Conquering Putting Nerves and Anxiety 

So you’re saying. Sitting on the couch watching disc golf videos won’t make me better. Dang, guess I have to practice. Nice video 👍

When I find myself getting the yips I look away from the basket and then look back and putt in the first second so I agree. This is primarily for putts I think I should make. Harder putts with risks I take more time to think about a plan and don’t tend to get nervous because I figure making is just a bonus. Your right about not controlling the outcome of your shots. Everyone knows you can only control your friends shots by saying nice while the disc is in the air.

This is a great video. I'm a 36-year veteran (I never did play am, lol) and have won a few tournaments here and there. I'd say that the breakthrough for me many years ago was when I stopped being results-oriented and started being process oriented. As they say on TV: "actual results may vary." What I mean is that I judge my efforts on preparation and concentration in the moment, not whether I make or miss the actual shot. I remember one really nerve-wracking putt I had in front of a tournament gallery. Of course it was a death putt in front of like 50 people. I was almost shaking. Finally I just said to myself (silently) "If you're gonna miss, well just get it over with and miss!!" (I made the putt). It was a paraphrase of Scott's excellent concept that you aren't in control of each individual shot, you can only control the preparation, the effort, and the concentration in the moment. Thank you Mr. Stokely!!

I think people need to be careful of the fine line between the thinking of "I don't have control" and "it doesn't really matter if I make this (because I don't have control)". I have learned that the outcome isn't what I should focus on, but the effort. You have a lot less pressure thinking "I'm going to give this a good effort" than if you think "I have to make this." Having to do something that you may not be able to do, I think, is the source of anxiety. And that goes into every shot on the course, "I have to hit this gap/line off the tee", "I have to park this upshot", "I have to make this putt." Change it to, "I've done this before, I'm going to give it a good effort", then you'll get that Gold Star in your heart lol :)

One trick that has made me less nervous before a big putt, is to pretend I just missed the putt badly. Now I'm back to reality and I have a second chance ! It actually makes me feel a little better. I know that goes counter to people who say you visualize it going in, but that just hasn't worked for me.

I heard the intro as "I hate everyone" Dang scott what did we do?

This is true, But the not being nervous thing and mental aspect is what defines a clutch player like Jordan. You definitely need to keep consistency with practice and tournaments. Like Ricky once was asked why he wasn't using a caddy for some tournament and his answer was because he practices without a caddy and he talked about consistency with practice and tournament play. Stuck with me

I just love the fact that he is rocking a Kastoplast Burg. Best disc ever made.

This is the video everyone in a high stress job needs to see; at least the first 9 minutes. I'd even say that every student leaving high school or college could benefit. This is bigger than disc golf. (Horrors, I said it out loud!!)

I think the great thing about your teaching style is the way you deliver your message. Every time I watch one of your videos I come away with physical tips but somehow my mental game benefits from your lessons as well. I shot my lowest round ever at my local course the day after I watched your putting video. I was able to eliminate fear/anxiety from all but one of my putts. Thank you for the valuable content.

As an addiction counselor and a disc golfer, I love that you've brought up the illusion of control. For an addicted person, they cannot control whether or not they use the substance they're addicted to. What they can control is getting to recovery support groups, talking with people who have recovered, getting active in their communities, making amends for past transgressions, etc. Objectively, these things in turn increase probability of abstinence and higher quality of life. I might lean on the sports analogy when discussing this with my clients in the future...

Scott you just got mad philosophical on me and I love it! What a way to conceptualize sports success and alleviate misguided expectations.

I agree with you Scott love the challenging viewpoint on control the controllables. Thanks for what you do to push us and help us with your personal insights and experiences

Great video, thanks! What works for me is a mental shift from a) "I have to make this!" or "What if I don't make this" or "Don't miss low" etc. Which leads to anxiety because you don't have control over the outcome, like Scott so brilliantly pointed out. to b) I know what is the correct form to putt, which gives me the best percentage outcome. The most important thing is snap of the wrist and good follow through. I'll concentrate to execute the form as best as I can and whether or not it goes in, doesn't matter. The goal is to perform the best technique I can, If I do that, then I'm happy. See, this I can control. Then If I miss, I check if I did everything right. If I did everything right, then I'm happy that the technique was correct but I try to analyze what would have made the putt go in. If I did something wrong, then I make a mental note and concentrate next time to do it right. So I use misses as tools to better myself, not to make myself frustrated and lower my percentages even more.

Excellent video scott. I was getting extremely frustrated today on my first round, shot two doubles in the back 9 and that about did it for my mood. Played 36 more holes after that and something that I immediately noticed was that in my final game I had no light so I was kinda just rushing through the round and I shot my best game of the day by about 5 strokes! The less you overthink the better you play.

