From Nerves To Focus: The Practical Power Of Performance Psychology

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Pressure doesn’t ruin rounds; untrained minds do. Today we unpack how performance psychology turns nerves into fuel and chaos into clarity, with practical tools you can put to work before your next tee shot. We trace the field from early research to modern routines, then translate the best insights into disc golf language: attention control when the card is noisy, emotional regulation when “nervous” feels like “excited,” and visualization that carries the disc all the way to the chains.

We share the learning targets that guide our practice—focus, goal setting, resilience, confidence, stress management, imagery, and decision-making—and show how to build them into simple habits. Think closed-loop routines you can trust under pace-of-play pressure, small-win stacking that rebuilds momentum mid-round, and strategic planning that frontloads choices so your brain can execute instead of overthink. You’ll hear how we use breathing, progressive relaxation, sensory check-ins, and mantras to get present; how we simulate pressure with team golf and match play; and how a 10-second fix from a trusted caddy can save shots without overhauling your form.

We also tackle misconceptions head-on. This isn’t empty positivity or a quick fix. It’s evidence-based training—visualization, cognitive reframing, and measurable goal frameworks—that complements your mechanics and amplifies your strengths. From biofeedback and slow-motion video to UDisc stats and post-round reviews, we outline low-cost ways to track progress and keep confidence honest. Along the way, we trade stories about slumps, gummy-worm celebrations, worst-shot rounds, and the quiet power of staying in your lane when a cardmate’s negativity tries to hijack your headspace.

If you’re ready to level up your bag and your mindset, start with one habit for thirty days and measure the change. Subscribe, share this with a cardmate who loves process and progress, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your focus is your edge—let’s sharpen it.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_03 (01:05):
Thank you, and welcome back to this episode of
the Intentional Disc GolferPodcast.
I am one of your intentionaldisc golfers.
My name is Brandon.
And I'm Jenny.
And on this episode, we're gonnadive into the purpose of sports
psychology, talk a little bitabout how it's used, how it was
discovered, and how you may beusing it today without even

(01:28):
knowing it.
But first of all, we would liketo thank our fans.
It is the reason that we cankeep doing this.
You guys are the reason that wecan keep doing this.
So keep on listening.
Tell all of your friends.
And when you give us a listen,please feel free to leave us a
little feedback or comment, helpus defeat that algorithm.

(01:49):
You can find us on social mediaat Soprinsky Discolf or just
search the uh intentionaldiscgulfer podcast.
Or you can email us directly atthe intentional disgulfer at
gmail.com.
That is the intentionaldiscolfer at gmail.com.
And after the episode, stickaround because if we have any
bloopers or outtakes, we do liketo tack them to the end of the

(02:12):
episode.
Uh get a little laugh.
And we would also like to thankour sponsors.
Uh Jenny is sponsored by ProdigyDiscs.
So go prodigy.
Uh Salty Unicorns.
We also have Treasures of theForest.
And uh we had a few othersponsors this year from uh some
of our tournaments, but we'll beuh plugging those in a little

(02:33):
bit.

SPEAKER_01 (02:34):
I just wanted to say hi.
We're back.
We missed you.
It's been busy, you know,parenting, having jobs, playing
disc golf, but we're back.

SPEAKER_03 (02:45):
Yeah, I wish I wish that podcasting was our primary
job, but you know, life life iswhat it is.
Uh had an extremely busy seasonthis year.
We played almost every weekend.
Uh had a lot of travel thisyear, more than more so than in
the past.
Yep.
Alright, well, on that note.

(03:07):
Like I said, this episode isabout sports psychology, the
origins, the history, and howyou may be using it today
without even uh noticing it.
But before we do that, we'regonna have a few words from our
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(05:31):
Alright, and we are back for ourexploration of sports
psychology, and we have somelearning targets for today.
Oh yeah, learning targets, gottalove those.

SPEAKER_01 (05:42):
Alright, today's learning targets for sports
psychology.
Have a basic knowledge of theorigins of performance
psychology.
Understand the role ofperformance psychology and why
it matters.
Obtain a general understandingof the main areas of performance

(06:02):
psychology, focus and attentioncontrol, emotional regulation,
goal setting and motivation,resilience and coping
strategies, confidence building,stress and anxiety management,
visualization and imagery, anddecision making under pressure.
Learn some useful tools andtricks for applying each of

(06:25):
these areas to your game.
Discuss common misconceptionsand objections, and hear from
the hosts on how they've usedperformance psychology in real
time so you can apply it to yournext game.

SPEAKER_03 (06:39):
So, some background on sports psychology.
It really was birthed at thedawn of the 21st century by a
gentleman named Norman Tippett,who noticed that there were
differences between cyclistswhen they were practicing, say,
on their own and performing withother athletes.
And he wondered to himself, hey,maybe this could be a mental

(07:00):
difference because there's no nophysical changes that I can
discern.
And then moving into 1925, thestudies and uh inquiry was
increased by a gentleman namedColeman Griffith at the
University of Illinois.
Uh my grandfather's a moder, sogo Ilini.

