I’ll always remember it: It was July 2001, and my dad and I have been on the father-daughter golf journey of a lifetime to Monterey, Calif., and we have been lastly able to tee off on the space’s crown jewel: Pebble Seaside.

Within the days main as much as this second, we had strategized extensively. My dad was an excellent participant, a mid-single-digit handicap. He might hit the ball 240 yards off the tee, no drawback. We had checked out course maps and grilled the starter on the carry required to cowl the left-side fairway bunker. “Oh,” the starter remarked with a Scottish brogue, “hit it 240 down the left, you’ll have no drawback with the bunker.”

The tee was crowded with resort friends and different golfers ready for his or her flip. My dad went by way of his common routine … and topped it. The ball went a number of dozen yards, ending up wanting the ahead tees. All that planning, all that anticipation, and ugh. So deflating!

I used to be actually pleased with my dad, as a result of he recovered properly and really managed to return away with a bogey, regardless of the botched begin from the tee. However his expertise is one I do know is shared by many leisure gamers: whether or not it’s a bucket-list spherical at Pebble or your weekly tee time on the native muni, there’s simply one thing in regards to the first tee.

Perhaps it’s a scarcity of warm-up or basic preparedness, or perhaps it’s being overly anxious about taking pictures a superb rating. Perhaps, like at Pebble, the tee is surrounded by different gamers ready to begin their rounds, and you are feeling rushed or beneath stress to carry out. However first-tee jitters are an actual factor, even for seasoned execs. Letting them get one of the best of you is a surefire approach of getting your spherical off to an inauspicious begin. How can we fight these nerves? I requested Prime 100 Instructor Brady Riggs for his recommendation.

“It’s arduous for everyone,” Riggs conceded. “When you’re not nervous there, then you definately in all probability don’t care. All of us need to hit a superb shot in entrance of individuals.”

Riggs mentioned that one key to staying calm on the tee is to be real looking in regards to the stakes.

“Folks are inclined to overvalue their shot and never understand that everyone else standing there’s extra apprehensive about themselves hitting it than you hitting it,” he mentioned.

Riggs then relayed a narrative about taking part in in a pro-am alongside longtime Tour professional Jesper Parnevik.

“He known as everyone over and he mentioned, ‘Hey, I simply wanna allow you to guys know there’s nothing you are able to do that I haven’t executed myself or seen earlier than, so simply take the stress off a bit bit, and understand that it’s simply one of many many photographs you’re gonna hit throughout the day.’”

Nice recommendation — however Riggs realizes that typically it takes a bit of additional prep to place your self in the proper mindset to hit a superb shot. One approach to do it’s to follow your opening shot on the vary, with a full pre-shot routine. One other approach to give your self one of the best likelihood of hitting a superb shot is to make the most of the artwork of visualization.

“In case you have a superb image in your thoughts of a vacation spot after influence to get to, it’s higher than attempting to micro-manage a backswing or attempting to be excellent,” Riggs mentioned. “I at all times ask myself, what does a superb shot appear to be? I’ll even say that out loud typically. Be sure to have a selected reply for your self, so you may have a superb image in your head.

“After which, as I’m strolling into the shot, I’m taking a look at the place I would like the ball to land,” he continued. “And as quickly as I take my eyes off of the goal and I have a look at the ball, I’m fascinated by the place I would like it to land. So both my eyes are on the end line or my mind is on the end line after which I’ve my regular variety of waggles that I’ve at all times executed. After which I try to hold the precise goal linked to the goal in my thoughts in order that I’m staying hooked up to that and the shot I’m attempting to hit relatively than worrying about how I’m going about it.”

Lastly, if all else fails, Riggs says you must simply intention to complete your swing in stability.

“Say to your self, ‘I’m gonna swing by way of and get to a balanced end,’” he mentioned. “When you try this, two issues are in all probability going to occur: One, you may have a greater likelihood of hitting a superb shot, and two, a minimum of you seemed good on the finish, so perhaps any individual from a distance didn’t see how dangerous the shot was as a result of they noticed your follow-through and so they thought you executed.”

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of feminine varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everybody on the masthead. She will be able to out-hustle them within the workplace, too, the place she’s primarily chargeable for producing each print and on-line options, and overseeing main particular initiatives, corresponding to GOLF’s inaugural Model Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview sequence, “A Spherical With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in each within the journal and in video kind on GOLF.com.