Here’s the transcription of the conversation between Andy Brown and Dr Karl Morris:

Andy: Karl, is there any way that I can conquer my first tee nerves? I mean, we all get it to some degree. What’s your take on that?

Karl: The take that we’ve had the last few years that seems to have worked well with all of the plays is the concept of what is nervousness? Well, nervousness is actually a feeling in your body. It’s a sensation running through your system. Now, as kids we were all told, “When you get to the first tee and you’re feeling these things in your body, it’s ‘first tee nerves’. And immediately, the perception is that these feelings are bad.

Well, just imagine as a kid if you were told that when you get to the first tee, these feelings that you get are actually first tee energy? All of a sudden, you’d actually look forward to those feelings. It’s actually resisting the feeling that’s the problem. You know, Tiger Woods, when he’s walking to the first tee in the Masters, I guarantee you he’ll be getting certain feelings through his body. But what he’s learned to do, he’s learned to channel those feelings and not see it as a bad thing.
I remember years ago reading that Jack Nicklaus talked about it. He said that he didn’t win majors. He waited for other people to lose them. But he said, “Just give me that feeling on the back nine of a major. That’s what I hit all the balls for.” He didn’t say, “Give me that feeling of nervousness.”

Andy: Just give a feeling.

Karl: So in his mind he created a label that this feeling was a good thing. So that would be one of the things to reframe the actual term ‘nervousness’ as an energy, but also then learn how to control it a little bit more. And one of the most effective ways is breathing. And centuries old advice has been around far longer than any of us have, a lot of the Eastern traditions talk about this.

It’s pretty much impossible to maintain a state of nervousness and breathe correctly. And nervousness, you actually have to be in the future thinking about what might happen to be nervous. Now, when you bring your attention to your breathing, not only are you physically starting to calm down, but mentally, you’re right back here in the now, in the moment. So, just that simple process of focusing on breathing. And we’ve all heard it, but very few people do it and in practice it’s really profound.

The old railway tram shed (which has been rebuilt since its original installation) has remained over the years as a perfect aiming point for driving off of the 17th tee on the Old Course. A sign with the words “OLD COURSE HOTEL” is fixed to the side of the shed (which houses offices belonging to the Old Course Hotel). The Old Course Hotel and The Jigger Inn both run alongside the 17th hole fairway.

John’s advice for teeing off is to play an aggressive line — play outside the word “HOTEL” on the sign, going quite close to the face of the hotel. He told me that it’s a 200 — 220 yard carry to get onto the fairway from there, so he has to be pretty confident about the ability of the golfer he is caddying before he recommends this to them. It is aggressive but it pays off. You definitely have to trust your swing here because you can’t see the landing area. As John says it’s a shot of blind faith!

If he is with a confident golfer John takes them over the “L” of “HOTEL” on the sign and maybe even another 2 or 3 yards to the right of that. He explains it’s a very tight shot but professionals are going to hit the ball 280 — 290 yards consistently so will be on the fairway and will be in perfect position for the approach shot to the green. They go over the green sheds and garden, over the conservatory of the Old Course Hotel and then into landing area opposite the Jigger Inn. He says the braver you are the tighter you can go to the hotel. It is a big carry but the rewards are extraordinary for the entrance into the green. It’s definitely a shot that needs a bit of courage!

John told me that he always enjoys a fade as a shot on this tee but that he has also seen a lot of golfers play a draw. A draw takes you to the left rough. The fade takes you into the fairway, going round from the left, trying to land centre and right of centre on the fairway will give you a good shot into the green. If like 70% of the golfers John has caddied for you have a fade, John says this hole was made for you!

This was filmed at the 5th London Golf Show hosted at the Excel exhibition and conference centre in London Dockland. The Show also hosted the inaugural “London Golf Conference”. This was chaired by Ken Schofield CBE, former Executive Director of the PGA European Tour.

The par 4 7th is a long tough hole at 470 yards from the championship tees. It’s important to miss the large hollow on the left side of the green, as recovering from here can be tricky.

One practical thing that has been really successful with his players over the last few years is something that Karl calls the three shot diary.

The three shot diary is filled in when you have finished playing golf. After you’ve got back home, you actually sit down and think about the three best shots that you’ve hit that day and actually write them out.

You must write out in detail what you were thinking and what you were feeling.

There are a couple things that happen with this simple process. One is by writing about the shot, you solidify the memory of it, but the other thing is you start to find a pattern of what you do when you play good golf.

This process allows you to determine what you do consistently when you play well. Karl says “Success leaves behind a trail, but you’ve gotta look for that trail”. Good players do this. Tiger Woods once said he felt that the secret to the game was to instantly recall past success and to let go of failure. Most people do the opposite.