(07:20):
And he released a couplelandmark works that are still uh
used today, called ThePsychology of Coaching in 1926
and The Psychology of Athleticsin 1928, which talked about the
mental and emotional challengesand the training thereof of
elite athletes.
Now, sports psychology lost alot of traction coming into

(07:42):
World War II and the GreatDepression because a lot of the
scientists and a lot of thefunding was going towards
funding the war.
Resources were pretty scarceuntil it re-emerged again in the
1950s when a lot of EasternEurope Soviet Union states
started using sports psychologyto train their athletes, and the
results were so dramatic thatoftentimes they were accused of

(08:04):
cheating in internationalcompetition.
Then in 1965, the InternationalSociety for Sports Psychology
was born, providing a globalplatform and forum to further
develop sports psychology andstudy in the field.
But then they realized thatsports psychology wasn't all of
it.

(08:24):
This was actually had broaderimplications for business,
teaching, high-level, military,uh public schools, and also
benefits for kids.
So that is how the sportspsychology ballooned out into
the term performance psychology,which is now known as today.
And so whether you know it ornot, sports psychology,

(08:45):
performance psychology isinterwoven into your everyday
life and everything that you do.
And I know for a fact thatJenny, you've used this being an
education to get pr to get kidsto perform and and solve
different problems and things ofthat nature.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?

SPEAKER_01 (09:06):
Yeah, when I teach math, kids come in with the
belief that they hate math andI've been able to get them to
realize that uh video games aremath, playing music is math, you
know, doing art is math, uh it'sproblem solving.
The best way that I've learneduh to teach kids is to get them
up, moving around, interactingwith things on more of a

(09:30):
physical level because thatreally gets them involved in
actually problem solving.
So key concepts.
My understanding is that we'rejust going over some of the key
concepts.
We're not going into anythingwith any sort of depth.
And the plan is that we're goingto discuss all of these in
separate episodes that will becoming up.

(09:52):
But so this is like ourintroduction to the next couple
of episodes.
A lot of these topics I've haduh people come up to me and ask
me, you know, how do you controlyourself?
What have you been doing?
What have you been working on?
And that's what my uh thenonprofit Mindful Flight

(10:12):
Stronger You is going to befocusing on in great depth about
these different key conceptsabout sports psychology and how
you can uh relate them to youractual daily lives.
So focus and attention controlis uh the first topic we're
gonna talk about, which isdeveloping the ability to
maintain attention on the taskat hand and avoid distractions.

(10:37):
Unlike what I do when I podcast,I'm always distracted.
Uh techniques like mindfulnessand keywords are used to enhance
focus during high pressuresituations.
The second one is emotionalregulation, which is managing
emotions such as frustration,anger, or excitement, yes, even
excitement, to prevent them frominterfering with performance.

(11:00):
Techniques like mindfulness,emotional labeling, and
self-compassion are oftenemployed.

SPEAKER_03 (11:06):
Interesting thing about that is that there's a lot
of crossover between emotions,like say anxiety and excitement
are chemically the same, youknow, the same reaction in your
body.
It's just how your mindinterprets it.
So that's getting into a littlebit more of that later on.

SPEAKER_01 (11:23):
Well, that's why I came up with the term nervous
sighted.

SPEAKER_03 (11:26):
Nervous sighted?
It sounds it sounds likesomething you spray on your
crops to get rid ofgrasshoppers.

SPEAKER_01 (11:31):
That's not what I thought you were gonna say.
Well, uh, anyways, because ofthat, I I that's a term I use in
my head when it's like I'm sonervous, I'm scared, but I know
that nervousness and excitementpresent the same in our bodies.
And one aspect of this is thatuh when Brandon caddies for me,

(11:52):
or when we're getting ready fora tournament and he's bouncing
around like a chihuahua, andhe's just so excited, he's like,
Man, I'm gonna kill it.
I'm so excited.
I'm like, dude, level.
No, no, no, no ups, no downs,just keep it level.
Teeter totter is level, so thathe has a really hard time with
not going to the excitement of,oh man, you're so close, you're

(12:14):
gonna kill it, like you're doingso good, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah.
And it's just all this energy,like I can feel it inside me
right now.
It's like, no, who's uh.

SPEAKER_03 (12:22):
I just, you know, I just honestly, I just love
watching you play because you'reyou're so good and you hit all
these really big shots that alot of people can't hit.
And it's it's really excitingfor me.

SPEAKER_01 (12:33):
I get it, and that's why it's gonna be a lot of fun
to work on this emotionalregulation over the next year
with you.

SPEAKER_03 (12:41):
Ouch.
I'm not sure whether to bewhether to blush or be deeply
offended.
You chose the topic.
All right, next one.
Thanks, dear.

SPEAKER_01 (12:53):
Goal setting and motivation.
So, goal setting, we actuallytalk about in one of our very
first episodes about SMARTgoals.
So uh goal setting, establishingclear, measurable, and
attainable objectives tomaintain focus, increase
motivation, and track progress.
Effective goals are often smartgoals, specific, measurable,

(13:16):
achievable, or attainable,relevant and time bound.
And motivation, understandingand cultivating intrinsic, which
means internal satisfaction, andextrinsic external awards,
motivation to fuel consistenteffort and persistence.
Athletes are encouraged to aligntheir goals with personal values

(13:37):
and passions.
That is one area that uh theexternal rewards of disc golf
bingo, it takes a lot of thosenegatives and makes it positive.

SPEAKER_03 (13:51):
About this disc golf bingo thing.

