1st Tee Jitters

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You’re going about this the wrong way. Worrying about it now isn’t going to reduce the felt pressure, it’s going to increase it. Two weeks from now, who’s going to care what you did on the first tee? It’s not like it’s something life-and-death, is it? One thing you can do is to hit the club you have the greatest confidence in off the tee, even if it’s a 5-iron. Let the others laugh if they must; put the ball in the middle of the fairway and see how many others can match you. We have a shortish par 4 here where the biggest hitters on a good day can drive the green. But the best players lay up w/ something short of the fairway bunkers, even just a 5 iron or 5-wood. If you do that and anyone laughs or gives you a hard time, just say "It’s all about course management." I don’t know why the first tee should be any more or less hard than any other hole, provided you’re stretched and warmed up. It’s just another hole, isn’t it? And since that’s the case you just take the normal, nice and easy swing, and put the ball out there. You just pick a target in the fairway, and put a good swing on the ball. If you’re thinking about anything other than that, you’re not ready to hit. Mike PS: Do you have a pre-shot routine? If you don’t, it’s time to develop one. Part of its purpose is to eliminate distractions from your setup and shot. Mike Dalecki RSG-Wisconsin 2001 Info: http://dalecki.net/rsgwis I do not patronize spammers! Help keep RSG clean. Expect the same etiquette from me on RSG as on the golf course. RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/daleckim.htm

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I’m a relative beginner but it won’t stop me from giving my opinion. :) Yesterday, due to an early frost, there was a one hour back up on the first tee, so when I teed off there was a bit of a gallery, so to speak. One thing that helped was definitely the pre-shot routine. It made me forget about anyone watching. Secondly, I watched others tee off before me and felt much more relaxed after seeing so many shanks, chunks, and slices. It made me realize that there are others worse than me. If the golfers in your group are very accomplished, maybe you should try and hit first so you don’t have to follow them. If they are duffers, then try to hit last. You won’t feel as much pressure following someone who has just shanked it into the parking lot. Good luck.

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Think of all the hundreds (thousands?) of people you’ve seen tee off. How many of their shots do you remember? None? That’s about how much your shot will be remembered by those who witness it. Don’t worry about it. A hundred years from now, no one will remember it. Not even you. Randy RSG-ATLANTA Information: http://www.YouGoGolf.com/rsg-atlanta.htm Charter Member, RSG "Clique" Night Watchman, FIAC My RSG Roll Call profile: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/brownr.htm RSG FAQ: http://ttsoft.com/thor/rsggolf.html Voiceovers/Narration/Production Services: www.RandyBrownProductions.com

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi all- I will be playing in a pro/am this Friday (yea me !!) and am really excited about it. However, I get 1st tee jitters when I’m just playing with friends and am already getting nervous and have four days to dwell on it ! Any suggestions for overcoming the jitters ???? Thanks in advance. "It ain’t pictures, it’s numbers that count". DD

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Try picturing the other golfers in their underwear. Seriously though. as with any other performance anxiety, just focus on what you have to do, and try and shut out the distractions. Pre-shot routine is great for this. [g] – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

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Any suggestions for overcoming the jitters ????

Oddly enough, the first pro-am I played in prompted me to develop (and then stick with) this: Warm up by grooving the putts. Go the practice tee and start with the lowest wedge. Hit a few middle and long irons, finishing with the 3W and Driver, in that order. Time all this so I can walk from there to the first tee "ready". In your case, there’ll be a time interval between the last one from the practice tee to the first tee, but you’ll have the confindence that you’re loose. Or, if you can find’em, maybe a couple of Quaaludes would do it. You might not hit it very far, but you won’t give a damn, either. Tom K.I.S.S. Pucker Inspector http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/jeffreyt.htm

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The best way to thrive under pressure is put yourself under pressure more often. In pro/ams and golf outings I’ll request to be the "anchor man". At times I end up really being the anchor man…. as in pull everyone else down. ;) Seriously. I liken in to public speaking. Even the most accomplished speakers get butterflies before the event. That little bit of anxiety is what makes the speech animated instead of monotone/dry. I used to get the same thing before any competition. Oddly enough it disappears when you are ready to pull the trigger and you perform (sometimes badly and sometimes like a pro). Relish the jitters and the ability to compete. One day you may be sitting in an armchair wishing you had pushed yourself harder. That, to me, would be much worse than a moment of anxiety. Scott

