In this video Neil Tappin is joined by PGA Professional Alex Elliott to look at 10 tips to handle your first golf competition!
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00:00Playing competition golf is not easy and that's why we've come out here today to
00:05produce a video on the 10 best tips to handle your first golf competition. This
00:09is all the things that you need to do from the strategy that you have on the
00:12golf course, good course management, to developing some of the stock shots that
00:16you need to be able to compete and get yourself in the best possible mindset to
00:21return a good score. Right let's head out onto the golf course here at Fox Hills
00:25and look at the 10 best tips to handle your first golf competition.
00:33Okay so we're on the first tee here at the long course golf course at Fox Hills and
00:37Alex you said to me that one of the best things you can do if you're gonna play
00:42in a competition is to have a stock shot. Definitely now I think a lot of people
00:46when you say stock shot they associate like low handicappers, professionals, but
00:51that could literally be for anybody. Now most commonly for players who are a
00:54high handicap that might be a lot of movement left to right or right to left
00:58depending on if you're a right or left hander but just sticking with that
01:02knowing what happens is very powerful. Okay so so if you were to advise
01:07somebody and just say this is a good stock shot to have what would you what
01:11would you suggest they use? Now it can vary day to day if you've got the
01:15opportunity to practice the day before or on a day before on a driving range I
01:19would just see what comes out whether it be a fade or it be a draw and I would
01:23stick with that on the golf course. Okay fine all right well I'm gonna go for my
01:27stock shot here which is my stock shot in this scenario would be a little fade I
01:31think Alex. Okay so interesting actually you said before sometimes it feels a
01:35draw but if you have to hit a fairway it becomes a fade so that is your stock
01:39shot so if you're one of those players that likes to hit a draw but you have to
01:43hit a fairway swing and it comes out a fade that becomes a stock shot. A safe shot
01:47something we can all do with right let's see if this one can can work for
01:51me. Beauty that is really nice
02:04Now the next one on our list is a very simple one but it's really important
02:19Alex what is it? Clean your clubs after every single shot. Yes do you know what
02:25it's very very wet underfoot at the moment in the UK we've had so much rain
02:28and it's kind of obvious to clean your clubs after every shot but why is it so
02:32important? I think the main thing is is when it doesn't look like it's got much
02:36on it it could be a little kind of bit of broken mud inside the grooves you're
02:39more likely to get a flyer. Right so so that means when you're hitting from the
02:44rough likely to end up hitting it too far. Exactly well having dirty grooves
02:48having grass in the grooves you can have that same effect from the fairway so a
02:51shot that could go 90 yards and it would go 100 yards getting you in trouble. Because
02:55it's not spinning. Exactly so when you get grass between the ball and the
02:59grooves or some sort of debris between the ball and the grooves this causes the
03:04ball to spin less ball can potentially go further. So obviously carry a golf towel
03:09give every club in the bag quick wipe once you've hit it and you'll be fine.
03:14Exactly
03:20Okay so the next one on the list relates to your scorecard and a little bit of
03:24prep you can do before you go out and tear up for the first time in a
03:28competition what is that prep Alex? Firstly we've got to have our name, date,
03:31competition and your handicap. So what I get people to do especially if they're
03:36brand new to the game and find the scoring system potentially a little bit
03:39difficult on a Stableford I get them to mark on everywhere they got a single
03:43shot or off the handicap say for example 20 where they get two shots. Fine so
03:48you're just making that little note on the stroke index is to say yeah you get
03:51two shots here and two shots here and that's important because that can
03:55actually have a bearing on the way in which you play those holes right Alex?
03:58Exactly so say for example the stroke index one we know we don't potentially
04:01have to get it on in three we can actually get it on in one more than that.
04:04Yeah and if you can just get away with making it even a double bogey you might
04:08find yourself picking up shots on the field and just that little bit of prep
04:12before you can go out to play can make a big difference.
04:20Right so as you can see we've made our way up to the green and if you're about
04:23to play in your first golf competition you're gonna face long putts like this
04:28and actually as anyone who's played golf for a while know three putts really do
04:32kill a score they kill your momentum and your mood so what's your advice when
04:38putting from long range? Now when we've got a putt of this length we see on TV
04:42we saw the highlights them draining putts from this distance 25 30 feet when
04:47really we're not expected to so if we watch that we run the risk of trying to
04:51be too aggressive at this point I mean of course we could hold the putt but we
04:55run the risk of hitting it three or four foot past got a knee knocker coming back.
