The idea of standing on the first tee without knowing how you are going hit your first tee shot is enough to make a grown man cry. Believe me … I have seen the tears after watching Golfers hit bad tee shots.
It doesn’t matter if you are playing with your best friend or with 3 people you have never met before. The anxiety that flows through your body while on the tee box causes many Golfers to make unreliable golf swings that often result in a substandard tee shot that sets the tone for more of the same on your next 17 holes.
So the question that must be asked is: why is it that the 1st hole often gives so many Golfers the “First Tee Jitters” and how can you finally get yourself to walk up to the 1st tee with confidence?
It’s a problem that causes more anxiety amongst Golfers than perhaps any other.
We have worked with CEO’s that have the experience of speaking in front of 1,000’s of people (with confidence), professional athletes that play in front of 70,000 screaming fans … yet they are as nervous going to the 1st tee as a teenager asking a girl out on a date for the first time.
Just imagine the day that you can finally walk up to the 1st tee without worrying what other people are going to think if you hit a bad shot … because there’s not even the slightest thought of a bad shot. This is when you finally have the confidence that what you are doing is correct.
What’s the difference between the Confident Player versus the Nervous Golfer?
The confident Player is 100% focused on hitting their target … no swing thoughts or anything that resembles “what will the other Golfers think of me if I hit a bad one”. On the other hand, the nervous Golfer is anxiously focused on everything they need to do in their golf swing as well as being concerned about “embarrassing myself” in front of the other Golfers.
To further this notion – have you ever seen a real Player walk onto the 1st tee? A Player – meaning someone that has a certain confidence about them that makes you pause for a few seconds to watch him/her swing? It’s where you say to yourself “Hold on a second, this guy looks like he has a great golf swing. I just want to see what his swing looks like when he hits a golf ball.”
How did you know that person was going to make a great golf swing … even though you had never seen him/her swing before? What is it about that person that made you stop and watch?
There is a confidence that shines through this Golfer as they walk to the 1st tee. A confidence that can not be bought. A confidence that was earned through having a PLAN to practice correctly and knowing how to prepare for success on the golf course. Confidence is not something you just tell yourself you need … and then it instantly appears.
Confidence is earned by someone that has a PLAN that works!
As opposed to another Golfer that tries to fake confidence by dressing like he is on the PGA Tour, with the latest Taylor Made Driver, and a big golf bag strapped onto the golf cart … but then, when it gets down to making a golf swing on the 1st tee … all you see is a quick, unreliable golf swing that has the golf ball flying high and right, out of bounds onto the driving range.
You can not buy confidence by trying to look confident. Confidence comes from the inside of the body … not the outside.
Why can a Player truly be confident? Because that Golfer earned it by having a PLAN for their golf game.
Now, how do you make that PLAN? You make a PLAN by knowing what the strengths and weaknesses are in your golf swing. Then working hard to perfect your strengths and working harder to eliminate the weaknesses.
But the key to success … how do you really know what those strengths and weaknesses are? Are you listening to the Golf Pro that offers a package of six 30 minute lessons for the price of five? Or are you listening to a Golf Instructor that has had so much success that people travel from across the country and around the world to see him/her?
Once you truly know your PLAN … you follow it up by working to put pressure on yourself as you practice, so that you make sure it will hold-up on the golf course … as opposed to the Monkey that goes to the range and just hits golf ball after golf ball thinking they are doing the right thing.
But in reality, the Monkey is the Golfer that can’t take their golf swing to the 1st tee with confidence.
So to be successful with your PLAN, you must be able to discern between the Driving Range and the golf course. And because this might be a good time to repeat this: “the Driving Range and the golf course are completely different entities”.
You could almost say that what you do on the golf course and what you do on the Driving Range are different sports. Thus, this is why the Golfer often struggles to take their golf swing from the Driving Range to the golf course.
And because the Player knows what to practice in their golf swing … and just as importantly … how to practice it … the improvements show on the golf course.
Are you ready for the 1st tee? Are you a confident Player? Or are you an anxiety filled Monkey?
The Monkey hits golf balls and hopes for confidence
The Player earns it with a PLAN
Go ahead, be a Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon