Mental Game

Performance Anxiety

Calm the nerves that tighten your throw.

Why it matters

Nerves are a physical event: heart rate up, breathing shallow, muscles tightening, tempo quickening. That is not a character problem and it does not go away with experience — good players are nervous too. What they have is a way of working while it is happening.

How to do it

Slow the breathing out. A long exhale is the most reliable physical lever on a fast heart rate.
Point your attention outward at the target rather than inward at how you feel. Nerves grow on attention.
Deliberately slow your routine, because nerves compress everything and tempo is the first casualty.
Accept the feeling rather than fighting it. Fighting it adds a second problem on top of the first.
Reframe it honestly: a raised heart rate before something you care about is your body getting ready, which is what it is for.

Common mistakes

Trying to calm down before throwing.You will usually not manage it, and waiting makes it worse. Throw while nervous, slowly and with your routine.

Treating nerves as evidence you are not ready.Everybody has them. They mean the thing matters, which is the reason you entered.

Speeding up to get the shot over with.This is the most common and the most costly. Make the routine deliberately slower than usual.

Only ever practising calm.Practise with stakes and with people watching, so the feeling itself is familiar rather than novel.

Key points

Slow your breathing to slow your heart.
Focus outward on the target, not inward on fear.
Accept nerves — they mean you care.

The drill

Drill · Throw it nervous — 10 putts from 25 ft after 20 press-ups, with somebody watching. Raise your heart rate deliberately, then putt with someone watching. You are rehearsing the physical state rather than the stroke. The point is not to make the nerves go away — it is to have thrown well while they were there, so the next time is not the first time.

Watch: Conquering Putting Nerves and Anxiety — Scott Stokely