set the tone for my round in the north east king of kings at Rockcliffe, with confidence rock bottom and my swing all to pot, I would say my consistency left, but it never arrived. I made par on some holes, birdied one, doubles and trebles on others where the ball decided it would like a swim.

All in all a nice walk in the sun for the most part, but today, Mark Twain got it spot on.
Click to expand...

one of the most common problems I encounter (probably second only to pressure putts) for creating negative thoughts, poor shots, and a subsequent poor round.

The brain does not really recognise the word don't so trying hard not to remember a bad shot you will inevitably think it and consequently thinking "don't go left" your brain inevitable thinks "go left? ok then". So if you can't think don't you need to replace that negative thought with something else.

Ideally you think instead of a positive thought and see a positive result while behind the ball. Think of a previous long drive or similar great tee shot. Then make that memory softer and quieter, send it deep into the back of your mind and think of nothing or at least nothing related to golf like a sequence of numbers or song lyrics.

This may not work instantly it can take time and practice but it is very effective
 
i fudge my tee shot every time! every single time im on the 1st tee in a comp, i was almost thinking of blobing the hole and save myself a ball lol.

we need at least a 170 yard carry to hit the fairway on ours, so i take out my 5 iron to make sure i carry over the raised fairway.
 
I love the first tee, its around the 15th i get a bit nervy if I am on for a good score/.
 
I used to be exactly the same, hated the first tee, so much so that I'd be thinking about it the night before and wouldn't be able to sleep. I'd step on the tee and my heart would be racing, hands shaking (sounds like an Eminem song) then usually slice a biggen OB and have to reload to he sound of abuse and the odd laugh.

The only way I got over it was time, keep playing competitive rounds, play a few rounds with randoms from your club, eventually it stopped and I'm fine now, also down to the fact that I pretty much know and have played with every member at my club. If I do find myself getting a few butterflies then I just swing nice and slow, make sure I get the club face square at impact and hit it maybe 200 yards, oh and just to make sure, I ALWAYS aim left on the first tee.
 
G_Mulligan said:
Ideally you think instead of a positive thought and see a positive result while behind the ball. Think of a previous long drive or similar great tee shot. Then make that memory softer and quieter, send it deep into the back of your mind and think of nothing or at least nothing related to golf like a sequence of numbers or song lyrics.
Click to expand...

I'm all for the mental side of the game, it's just that something happens, be it the first tee and a bad memory, a bad shot once the round has started or a distraction and then any thoughts of putting a decent round together flies into the rough.

I can hit decent ball, occasionally I can put a few together, but getting consistency is hard for me. I'll definitely give your "softer and quieter" process a go, in fact I've picked a good shot and got a piece of music already trying to find a home in my mind.
 
Khamelion said:
I'm all for the mental side of the game, it's just that something happens, be it the first tee and a bad memory, a bad shot once the round has started or a distraction and then any thoughts of putting a decent round together flies into the rough.

I can hit decent ball, occasionally I can put a few together, but getting consistency is hard for me. I'll definitely give your "softer and quieter" process a go, in fact I've picked a good shot and got a piece of music already trying to find a home in my mind.
Click to expand...

Just put this up in advice for a new golfer.
But the same is true of this particular situation, finding and sticking to it helps 1st tee nerves or the 18th tee if you're in with a chance of winning or just need a par for a personal best score.
If you can get this down, it will help.

"Something that would be useful to you would be to develop a real good pre-shot routine you absolutely stick to, just a set of check points you go through & do the same way every shot.

Something the Tour Pro's do for good reason as it gives the brain familiarity to what's about to happen and you focus on small easy to achieve steps which helps take the 'worry' & anxiety away, it's also one of the few things that amateur club golfers can do just as easily as the Tour Pro's & get the same benefit from too.

Doesn't have to be a 'long torturous affair' with practice you can get it to pretty much the same time each shot which will help your rhythm through the game also.

My advice would be, once you select the club stand few feet directly behind the ball, pick your target (helps the brain focus if you give it a precise target, ie. you're not just trying to hit it 'somewhere' down the fairway, or somewhere near or on the green. The brain in a target game focusses best on the job if you're precise. Focus on 'seeing' the ball about to go on to that target positively.

To help with aim pick a spot couple feet in front of the ball, then you have three points to help with the direction.

Once at ball, aim club face square to your precise chosen target line, then assemble your neutral grip, then move your feet in and get your stance all aligned parallel left of that target line. Soft hands, soft forearms, stops jerky movements.
(If you take stance before aiming club face & assembling your grip you're much more likely to be aimed not where you think you are & not at target. Generally a RH golfer who does this feet/stance first usually ends up with shoulders aimed at target-not what you want- so the club face will then be aimed further right of target.)

Don't forget to breathe, a couple looks along ball, through the point in front of ball then target, a couple of small 2 feet or so club draw backs governed by your shoulders of the club so you're not getting 'frozen' at address (helps too if you gently feel ground under both your feet with tiny pressure left then right the direction of the way your weight will flow in the backswing) One breath, last look at target and off you go.

Sounds long written down, but once you get the flow of it from picking your line to the shot it all can be well less than 25 secs."

The familiarity of the routine, will stop the nerves, replace any negative thoughts with positive thoughts through the small actions of going through your routine.
 
What you need to do is accept you are going to hit bad shots and doing so on the first tee or the 15th tee makes no difference, they just happen at different points in the round. You aren't going to have a bad round because you hit a bad tee shot on the first, but you might have a bad round if you don't react to it very well. So what if you double bogey the first or hit a bad tee shot? It has no bearing on the rest of the round - unless you let it.
 
Lots of decent opening drives at Camberley (and the odd bad 'un) which sort of added to and took away the nerves in similar fashion. At the moment of truth you have to trust what you have worked on and the swing and hope you put a good one on it. Everyone gets nervous and to be honest if I wasn't a little bit nervous I'd be even more concerned
 
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