05 Jan Game Day on the Course
Imagine it’s game day. No, not football, get your mind back out on the golf course!
You are headed down to the first tee and looking forward to playing with your friends or you may be teeing it up for the club championship or even playing in a charity golf scramble. Regardless, this is the beginning of the round and you want to start off with a good tee shot right down the middle of the fairway.
There are those of you out there that I know would prefer to skip the first hole so that you don’t have to go through the pressure of having everyone watch from around the clubhouse. Why is there so much pressure? Are your teammates for the day putting pressure on you? Or, is it the pressure you are putting on yourself? Normally it’s you.
Here are some key items to keep in mind for the first shot on every hole which can help you maintain your focus.
1. You are in total control. You get to place the ball anywhere you want on the tee box as long as it is between the confines of the tee markers and no further than two club lengths back.
2. You can give yourself the perfect lie by putting the ball up on a tee.
3. You can also help to align up to your target by placing the ball on the tee with the logo or the name of the ball pointed in the direction you want to go. Good grief, you can also draw a line on the ball and point it in the proper direction!
Now utilize the above three items to go through a pre-shot routine to properly set your body alignment to the target in order to to make your shot. This will provide you the best opportunity to be successful.
If your starting position is not consistent, how can you expect your swing and the ending result to be consistent as well?
Sounds too simple doesn’t it? But why does it have to be more complicated than that? You and I both know there are other factors which come into play after the setup, but without the proper foundation, you are setting yourself up for a long day out on the course.
Give yourself the best chance of having fun and playing to your potential every time you tee it up!