- 26/11/2023
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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00:00 Playing competition golf is not easy and that's why we've come out here today to
00:04 produce a video on the 10 best tips to handle your first golf competition. This
00:09 is all the things that you need to do from the strategy that you have on the
00:12 golf course, good course management, to developing some of the stock shots that
00:16 you need to be able to compete and get yourself in the best possible mindset to
00:21 return a good score. Right let's head out onto the golf course here at Fox Hills
00:25 and look at the 10 best tips to handle your first golf competition.
00:30 Okay so we're on the first tee here at the Long Course Golf Course at Fox Hills and
00:37 Alex you said to me that one of the best things you can do if you're going to
00:41 play in a competition is to have a stock shot. Definitely, now I think a lot of
00:45 people when you say stock shot they associate like low handicappers,
00:49 professionals, but that could literally be for anybody. Now most commonly for
00:54 players who are a high handicap that might be a lot of movement left to right
00:57 or right to left depending on if you're a right or left hander, but just sticking
01:02 with that knowing what happens is very powerful. Okay so if you were to advise
01:07 somebody and just say this is a good stock shot to have what would you
01:11 suggest they use? Now it can vary day to day if you've got the opportunity to
01:16 practice the day before or on the day before on a driving range I would just
01:20 see what comes out whether it be a fade or it be a draw and I would stick with
01:23 that on the golf course. Okay fine, all right well I'm gonna go for my stock
01:27 shot here which is my stock shot in this scenario would be a little fade I think
01:31 Alex. Okay so interesting actually you said before sometimes it feels a draw
01:35 but if you have to hit a fairway it becomes a fade, so that is your stock
01:39 shot so if you're one of those players that likes to hit a draw but you have to
01:43 hit a fairway swing and it comes out a fade that becomes a stock shot. Yeah a safe shot
01:47 something we can all do with right let's see if this one can can work for me.
01:53 Beauty, that is really nice.
02:03 Now the next one on our list is a very simple one but it's really important
02:19 Alex what is it? Cleaning your clubs after every single shot. Yes do you know
02:24 what it's very very wet underfoot at the moment in the UK we've had so much rain
02:28 and it's kind of obvious to clean your clubs after every shot but why is it so
02:32 important? I think the main thing is is when it doesn't look like it's got much
02:36 on it it could be a little kind of bit of broken mud inside the grooves you're
02:39 more likely to get a flyer. Right so so that means when you're hitting from the
02:43 rough likely to end up hitting it too far carrying over the green. Exactly, well having dirty grooves
02:47 having grass in the grooves you could have that same effect from the fairway
02:50 so a shot that could go 90 yards and it would go 100 yards getting you in
02:54 trouble. Because it's not spinning. Exactly so when you get grass between
02:58 the ball and the grooves or some sort of debris between the ball and the grooves
03:03 this causes the ball to spin less ball could potentially go further. So obviously carry a
03:08 golf towel give every club in the bag quick wipe once you've hit it and you'll
03:13 be fine. Exactly.
03:16 Okay so the next one on the list relates to your scorecard and a little bit of
03:24 prep you can do before you go out and tear up for the first time in a
03:27 competition what is that prep Alex? Firstly we've got to have our name, date,
03:31 competition and your handicap. So what I get people to do especially if they're
03:35 brand new to the game and find the scoring system potentially a little bit
03:39 difficult on a stable foot I get them to mark on everywhere they've got a single
03:43 shot or if they're handicapped say for example 20 where they get two shots.
03:47 Fine so you're just making that little note on the stroke indexes to say yeah
03:51 you get two shots here and two shots here and that's important because that
03:54 can actually have a bearing on the way in which you play those holes right Alex?
03:57 Exactly so say for example the stroke index one we know we don't potentially
04:01 have to get it on in three we can actually get it on in one more than that.
04:04 Yeah and if you can just get away with making even a double bogey you might
04:08 find yourself picking up shots on the field and just that little bit of prep
04:12 before you can go out to play can make a big difference.
04:15 Right so as you can see we've made our way up to the green and if you're about to play in your
04:24 first golf competition you're gonna face long putts like this and actually as
04:29 anyone who's played golf for a while will know three putts really do kill a score
04:33 they kill your momentum and your mood. So Alex what's your advice when putting from long range?
