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Posted

I was playing an inter club mixed foursomes match on Sunday and I duffed my 3 wood off the 1st tee about 30 yards (so did the other guy). There was a bit of a crowd up to watch as it was a semi-final but nothing crazy (30 people perhaps???). Anyway I was relatively calm once the round got going and myself and my partner won our match, however the team lost which was disappointing. It got me wondering though, what gets your heart racing and blood pumping, the first tee?, a short chip?, 3 foot putts?. What do you do to combat the nerves or do you just go with it. Have you ever been gripped by fear Jason Day style?

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Posted

I think it is only adrenaline that is pumping through your body. It happens to most people and once you realize that is what it is and embrace it, you will look forward to it each time you have it. 


Posted

First tee jitters are always there for me in any competitive round.  The club feels really light in my hands and pulling the ball seems to be the norm.  Recently I've been swinging with 2 clubs in my hand (Like some baseball players do in the batters box) and it has been helping me get my feel back for the first tee shot. Deep breaths and pretending its just another round of golf are critical for me to perform well in competitive golf.

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Posted

 

  On 8/9/2016 at 3:57 PM, DannyMac said:

The club feels really light in my hands and pulling the ball seems to be the norm.

Expand  

I usually find my first tee jitters are tied to worrying about 'hitting' the ball in the fairway, not swinging the club.  My shot is also normally a pull left too when I mess up. Subconsciously I think I am trying to steer or control the ball and then have a tendency to hit the ball too square instead of inside out.  If I can only think about my target or one aspect of my swing, like light grip, my results are much better.  I know the wisdom is to "keep your eye on the ball", but once I set up I 'un-focus', taking in a more big picture view rather than having my focus, and hence mind, on the ball.

In my bag: Cobra Bio Cell 10.5º driver ;  Cobra Bio Cell 3w;  Mizuno MP H4 3 - PW;  Mizuno MP T4 52º GW, 56º SW, 60º LW
Favorite ball Titleist Pro-V
One HIO....LUCK.

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Posted

Having a cart behind me with two (or worse yet one) impatient middle aged males always makes me nervous. I am not a slow player; I can keep up with all but the very best golfers. However, I do walk the course, and that's no match for a cart driven by a hyper-aggressive jerk. I can tell by the way these people zig-zag the cart aggressively like its an ATV and then sit arms folded on the tee box that they are irritable. Sometimes when I let them play through, I find that makes them even MORE irritable.. The don't even say "thank you", they just glare, or refuse to make eye contact. And truth be told, half these guys are not that good at golf! 

Anyway, when I get one of these guys behind me, I am sure to start missing easy putts, chips, etc. I am more worried about defending myself at this point, than I am about playing golf. 

 

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Posted

I try and drink a little before I get to the first tee. I'm always worried about where the ball will be going that day. If it's really early and I don't want to drink I'll try and build some confidence hitting some driver shots at the range.

  • Upvote 1

Driver: Nike VRS Covert 2.0
3W:  Nike VRS Covert
3H:  Nike VRS Covert 2.0
4H:  Nike VRS Covert 2.0
5-AW:  Nike  VRS-X
SW:  Nike VRS Covert
LW:  Nike VRS X3X 60*
Putter:  Nike Method MC-3i


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Posted
  On 8/9/2016 at 2:44 PM, Asmanning95 said:

It got me wondering though, what gets your heart racing and blood pumping, the first tee?, a short chip?, 3 foot putts?. What do you do to combat the nerves or do you just go with it. Have you ever been gripped by fear Jason Day style?

Expand  

After 45 years playing, and a lot of competitions over the last 20 years or so, I still get keyed-up to play, especially in a competition, but I don't feel like I'm nervous or worried.  I'm pretty sure that the only way to get to this point is to go through the nervousness a few of times (or maybe a lot of times).  Eventually you learn that what we're doing is just a game, there really is nothing to worry about, so you can embrace the feeling you get as excitement over something fun, rather than worry over what might go wrong.  Even in a competition you care about, excitement is a more positive emotion than worry.  So the next time you feel that faster heartbeat, and it gets a little hard to breathe, tell yourself that its fun to be excited like this, and embrace the feeling.  Then picture a good shot, maybe your last drive on the practice range, take a deep breath, and go stripe one down the middle.

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Dave

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the only thing wrong with this car is the nut behind the wheel.

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Posted

I'm not any more nervous on the first tee than I am on any other.  On my home course there are a couple of tees on the front 9 (par 3 4th and par 5 6th holes) that are more likely to gather an audience because they will sometimes back up a couple of groups, then the course will shake loose again. 

For me it depends more on the hole, where any trouble is, and what the wind is like.  Major trouble on the right will always make me a bit jittery unless there is lots of room on the left to bail.  Left to right wind can be an issue too, but that's true on any shot, not just the first tee.  I guess I've just been playing too long to let people watching bother me.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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Posted
  On 8/9/2016 at 5:49 PM, Psyber said:

I try and drink a little before I get to the first tee.

Expand  

I feel bad for people that don't drink a little. When they wake up each morning, that's the best they're going to feel that day - Sinatra (or Martin).

Gambling is illegal at Bushwood sir, and I never slice.   

           

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Posted

I always want to go first on the first tee. And yes, there have been few times I screwed up, but it was no big deal. I usually redeemed myself during the rest of the contest. The final score is what counts. 

I remember the first time my wife played. She was nervous that she would mess up in front of the others waiting to hit. I finally told her in a very loud voice, so everyone else could hear, not to worry, that everybody else who are waiting to hit, have hit bad shots off the tee. It worked. 

I think golfers who are a bit fearful of different golf shots, if possible, should try and look back at other things in their life they have been through that were much more tense and/or stressfull than playing a game. 

I have always thought that some folks take the game way to serious for their skill level. 

Myself I like to play well, but it's not the end of the world if I don't. I made it through a pretty grusome 4 years in the military, and I have done some public speaking in front of a some what hostile crowd. Sick family members. Car wrecks. Nothing bad that happens in my golf game can compare to those bad times in my life.

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A whole bunch of Tour Edge golf stuff...... :beer:

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Posted
  On 8/9/2016 at 7:05 PM, Patch said:

I remember the first time my wife played. She was nervous that she would mess up in front of the others waiting to hit. I finally told her in a very loud voice, so everyone else could hear, not to worry, that everybody else who are waiting to hit, have hit bad shots off the tee. It worked. 

Expand  

This reminded me of my visits to the Old Course in St Andrews.  If you're ever going to be nervous, that's the time.  Right in front of the R&A clubhouse, with people, maybe dozens of people, hanging out along the fence behind you, at the home of golf.  The trick there, go early, and watch other people tee off for a while.  You'll see hooks and slices that somehow miss the 100-yard wide fairway.  You'll see tops that roll 200 yards, and pop-ups that go 50.  And you'll see good shots too.  Its just a reminder that everyone hits bad shots occasionally, YOUR bad shot doesn't stand out to anyone but you.

Dave

:callaway: Rogue SubZero Driver

:titleist: 915F 15 Fairway, 816 H1 19 Hybrid, AP2 4 iron to PW, Vokey 52, 56, and 60 wedges, ProV1 balls 
:ping: G5i putter, B60 version
 :ping:Hoofer Bag, complete with Newport Cup logo
:footjoy::true_linkswear:, and Ashworth shoes

the only thing wrong with this car is the nut behind the wheel.

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Posted

I grew out of 1st tee jitters when I removed focus on the result of my shot and just focus on hitting the ball. Years ago, I would get some butterflies before walking out on stage and and playing, but now I can go out in front of a thousand people and care less. Once you put the game in perspective of life, it really doesn't matter. I may still top one on the first tee, but it really doesn't bother me. I think the last time I had jitters on a golf course was when a water moccasin zipped into a bush next to a tree close to my ball. I grabbed a club (not sure which) and whacked my ball back to the fairway and raced off. Man I hate snakes...

- Shane

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Posted

I got a big problem on the first tee anytime I'm hitting cold. It's sort of like I need a few range balls just to reassure myself I can hit a ball.

 

 

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Posted

The first tee is probably the most fearless I am the entire round because I have not yet started to play poorly.  haha

For real though, the better I play the more nervous I get because doubt starts to creep in...


Posted

I'm always nervous on the first tee. I want to play well and it doesn't help my anxiety much. It's gone after the first tee and usually it doesn't hurt me at all. I just get up there and swing at it, wherever it goes it goes. I can't control it.

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Posted (edited)

Most of the courses I play tend to have a somewhat short first hole, in the 320-350 range, so for the most part I just focus on a nice controlled swing off the tee and I usually end up OK (it's almost never going to be one of my longer drives). What usually gets me is my first approach shot. I start thinking about it way too much. For that reason and others, it seems to take me a couple of shots to find my low point consistently with my irons lately.

Edited by drmevo

Posted

Whenever there are witnesses, a group behind or a couple helicopters, I feel it is only proper to set a good example.  You never know who may be tuning in at home.

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Posted

Interesting what everyone is saying about embracing the feeling. I don't normally struggle off the first tee particularly, no more than anything else anyway, this was just a new experience for me having that many people around. Concentrating on just making a decent contact seems to be a recurring theme so I'll try to work on that from now on.

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