first tee nerves!

hi all,
got my first ever competition at the weekend with the society from the company i work for. got a pre-shot routine dialled in and im reading various articles on golf psychology but have any of you got any little tips for calming the nerves on the 1st tee. im off in the 1st fourball so the thought of 20 of my colleagus watching me is quite daunting to say the least!

Tell a joke to your group minutes before you all tee off (and try to let other groups watching on hear you). It puts everyone in a great mood and you get the round started laughing, becase company outings are meant for fun, not competition. You do that enought at work, it's time to have fun with those you fight with all day long. (Just be sure the joke it clean...not too short like the "my mamma is soooo fat.., but an anicdotal that has a good setup and killer punch at the end.)

thanks greg,
really looking forward to the comp and swinging really well at present dont want a lot of good practise to go to waste by being too nervous.

Breath slowly, tell youself you are trying to hit it about 3/4 the distance you normally do (swing easy), and remind yourself how good you are evey 3 seconds!!! positive self talk. On the first I'm conviced I'm better then Tiger!!! Good luck

i tried the slowdown thing, but it doesnt work for me


im no. 1 on my golf team so im always first one to tee off, killer pressure, i tried to breath make a slow swing but it wasnt for me so i swing as hard as i can, and usually get the best drive of the day like that 10-20 yards longer than my norm

I just try to tell myself that everyone is human.. even tiger. Remind yourself that youve hit this shot a hundred times before. Think positive, think smooth and easy swings, step up, set up.. n swing.

per B. Rotelli,
hit the shot you know you can hit, not the one you think you should be able to hit.
Have an established preshot routine and stick to it.
Take a few waggles before shots to loosen up and get some movement going
If you have a swing thought, have one and stick to it throughout the round.
Aim for the smallest target you can visualize.

thanks for the tips guys.
sure they will be of help.
realistically anything around the 100 mark would be a good score for me as this is my first competitive round and the course bears no resemblance to anything i normally play in its length and undulations. hope to put all the great tips ive received recently to good use!

keep you posted

Slats,

All good suggestions. I suppose though, your nerves could be caused by your high expectations or not wanting to fail in front of your peers.

They're your mates, I reckon they'd be having the same feelings - keep that in mind.

I agree with Greg - a fun day. I'd be having a few cans before (during and after) I teed off.

Good hitting Slats and enjoy the day.

Nicole

good point nicole!
overlooked the fact that there are no top golfers in this comp so they are as likely to be feeling the same.
and yes my expectations are high and i need to learn how to control that!
unfortunately im a bit of a perfectionist and so mediocrity is hard to swallow!
been flat out this week so only had a quick browse at psychgolf article but already spotted some things of interest. full critique to follow!
t.t.f.n

These are a list of some of the things i try to do:
Breath deeply and slowly as this should help you relax

• Take alot of practice swing before teeing of (nice and slow) to get you flexable
• Don't put pressure on yourself and keep positive
• Finnaly for the first swing i do on the tee box i never try to swing slower as you can become over relaxed and lose concentration. Instead i try to just swing the club about 80% and follow through at normal tempo

hope my tips help you

Here is a novel idea ...

I was in a pro-am once and I was having a light lunch before 'the off' and my amateur partner joins me at the table. He sits down and a few minutes later the waiteress comes with a tray of whisky's (4 of them) with soda.

He downs them all, eats a greasy pie with gravy ...

"To calm my nerves" he says as I sat wtaching him, trying to figure this out. it was 11:30 in the morning. "I won't even realise I'm on the tee after the other 4 I'll have just now".

__________________
Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

Hi.
One of the benefits of being left handed is i always tee off with my back to my buddies so i never get first tee nerves.

Let me suggest that you work on developing a sound pre-shot routine. When tom Kite felt first tee nerves, because he had a solid pre shot routine, just a little thing like opening and closing the velcro fastener on his glove would calm his nerves immediately becuase that was the SIGNAL to his sub-concious to start his pre shot routine. then nothing else around him mattered.

Hope this helps.......regards.... T.P.Grealey

I try to "overload" my thoughts with one swing thought. you don't want to thin too much, but i think everyone has one swing thought. if you are focused on that one swing thought, you will completely foget about anything going on around you. for me the swing thought is smooth and relaxed.

I always get nervous for the first hole or two in a round because I don't want to ruin the round with a bad score in the beginning. So what I try and do is just visualize the ball flight and say to myself your just hitting a ball with a club out in a field somewhere. It puts things in perspective and helps to relax me because I don't think of all the things I need to do with my swing I just swing the club like I've programmed myseld to do with my pre round practice.