The first cut of the year is important.  You want to make sure that any debris is removed from lawn as soon as possible.  Rake up any debris and get any grass that is laying down to stand up before your first cut.  Make sure your mower blade is sharp and cut your lawn at a height of 2.5 inches.  Now check to see if  any grass crowns are approaching the surface.   The crown is the intersection of the stalk and blade. Sometimes after a cut you will see what looks like a burnt or scalped area.  What has happened is that the crown of the plant has moved very close to the surface.  A lawn can be lightly renovated by cutting these crowns off.  You can do this by lowering the cut height by 1/2 to 1 inch and removing the crown.  When the crown is removed the plant will die and the stalks will disappear over time.  After this procedure follow up by over seeding the entire  lawn with a hi-quality seed mixture.