SPEAKER_01 (13:53):
I love it.
If I could take a negative andsomehow turn it into a positive,
it just quickly I'm really intostudying the constant failure of
playing golf.
Disc golf specifically, becauseI can't golf.
Well, golf is a sport offailure.
Right.
And so taking those failures andmaking them positive, watching
that change, like it it's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 (14:15):
Which event were we at this year where they played
the dot game?
I thought that was really great.
It was one of the ladies' eventswhere they played the dot game
where you hit the metal and youget a dot, and whoever had the
most dots.

SPEAKER_01 (14:27):
Was it at uh Was it Ladies of the Lake?
No, was it maybe?
I'm not sure.
Yeah, because I think Melissaand Kayla really liked the dots
game, so I think Melissa had usplay the dots game.
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (14:41):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (14:42):
But then we asked, Does metal of a signpost count?
Or does it have to be the metalof the basket?

SPEAKER_03 (14:48):
Which part?
All I remember about that is Irocked the porta potty with a
disc.

SPEAKER_01 (14:52):
Yes.

SPEAKER_03 (14:53):
That was the highlight of my weekend.
It's like I launched thismonster drive and it hit the
porta potty and scared the crap,literally, out of somebody.
And uh I found my disc laying upthere on the road.
But yeah, that was at Rat CityRumble.
Yeah, that was the day after.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (15:09):
All right, back to uh key concepts of sports
psychology.
Uh speaking of it, resilienceand coping strategy.

SPEAKER_03 (15:17):
When somebody hits your porta potty with a disc,
what do you do?
What do you do?
How do you cope with it?

SPEAKER_01 (15:23):
How do you how do you persevere through that?

SPEAKER_03 (15:28):
Pinch it off.

SPEAKER_01 (15:30):
Run for the hills.
Stop with the potty tuck.
We're not teenage boys.

SPEAKER_02 (15:35):
Developing for yourself.

SPEAKER_01 (15:40):
Where's James?
All right, uh resilience andcoping strategies.
Developing the ability torecover quickly from setbacks,
maintain effort in adversity,and adapt to challenges.
This includes building copingskills and maintaining a growth
mindset to embrace failure as alearning opportunity.

(16:01):
Or as a means to success.

SPEAKER_03 (16:04):
So when you're trying to concentrate and then
you hear a loud bang on theoutside of your porta potty, how
do you recover from that?

SPEAKER_01 (16:14):
Or it's more when you're on the T-pad and you're
trying to throw and you hearsomebody yell in the middle of
your throw, which we go back tothe Joel Turner episode of where
you're at in your feedback loop.
Are you in a place where you canstop or not stop?
How do you cope with that?
The open and close feedbackloops.

SPEAKER_03 (16:31):
Yep.
Yep.
So back to that episode.
Yeah, if you haven't listened tothe Joel Turner episode, that
was our highest performer of theseason so far.
And uh I still listen to it.
It is so good and so helpfulwith so many things.

SPEAKER_01 (16:45):
All right.
Confidence building, uh,enhancing self-belief through
positive self-talk, past successreflection, and mastering new
skills.
Confidence boosts performance byreducing doubt and fostering a
can-do attitude.

SPEAKER_03 (17:01):
And I find that confidence just you know, in the
moment and the practice, havingthat confidence, everything just
seems like it's kind of easy andit just kind of flows instead of
having to try to force differentaspects of your game or your
technique.

SPEAKER_01 (17:19):
Mm-hmm.
I think I talked about it in aprevious episode too, that um I
think it may may have been thatJoel Turner one too, when I s
shared that sometimes I'll go upto Putt and be like, I have no
confidence, and it's like, but Ihave skill.
So as long as I have whateverthat thought is to uh dissuade

(17:42):
myself from the negativefeedback loop and bring it back
to positive, that helps me tobuild back my confidence.

SPEAKER_03 (17:48):
Well, and it's interesting that you bring that
up because I've started usingthat as well, where when I'm not
feeling confident in a shot, Igo up there and I say, you know
what, you have the skill to beable to do this, and whatever's
gonna happen is gonna happen.
So just rely, you know, trustyour skill, trust in yourself,
and in in sometimes it becomes ayou know an exercise in trust

(18:10):
and just trusting yourabilities.

SPEAKER_01 (18:12):
Mm-hmm.
Alright, the next one, stressand anxiety management.
So sometimes that we can alllearn from learning to regulate
physiological and emotionalresponses to pressure using
techniques like deep breathing,progressive muscle relaxation,
and cognitive restructuring.

(18:33):
These strategies help athletesstay composed under stress.

SPEAKER_03 (18:38):
And I think this is maybe one of the biggest ones
because we live in the age ofanxiety.
There's so much pressure fromeverywhere, from our jobs, from
our families, from our kids,from social media, social
different social things.
I mean, whether or not you paymuch attention to it, it does
still affect you.

(18:59):
And all these little drops inthe bucket can snowball.
And then when you get into ahigher pressure situation where
it breaks that threshold, itjust kind of all comes out at
once.
And so it's like it's like abreaking the dam or like opening
the floodgates.
It just kind of happens.
All of this stuff that you'vebeen burying or keeping subdued,
it once that once the seal'sbroken, it's just it's game on.

