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Five Musts...For the First
Tee
Calm those first-tee jitters with five easy steps
By RICK MCCORD
A GOLF MAGAZINE
Top 100 Teacher
with Dave Allen
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PICTURE THE FIRST TIME you spoke before
a large audience: hands and arms trembling, sweat beading on
your forehead, butterflies in your stomach. Sound familiar?
That's exactly the feeling many golfers must overcome every
time they step to the first tee. Why
the anxiety? Because the first tee shot is often considered
the most important swing of the day. Drive the ball in the
fairway, and your confidence is sky-high; hit it out of play,
and your mind starts racing. That's way too much pressure
to put on any shot. If you want to be successful with your
first shot of the day, lighten up -- and pay careful attention
to these five stress-busters.
| Macho doesn't count for much
on your first shot. Pick a club you're comfortable hitting.
If you lack confidence in your driver, leave it in the
bag. Instead, choose a 3-wood, a long iron -- whatever
club gives you the best chance of hitting the fairway
-- and stick with it until you've developed enough confidence
to give the driver a try. |
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Zero in on your target and determine
the shot shape you want. Visualize the ball landing
in the middle of the fairway, and don't look back. Resist
making last-minute judgments or decisions born of anxiety.
If your opponent just hit a mammoth tee shot and you'd
like to incorporate something you saw in his backswing,
now is not the time to change your swing. |
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Ever
notice how many players' practice swings look better
than their full swings? That's because there's no ball
to hit and no outcome to be concerned with; hence, no
anxiety. That's the feeling you want on the first tee.
So focus on your target and make a practice swing. Then
step up and make your real swing. Provided there's no
interference in between the two, you should be able
to make the same swing when it counts. |
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| 4.
WAGGLE TO REDUCE TENSION |
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Waggle the club,
sensing the weight as you move the clubhead back and
forth. This is a great way to relieve tension in your
grip, which helps to smooth your tempo and increase
backswing turn. Another way to release tension is to
focus on images that relax you. It could be sitting
on a beach reading a book, or visualizing the ball flying
to your target. |
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| 5.
COMPLETE YOUR BACKSWING |
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Once
your swing is in motion, your only thought should be
to complete a full backswing turn. The problem with
anxiety is that it doesn't slow you down; it speeds
you up. Some people are in such a hurry to get the first
shot over with that they fail to complete their backswing.
This leads to a lack of power and poor contact. |
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