04:58Yes so what should we be aiming for then? I like to use the kind of bin lid method
05:03so if we can get the ball around the bin lid we keep it stress-free we've got a
05:07better chance of maintaining that score keeping that momentum like you said. Yeah
05:10so just take a little bit of pressure off your own shoulders just try and get
05:14the ball as Alex said within that kind of bin lid around the hole you'll be
05:18taking three putts out of the equation won't you? Exactly, exactly. Go on then, show us how it's done.
05:22No pressure.
05:32And that is how it's done.
05:40Okay so for the next one on the list you could probably guess what we're about to
05:44tell you that is the importance of warming up. Alex people know that it's
05:48important to warm up before they go and play but what should they be doing? I
05:52would firstly research a few stretches that you can do online just to basically
05:57get mobility through back through spine and just get us generally warmed up
06:01ready for exercise. Then I would make sure if you hit a few goal balls don't
06:05treat it like a practice session. Don't treat it like a practice session.
06:09Alright we've all done it you know it's very you hit one bad one you pull one
06:13and then suddenly you're like well maybe I did this maybe I did that. You start tinkering.
06:17So what do you do in that scenario? You hit a bad shot how do you put that to you back in mind?
06:19I mean you're always gonna want to tinker a little bit what I'd do is I would go
06:23back to either my last lesson my rules of thumb what I've been working on in
06:26general and trust that is that's gonna come through. Okay fine and so then let's
06:31say you've done your stretches you've hit how many balls? 25 max. You've hit 25
06:36balls what do you what's the sort of routine what's the kind of timeline
06:41between arriving at the golf course and stepping onto the first tee? So a lot of
06:44people finish on their putting as the last thing they do before they go on the
06:47first tee. Now generally that probably is because the putting means near the first
06:51tee but if we can my absolute ideal scenario is stretching, putting, few
06:57wedges, mid-irons and lastly finish on about five drives straight to the first
07:02tee we're ready to go. Off you go. Okay so what happens if that last drive you hit
07:06what happens if you carve it off to the right-hand side? It's not a great image
07:10to have as you step onto the first tee is it? No it's not but you could argue if
07:13your first tee shot of the day was a bad one then that could set the tone for the day
07:17so what I would say is literally look at the warm-up as a way of just getting
07:21your body loose body ready and don't judge the last shot as what's gonna
07:25happen on the first tee because you're in a completely different environment.
07:28Yeah I mean the truth is you can't really expect to play well if you
07:31haven't done some form of warming up before you step onto the first tee if
07:35you haven't got the ability to hit balls before you go and play because that's
07:38not always the case then at least do the sort of physical stretches that you can
07:42do a little bit of putting get to the first tee in some degree of readiness so
07:46that you can go and shoot a good score.
07:53Okay so Alex the next one on the list is a really simple one it's got nothing to
07:57do with technique or even strategy but it actually can make a difference to you
08:01on the course and that's related to where you put your bag when you
08:05putting on the green definitely and just in terms of speed of play I mean I've
08:09got a prime example here I just hit the front edge now the flag is at the back
08:13of the green the next tee is actually over the back of the green over there
08:16yeah now this would be an absolute killer for me to leave my bag here put
08:21out after then walk back collect my bag off the next tee. Your playing partners
08:25you're playing with are not gonna like you and especially the guys behind.
08:28Actually it's one of those things that can create a sense of pressure on your
08:32own shoulders because you can feel like you're actually holding people up people
08:36are looking at you as if to say come on get the move on and actually you're just
08:39trying to do your best aren't you? Exactly and especially if you're then first on the
08:42next tee you're then running over it could actually affect your next shot.
08:45Yeah so actually Alex come over here because in actual fact your best bet
08:50both of us in this scenario is to pop both the bags over here and
08:56then walk back to your golf ball and then go on from there isn't it? Exactly so
09:00we're straight off to the next tee.
