How To Conquer First Tee Nerves With Dr Karl Morris Home Of Golf TV Episode 34
Posted on 02. Feb, 2012 by Andy Brown in Golf, Instruction
Today Andy Brown talks to Dr Karl Morris of TheMindFactor.com about how to conquer your first tee nerves.
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.