SPEAKER_01 (19:22):
The next one, visualization and imagery.
Using mental rehearsal to createvivid images of successful
performance.
This helps athletes mentallyprepare for events, improve
confidence, and refine skills bypracticing them in the mind.
So I am going to be adding on,um, it is my plan to create some

(19:45):
discal specific affirmations, ummeditations that you can use the
first 10, 15, 20 minutes of yourroutine to help you really get
in the mindset.
Um, I'm also Hoping to buildsome lessons through Mindful
Flight of uh the night beforesome of the visualization

(20:07):
activities that you can dobefore you go to bed to help you
prep for your tournaments.

SPEAKER_03 (20:12):
Yeah, and we have uh a really big episode on
visualization coming up becauseit's probably one of the most
powerful tools in performancepsychology that you can use.
And if you go back to our liveepisode, you hear, I believe
it's Casey White talking abouthow he visualizes the shot all
the way until it stops moving.

(20:33):
And then Eric Oakley comes inand says, Hey, you know,
sometimes they even go as far asme picking up my putter and
taking it out of the basket andwe're and going to the next
hole.
So we're gonna really get intohow to use those tools and how
to powerfully manifest thethings that you want to do out
there in the course.

SPEAKER_01 (20:55):
And the last topic is decision making under
pressure.
Developing the ability to makeeffective and timely decisions
in high stakes or rapidlychanging situations, this
involves honing problem-solvingskills, staying calm, and
processing informationefficiently under stress.
I will say that with the uh paceof play requirements for PDGA

(21:20):
and being able to perform inthose higher stanks, uh,
especially if you're at amaster's event, and let's say
that you have a Marshallfollowing you around with your
whole card, uh, that's somethingthat I'm going to be sharing our
personal experiences with at alater episode.
Um, but having to perform underthat level of stress and being

(21:43):
able to make the best decisionunder that kind of pressure.
Um if there's a way you canpractice it by just shanking
your first shot and realizingthat hey, doesn't matter where
it landed, I can still recoverbecause I'm really good at
scrambling, like that's kind ofa pretty good way to practice
decision making under pressure.

SPEAKER_03 (22:02):
I was gonna say that maybe we should go out sometime
and play a round of worst shot.
It's kind of like dubs, exceptyou take the worst shot and
worse shot and worse shot, andyou play to see, I don't know,
kind of like I don't think it'shighest score, but just to kind
of hone your skills and like getin as much trouble as you can.

SPEAKER_01 (22:21):
Yeah, and and we do that sometimes where you'll
throw a couple practice shotsand it's like, oh well, I've
never landed here.
What does it look like to throwfrom here?
Um, but if we're gonna do worseshot, I don't want to just keep
playing your shots, dear.

SPEAKER_03 (22:35):
Alright, Jimmy.
I'm I'm visualizing right nowyou in a deep dark hole, like
fairgrounds, in the valley, waydown there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
By the road?
By no, by the river.
In the van down by the river.
Mm-hmm.

(22:55):
Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 (22:56):
I was thinking of the following hole because I
actually liked the area of thatfirst one.
That one's not bad though.

SPEAKER_03 (23:02):
No, once you get the line, and you get good enough to
hit the line.
Anyways.
But I'm not good enough to hitthe line all the time.
You know there's a sidearm linethrough there?
I don't have a sidearm.

SPEAKER_01 (23:13):
Why would I know there's a sidearm line?

SPEAKER_03 (23:15):
See, this is this is that visualization and
confidence that we're talkingabout, is that you actually do
have a decent sidearm.

SPEAKER_01 (23:21):
I mean I have enough that I can use as a get out of
jail free card once every threegames, yes.
And that's that's do I have asidearm that I'm confident like
no.

SPEAKER_03 (23:33):
If you that and that we've talked about it before,
that's all you need is like foryour game, you're so proficient
with shot shaping andeverything.
In the backhand, if you had acontrollable 100 foot sidearm
just to get out of trouble,that's all you need.
Right?
And so, like, if you like that'ssomething that you could
concentrate on and developrather quickly because it's not

(23:57):
that it's not that technical ofa shot.
I'm not gonna say it's not thatdifficult because everybody has
different capacities, but it'snot that technical.

SPEAKER_01 (24:07):
Alright, so with the key concepts of sport
psychology, focus and attentioncontrol, emotional regulation,
goal setting and motivation,resilience and coping
strategies, confidence building,stress and anxiety management,
visualization and imagery, anddecision making under pressure.
We'd like to give you a coupleof practical applications that

(24:29):
you could actually use right nowbefore we go into our big
in-depth uh episodes.
So the first one we're gonna hitis performance anxiety.
Uh application, you canrecognize physical and mental
symptoms of anxiety and addressthem proactively.
So it takes a moment for youknow, you have to go through the

(24:51):
process of recognizing, hey,this is what I'm feeling, and
then attach to it uh some words,some language, some thoughts,
some processes of what you cando once you've recognized that
physical and mental symptomsthat you're having.

SPEAKER_03 (25:06):
So a big a big tip off to this that you that you
use, Jenny, yourself, I knowthat you monitor your heart
rate.

SPEAKER_01 (25:14):
That is something I've started doing, yes.
I I now uh monitor my heartrate, and it's not it's not like
I look at my watch and check andsee where where my heart rate is
at, but I can feel when it'sgoing too fast and I try and
bring it back down to a tempothat I use for my walk-up.