Hey Scott. I always seem to have butterflies and nervousness in tournaments or important Disc Golf matches.. so I happened apon your video looking for ways to help focus and lose the jitters as I had my leagues finals to play in last night. I took what you have mentioned and it was a tremendous help and I actually won my league and took home the championship trophy and #1 tag!! I felt calm, no jitters and played amazingly! Just wanted to say thank you for your help. It will truly change my game going forward. James from Peterborough Ontario.

Thank you Scott. This is very helpful. I struggle with this very much. I maintain routine but i let that evil creep in. Tee to green i beat most players but take practice concepts into tournament play and only feel that pressure when i expect to make that putt in the circle. I find that to be my downfall. One of the best takes I’ve ever taken is that practice is just that. When we play competitively we have to trust our practice and let our bodies do what we’ve trained them to do. Don’t think…. Execute. One other thing that for some reason is to remind myself i actually love putting in disc golf it’s the most satisfying part. I shouldn’t dread putting i should relish the opportunity for success. Putting is fun.

Great advice. Never thought about it that way but I was one of those lucky people who actually played better in tournaments versus practice rounds when I was actively playing tournaments. To me it came down to confidence and focus.

And to think this whole time I was in control of my game. This video has helped my mental game immensely!

Thanks for this. I've been dealing with putting jitters at tournaments lately and it's getting under my skin. In tournaments I find that I dwell a lot more on "what if I miss?" than simply throwing it in the basket like I do in practice. I think that's the biggest difference between practice and tournament putting for me- in practice and casual play I don't think at all about "what if I miss" and the disc goes in. Gonna work on erasing that difference by using your tips, focusing on doing what I do in practice mentally and bringing that pattern to my tournament putting. What's interesting to me is that I don't think about this for long putts in tournaments because I don't really expect to make them, and those are usually my best putts of the round... It's the 20-35 footers that the "what if I miss" song starts in my head.

I'm very much a novice. This guy has the best videos I've seen for disc golf. He is very realistic, easy to understand, and has great advice. I really appreciate how he doesn't seem to claim that his is the best, or correct, way to approach this sport. I feel like I am watching a master coach.

Thanks Scott, I have a big tournament this weekend and found this video just in time! Gonna definitely use your tips to help me calm the nerves and relax!

What a great video! It really applies to anything, not just discgolf. I realize that I developed this mentality when taking tests in school, to the point that I started enjoying them and seeing them as an opportunity to perform and show what I've learned. You trust in your practice/studies and when game time comes around, there is nothing else you can do but let the practice/knowledge do its thing, Sometimes you ace the test/hole, sometimes not. But as you say, the percentages go up with practice and stay there if you just realize that. What also helps for sure is putting you in that situation a lot of times: practicing competing.

I was a basketball player then later a professional gamer (CS) yes that sounds odd and can easily be dismissed however the secret that I have learned is to love the pressure and that everyone feels it what makes you great at something is you welcome the opportunity to display where all your hard work has taken you in those moments. "Know thy self" and dealing with pressure is a part of learning about yourself. In a pressure situation there's the same response physically as an adrenal rush and the fight or flight response kicks in. In those clutch moments you become more hungry but also remain calmer than anyone else when you understand this. When you practice you practice and condition yourself to be more calm and yet aggressive, hungry and welcome the opportunity to show how hard you have worked at your skill in those moments. In the end it is just a game but when you know in your heart you have given it your all to become at that level you don't have doubt in your mind, you just simply do because that is all there is to do. Those moments are like everything else a lesson and a challenge, you can learn so much about people in those moments in competitive games. At the highest level of competition those who believe without waver are those who become great. You cant fake that because under pressure those doubts will creep in as the mind wants to choose flight if it can find an excuse to run. It is more a battle with the ego than with others and once you can master yourself you will be in the .001% of people in that thing. I also think this is why you see child sevants at things because they haven't taught themselves the limits and excuses we all make to not become great or had that beaten out of them yet by others who made excuses not to try. In the end we are playing a game all the other noise are excuses we tell ourselves to run. Either you are running from something or chasing it. the cool thing is we get to choose. My first love was basketball and I could not overcome my doubts to play the game the way I wanted to, artfully. I used that failure to really question and learn from to become great at another thing. Question the anxiety, learn about yourself, use it as a lesson. We all feel it and you can train it out of your head just like throwing a putt, it takes practice and the more you deal with it the better you become, Its only scary because you have to deal with yourself, we somehow fear that, it's our projected image vs our deep feelings about our self coming to terms in that moment as pressure. When we reconcile those ideas, confidence is found. When the smoke clears all we can do is do. That's it. So might as well have fun and try our very best. Make or Miss you are a growing learning evolving person nothing changes, even if you make it there are still improvements to be made. Failuires and successes do not define us only given up does as that stops our growth. A lucky shot or win can be just as detrimential to a person as a miss if it prevents them from coming to terms with their self realistically. Failure and success are for the ego, living learning and enjoying ones self is for the soul.

