How do you prepare mentally in your head before you stand on the first tee
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Two things and no more.
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Tell yourself or your playing partners a cheesy, but funny joke to loosen yourself and them up. Being tight mentally results in being tight physically.
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Grip it and rip it.
That’s it. The more you tell yourself before a round, the more you’ll be in your head. Trust your preparation and let your body swing freely. Relax your mind. Stress causes ulcers and double bogeys.
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I go up there with the knowledge that my first tee sheet will have little predictive value to how my round will go. I also know everyone else on the tee mostly cares about what they are doing and they’ve felt the same embarrassment of a poor opening shot.
Then I just go through my routine and hit the shot!
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I like to apply a consistent routine on every shot from the first tee to the last approach on to the 18th to minimise external thoughts and distractions (I have a putting routine too, but it’s slightly different):
- Stand about 3yds behind the ball
- Pick a small target to aim at
- Visualise the ball flying towards that target, including shape, the ball landing, bouncing and rolling out
- Practice swing, feeling the swing needed to achieve the ball flight
- Walk into the ball, align, look at target again, visualising ball flight. Take shot. Enjoy watching the ball flight as it tracks to the target
The last step I try to keep the same timing every shot. Recently I’ve purchased Tour Tempo tones and I aim for 3x repetition of the 27/9 tempo Track to get in position (humming the tune in my head) and a further repetition for my strike.
I go through the above routine in practice at home and on the range to make it as subconscious as possible.
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I prepare mentally by preparing physically. I (almost) always warm up on the range, and I usually finish my preparations by hitting a few shots that mimic the demands of the first tee shot. Generally, I’ve scoped out the first hole in some manner, either I made sure to walk past it, or I took a peek on Google Earth, so I know what I’ll need. I’m making sure that I have a recent positive experience in my head, which helps me relax for that first “real” shot of the day.
But let’s get back to you, @Golffather, do you have first tee troubles? Can you describe what you feel, or what happens? Those answers might get you some advice more specifically directed at your personal problems.
Oh, what should have been first, welcome to Practical Golf forum! 
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Same way I do on the 18th tee.
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I used to get first tee jitters or psyche myself out on the way to the course, but it hasn’t happened in awhile. Part of the psyche out is putting expectations on the round and doing too much pre-round visualization. I’m better off not thinking before hand and saving the concentration for the 10-15 seconds of pre-shot routine through swing. Doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally hit a bad opening tee shot, but I try not to think of it as more important than any other shot in the round.
Sometimes I hit it great and it leads to a birdie or easy par to start and I’m ready to go, and sometimes I miss and get bogey or double, and I think ‘it can only get better from here’. When things go well, try to stay in the frame, if it turns South, reframe it to an opportunity.
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I agree with all of this.
You forgot one thing though. If you’re the first to tee off you have to say “play well today” to your playing partners right after you’ve put the tee in the ground. Failure to do so could have devastating consequences for your entire group.
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I don’t know if I’ve ever said that, and it might show with the company I keep. Also I let the other guys go first so they’ll have the box at least once during the round 
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Don’t over think it. As quoted above Grip it and Rip it. I used to find the 1st tee very stressful as I thought the pros were watching me with a big window of the pro shop right behind and above the 1st tee. Once I realized they weren’t watching it really freed me up except now I know they do watch sometimes!
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@davep043 - I do this as well (plus some other stuff) but felt my post was way too long already! Good routine sir.
I’ve played a couple of places where people are definitely watching. At Lahinch in Ireland, the first tee was once kind of squished between the clubhouse on the left, and the pro shop on the right. Even more nerve-wracking was the tee shot at St Andrews, with dozens to hundreds of people around. In both cases, it helped that I was near the tee early, and saw a few groups tee off before mine. You see all kinds of tee shots, great to awful, and you realize it just doesn’t matter to anyone besides the player.
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Can’t help but to get the jitters in the first tee, but only in tournaments. I know that first shot can’t dictate the round in its entirety but it can set a tone, if you allow it. For me the first tee box is the culmination of the work I’ve put into my preparation, both mentally and physically. I am only trying to prove something to myself. I have a bunch of eyes on me at that moment and that moment only, but they don’t care what I do, only I care. If I hit a bad one, I shake it off and go hit a good one. For me the first tee jitters will always be there, if they aren’t, then I’m not prepared. I would believe if you talk to any athlete of any sport, they all have the opening moment jitters, the pit in their stomach. It’s human, it’s normal, it’s natural. Enjoy it, embrace it, and don’t let the outcome of that first shot dictate your round, unless of course it’s a hole in one.
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As long as you aren’t acting like a fool and destroying property, no one cares what you shot or how you hit it. Everyone else is far more worried about what you think of them.
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I think this is a great question, and we can go as deep or shallow into it as possible…
Shallow: Last year in our club championship, I decided to throw together a “golf outfit”… Red hat, grey shirt, blue shorts and socks that matched all three colors (they had sharks eating people on them)… with an outfit like that, you have to perform on the first tee… I managed to, and then couldn’t keep it together for the rest of the day and didn’t qualify for match play.
Deep: This is something I want to improve on… both the zen approach of accepting that I have the swing I have that day and also setting myself up for success on the first tee by being ready, both mentally and physically… The physical warm up part is simple, but just going through the routines and making sure you are ready to play golf… I used to get out of the car and hit the first tee, but now I need to actually stretch and warm up… I think I’ve always fallen short in the mental warm up, though… Just reviewing the game plan for my round, what I’m trying to accomplish and focusing on making the best decision for every shot. I’m working on that aspect!
One of my many goals for 2021 is to have a gameplan going onto the first tee… Not a number, just an attitude of “I’m going to make the best decisions I can, and face my challenges rationally” and see how it helps my scoring…
It also helps that the first hole is a short par 4 that favors my fade.
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I don’t prepare mentally, and I don’t want to be it.