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Several years ago, I played in a lot of pro-ams. My first one was in Monterey, and our group (club pro, PGA pro and 2 amateurs) were hitting in front of Lee Trevino, et al. In fact Al Geiberger was right behind him. I was so nervous that I was almost about to break out in hives….until I saw the club pro, and the PGA pro in front of us, put their drives into the woods. Then it hit me. Who cares what I do? Get that in your mind. It’s only a game, and you don’t make your living at it. You’re in a win/win situation. If you screw up, it’s expected. When you nail your drive, you’ll be rewarded with some nods of approval, etc. Have a good time, you’ll look back and wish that you hadn’t taken it quite so seriously. "Someone likes every shot" bk – FIAC of the first order! Please: no spam, off topic, or crossposts as explained in the RSG FAQ: at http://ttsoft.com/thor/rsggolf.html

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The advice given about a pre-shot routine is good. What you need to do is chase all those negative thoughts out of your head and replace them with positive ones. One way to do that is to keep yourself busy. Stand behind the ball on the target line and imagine the ball’s flight so you will have a good picture of the intended shot. Then, when you are over the ball, make sure your forearms are relaxed and loose. Make your best swing, making sure you don’t have a lot of excess movement like swaying, etc. Lastly, don’t give a damn about where the ball is going. If you rid yourself of tension, have a positive mental picture and stay in balance, chances are good that you will make solid contact and the results will surprise not only you, but your playing companions as well. Good luck! Bruce RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/newmanb.htm http://go.to/bruce_newman

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Hi all- I will be playing in a pro/am this Friday (yea me !!) and am really excited about it. However, I get 1st tee jitters when I’m just playing with friends and am already getting nervous and have four days to dwell on it ! Any suggestions for overcoming the jitters ???? Thanks in advance. "It ain’t pictures, it’s numbers that count". DD Seriously. I liken in to public speaking. Even the most accomplished speakers get butterflies before the event. That little bit of anxiety is what makes the speech animated instead of monotone/dry.

Exactly. I’m sure even top pros gets jitters on the first tee of a tournament. Probably not because they’re worried they’ll shank one into the ball washer, but just because its a big mental boost to get off to a good start. You don’t overcome the jitters, you learn to let them not affect you. The tightness you feel doesn’t affect your swing, it is the fact you _think_ it will that it does. Like others have said, it isn’t that big of a deal what happens on the first tee. Just remember that everyone in your "audience" is about to tee off themselves, so they aren’t too likely to get too amused at anyone else’s misfortune, lest they look really stupid if they do something even worse when its their turn. So just ignore it for now, when the time draws close just let the tightness take over and don’t sweat it. Make sure you have enough spare time to watch a few groups before yours tee off. When your turn comes, right before you hit think about the bad shots you saw, and realize that it isn’t the first tee at Augusta with you having to follow Tiger Woods, David Duval and Ernie Els, and just play your shot. If you screw up, its a learning experience, if you don’t, save the memory for next time. I have one really good memory that helps me in such situations. I’m a single digit handicap and fairly long hitter, so I’m playing the tips everywhere I go. But despite my handicap I’m not the most consistent ball striker, and since my warmup usually consists of a half dozen practice swings taken one minute before I tee off, I’m not always that great at getting off to a good start. So there’s always a bit of pressure if I’m going off the back tee on #1 on a nice 140 slope course if I’ve got any sort of audience. One time I was in that very situation, except it was worse as there were four groups backed up at the tee, and the group in front of mine was a foursome of pros (mini-tour types, not "real" ones, but still) They all hit long and straight, then I’m standing up on the same tee, and having to wait for them to hit before I can. I was sure I was going to hit a stinker and cause the people waiting to wonder not only what I was doing on the back tees, but why I was wasting time by waiting on guys 300 yards out. I was tight as hell, and I don’t know how, but right after the last guy hit his approach I put a beautiful swing on that ball and knocked it right where he had been standing a moment ago. I’ll bet a few in the audience thought I was a "leftover" pro who’d had to join up with the hacks in the next group Once you get a good success like that in a pressure situation, it’ll help for the future, trust me. — I have discovered a remarkable proof which this .sig is too small to contain!

