{"id":197,"date":"2009-01-18T15:56:11","date_gmt":"2009-01-18T15:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/?p=197"},"modified":"2023-10-20T20:35:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T20:35:49","slug":"first-tee-jitters-for-golf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/2009\/01\/18\/first-tee-jitters-for-golf\/","title":{"rendered":"First tee jitters\u2026bring \u2018em on!"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/del>by Michael Riggs<\/p>\n

I work with talented amateur and professional\u00a0golfers\u00a0on 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 \u201cget in the present\u201d, to move from a great practice\u00a0player\u00a0to 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\u00a0first tee jitters.<\/p>\n

You may find my solution quite surprising.<\/p>\n

The cause of the\u00a0first tee jitters\u00a0is quite simple \u2013 the player is excited to play. Playing the\u00a0game of golf\u00a0means that mistakes will be made. More than that, the player may believe that a poor\u00a0first tee shot\u00a0will result in a landslide of terrible events. Often, the player\u2019s mind game sounds a lot like this BEFORE he actually steps onto the\u00a0first tee\u00a0box:<\/p>\n

If I hit a poor first tee shot<\/strong> it will cause such severe embarrassment I will feel like crawling in the
\nnearest rabbit hole. The spectators will wonder why a hack of my caliber is actually trying to
\nplay a round of competitive golf. Plus, my competitors will be certain to laugh at me while they figure
\nthat I won\u2019t be much competition today. If that isn\u2019t bad enough, my poor tee shot will most certainly
\nlead to a high score on the first hole, which will lead to a terrible front nine<\/strong> and a definite high score
\nfor the round. This impending poor first tee shot<\/strong> is just a glimpse into a sure-fire series of lousy
\nshots and a crummy round. I am in big trouble!<\/em><\/p>\n

If you want the first tee jitters<\/strong> to go away, you are wasting your time. And, you are probably not ready for competitive golf<\/strong>. Jitters are the mind\u2019s way of telling the body that the next shot is significant. That\u2019s a good thing. That\u2019s a necessary thing. Let\u2019s face it, the first tee shot<\/strong> 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<\/strong> 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?<\/p>\n

Instead, I recommend you embrace the first tee jitters<\/strong> 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<\/strong> perfectly. No one does. Plus, it\u2019s only one shot \u2013 not a sign off doom, cause to crawl into a hole, or be embarrassed. It\u2019s just one shot of many that you\u2019ll take that day.<\/p>\n

S\u00b2 Tip<\/strong><\/p>\n

Change the way you think about your first shot of the day and put it in proper perspective.\u00a0 After all, it\u2019s only the first of many shots you\u2019ll hit.<\/p>\n

In Another\u2019s Words\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Golf is a game that creates emotions that sometimes cannot be sustained with a club in the hand.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Bobby Jones<\/p>\n

Related Articles<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn to Control the First Tee Jitters<\/a><\/p>\n

Dealing with the First Tee Jitters<\/a><\/p>\n

Overcome First Tee Jitters<\/a><\/p>\n

1st Tee Jitters<\/a><\/p>\n

Overcoming Fear<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Michael Riggs I work with talented amateur and professional\u00a0golfers\u00a0on a daily basis, helping each to think and play more effectively. They come to me for a variety of reasons: …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":12712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[130,131,132,133,134,135,136,137,138,16],"class_list":["post-197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs","tag-competitors","tag-golf-balls","tag-golf-clubs","tag-golf-course","tag-golf","tag-golf-swing","tag-golfing","tag-how-to-golf","tag-strategic","tag-successful"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/10\/golftee.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12396,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions\/12396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}