Preparing to Play (Part 3)
The last article in this series concentrated upon the preparation required by a golfer prior to the arrival at the golf course.
The routine to follow when you arrive at the course should also be quite straightforward.
Try to be as normal with your routine as you possibly can be, although we all know that competition changes our attitude to some degree but you have to cope with added pressure, but don’t be too concerned.
It is important not to try and remove all of the extra excitement because this ensures that you can offer a little extra care where care is needed but the important thing to remember is that you must not race about, either physically or within our minds to ensure that you keep as calm as possible and you will help achieve the ideal mood in which to play.
Booking in is an extra thing to do, so get it out of the way as soon as you can because it’s another one of those positive things to do; it removes the possibility of another worrying thought which might go through your mind.
Try to occupy your mind with pleasant thoughts by associating with your friends until it is time to ‘get ready’.
The players on the European our, start their warm-up session, one hour before their tee-up time and this has proved over the years to be an ideal time schedule for them, so it’s not a bad system to allow.
Start with a few short wedge shots and finish with the driver.
You do not have to go through the whole bag, and remember to only allow yourself a positive amount of time to practise because if you leave it too long and you may start to get it wrong.
This series or articles continues next week with establishing ‘feel’ from practise and preparing for that first tee.