(25:34):
So some tips with performanceanxiety.
Practice deep breathing orprogressive muscle relaxation,
use cognitive reframing to turnnerves into excitement or just
to calm yourself down.
That's what I would prefer.
Uh develop a pre-performanceroutine to create consistency

(25:55):
and familiarity.
And I actually just saw um Iwant to say it was a Rebecca Cox
quick video because she'sworking so hard on her game for
the next upcoming season, andshe keeps talking about that I'm
going to do the same routine.
So something I think we'vediscussed is that you will go up

(26:16):
there and just putt, putt, putt,putt, putt, no change, no
movement, whatever.
But if you really want topractice, like that's good for
one thing, but if you reallywant to practice putting in a uh
performance environment, youneed to go through the whole
routine.
Uh pick up the disc, put downthe mini, go through, get in

(26:38):
your stance, do your practiceshot if that's what you're gonna
do, or how Paige Pierce does heruh wrist flick and come up with
what does that look like for youso that you are familiar with
it, you've done it a milliontimes, you hit that 10,000
repetitions of that practice,and so you just go straight into
your routine and it becomes isthat a what what did Joel Turner

(27:03):
call it?

SPEAKER_03 (27:04):
It becomes a closed loop information system.
Yeah.
So it when you're so deep inyour routine that it's just
automatic, that's the closedloop information system.
Yeah.
Just real quickly to to you knowtouch at that a little a little
deeper, is that you know, breakit down to little simple things.
Like you said, something as asmundane of setting down your

(27:27):
mini and picking it back up.
You know, that you can work onthat one little aspect and get
that locked in.
So like put down your mini, walkup, get in your stance.
Don't even put the disc.
All right, pick up your mini,move it, walk up to your mini,
get in your stance, and justwork on getting into that space

(27:48):
over and over and over again,however many times it takes
until it's locked in.

SPEAKER_01 (27:54):
Uh, the next one, maintaining focus.

SPEAKER_03 (27:58):
You should be talking about this.
This we're gonna Yeah, maybe youshould write that episode.

SPEAKER_01 (28:04):
I will.

SPEAKER_03 (28:04):
Oh, yeah?

SPEAKER_01 (28:05):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (28:05):
Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (28:07):
I bet.
Good thing the dogs can't hearthat.
Maintaining focus.
In application, you're gonnatrain your mind to stay present
and manage distractions.
So, one of the tips, one of thethings I actually do is I got a

(28:27):
pair of the loop earplugs thathave the I think it's called the
switch, where it has threedifferent levels of uh noise
blocking, noise canceling, andthat really helps me to maintain
my focus because I'm able todeal with those uh noises, those
comments, those sounds in thebackground, and really maintain
what's going into my head.

SPEAKER_03 (28:50):
So, like a little sensory deprivation as kind of a
tool.

SPEAKER_01 (28:53):
Yeah.
Yeah, because I'm alreadydealing with enough nerves
throughout my body, so if I canget rid of that sensory of the
stuff that I'm hearing, ithelps.
Uh, but some of the tips, somethings that you can practice
right now, use mindfulnesstechniques to enhance present
moment awareness.
So being aware of, you know,what are my feet touching?
What do I hear?
What am I smelling?

(29:15):
Uh, maybe you're drinking yourfavorite, like liquid IV or
coffee or something.
What are those things thatreally connect you to the
present right then?
You can also employ focus cuesor keywords to bring attention
back to the task.
Um, I don't have any goodexamples of that.
I know of the words that triggerme.

(29:35):
So I could probably like woosa?
No.
Oh.
Think of the words that uh, youknow, I don't have any words
yet, but I know it's words likeamplify it further.

SPEAKER_03 (29:45):
Like uh Well, like Joel Turner says, is like in
order to override that motorsystem, a lot of people use the
the phrase let's go, or here wego.

SPEAKER_01 (29:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I quit doing that.

SPEAKER_03 (29:57):
Well, I know, but it's just it's a it's a common
use.
I know.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (30:01):
Yeah.
And then uh we can break tasksinto smaller steps to reduce
overwhelm.
So uh sometimes when I'mthrowing and actually with all
the new power I've gotten, I'mrealizing that hey, I just threw
past the basket 50 feet.
It's gonna take me probably twomore strokes to get back.

(30:22):
So I'm already planning.
I, you know, I'm gonna try forthe par, but I'm probably gonna
get a bogey or something.
So just realizing that, hey,that's the that's the present
moment I'm in, that's what Ineed to learn, and that's what
I'm gonna work through.
All right, the next oneovercoming slumps.
Application, identify underlyingcauses, could be mental,

(30:45):
physical, or technical, andrebuild confidence gradually.
Again, it's not gonna happen inone shot, in one game.
It may take months, years,weeks, who knows to rebuild that
confidence.

SPEAKER_03 (30:59):
Well, and one of the one of the techniques that is
used commonly, and we've talkedabout it before, is getting a
small win.
You know, pick pick some aspectthat is relatively attainable,
maybe a little bit of achallenge, not too much, but
something that you canaccomplish in short term that
you can start building off of.
It's kind of like the make yourbed in the morning concept.

(31:22):
You make your bed in the morningso you can start the day with a
win, and then when you come homeat night, you know that your
bed's made and you're good togo.

unknown (31:30):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (31:30):
And that just gives you a foundation to build off
of.