04:39 Now when we've got a putt of this length we see on TV we saw the
04:42 highlights them draining putts from this distance 25-30 feet when really we're
04:47 not expected to so if we watch that we run the risk of trying to be too
04:51 aggressive at this point I mean of course we could hold the putt but we run
04:55 the risk of hitting it three or four foot past got a knee knocker coming back.
04:58 Yes so what should we be aiming for then?
05:01 I like to use the kind of bin lid method so if we can get the ball around the bin lid we keep it stress free
05:06 we've got a better chance of maintaining that score keeping that momentum like you said.
05:10 Yeah so just take a little bit of pressure off your own shoulders just try and get the ball as Alex said
05:15 within that kind of bin lid around the hole you'll be taking three putts out of the equation won't you?
05:20 Exactly, exactly.
05:21 Go on then, show us how it's done.
05:22 No pressure!
05:23 And that is how it's done.
05:35 [Music]
05:40 Okay so for the next one on the list you could probably guess what we're about to tell you
05:44 that is the importance of warming up. Alex people know that it's important to
05:49 warm up before they go and play but what should they be doing?
05:52 I would firstly research a few stretches that you can do online just to basically get mobility through back
05:58 through spine and just get us generally warmed up ready for exercise.
06:02 Then I would make sure if you hit a few goal balls don't treat it like a practice session.
06:07 Don't treat it like a practice session, all right? We've all done it.
06:10 You know it's very you hit one bad one you pull one then suddenly you're like what maybe I did this maybe I did that.
06:15 You start tinkering.
06:16 So what do you do in that scenario? You hit a bad shot how do you put that to your back in mind?
06:19 I mean you're always going to want to tinker a little bit what I'd do is I would go back to
06:23 either my last lesson my rules of thumb what I've been working on in general
06:27 and trust that it's that's going to come through.
06:29 Okay fine and so then let's say you've done your stretches you've hit how many balls?
06:33 25 max.
06:35 You've hit 25 balls what do you what's the sort of routine what's the kind of
06:40 timeline between arriving at the golf course and stepping onto the first tee?
06:43 So a lot of people finish on their putting as the last thing they do before they go on the first tee.
06:47 Now generally that probably is because the putting means near the first tee but if we can my absolute
06:52 ideal scenario is stretching, putting, a few wedges, mid irons and lastly finish on about
06:59 five drives straight to the first tee we're ready to go.
07:02 Off you go. Okay so what happens if that last drive you hit what happens if you carve it off
07:08 to the right hand side it's not a great image to have as you step onto the first tee is it?
07:12 No it's not but you could argue if your first tee shot of the day was a bad one
07:15 then that could set the tone for the day so what I would say is literally look at the warm-up
07:20 as a way of just getting your body loose body ready and don't judge the last shot
07:24 as what's going to happen on the first tee because you're in a completely different environment.
07:28 Yeah I mean the truth is you can't really expect to play well if you haven't done some form of
07:33 warming up before you step onto the first tee if you haven't got the ability to hit balls before
07:37 you go and play because that's not always the case then at least do the sort of physical stretches
07:41 that you can do a little bit of putting get to the first tee in some degree of readiness
07:46 so that you can go and shoot a good score.
07:47 [Music]
07:53 Okay so Alex the next one on the list is a really simple one it's got nothing to do
07:57 with technique or even strategy but it actually can make a difference to you on the course and
08:01 that's related to where you put your bag when you're putting on the green.
08:05 Definitely and just in terms of speed of play I mean I've got a prime example here I just hit
08:10 the front edge now the flag is at the back of the green the next tee is actually over the back of
08:15 the green over there yeah now this would be an absolute killer for me to leave my bag here
08:19 put out have to then walk back collect my bag off to the next tee.
08:24 Your playing partners you're playing with are not going to like you and especially the guys behind.
08:28 Actually it's one of those things that can create a sense of pressure on your own shoulders because
08:33 you can feel like you're actually holding people up people are looking at you as if to say come on
08:37 get the move on and actually you're just trying to do your best aren't you?
08:40 Exactly and especially if you're then first on the next tee you're then running over
08:43 it could actually affect your next shot.
08:45 Yeah so actually Alex come over here because in actual fact your best bet both of us in this
08:51 scenario is to pop both the bags over here and then walk back to your golf ball and then
08:58 go on from there isn't it?
08:59 Exactly so we're straight off to the next tee.
09:01 Okay so the next one is Alex a really important one isn't it it's course management if you want
09:12 your first competition to be a good one if you want to shoot a good score you need to think about
09:16 this stuff really closely what's your advice generally speaking on course management Alex?
