Hitting a great shot off the first tee, that hits the middle of the fairway always feels good and helps to settle the nerves at the start of a competition. First tee nerves affects many players no matter what age or experience. The opening drive can set the tone for the rest of the game for some players, so the following exercise will help you to nail that drive and the good news is it
can be practiced anywhere. Sit in an upright chair with both of your feet on the ground. Your hands may rest on your lap, or on the armrests. Back upright, eyes closed and take some nice slow deep breathes. Visualise yourself making the perfect swing. I want you to see yourself as an image on a television screen making a perfect swing. At the top of the back-swing, freeze the position. See yourself as if through a camera moving 360 degrees, examining that position from different angles. Admire the position you have at the top of the back-swing:
eye on the ball
shoulders turned
club parallel to target line
perfect balance
Now visualise yourself in slow motion, executing the perfect downswing and making perfect contact with the ball. See the ball taking off down the perfect line and see yourself maintaining perfect balance, keeping your head down, extending through the hitting area, getting your weight on to the left side and finishing your swing in the perfect follow-through position. Now freeze that position.
This exercise should take no longer than 5 minutes and can be repeated regularly to embed the image of the perfect swing and a good follow through position. Remember our mind can't tell the difference between imagined and real, so training your swing with visualisation will be as effective as actually playing the shot to develop muscle memory
Give it a go this weekend and let me know how you get on. If your would like more information on these techniques please contact me to arrange a session
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