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 going to
00:42play in a competition is to have a stock shot. Definitely, now I think a lot of
00:46people when you say stock shot they associate like low handicappers,
00:49professionals, but that could literally be for anybody. Now most commonly for
00:54players who are a high handicap that might be a lot of movement left to right
00:57or right to left depending on if you're a right or left hander but just sticking
01:02with that knowing what happens is very powerful. Okay so if you were to advise
01:07somebody and just say this is a good stock shot to have what would you
01:11suggest they use? Now it can vary day to day if you've got the opportunity to
01:16practice the day before or on the day before on a driving range I would just
01:20see what comes out whether it be a fade or it be a draw and I would stick with
01:24that on the golf course. Okay fine all right well I'm gonna go for my stock
01:27shot here which is my stock shot in this scenario would be a little fade I think
01:32Alex. Okay so interesting actually you said before sometimes it feels a draw
01:35but 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 is right let's see if this one can can work for me
01:59beauty 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 in 100 yards getting you in trouble
02:55because it's not spinning. Exactly so when you get grass between the ball and
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
03:19okay 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 tee it 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 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
08:41first in the next tee you're then running over it could actually affect
08:44your next shot. Yeah so actually Alex come over here because in actual fact
08:49your best bet both of us in this scenario is to pop both the bags
08:54over here and then walk back to your golf ball and then go on from there
08:59isn't it? Exactly so we'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
09:55area over there I can't hit it. Exactly and I think if we are a higher handicapper if we
10:00avoid a 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
10:08sevens and we have all we turn those sevens into nines that's when it can be
10:12really bad for our game. Okay so specific scenario we've got here this is a hundred
10:16and seventy yards slightly downhill wind off the left you can see that the flag
10:21is sort of tucked a little bit behind that bunker on the right hand side what
10:25is your advice to I guess different golfers of different abilities from a
10:30place like this? So if we are a better player so single figures potentially and
10:34we have a bit more confidence in our game I would like you to kind of base
10:37the flag on a color code system so green being one you can attack that might be
10:42one in the middle of the green here amber being one if we feel like it's a
10:45good 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
10:55behind the bunker over water where it could be again a card-wrecking situation
10:59yeah okay so for me what's this one? I would think for you because you said
11:04on the on the start of the video stock shot was a fade this one might be an
11:08amber for you okay yeah amber to red depending on how we feel and the stage
11:11of the game now if you were a higher handicapper my rule of thumb is if we
11:15hit the green and the center of the green every single time we're not gonna
11:19be far away. No okay fine and I guess how much you thinking about where to miss
11:25because a shot like this if you miss this particular shot short left yeah
11:29you're absolutely fine exactly but if you miss it short right you're in a bad
11:32position aren't you are you thinking about that stuff and and if you are how
11:36are you blocking out some bad thoughts from kind of causing you to make a bad
11:40swing? I think you're never gonna block bad thoughts and potentially they will
11:44come in but I always think you can't plan for a bad shot you know the
11:48troubles there you use a color code system almost as a way of weighing up
11:53the trouble but not almost highlighting the trouble 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
12:01flag I wouldn't want you thinking well I can miss it short left I can miss it
12:04short right because that's just gonna give you bad underlying thoughts okay
12:08good well I'm gonna give this a go then Alex. I want to see the stock shot
12:11okay fine yeah well you've asked for it so I'll have to do it okay
12:23go guess where it's gone people it's in that trap short right I got a little bit
12:36greedy with it didn't I I thought it was gonna be alright for a second but the
12:39wind just held it up there
12:46okay so the next one on our list relates to swing thoughts now we all I guess
12:51most golfers have swing thought things in there in their goal swing they're
12:54looking to achieve Alex question for you how how many is a good number of swing
12:59thoughts to have do you think before I give the answer I want to know how many
13:02do you have one one okay so I'd say you're generally probably not the norm
13:07oh really most people that come for lessons have sometimes it was a five
13:12swing for us right so like grip posture whatever exactly fine my tip for that is
13:17because we're always gonna have if we're new to the game of golf and it's our
13:19first competition we're gonna have something that we need a bit of a
13:22checklist yes so I kind of like to separate that into pre swing so grip