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I used to get REALLY nervous playing in front of large crowds, particularly on the first tee. I remember playing in the Lansing (MI) All-City tournament about 15 years ago. In the first round, I was playing in the same group as the 3-time defending champion and there were probably about 500 people gathered around to watch us (make that ‘him’) tee off. I was scared anyway, but after my playing partner cracked a nice drive right down the middle and the crowd appluded loudly, my hands were shaking and I started praying to God just to let me not whiff it. Well, I still don’t know how I did it, but I ripped a gorgeous draw down the middle and air-mailed the champ by about 40 yards. Had a 5-iron approach into a par 5, put it in there about 20 feet away, and the nerves went away immediately. (Of course, then I proceeded to 3 putt and went on to have a crummy round, while the champ shot about 68.) Humorous memories aside, some of the best advice I ever got regarding the first tee jitters is this: Nobody really cares what you do. The guys you’re playing with are far too worried about embarassing themselves to worry about you and most of the people watching are hackers who can’t break 100 even giving themselves 10 mulligans a round. Nobody’s going to remember if you hit a worm-burner that doesn’t make the ladies tee, so go have some fun! Ray Pezzi

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3 wood 3 wood leave the driver in the bag for a hole or two Ken Plants (forgiveness is easier to get than permission)

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Swallow your pride and bring your most reliable wood — probably a 3 or 5 — to the first tee, no matter how long the hole is. (If it’s a short par 3, bring more iron than you need.) Then swing smooth and easy…forget about distance. Be satisfied with 150 yards anywhere in the fairway or the short stuff. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to warm up at a range beforehand. —– Posted via NewsOne.Net: Free (anonymous) Usenet News via the Web —– http://newsone.net/ — Free reading and anonymous posting to 60,000+ groups NewsOne.Net prohibits users from posting spam. If this or other posts

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Me too. A few things…. 1) Try to put yourself in the position beforehand. Get a friend or 2 on the range. Pick one shot you’re going to hit that’s the pressure shot, and have them stare at you intently. Do your whole preshot routine and pretend it’s your shot at the pro-am. Then do it again later. By the time you get there, it will have been the 3rd or 4th time, not the first time. 2) When I’m nervous and hit a bad tee shot, I can feel how I tensed up and swung differently. Immediately after, I know that if I can have a second chance it will be better. So, pretend you already got the first one out of the way, loosen up, and pretend your tee shot is your second one. 3) They EXPECT you to be nervous and hit a crummy shot. Anything better is gravy

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Keep in mind that you’re the "AM" and not the "PRO". Think about what you want to do (solid contact/fairway) and not about what you don’t want to do.

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Hi All- last week I posted about having 1st tee jitters and that I was playing in a pro-am. Well…… thanks to all that wrote and offered suggestions, they did help. I hit a short but very safe 1st drive and then proceeded to hit a 3 wood on the green for an opening par. Proceeded to shoot an 83 so with a current 18 handicap had a nice little 65 net, good enough for a 4th place finish. My pro shoot a 66 ( I did harass him about beating him). My team finished 1st place !! A very good day for all of us. Thanks again for the help. " What an ugly par" "It ain’t pictures, it’s numbers"

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Congrats, Dennis! Bruce RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/newmanb.htm http://go.to/bruce_newman

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Did the group behind complain about that trail of sand you were laying down all around the course? When I was 19 I shot 80 off a 23 handicap to win the monthly medal with a 57. B. J. Wilkinson – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Hi All- last week I posted about having 1st tee jitters and that I was playing in a pro-am. Well…… thanks to all that wrote and offered suggestions, they did help. I hit a short but very safe 1st drive and then proceeded to hit a 3 wood on the green for an opening par. Proceeded to shoot an 83 so with a current 18 handicap had a nice little 65 net, good enough for a 4th place finish. My pro shoot a 66 ( I did harass him about beating him). My team finished 1st place !! A very good day for all of us. Thanks again for the help. " What an ugly par" "It ain’t pictures, it’s numbers"

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Did the group behind complain about that trail of sand you were laying down all around the course?

