As a novice, and talking to more seasoned players, Teeing off at the first always seems to unleash a squadron of butterfly's in the stomach.

Whilst staying away with work I got talking to the Club Pro at the hotel where I was staying and this subject came up in conversation. He said how many times at the first tee did I miss the ball? When I said none he said then what have you got to be worried about? When I said about topping and slicing he said but at the end of the day you have hit the ball. I have to say that this advice has already opened a new train of thought into a more relaxed frame of mind.

Am I alone with this fear, what advice would you give, and whats the best bit of advice have you been given to improve your game. 

i just say to myself that all the other peole there are more worried than i am about mishitting their own shots and even if i did mishit it its no worse than on any other hole. i tend to hit well on the first no matter how manys there and then it starts to slide later in the round for some reason. lol

It's only ever happened to me once.

I'd only been playing a few months and we turned up to play Crookhill Park GC on a Sunday!

There must have been forty to fifty players in the queue.

The good thing at Crookhill is you only have to hit the ball about one hundred yards and it goes over the crest of a hill and you're out of sight then.

I managed to make a good contact with the ball and over the hill it went, never had first tee jitters since!

Russ

Hi John 

Give yourself a pre shot routine and stick to it.

I take deep slow breathes set myself up behind the ball and then take the shot if i take to long thinking about it i get all tense and thats when i hit a bad shot.

I have the jitters on every tee shot, no confidence whatsoever but this improves rapidly after I have hit the first one on each hole.

NLP will sort that out John

Not a chance Wayne, I don't have any negative thoughts, just a poor wood swing.

I always struggle on the first hole, today I took a 7 after duffing my tee shot, hitting my third in the water and then 3 putting. My second tee shot always seems to be much better for some reason.

As being a bit cocky and eccentric I love showing off so generally hitting infront of people fires me up more than anything and I become more focussed usually hitting a solid to perfect shot, sometimes wich people were always watching.

Well I was at Sherfield Oaks just after lunch (was that you John sat on the wall outside the bar) I was playing the Wellington with my mate he Tee'd off and came close to having to drop his trousers for not clearing the Ladies Tee. With a Ale drinking audience I  thought well I can out drive that and sent one to the Dog Leg corner.......................... So I must have a fresh stock of Caterpillars in my stomach for the time being.

Shame the rest of the round went to pot after the second................ C'est la vie. 

JP that comment of mine was to John Goodger

At my home course the first hole is a dog leg right, lake to the right and clubhouse terrace behind. I concentrate on a fir tree 290 yard up the fairway and rip the big dog. Works for me just having focus on one point, block everything else out!!

I think especially in a competition nerves are pretty normal. Deep beathing is a good way to calm your nerves prior to teeing off.  One thing i have found which was also a tip from the local pro is to breath in deep as your setting yourself up.  Then try to exhale in control as you take your backswing and let your body & more importantly your club do the rest.  By exhaling and controling your breath this will definitely help you swing the club with more tempo & rythm as it relaxes the muscles, which means you stay in better control!  I also use this method with pressure shots, it really does remove the snatch or hard swing of the club, which inevitably leads to a poor shot.

David H that kind of specific point of concentration is "Pin Prick Aim" and allows you to block out the peripheral stuff that would normal mash your head, and therefore gives you better focus.