SPEAKER_01 (31:33):
Uh, so the first one says set small achievable goals
to regain momentum.
Uh there is research that onceyou hit three wins, you're on
that upward trajectory.
So making a good putt, or evenjust making a putt, that's the
first one, having another uhgood shot, hitting that third

(31:55):
one, maybe have an amazingapproach, and you've hit three
positives, and that puts youback on that positive
trajectory.
Uh the second one is to reflecton past successes and restore
confidence.
So thinking of man, I was in thesame situation when I was at
that other tournament, and I didreally well at that, so I'm
confident that I can make thishappen again.

SPEAKER_03 (32:17):
One thing that I use all the time when I'm out there
on the course is that, you know,I'll see a line or a shot and
I'll say, you know, this is theexact same shot as hole two at
Freddy's, or this is the exactsame shot as hole five at NAD
Park.
Right.
And I'll I'll relate thosedifferent things because those
are places that I've had successbefore in the past, and that I'm

(32:40):
confident in those shots andthat I can replicate them with a
high level of success.

SPEAKER_01 (32:44):
And the last one, change routines to break
negative patterns.
So uh I have uh played with somepeople that will do a 30-second
dance party or something, or I'dsay do the Taylor Swift and
shake it off uh to physicallyenact um a physiological change
in your body to shake some ofthat stuff off.

(33:07):
On the opposite side, some ofthe wins, we played with a
couple people who every timesomebody got a birdie, they gave
out gummy worms.
That was awesome.
Everyone was like, I want moreworms, and it was for the whole
card.
It wasn't just for them, it wasfor the whole card.
Someone got a birdie, soeveryone got worms.

SPEAKER_03 (33:26):
That was a fantastic idea.
I love it.
Even the caddies got worms.

SPEAKER_01 (33:29):
Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (33:30):
Yeah, that was a worms for birdies.
I like that.

SPEAKER_01 (33:33):
Yeah, I'm more of a gummy frogs person, so I must be
a birds eat frogs.
I know, but it must be a biggerbird that can eat a frog.

SPEAKER_03 (33:42):
I don't know.
There's some tiny frogs outthere.

unknown (33:44):
I know.

SPEAKER_01 (33:45):
All right.
Uh something else you can workon is your precision.
So the application, fine-tuneyour motor skills and mental
acuity for accuracy.
Here's some tips on how to dothat.
Incorporate visualization tomentally rehearse precision
movements, slow down practice tofocus on technique, and use

(34:06):
biofeedback tools to measure andimprove control.
I would say even videotapingyourself and watching yourself
on that slow motion could beconsidered a biofeedback tool to
help with your control.

SPEAKER_03 (34:21):
But and a couple things on that, you know, we'll
go way deeper into it when weget to our visualization
episode, but you can actuallywhen you mentally rehearse
something, your synapses andyour muscles and things, you can
actually measure it where theywill fire off just exactly as if
you are performing the action.
So if you've ever done somethingfor a while and be like, oh,

(34:43):
okay, I'm gonna take a break,you wait on it for a couple days
and you come back to it, and youall of a sudden you're like,
you're killing it.
That's why is because your brainnever stops making those
connections.

SPEAKER_01 (34:55):
All right, another one is consistency, and I have
gotten a nickname of uh MissConsistent when it comes to disc
golf.
Uh, the application buildrepeatable habits and routines
for reliable performance.
So, some tips on how to createthat consistency.

(35:15):
Create a consistent warm-up andpractice schedule.
Brandon wants to be at everytournament like an hour to an
hour and a half, if possible,before he plays so that he can
go through his full warm-uproutine.
I, on the other hand, know thatI will wear myself out if I warm
up that long.

(35:36):
So I save mine to be like 20, 30minutes.

SPEAKER_03 (35:41):
Well, and every time I go and do my full warm-up
routine, I I've developed a fullwarm-up routine in an
abbreviated warm-up routine, andevery time I do that, depending
on the time frame, it's alwaysexactly the same.
How about how I stretch mymuscles, how I go through my
bag, how I practice my putting.
It's always exactly the same.
So if I can go through that, itreally puts me in a nice spot

(36:04):
for when we start thetournament.

SPEAKER_01 (36:06):
And uh on the new website we are building,
finally, I'm sure that we canoffer some uh uh warm-up
routines that both of us havecreated, and you can pick and
choose your own.
So, some tips.
Create a consistent warm-up andpractice schedule, tracked
performance metrics to identifypatterns and improvements.

(36:29):
So we like to use the full scorein PDGA live to track uh how our
our where our drives arelanding, where our approaches
are, whether we make our putts.
Um it does take a little moreeffort when you are playing the
game, but it uh gives you somegood information, some good

(36:49):
data.
I know a lot of people also dothe same with UDISC when they
are playing, and they will trackit that way as well.
Uh, but those are some thingsyou could look at using.
And the last thing is use mentalanchors, for example, specific
thoughts or rituals during theperformance.

SPEAKER_03 (37:06):
For example, that here we go thing, like right
before you're about to throw.
Okay, here we go, and then youstart getting into your routine.

SPEAKER_01 (37:15):
It can be that.
It can be uh that you alwayspick up your chalk bag with your
left hand and you hold it whileyou're throwing.
It could be um, you know, maybeyou count a certain amount of
times in your head.
That's something I do as adrummer.
I, you know, I've always beentaught about counting in my

(37:36):
head, so that works for me.

