First tee jitter are pretty much inevitable if you play golf. Most people are going to have first tee jitters at some point. It really is just saying that you care about your round. You care about your results. You care about the tournament.
And then your brain goes into a little bit of a high alert and you feel that emotion in your body.
That is it.
Your hands might shake a little bit. Your heart might pound. Your stomach might flip. You might sweat a lot. It is different for everyone.
This is a great example of how emotions show up in your body. Sometimes you may think that there’s a problem that you have these jitters.
That… you’re not going to be able to make a very good swing.
And what I want to tell you is that you can still make a good swing, even when you are a little nervous and anxious. Ideally, however, you don’t want to play the whole round that way.
When you have first treat jitters, nervous or anxious, you’re in the back of our brain.
Your brain goes into a little bit of fight or flight mode. When you’re in fight or flight mode, you don’t think very clearly. You don’t make very good decisions.
You might rush your swing. You might swing short or your tempo might be off. Everyone is different.
You simply don’t have great access to focus and making good decisions. The sooner you can get back to playing in your preferred emotion (calm, certain or confident) the more of you talent you take to the course.
In episode 37 of ABOVE PAR, I share 4 Ways to Conquer 1st Tee Jitters. In the podcast, I reference videos to watch regarding the tactics as well as pre-shot routines. Those videos are below.
You can listen to the podcast here
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Crowding Out
Crowding out is a tactic I use when my brain gets a bit chatty. You can use it on any shot as long as you have a preshot routine.
The purpose is that you cannot think about your routine and the trouble ahead at the same time.
This is a great tool to have on the golf course.
54321 Breathing
Breathing is so helpful to calm down your nerves and quiet your brain. In this video, I show you how to breath and use counting to help you think more clearly. Use this anywhere your thoughts and emotions are flying.
Pre-shot Routine Kathy
Here I walk you through an effective routine. It is important to make your steps before you hit the ball unique and comfortable to you. I give you some things you to look for in this vidoe,
Pre-shot Routine Dudley
Here is a video of Dudley Hart, Tour player (my brother) explaining what he thinks about with the pre shot routine.
You gain a simple but powerful view point here.