First tee jitters…bring ‘em on!

I work with talented amateur and professional golfers on a daily basis, helping each to think and play more effectively.  They come to me for a variety of reasons: to improve their confidence, to better their tournament mindset, to learn to “get in the present”, to move from a great practice player to a skilled competitor, or to learn to recover and stay mentally focused after a poor hole.

But, there is one theme that comes my way on a very regular basis

– how to overcome the first tee jitters.

You may find my solution quite surprising.

The cause of the first tee jitters is quite simple – the player is excited to play.  Playing the game of golf means that mistakes will be made.  More than that, the player may believe that a poor first tee shot will result in a landslide of terrible events.  Often, the player’s mind game sounds a lot like this BEFORE he actually steps onto the first tee box:

If I hit a poor first tee shot it will cause such severe embarrassment I will feel like crawling in the nearest rabbit hole.  The spectators will wonder why a hack of my caliber is actually trying to play a round of competitive golf.  Plus, my competitors will be certain to laugh at me while they figure that I won’t be much competition today.  If that isn’t bad enough, my poor tee shot will most certainly lead to a high golf score on the first hole, which will lead to a terrible front nine and a definite high golf score for the round.  This impending poor first tee shot is just a glimpse into a sure-fire series of lousy shots and a crummy round.  I am in big trouble!

If you want the first tee jitters to go away, you are wasting your time.  And, you are probably not ready for competitive golf.  Jitters are the mind’s way of telling the body that the next shot is significant.  That’s a good thing.  That’s a necessary thing.  Let’s face it, the first tee shot is of great importance and it needs to be taken seriously.  No more seriously, though, than the fourteenth, twenty-third, or fifty-seventh shot.  Jitters need to be seen as a form of readiness.  First tee jitters are a sign that you are ready to hit a great shot and play well.  With this in mind, why would you want these signs to go away?

Instead, I recommend you embrace the first tee jitters and interpret them as a positive sign that you are excited to play and are ready to have a great round.  Realize that you may not hit your first tee shot perfectly.  No one does.  Plus, it’s only one shot – not a sign off doom, cause to crawl into a hole, or be embarrassed.  It’s just one shot of many that you’ll take that day.

Join our webinar…. Playing Between the Ears,  A mental skills webinar for competitive golfers hosted by Michael Riggs, M.Ed. is the president of Performance Consulting, Ltd., and the creator of the highly acclaimed mental skills program, ONE Way Golf  click here for more information / registration

About Michael Riggs, M.Ed.

Michael Riggs holds a masters degree in sport and performance psychology from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.  Over the past 17 years he has been enrolled by literally thousands of junior golfers to assist in achieving their true playing potential. Michael is the architect of ONE Way Golf, a one-on-one mental skills development program designed for young golfers who are seeking to reach extraordinary levels of success and satisfaction within their games. Michael and his team have proven that great golf performance is the product of intelligent and intentional effort housed within an extraordinary attitude allowing confidence, concentration, and composure to rule.  Michael’s creativity, passion, and knowledge of the golf performance theatre make him one of America’s most talented and flourishing mental skills coaches for Jr. players.  website: www.performanceconsultingltd.com

About The Tour Resource Center

The Tour Resource Center is your direct source for information on Top Sports Psychologists & Mental Game Coaches for your golf game. The TRC’s best resources will help you to balance your game and post scores in the red.   Don’t forget to follow us attwitter.com/golfTRC.

Related Articles:
Coping With 1st Tee Nerves
How to Overcome First Tee Nerves!
Tips To Banish First Tee Nerves
First Tee Nerves
Sixteen Top Tips to help get over those first tee nerves.
Dealing with the First Tee Jitters
First Tee Jitters
Hitting Your First Tee Shot
Jitter bug: Overcoming the first tee

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 1:50 am and is filed under Amateur Tour Blog, Junior Tour Blog, TRC Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.