Improve Your Disc Golf Mental Game!
This post on pro tips to help you improve your disc golf mental game, is the seventh post in a series designed to help you elevate your game. Watch the videos and reinforce the concepts through reading. Watch, read, practice, and improve!
We all know it’s important.
It’s a story as old as time in sports.
Those with the strongest mental games, find their way to the top.
That isn’t always true for the most talented players. In fact, many a talented player has “not lived up to their potential” because they couldn’t get over the mental hurdles.
Conversely, names like Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, Tom Brady, Mia Hamm, and so many more have made it to the peak of the athletic mountaintop in large part because of their mental fortitude.
Drive, passion, confidence, fortitude, and belief are all just words. But when an athlete exemplifies them, they are powerful words indeed!
Applying a strong mental game to disc golf is just as important.
When you stare down that windy 25-footer to stay in the hunt, you need a strong mental game.
When you eye a tight fairway on the 18th hole to preserve your one-stroke lead after your opponent just laced it up the middle, you need to have that belief that you too will execute the shot and bring home the W.
So if we know the mental game is so important, it stands to reason that it’s worth working on our mental game as well.
Today, we look at some videos that will help you do just that.
Hopefully, by the end, you’ll have some strategies to apply to your mental game that you can work on while practicing so they carry over to your competitions as well.
Let’s get to it!
Take a Moment and Breathe…
In this quick video, Zoe Andyke reminds us the importance of pausing to take a breath. Not only can this calm you down and loosen you up before your shot, but it can also help you channel your mental energy where it belongs.
“An extra breath or two is going to help you with your focus, and collect all your energy to make the shot happen. If you can visualize it, take a breath, believe in it, and achieve it.”
Watch Zoe deliver the message and add it to your routine!
Disc Golf Mental Game – Visualize
In a related video, we have Eric Oakley stressing the value of visualization in order to achieve success on the course.
It can come into play quite a bit for successful players before they execute shots.
How many times, while watching the pros, have you seen them get in the tee box, walk up to the front, stick their disc out at their intended angle, and back up for the real shot?
What so many of them are doing in that moment, is visualizing their successful shots.
And when you visualize that success, your body is much more inclined to do the motions that will help you realize that visualization.
This trick can be used when you are playing well, or, to pull you out of a rut when the disc isn’t flying your way.
Take a moment to visualize a successful shot.
Then, go out and complete it!
Putt (and Play) Confidently…
This video also came up in the post on disc golf in bad weather, but it’s absolutely worth reviewing! In essence, Connor gives us a tip on how to putt confidently.
If we step back, and expand that out to the rest of our game, we can also think about playing confidently,.
When we are confident we are far more likely to succeed.
So, similar to Connor finding what gives him confidence on the putting green (see video), we too should find that which gives us confidence in as many aspects of our games that we can find.
Then, we can play confidently and reap the rewards out on the course!
Keep the Stress Low!
And on a lighter note, if we putt confidently, but they don’t quite find the chains, here is an insightful video on how to ensure we don’t get overly stressed out over missed putts!
Enjoy!
Disc Golf Mental Game: In Summary
Your disc golf mental game is absolutely something you can work on.
The work you put in will pay dividends on the course.
By having confidence, visualizing successful shots, practicing, and taking a moment to breathe, you can calm the nerves and execute the shots when it counts the most.
So, while you are out there practicing your putting, approaches, drives, rollers, or any other aspect of your game, be sure to work on your mental game as well.
It may be the most important thing you do!
Thank you for reading everyone. If you have any tips or tricks that you like to use for your mental game, be sure to share them in the comments.
That way we can all learn from one another and up our mental games collectively!
I look forward to seeing what you come up with!