13:26stance all those aspects so we can throw them away once we've done it fine so you
13:31do all of the groundwork that you know you need to get yourself in a good
13:34position over the ball exactly and then once you're there I tend to have
13:37hopefully no more than one potentially two one back swing and one trigger
13:42thought 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
13:49swing thought on the way through I'm an absolute bugger for keeping the head
13:52down okay right so it stops me rotate through so I like to feel like I call it
13:57Anna crit that's literally my only thought on the way through okay right
14:00yeah so I try and work on like a role model that I can copy and almost create
14:05the same thing as what I visualize and see okay that's good well I have I say I
14:09have one and my one is because I tend to get a bit snatchy from the top I just
14:16like to just feel as if I'm just not pausing but just there's a bit of time
14:20at the top of the backswing just don't don't rush the start of the downs for
14:23your own whatever like maybe like Maxiana to the top yeah exactly then go
14:26exactly it doesn't always look like that I'm sure anyone who's seen any of our
14:29videos in the past will know it doesn't always look like that but for me it's I
14:32know it's a swing thought that's worked well for me I guess Alex the point is
14:35that it's different for different people and different golf swing exactly but the
14:40one key thing is between me and you it's simple it's not a Pacific position yes
14:45it's a simple thought and a feeling to work to okay good
14:50shall I have a hit? Let's have a hit. Right I've got to really try and pause at the top now Alex.
14:55yeah
15:04a little bit over fade but it's okay
15:10so as you can see the next tip we've got for you is about alignment and we've
15:16chosen alignment because it's something that everyone can get right it makes a
15:20big difference if you do get it right but equally it's something that we all
15:24get wrong from time to time certainly Alex I'm somebody that can often stand
15:27quite close to the ball at address. I'm the same. Why is it important to get
15:30your 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
15:39alignment like you were saying about yourself there okay so having a routine
15:42to stick to on the first tee is absolutely key to assure you've got good
15:46alignment yeah so I mean we're talking here about how to handle your first
15:49competition and one of the big challenges of playing competition golf
15:53is that you can get a bit scrambled at times and these are the sorts of things
15:57that can fall by the wayside how do you make sure that doesn't happen? I would
16:00visualize exactly what we've got down here we've got two alignment sticks one
16:04down the ball to target line and then a parallel one for our feet line okay fine
16:09so how are you building that stance then? So straight away I'd do this and I'd make
16:12this as part of every single shot whether it be the first tee shot will
16:16be the last shot into the 18th green and even if it's your first round I would
16:20make sure you build this into a good thing which happens every single round
16:24good so behind the golf ball establish your ball to target line and that'll be
16:29where we want the ball to finish so I don't intend to make it like a thin line
16:34I like to feel like an alignment channel so that's gonna be our outside
16:37alignment stick I would then once I've got a strong visual of the outside one
16:41and highlighted it I would bring in a second one which feels like my feet line
16:46runs parallel to that from that I can build my stance around it my hips my
16:50shoulders and then ready to go yeah so two parallel lines that's the key
16:54obviously you can't put shafts down like this in competition just remember to get
16:58those two parallel lines set get yourself set properly over the ball if
17:02you do you are more than halfway to making a good swing
17:10okay so the last one on the list relates to your scorecard and actually we're
17:14talking here Alex about what you do after a round because you might think
17:17that you finish your round of golf nothing can go wrong but actually before
17:21you hand your card in something can go wrong what do people need to do what do
17:25they need to look out for so first point of call we've got to have the gross
17:28scores correct so I know we talked about playing in a stable third and we have a
17:32tally of a points that we get now if they don't add up correctly it doesn't
17:36matter and if they're not the correct points that doesn't matter the main
17:38thing is as long as your gross scores for each hole are correct yes so I would
17:42go through my card and I'd check what I'd put you down for and against what
17:47you've got on your card we just make sure that the scores on both cards tally
17:51up right exactly and then if they do two things you've got to do number one make
17:56sure you sign it but the one I find a lot of people forget is the playing
17:59partners got to sign it too yeah okay so get that right hand your card in and
18:04you'll be good to go so there you have it that was our list of the ten best
18:08tips to handle your first golf competition guys what did you think what
18:12did you think of Alex's tips is there anything that you've done playing under
18:15pressure playing in competition that's really helped you out we'd be really
18:18interested to hear your thoughts but for now thanks for watching we'll see you