09:22 Most golf courses either have a course guide or people have a digital device or even in fact on
09:27 each hole they have a visual what you can see my kind of rule of thumb is one look at the visual
09:32 where's the trouble is the bunkers is the water is the trees like there's here at the Pogs Hills
09:38 and I would then think about have I got a shot on this hole because having a shot on this hole
09:43 might mean we can take a little bit less risk from the tee and plan our way down the hole a
09:47 little bit better. Okay so are you identifying where the big trouble is so you're just basically
09:52 plotting your way through saying that's a kind of card wrecking area over there I can't hit it.
09:57 Exactly and I think if we are a higher handicap if we avoid a card wrecker and we say if we're
10:03 off 20 and we accumulate just to run a bogeys we're gonna we're gonna be under our handicap
10:07 it's when we have those sevens and we have all we turn those sevens into nines that's when it can be
10:12 really bad for our game. Okay so specific scenario we've got here this is 170 yards slightly downhill
10:18 wind off the left you can see that the flag is sort of tucked a little bit behind that bunker
10:24 on the right hand side what what is your advice to I guess different golfers of different abilities
10:29 from a place like this? So if we are a better player so single figures potentially and we have
10:34 a bit more confidence in our game I would like you to kind of base the flag on a colour code system
10:39 so green being one you can attack that might be one in the middle of the green here amber being
10:44 one if we feel like it's a good wind it's a good shot shape it's accessible for our game that's
10:49 when it comes into one that maybe go for yes and a red would be potentially this scenario behind
10:55 the bunker over water where it could be again a card wrecking situation. Yeah okay so for me
11:01 what's this one? I would think for you because you said on the on the start of the video stock
11:05 shot was a fade this one might be an amber for you. Okay yeah fine. Amber to red depending on
11:10 how we feel and the stage of the game now if you're a higher handicapper my rule of thumb is
11:15 if we hit the green and the centre of the green every single time we're not going to be far away.
11:20 No okay fine and I guess how much are you thinking about where to miss because a shot like this if
11:26 you miss this particular shot short left you're absolutely fine exactly but if you miss it short
11:30 right you're in a bad position aren't you are you thinking about that stuff and and if you are how
11:36 are you blocking out sort of bad thoughts from kind of causing you to make a bad swing? I think
11:41 you're never going to block bad thoughts and potentially they will come in but I always think
11:46 you can't plan for a bad shot you know the trouble's there you use the colour code system
11:50 almost as a way of weighing up the trouble but not almost highlighting the trouble and then we plan
11:56 to hit a good shot like for example here we'll be planning to hit a nice fade into the flag I
12:01 wouldn't want you thinking well I can miss it short left I can miss it short right right fine
12:05 because that's just going to give you bad underlying thoughts. Okay good well I'm going to
12:08 give this a go then Alex. Right I want to see the stock shot. Okay fine yeah well you've asked for
12:12 it so I'll have to do it. Okay.
12:20 Go! Oh no! Guess where it's gone people? It's in that trap short right I got a little bit greedy
12:36 with it didn't I? I thought it was going to be all right for a second but the wind just held it up there.
12:45 Okay so the next one on our list relates to swing thoughts. Now we all I guess most golfers have
12:52 swing thought things in their in their golf swing they're looking to achieve. Alex question for you
12:56 how how many is a good number of swing thoughts to have do you think? Before I give that answer I
13:01 want to know how many do you have? One. One okay so I'd say you're generally probably not the norm.
13:08 Oh really? Most people that come for lessons have sometimes up as a five swing thoughts. Right so
13:13 like grip, posture, whatever. Exactly so my tip for that is because we're always going to have if we're
13:18 new to the game of golf and it's our first competition we're going to have something that
13:21 we need a bit of a checklist. Yes. So I kind of like separate that into pre-swing so grip, stance,
13:27 all those aspects. Okay yeah. So we can throw them away once we've done it. Fine so you do all of the
13:31 groundwork that you know you need to do to get yourself in a good position over the ball. Exactly.
