Golf Tip: 10 Steps to Avoid Disaster on the Tee Box
If you’re an amateur golfer like me, then the most anxiety-inducing golf shot you make in every round is probably your first tee shot.
If you’re a scratch golfer, never hook your drive, and/or don’t know that queasy little feeling of anxiety that can burble around in your gut before that first shot, then you don’t need to read this article. You already have the problem sorted out.
Others . . . read on!
That’s the one everybody’s watching — your playing partners, the group behind you waiting to tee off, the folks on the practice green warming up, maybe even the guys in the pro shop who really should be tending to the cash register and the schedule.
I know it’s not Golf Channel and there’s not a gallery of 500 crowded up behind the ropes watching me, but then I’m not Stacy Lewis. And I’m convinced that if I can get that first shot off the tee in good order things will go well for the next or five hours.
I like to start my round with a healthy dose of self-confidence and optimism, the two most important ingredients that make up a satisfying round of golf.
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In the interest of full disclosure, by a satisfying round of golf I mean walking off the 18th green with a score in the 90s, the ball I teed off with 18 holes earlier in my pocket, no triples and only one 3-putt on my scorecard.
I know it’s not how you drive, it’s how you arrive that counts on the scorecard, but I look at my tee shots in much the same way as I think about breakfast. A good breakfast starts the day out right — I favor oatmeal and a piece of fruit — and a good tee shot starts the hole out right.
So what do I do to get off to a good start? It’s a 10-step process that takes no more than 60 seconds once I’m on the tee box. Here’s how I break it down.
Next: #1: Don't Neglect Stretching & Practice Swings