Things aren't always going to go your way on the golf course.
The Jefferson City Lady Jays used the preseason to work on getting themselves out of those precarious situations.
"We've been putting in a lot of work on getting over the fear of failure," Lady Jays coach Randy Bickel said. "That's a tough one to get past, we talk about it every day.
"You can't be afraid to fail on a golf course. You have to be aggressive, not defensive."
In practice, Bickel has put his 11 players in situations that might come from a bad shot or poor position on a hole. And then they have to get themselves out of it.
"That shows them that they can recover from those situations and still post a good score," Bickel said. "You can't allow one bad shot or one bad hole to get you down.
"Things will get better."
Jefferson City, scheduled to open the season today at the Warrensburg Invitational, has just one senior on the roster.
"I'm extremely pleased with the ladies, they're working extremely hard," Bickel said. "We don't have a lot of experience, but we do have the willingness to work hard to improve."
There are seven players in the mix for the five varsity spots.
"It's going to be nice to see those seven battle for the spots all season," Bickel said.
Sami Swinfard, a sophomore, will be the No. 1 player for Jefferson City this season.
"She's posting our best scores right now," Bickel said. "She has had a lot of growth in her golf game. She has a lot of enthusiasm, played a lot of tournaments through the summer and has improved greatly.
"She's still putting the pieces together, but she understands the building blocks of the game. If she continues to improve, she can be one of the best in the state by the time she is a senior."
Three other players - senior Maggie Noble, and juniors Christa Kiesling and Lilly Tharp - have some varsity experience.
Also battling for varsity positions are juniors Shelby Clark and Emma Hull, along with sophomore Valerie Hurt.
"It's exciting because they all have tremendous attitudes," Bickel said. "They are so much fun to work with. They're a group of young adults who are willing to work and learn."
Not that there haven't been some frustrating times in the preseason.
"But I can see they're learning and that frustration level is reducing," Bickel said. "We're going to get better as the year goes on because I believe in our work ethic."
The varsity spots will sort themselves out as the season goes along,
"If you're not doing it, they will take themselves out of the lineup," Bickel said. "It's really black and white."
Schedule highlights include the Laker Invitational next Wednesday, the Helias Invitational on Aug. 31, the Notre Dame de Sion Invitational on Sept. 12 and the Capital City Invitational on Sept. 19.
The Class 2 state tournament will be played at Columbia Country Club.