13:35 And then once you're there. I tend to have hopefully no more than one potentially two one
13:40 back swing and one trigger thought. Okay so what is it for you then? So I like to feel that the club
13:45 goes wide on the way back. Okay. Because I get kind of a little bit narrow is my bad swing thought on
13:49 the way through I'm an absolute bugger for keeping my head down. Okay right. So it stops me rotate
13:54 through so I like to feel like I call it anachoretic. That's literally my only thought on
13:58 the way through. Okay right yeah. So I try and work on like a role model that I can copy and almost
14:04 create the same thing as what I visualize and see. Okay that's good. Well I have, I'd say I have one
14:10 and my one is because I tend to get a bit snatchy from the top. I just like to just feel as if I'm
14:16 just not pausing but just there's a bit of time at the top of the back swing. Just don't rush the
14:22 start of the down swing. Your role model would like maybe like Matsyama to the top and then go.
14:26 Exactly. It doesn't always look like that. I'm sure anyone who's seen any of our videos in the
14:29 past will know it doesn't always look like that. But for me it's I know it's a swing thought that's
14:33 worked well for me. I guess Alex the point is that it's different for different people and
14:38 different golf swings. Exactly but the one key thing is between me and you it's simple. It's
14:43 not a specific position. Yes. It's a simple thought and a feeling to work to. Okay good.
14:50 Shall I have a hit? Let's have a hit. Right I've got to really try and pause at the top now.
14:55 A little bit over fade but it's okay.
15:07 So as you can see the next tip we've got for you is about alignment and we've chosen
15:17 alignment because it's something that everyone can get right. It makes a big difference if you
15:21 do get it right but equally it's something that we all get wrong from time to time. Certainly Alex
15:25 I'm somebody that can often stand quite close to the ball at address. I'm the same. Why is it
15:29 important to get your alignment sort of rock solid? I think the two the main aspect is is the
15:34 fact that a lot of people's bad shots and bad swings just stems from poor alignment. Like you
15:39 were saying about yourself there. Okay. So having a routine to stick to on the first tee is absolutely
15:44 key to assure you've got good alignment. Yeah so I mean we're talking here about how to handle your
15:48 first competition and one of the big challenges of playing competition golf is that you can get
15:54 a bit scrambled at times and these are the sorts of things that can fall by the wayside. How do
15:58 you make sure that doesn't happen? I would visualize exactly what we've got down here.
16:02 We've got two alignment sticks, one down the board to target line and then a parallel one for our
16:07 feet line. Okay fine. So how are you building that stance then? So straight away I'd do this and I'd
16:12 make this as part of every single shot whether it be the first tee shot or it'll be the last shot
16:17 into the 18th green. Fine. And even if it's your first round I would make sure you build this into
16:21 a good thing which happens every single round. Okay good. So behind the golf ball establish your
16:27 ball to target line and that'll be where we want the ball to finish. Yes. So I don't intend to make
16:33 it like a thin line I like to feel like an alignment channel. So that's going to be our
16:37 outside alignment stick. I would then once I've got a strong visual of the outside one, I highlighted
16:42 it, I would bring in a second one which feels like my feet line runs parallel to that. From that I
16:47 can build my stance around it, my hips, my shoulders and then ready to go. Yeah so two parallel lines
16:53 that's the key. Obviously you can't put shafts down like this in competition. Just remember to
16:57 get those two parallel lines set. Get yourself set properly over the ball. If you do you are
17:02 more than halfway to making a good swing. Okay so the last one on the list relates to your score
17:13 card and actually we're talking here Alex about what you do after a round because you might think
17:17 that you've finished your round of golf, nothing can go wrong but actually before you hand your
17:21 card in something can go wrong. What do people need to do? What do they need to look out for?
17:25 So first point of call we've got to have the gross scores correct. Okay yeah. So I know we talked
17:30 about playing in a stable third and we have a tally of points that we get. Now if they don't
17:34 add up correctly it doesn't matter and if they're not the correct points that doesn't matter. The
17:38 main thing is as long as your gross scores for each hole are correct. Yes so I would go through
17:42 my card and I'd check what I'd put you down for and against what you've got on your card we just
17:47 make sure that the scores on both cards tally up. Right exactly. And then if they do? Two things
17:54 you've got to do. Number one make sure you sign it but the one I find a lot of people forget is
17:58 the playing partners got to sign it too. Yeah okay so get that right, hand your card in and you'll
18:03 be good to go. So there you have it that was our list of the 10 best tips to handle your first
18:10 golf competition. Guys what did you think? What did you think of Alex's tips? Is there anything
18:14 that you've done playing under pressure, playing in competition that's really helped you out? We'd
18:17 be really interested to hear your thoughts. But for now thanks for watching we'll see you next time.
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