A-Z Putting (N): Nerves… And How To Tame Them
Published:
Mind coach Karl Morris on how to get over nerves when you’re standing over your putts
Think back to the last putt you got really nervous on. If you pull the situation apart, you can begin to see how those nerves were based on a prediction of failure. Effectively, you were anticipating just how unpleasant or problematic a miss would be. It’s a situation you really don’t want to confront, so the stakes – and the nerves – rise.
To get the better of nerves, you need to re-evaluate your response to a missed putt. You need to change a rank fear of missing to an acceptance of it. When you tell yourself that it is entirely possible that you can miss the putt – but that you can deal with that outcome – the nerves disappear.
It’s an approach that takes the sting out of a future you’re not prepared to deal with. It’s a sort of negative positive.
Note this is very different from expecting to miss the putt; you are still doing your utmost to hole it, as ever. The difference is in what you tell yourself about what happens should you miss.
While you are trying to hole it, you are prepared to miss it… and you will deal with that. Try it out next time you face a really important putt – you’ll feel much calmer.
