A mental and emotional warm-up is as important as your physical one. Byron Nelson would wake up at four a.m. and play his entire round while resting in bed. When he arrived at the course hours later, everything appeared safe, and was familiar, and rehearsed. If you rush to the course, thinking of other things that aggravate you, frustrated and preoccupied with other items, your opportunity to succeed drops drastically. That is why the touring professionals each have their rituals of arriving early at the course and doing not only their practice sessions, but also their emotional, social, and mental preparation in the same manner time after time. It signals to them they are in their safe place, their comfort zone.