09:06Okay so the next one is Alex a really important one isn't it it's course
09:11management if you want your first competition to be a good one if you want
09:14to shoot a good score you need to think about this stuff really closely what's
09:19your advice generally speaking on course management Alex? Most golf courses either
09:23have a course guide or people have a digital device or even in fact on each
09:28hole they have a visual what you can see my kind of rule of thumb is one look at
09:32the visual where's the trouble is the bunkers is the water is the trees like
09:36there's here at Cogs Hill yeah and I would then think about have I got a shot
09:41on this hole because having a shot on this hole might mean we can take a
09:44little bit less risk from the tee yes and plan our way down the hole a little bit better.
09:47Okay so are you identifying where the big trouble is so you're just
09:52basically plotting your way through saying that's a kind of card wrecking
09:56area over there I can't hit it. Exactly and I think if we are a higher handicapper if we avoid
10:01a card wrecker and we say if we're off 20 and we accumulate just to run a bogeys
10:05yeah we're gonna we're gonna be under our handicap yeah it's when we have those sevens
10:09and we have all we turn those sevens into nines that's when it can be really bad for our game.
10:13Okay so specific scenario we've got here this is 170 yards slightly downhill wind off the left
10:20you can see that the flag is sort of tucked a little bit behind that bunker on the right
10:24hand side what what is your advice to I guess different golfers of different abilities from
10:29a place like this? So if we are a better player so single figures potentially and we have a bit
10:34more confidence in our game I would like you to kind of base the flag on a color code system so
10:39green being one you can attack that might be one in the middle of the green here amber being one
10:44if we feel like it's a good win it's a good shot shape it's accessible for our game that's when it
10:50comes into one that maybe go for yes and a red would be potentially this scenario behind the
10:55bunker over water where it could be again a card wrecking situation. Yeah okay so for me what's
11:01this one? I would think for you because you said on the on the start of the video stock shot was a
11:06fade this one might be an amber for you. Okay yeah fine. Amber to red depending on how we feel and
11:11the stage of the game now if you're a higher handicapper my rule of thumb is if we hit the
11:16green and the center of the green every single time we're not going to be far away. No okay fine
11:22and I guess how much are you thinking about where to miss because a shot like this if you miss this
11:26particular shot short left yeah you're absolutely fine exactly but if you miss it short right you're
11:31in a bad position aren't you are you thinking about that stuff and and if you are how are you
11:36blocking out sort of bad thoughts from kind of causing you to make a bad swing? I think you're
11:41never going to block bad thoughts and potentially they will come in but I always think you can't
11:46plan for a bad shot you know the trouble's there you use a color code system almost as a way of
11:52weighing up the trouble but not almost highlighting the trouble. Okay fine. And then we plan to hit a
11:57good shot like for example here we'll be planning to hit a nice fade into the flag I wouldn't want
12:01you thinking well I can miss it short left I can miss it short right. Right fine. Because that's
12:05just going to give you bad underlying thoughts. Okay good well I'm going to give this a go then
12:10All right I want to see the stock shot. Okay fine yeah well you've asked for it so I'll have to do it.
12:28Go! Oh no! Guess where it's gone people? It's in that trap short right. I got a little bit greedy
12:36with it didn't I? I thought it was going to be all right for a second but the wind just held it up there.
12:47Okay so the next one on our list relates to swing thoughts. Now we all I guess most golfers have
12:52swing thought things in their in their golf swing they're looking to achieve. Alex question for you
12:57how how many is a good number of swing thoughts to have do you think? Before I give that answer I
13:01want to know how many do you have? One. One okay so I'd say you're generally probably not the norm.
13:08Oh really? Most people that come for lessons have sometimes it was a five swing thoughts. Right so
13:13like grip posture whatever. Exactly so my tip for that is because we're always going to have if we're
13:18new to the game of golf and it's our first competition we're going to have something that
13:21we need a bit of a checklist. Yes. So I kind of like separate that into pre-swing so grip stance
13:27all those aspects. Okay yeah. So we can throw them away once we've done it. Fine so you do all of the
13:32groundwork that you know you need to do to get yourself in a good position over the ball. Exactly.
