If you’ve ever felt like the only one who struggles with nailing your opening tee shot, consider this tidbit: Tiger Woods is just like you! Or, at least he was. Until he devised a way to fix his issues.
In October, Woods sat down for a Q&A with a group of juniors at the TGR Jr. Invitational at Pebble Beach. And on Thursday, TaylorMade Golf, a presenting sponsor of the TGR Jr. Invitational, tweeted Woods’ answer to a question about his warm-up routine. If you happen to suffer from first-tee-itis, you’ll want to pay close attention to what Woods had to say.
“I used to struggle on the first tee shot so badly as a junior — I missed every fairway, every single time,” Woods began. “So I came up with this dress rehearsal. I still do it to this day if you watch.”
Woods has always had a focused and deliberate warm-up routine, which he then described in detail.
“I go through my whole bag, go through my warm-up,” he said. “Same warm-up: sand wedge, 8-iron, 4-iron. Now I don’t hit 2-iron anymore, ’cause I can’t, but 5-wood, 3-wood, driver, back to 8-iron, 60-degree sand wedge, and then whatever I’m gonna hit on the first tee.”
Woods said that a major key to the end of his warm-up routine is making his range practice as much like the first-tee experience as he can.
“I go through the bag and I pick out the club, envision the shot,” he said. “I know the wind, I know what the fairway’s doing, I know where the pin is. And I hit that shot. And if I hit it wrong, club back in the bag, towel off the hands, put it back up, I re-do it. And when I get to the first tee, I say, it’s just like the range. It’s the same thing. Same shot. And I started having a lot more success. I started winning more junior tournaments that way, and it just kind of built upon itself.”
And there you have it. Follow Woods’ routine to nail your own opening shot. And remember: Even if we can’t achieve Woods’ results, we can at least prepare like he does.