SPEAKER_03 (37:37):
You spin your disc.
I do.
I've started four or five times?

SPEAKER_01 (37:41):
Um I spin my disc.
So I I I step up to the teapad,and we can videotape this and
add it to our site, but uh I goup to the thing, I spin my disc
uh three or four times.
If I'm not confident, I may spinit like eight, nine, ten, but
I'm counting the whole time Ithrow it until I've can I've

(38:02):
connected to where I want it toland or what I want it to do.
And then I actually count mysteps in the rhythm to the my
heartbeat of that's that's whatI use.
That's just my routine.
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (38:15):
If it works, it works.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (38:17):
Uh the next one is strategic thinking in
application, enhancedecision-making skills during
gameplay or competition.
So you want to make as manydecisions ahead of time as
possible.
I know we talked about carryingaround the caddy books and
actually planning out yourtournament.

(38:38):
Um, we've gotten to be uh on thecard with players as they're
doing uh practice rounds andhear them talk about, or even if
you watch some of the videos oftheir practice rounds, how well
it's all about the landing zone.
Where do you want to land?
Where do you want to be at?
So make as many of thosedecisions as you can before

(38:59):
you're in gameplay.

SPEAKER_03 (39:00):
Well, and on that note, too, you talk about
visualization and rehearsal andand practice.
When you look at very high-levelathletes, they've actually done
brain scans of the high-levelathletes and have done things
like played videos of themplaying in front of them while
they reflect on what they'redoing.
And what what they found is thatduring practice, when they're in

(39:24):
the cognitive part of learningand they're working on
something, their brain activityis actually very high.
But when they go into game mode,they're very their brain
activity reflects something likea like a sleeping state.
They have very little brainactivity, very little confusion.
And that's one of the challengeswith golf type sports is that

(39:46):
it's so cognitive heavy thatit's really hard to get into the
kind of that zone state whereyour brain is shut off and
you're just operating.

SPEAKER_01 (39:56):
Yeah, I'm gonna tell you that the Tournaments where I
have been most successful, Idon't remember a lot because I
am just in that zone space andI've heard them talk about that
like runner's high.
You're you you get into thatplace and you're just you're

(40:16):
just fully in like automaticreacting acting mode.
You're not really fully thinkingit through because you've
already put those things inplace.
Uh the next one is strategicthinking.

SPEAKER_03 (40:31):
No, we already did that one.
Yeah, we did that one.
Three shot routines.

SPEAKER_01 (40:34):
Um I actually think we've discussed that and
visualization and mentalrehearsal.
Um I'm gonna jump down to Sonext we're gonna talk about
mindfulness and relaxationtechniques.
So an application, usemindfulness to stay grounded and
reduce stress.

(40:55):
Some tips are to practice bodyscans to tune into physical
sensations, use apps or guidedmeditations for regular
relaxation space.
Develop a personal mantra tocalm the mind.

SPEAKER_03 (41:09):
Would it be would it be accurate to say that
mindfulness is really thepractice of bringing yourself
into the present moment and notworrying about the future, not
stressing about the past, butjust just being right there in
that second.

SPEAKER_01 (41:27):
It's also about controlling your mind because
you have so many thoughts justcoming into your head by the
different senses, by the stuffyou know, you're you're
inundated with data, and it'sworse now that we're in this
technological age where we'reinundated even more with data
and information.
So controlling your mind so thatyou're controlling what thoughts

(41:52):
go through your head.
Yes, it it does bring you backto that present moment, but it's
really the exercise ofcontrolling what the thoughts in
your head.

SPEAKER_03 (41:59):
Well, and it's great that you say that because your
your brain processes I don'tknow exactly how many thoughts,
but it's a lot.
I mean, I've heard hundreds ofthousands, I've even heard up to
like millions of thoughts perday, and you only really
remember probably about fivepercent of them.
And so even that five percent isso overwhelming that mindfulness

(42:21):
tools uh can be be really usefulfor kind of clearing up that
noise and being able to focus onsome of those things.
Exactly.
I mean, like what's five percentof a million?
It was like five hundredthousand?
Okay.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (42:35):
Next one.
Something like that.
Which we've talked about goalsetting and positive self-talk.
Set purposeful goals andreinforce them with encouraging
thoughts.
Some tips that you can do rightnow.
Write down goals and review themregularly.
A lot of people like to setthose goals on January 1st, so
now's a good time to startthinking about what you want
those to be.
The old New Year's resolution.

(42:57):
Replace negative thoughts withpositive affirmations, which
takes a lot of work, and that'spart of uh the uh impressive
amount of healing that happensthrough disc golf, which I've
talked about a lot and I'mcontinuing to study.
And celebrate small achievementsto build confidence.
So again, handing out worms forthe whole card because everyone

(43:17):
got a birdie, that's one way touh celebrate a small
achievement.

SPEAKER_03 (43:22):
And I think I think there's a lot to be said for
that is you know, when you nomatter how big or small,
celebrate the achievement likeit was a big achievement.
So, like, okay, you make abirdie, we get worms, but
everybody else gets worms, andeverybody's all cheering, and
everybody's all happy.
That's a big achievement, andthe more of that dopamine

(43:43):
response that you can get, thebetter, like the more driven you
are towards that feeling.

