First tee nerves, stage fright, the jitters, we have all had them in one form or another at various stages in our life. That 'nervous' feeling is one we talk about so much, dread terribly but understand little about. Yet, when it arrives it is an absolute destroyer of our talents and abilities.

People can find themselves in an exam room having done the work and really needing to pass the test. But they get so worked up beforehand that their mind goes blank. It's the same on the golf course.

You want to play well. You hit the ball fantastically in practice. But when you get to the first hole you play dreadfully.

What is this thing that we call nervousness? We use the term flippantly all the time and therein may be the answer to the problem.

I heard a fascinating story about the description Carly Simon gave on her crippling stage fright that severely restricted her performances in public. She talked about feelings in her hands, strong sensations in her stomach and a buzzing in her head that terrified her. Bruce Springsteen heard the same description and remarked that if he didn't have those feelings he couldn't go on stage and perform!

The feelings were the same. What was different was the label attached to them.

Jack Nicklaus said: "Give me that feeling on the back nine of a major championship. That is what I hit all the balls in practice for." He didn't say, "give me that feeling of nervousness", just "give me that feeling".

How do we know that we have 'firsttee nerves'? Because we have been told that the feeling in our body is nerves or stage fright and we put a label on that feeling. The label is bad, we resist the feeling and we become scared of it.

But, whatever we resist persists.

Just imagine if at an early age we had been told that the feeling on the first tee was 'first tee energy' or 'stage energy'. How would the experience have been different?

We have all learned and become conditioned to fear certain sensations in our body as a result of the labels that we have inherited from others. Just listen to the dreadful labels that are dished out on a weekly basis by golf commentators.

"The pressure out there is unbearable, " they say. "This is the most important putt of his life."

Understand this fascinating concept that has transformed many athletes' performance. All feeling in the body is energy. When we put a label to that feeling, such as nervousness, the energy becomes blocked.

What does energy want to do? Move, move, move. Just think of the word emotion. What does it mean? Emotion is energy in motion.

Much of what we have been led to believe about emotional control has been wrong.

In the coming weeks I will give you insights into how to transform those unwanted feelings in your golf and, perhaps more importantly, in your life so that the feelings that once held you back can be changed for good.