I attended one of your clinics back when your hair was still blue and you brought up the illusion of control. You then described it as flipping a coin and how it doesn't matter what happened the last flip, the odds are always 50/50. Total game changer for me it made me realize taking that 6 on one hole doesn't mean the rest of them can't go better. Possibly the single greatest piece of advice I ever got in disc golf! I am def one of those 950+ rated backyard putters and am working on bringing it to tourney play. I am finding after 9 years of playing, while I can still improve mechanically, the mental game is my biggest obstacle. I think it has to do more with me as an individual, how I perceive and process things being the main issue. Its been an issue for awhile but hey look its a new year bringing a new season and a fresh chance to overcome what I couldn't yesterday! Thanks for all you do for the DG community.

Excellent video Scott. Your insights are ON THE MONEY.

Solid content and advice! Thanks for sharing.

Best putting video I’ve seen yet!!!

Great video. Lots of great tips

Intelligent, and useful. Thanks for the post Mr. Stokely.

Scott, thank you. We always have to find the right advice that works for us, and this resonates.

Thanks for this suggestion Scott

Awesome advice. Saving this one!

There has never been a clutch athlete in the history of professional sports, except one. Albert Pujols World Series hitting .800, that is the definition of clutch. Putting up the greatest numbers at the greatest time. Incredible. This video though has completely changed my mental game even in life, thank you so much!

Great Scott! I will use this for all my skills. Ok, going back to watch again. Thank you!

Thanks, Scott. I had some nerves while putting in a tournament in the wind last wknd. It dawned on me halfway through the round. I haven't been practicing putting on the windier days. No wonder I was nervous. As soon as I figured out my new plan, I was fine. The new plan was to have the shortest par putt of anybody in our fivesome on the back nine. It worked. And when I did have a longer putt, I just stepped up and threw it like I would on any practice day. I wish I had seen this video before the front nine. lol I've worked my ass off for almost 3 months this winter and now I have tournaments every weekend for the next six weeks.....at least. Almost every shot I come to I can relate to something that I've done a hundred times during my fieldwork. That makes it much easier to take nerves right out of the equation. Love your content. Keep on with the good fight, my brother.

Great vid as always !! 🤩

Great Advice! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for the continued tips and insight Scott, I really appreciate it! I just started bagging the berg and I absolutely love it. I completely agree with the theory of using the slowest disc possible for every shot. With that disc I feel like I have as much control as I would if I were throwing a ball at the basket. I plan on using these tips to help further improve my game! Thank you again Scott!

Man your disc golf lessons are honestly just good life lessons :) thanks for what you do!

The best golf advice !

I wish I could like this video more than once. Extremely helpful stuff

Killer advice !! Thanks Scott !

I'm one of those people who plays better in tornaments now, having listened to your When to move up a division video (Thankyou! I got some good wins undeder my belt and am now ready to move up and start winning the next division). I don't take enough time when I practice and am very sloppy. So I guess I am going to try to start practicing like how I play in tornaments now. Thanks again!

Awesome advice. Thanks I needed that

The nerves become part of the routine if you convince yourself that those basement putts are for the title. Thanks, Scott. Consistently 👍

Thank you for the dedication to the sport sir. I have appreciated your efforts for ( my turn to date myself) nearly three decades. A nice nod to jeet kune do with designer training btw.

I really liked this one Scott. You’re a sharp guy and you explain it well. I do think some people elevate, but if you focus on this advice, you’ll still help the 95% of normal people. Good tips.

Great valuable advice !

Great video, Scott! Thank you for the insight! Come to Southern Indiana!

I've needed this. Over-Analytical minds agree! My level of anger has been steadily rising over failures and your right, i am demanding a control that is an illusion. Like Stanhope once said, you cannot commit to an emotion which can be controversial but i cannot promise you that I would be scared of you so why would i try and control even more vastly things? TY again.

Thanks Scott.

Loads of great content on your channel Scott. Underrated-you should be up there with Jomez for viewership.

So easy to psych myself out on putts. I find best results when I don't think too much about routine and who may be watching, and just focus on putting the disc in the basket.

Great advice thank you

Very interesting perspective. Really good stuff. I find myself often convinced by what you're saying 'cause you always back it up with sound logic. I've heard nothing you've ever said that is not based or backed up by sound rationale.

I get nervous on 20 footers and closer. Beyond that I don't care. I think it is because outside of 20 foot there isn't an expectation that you MUST make it. When I am hitting a 40 footer, I feel like if I got close I am happy and I tend to make one out of three from this distance. When I have a 15 footer, I'm like "if you don't make this, you are a loser" and I tend to miss way too many from this range (probably one out of five).