13:35And then once you're there. I tend to have hopefully no more than one potentially two one back swing
13:41and one trigger thought. Okay so what is it for you then? So I like to feel that the club goes
13:45wide on the way back. Okay. Because I get kind of a little bit narrow is my bad swing thought on the
13:49way through I'm an absolute bugger for keeping my head down. Okay right. So it stops me rotate
13:55through so I like to feel like I call it anachoretic that's literally my only thought on the
13:59way through. Okay right yeah. So I try and work on like a role model that I can copy and almost
14:04create the same thing as what I visualize and see. Okay that's good. Well I have let's say I have one
14:10and my one is because I tend to get a bit snatchy from the top I just like to just feel as if I'm
14:16just not pausing but just there's a bit of time at the top of the backswing. Just don't rush the
14:22start of the downswing. Your role model would be like maybe like Matsuyama to the top and then go.
14:26Exactly it doesn't always look like that I'm sure anyone who's seen any of our videos in the past
14:30will know it doesn't always look like that but for me it's I know it's a swing thought that's
14:33worked well for me. I guess Alex the point is that it's different for different people and
14:38different golf swings isn't it? Exactly but the one key thing is between me and you it's simple
14:43it's not a specific position. Yes. It's a simple thought and a feeling to work to. Okay
14:49Good. Shall I have a hit? Let's have a hit.
14:53Right I've got to really try and pause at the top now.
15:05A little bit over fade but it's okay.
15:13So as you can see the next tip we've got for you is about alignment and we've chosen
15:17alignment because it's something that everyone can get right. It makes a big difference if you
15:21do get it right but equally it's something that we all get wrong from time to time. Certainly Alex
15:25I'm somebody that can often stand quite close to the ball at address. I'm the same. Why is it
15:30important to get your alignment sort of rock solid? I think the two the main aspect is is the
15:34fact that a lot of people's bad shots and bad swings just stems from poor alignment like you
15:39were saying about yourself there. Okay. So having a routine to stick to on the first tee is absolutely
15:44key to assure you've got good alignment. Yeah so I mean we're talking here about how to handle your
15:49first competition and one of the big challenges of playing competition golf is that you can get
15:54a bit scrambled at times and these are the sorts of things that can fall by the wayside. How do
15:58you make sure that doesn't happen? I would visualize exactly what we've got down here.
16:02We've got two alignment sticks one down the board to target line and then a parallel one for our
16:07feet line. Okay fine. So how are you building that stance then? So straight away I'd do this and I'd
16:12make this as part of every single shot whether it be the first tee shot whether it be the last shot
16:17into the 18th green and even if it's your first round I would make sure you build this into a
16:22good thing which happens every single round. So behind the golf ball establish your ball to target
16:28line and that'll be where we want the ball to finish. So I don't intend to make it like a thin
16:33line I like to feel like an alignment channel so that's going to be our outside alignment stick.
16:38I would then once I've got a strong visual of the outside one and highlighted it I would bring
16:44in a second one which feels like my feet line runs parallel to that from that I can build my
16:48stance around it my hips my shoulders and then ready to go. Yeah so two parallel lines that's
16:54the key obviously you can't put shafts down like this in competition just remember to get those two
16:58parallel lines set get yourself set properly over the ball if you do you are more than halfway to
17:04making a good swing. Okay so the last one on the list relates to your score card and actually
17:14we're talking here Alex about what you do after a round because you might think that you've finished
17:18your round of golf nothing can go wrong but actually before you hand your card in something
17:22can go wrong what do people need to do what do they need to look out for? So first point of call
17:27we've got to have the gross scores correct okay so I know we talked about playing in a stable third
17:32and we have a tally of points that we get now if they don't add up correctly it doesn't matter and
17:36if they're not the correct points that doesn't matter the main thing is as long as your gross
17:40scores for each hole are correct. Yes so I would go through my card and I'd check what I'd put you
17:45down for and against what you've got on your card we just make sure that the scores on both cards
17:50tally up right exactly and then if they do two things you've got to do okay number one make sure
17:56you sign it but the one I find a lot of people forget is the playing partners got to sign it too
18:01yeah okay so get that right hand your card in and you'll be good to go. So there you have it that
18:06was our list of the 10 best tips to handle your first golf competition guys what did you think
18:11what did you think of Alex's tips is there anything that you've done playing under pressure playing in
18:16competition that's really helped you out we'd be really interested to hear your thoughts but for
18:20now thanks for watching we'll see you next time