Any time *anyone* shoots a good net score in a net competition, the others complain about sandbagging. It doesn’t seem to matter who the golfer is. When I was 19 I shot 80 off a 23 handicap to win the monthly medal with a 57.

If that’s your lowest net score ever, I believe it. My low net score is a 56 on a par 69 course. I had to chip in once and get up and down *nine* times to shoot a 75 off of a 19-handicap. It was a truly freakish round; I’ve never broken 80 before or since (even though I’ve been as low as a 14.5). Net 65 is just a good day. Congratulations, Dennis! Doug — ___, IBM Microelectronics Division, Burlington, Vermont o ASICs Product Development Engineering | | Phone: (802)769-7095 t/l: 446-7095 fax: x6752 | . Doug’s Homepage: http://members.tripod.com/~masseyd (|)

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Proceeded to shoot an 83 so with a current 18 handicap had a nice little 65 net, good enough for a 4th place finish. My pro shoot a 66 ( I did harass him about beating him).

Let’s be clear, here. You didn’t beat him. He waxed your butt by 17 shots, and yet somehow you think this is a good thing. Had he beaten you by 19 shots you’d be lamenting your poor play. Congrats to your pro for shooting 66. Wonder what he could’ve shot in a better pairing?

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I didn’t get to hear the other great suggestions about 1st tee nerves unfortunately, but being a mental trainer I teach golfers to first of all take some deep breaths, followed by a repeated affirmation or mantras (eg. "I’m calm and in control" repeated 20-30 times) followed by walking up to the tee, doing a quick visualization of the ‘perfect shot’, then (as much as possible) shutting down the mind’s thoughts and just let the swing ‘happen’, rather than forcing it. That’s what I’ve been teaching and it seems to get good results – worth a try anyway. Best of luck. Craig Townsend http://www.mindtraining.net/golf.php3 "Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve"

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi All- last week I posted about having 1st tee jitters and that I was playing in a pro-am. Well…… thanks to all that wrote and offered suggestions, they did help. I hit a short but very safe 1st drive and then proceeded to hit a 3 wood on the green for an opening par. Proceeded to shoot an 83 so with a current 18 handicap had a nice little 65 net, good enough for a 4th place finish. My pro shoot a 66 ( I did harass him about beating him). My team finished 1st place !! A very good day for all of us. Thanks again for the help. " What an ugly par" "It ain’t pictures, it’s numbers"

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Proceeded to shoot an 83 so with a current 18 handicap had a nice little 65 net, good enough for a 4th place finish. My pro shoot a 66 ( I did harass him about beating him). Let’s be clear, here. You didn’t beat him. He waxed your butt by 17 shots, and yet somehow you think this is a good thing. Had he beaten you by 19 shots you’d be lamenting your poor play. Congrats to your pro for shooting 66. Wonder what he could’ve shot in a better pairing?

Let’s be clear here. By the rules of the game they were playing, the guy won. That’s usually referred to as "beating" someone.

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Congratulations! Ken Venturi’s 1st tee thoughts were the same – "Just make a good swing & don’t worry about distance." {He often remarked that the 1st drive was usually longer & straighter than drives later in the tournament.}

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Let’s be clear, here. You didn’t beat him. He waxed your butt by 17 shots, and yet somehow you think this is a good thing. Had he beaten you by 19 shots you’d be lamenting your poor play. Congrats to your pro for shooting 66. Wonder what he could’ve shot in a better pairing? Let’s be clear here. By the rules of the game they were playing, the guy won. That’s usually referred to as "beating" someone.

Yeah, right! An old guy at our course has like a 26 handicap. He plays from the Senior tees and has been on a roll of late carding a few 88’s for a net 62. He sometimes gives me grief when his net scores are slightly better than my net scores. What he doesn’t realize is that if we played a match, I’d kill him. I’d make sure we played the same tees (of his choice). If I played the Senior tees it might be a close battle, but I’d probably still win. If he played the Blues, I’d wax him since he’d be lucky to break 105. Now back to the original poster, I would concede that he "beat" his pro only if they had a wager and the pro agreed to give up that many handicap strokes. The final determinant of who lost is who slapped leather coming off the 18th green.

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