You sir, are a genius

This is going to change my disc golf life.

Thank you!

Got to say that I like all the s*** you put out! I've been playing for 2 years and I love your videos. Hope someday to play a round with ya! 🤙

Seppo needs this.

In ball golf good players have a preshot routine which they follow in detail. When I was good back in HS I would use my routine on every range ball and practice putt. Mentally, have one or two (at most) keys you've been working on and let it rip. Don't slow down, speed up, or try harder with new gimmicks. As you said, we can only control the process, not the outcome.

Holding a Kastaplast Berg! His putter of choice.

Sports psychology... love it

Thanks that’s a good idea in general these days

Scott, your suggestions make sense. Okay brain do what he says.

Could have used this yesterday lol

Great video... FYI: If you roll a single dice, (di, die ???) the odds of rolling a 6, is 6 to 1. On the second roll, it’s 6 to 1...After a thousand rolls, it’s still 6 to 1. Lol. Thanks Scott 👍

Scott you are right, “clutch” players don’t exist . I’ve seen basketball statistics that prove your point

Brad Faxon, who was one of the best regular golf putters of his time, simply said "you just can't care if the putt goes in", or something to that effect. Condensing this video down to a few seconds: "stick to your routine and don't care if it goes in or not".

Once I stopped caring about where the disc will end up if I miss, I started putting better.

I watched the entire video to see when you would get to the "answer" and you sort of did... Play like you practice. But it's a little deeper than that. You need to have a routine... and you need to do your routine when you practice. Routine is comforting. Doing your putting routine makes tournament putting the same as practice putting. Your routine should be simple and not overly elaborate. The routine should begin AFTER you have taken your stance. If you usually hold an extra putter in your off hand during practice then do the same during tournaments. If at some point during your routine you get distracted or feel uncomfortable then step off your mark for a moment then get back into your stance and re-start your routine from the beginning. Include counting to 3 (or a low lucky number if you have one) and taking a deep breath in your routine. ALWAYS do your putting routine. Practice, League, tournament, ALWAYS. Yeh, I'm some unknown person, but I was also Pro-worlds putting champion one year. Also, to tie in with Scotts basketball free-throw analogy, watch players with a high free-throw percentage. I guarantee that they have a routine.

Yup.

Sounds simple, logical and effective but im not a good putter anytime !!!

My best rounds ever have been at tournaments rather than in practice. But sometimes my worst rounds have been in tournaments.

I find that the reason that you are more successful in practice when taking no time is partly because you are not thinking about it and also partly because you are doing it repetitively, one after another, so it is easier. You have to realize that in a tournament you are taking longer times between each putt. I also find I am unsuccessful when doing a one off putt and taking no time before it. You have to realize that you cannot putt 5 discs in a row in a tournament. So, take more time in practice. Get better at dealing with the pressure that comes in tournaments. If you never have to deal with tournament pressure and nerves, then you won’t be good at setting them aside and focusing on the task. Now that I am thinking about it, it may be that my bad rounds come from being constantly nervous throughout the round. Mistakes, spit outs etc can worsen the nerves too. And also not practicing like you mentioned can make for bad tournament rounds also.

I need someone like you play with. Mr. Miyagi 2.0

This makes total sense, but putting practice and putting in a round is not the same. Putting practice you are attempting the same putt over and over but in a round you are attempting a different putt every time. What you are saying is similar to process over outcome. You don’t control the outcome so instead focus on the process.

That's all good and nice. But I sure wish somebody would make a video or blog post about what to do if you suck in practice, too 🤔

how do I brace?

On the point of there not being "clutch" players, I believe there was UDisc data from the 2020 season that showed Chris Dickerson shot consistently better on the final day of competition than the earlier days. Would you consider final say rounds similar to the final 2 minutes of a basketball game?

"Don't think just throw. Don't think just throw" Nuke. Baby

When the student is ready The teacher appears.

How to avoid first-hole jitters: www.vorticasport.com/post/2019/01/11/couldve-wouldve-shouldve-but-why-didnt-we

Practice with one disc.. putt, walk up grab the disc, and repeat..

"Be your own spectator"

I think if you just wear great Apparel like you have on in this Video, you will just be a great putter instantly. 🤟 -Johnny-

It’s the imagine everyone in the audience is wearing underpants thing!

I think that definitely mental game affects the probability of you making your putt.

11:53 faaaaackkk me

No clutch athletes exist? Somebody tell that to Sergio Ramos... as much as I hate him, the data suggests the end of the game is "Ramos Time".

Don’t use substances do yoga and drink water. I also don’t do any of those things

👁👄👁