SPEAKER_01 (43:48):
And I would say that's why it's so difficult
when you're on a card of peoplewho they yell and cheer for only
certain people on the card.
I've experienced a lot of that.
Um, so making sure that ifyou're gonna celebrate, you
somehow find a way to celebratewith everybody on the card

(44:10):
because the um the mood of yourcard really sets the tone of
your game for everyone on thecard.
Just some people are betterrehearsed at ignoring things or
have uh stronger mindset thanothers.

SPEAKER_03 (44:26):
Well, and that's by and large why I've started
playing with my earbuds in, isbecause I just kind of want to
be in my own little space andnot really deal with negative
talk or peripheral gossip oranything like that.

SPEAKER_01 (44:40):
And that's uh for me was a big difference in playing
the majors events versus our uhlocal events.
All right.
A mental conditioning strengthenmental resilience and
preparation.
Some tips to do this.
Create scenarios to simulatecompetition, competition

(45:00):
pressure.
Sorry, create scenarios tostimulate competition pressure
in practice.
Um, we are a part of team golf,which is allowing us to do that
and uh create some of thepressure, but it's actually in a
fairly safe place where thereare handicaps with certain
players, so that say I'm a newbeginning player and I'm gonna

(45:25):
play with some of those uh MPOplayers and actually have a
chance to win.
So it's it's a great learningenvironment.
And if you have team golf inyour area, I would look it up
and try and become a part of it.

SPEAKER_03 (45:37):
Well, and personally, I love the handicap
system because I find that ifyou like she like she said, if
you're playing with like a say a950 rated player, I'm maybe an
850 rated player, and it givesme a chance to be competitive
with those people because if Istruggle right off the bat, like

(45:59):
people have a tendency to giveup.
And if they're not gonna becompetitive, they just tend to
give up and start you know doingthings for fun or whatever, and
maybe not or necessarilyworrying about putting their
best foot out there.
If you know you're gonna be incontention and you actually have
something that you can worktowards, you have a tendency to
work harder and concentratemore.

(46:20):
And that aspect of it allows youto drive yourself and become
better.
And so things like team golf,handy bit handicap-based systems
where it's like match play areso, so valuable is because it
kind of gives you that positivereinforcement in in you know,
kind of a backwards way.

SPEAKER_01 (46:40):
Yeah, same with doubles or playing a
three-headed monster, thingslike that.
Um use mental toughness drillslike visualizing success after
failure and reflect onexperiences to build
self-awareness and adaptability.
Um, I've heard, I've I've read alot about taking a situation
that was awful, didn't go theway you wanted it to, and

(47:03):
instead rewrite the narrative inyour head of say, okay, uh, this
didn't work out the way I wantedit to, but in my mind, I'm gonna
say this happened, thishappened, and this other thing
happened to make it intoactually a really positive
experience.
And I don't know if I agree withit fully.
Like I'm more of I want toreflect on what really happened,

(47:26):
but for some people, rewritingthat story, rewriting that
narrative at least gives you aplace to start from to create
those positives and then makethem into realities in the
future.

SPEAKER_03 (47:37):
And you know, it we are so a result of the story
that we tell ourselves.
And so Jenny's right, change thestory, change the narrative.
You are the writer of your ownstory, the writer of your own
history, and a lot of times ourreality is just a matter of
perspective.

SPEAKER_01 (47:56):
All right, the next one you can practice is learning
through failure, which issomething that I know we have an
episode on failure.
It's coming up, yeah.
Coming up.
Um, I am uh providing a learningseries about learning through
failure on Mindful Flight comingup soon.
Uh so uh failure is somethingthat we are really looking at

(48:20):
here at the Intentional DiscGolfer podcast.
So the application is to reframesetbacks as opportunities for
growth.
So some tips of how to do thisconduct a post-performance
review to analyze what wentwrong, identify actionable
lessons from mistakes, andpractice self-compassion and
avoid self-criticism.

(48:42):
Now, if there if you get to apoint where you have your caddy
support person, somebody withyou, even in a tournament, and
you say, you know, maybesomething's just not going the
way you want it to, like I'llcaddy for Brandon a lot of
times, and he'll be like, Man,I'm just not throwing the way I
want.
Can you look and see on my nextthrow what it is that you're

(49:05):
seeing that's a quick 10-secondfix that I can do to improve my
game?
But it takes a lot of trust withthat caddy, that support person
to that they know your game wellenough and that they're able to
talk to you in that highpressure event in a way that uh
allows you to make those changesinstead of going to the
self-criticism.

SPEAKER_03 (49:25):
Yeah, I mean, that that's the role of a coach, and
coaches are invaluable to thepoint where even the best
athletes in the world havecoaches.
Um and at all and the bestathletes in the world, every
single one of them definitelyhas a performance psychologist
that they deal with on a regularbasis.
Now, like Jenny said, one thingthat's become very useful for us

(49:48):
because we play together all thetime.
We're very familiar with eachother's games, routines,
attitudes, uh, even though wedon't like to admit it
sometimes.
The 10-second fix has become aninvaluable tool to us.
Sorry, dog sneeze.
The 10 second fix has become aninvaluable tool for me and
Jenny.

(50:08):
Is it's something that we can doin a game, something just a
quick little tweak that will,you know, maybe it's falling
back into an old habit, maybeit's, you know, hey, you know,
widen your stance a little bit.
And uh it's it saves shots andit has won tournaments for both
Jenny and I.

SPEAKER_01 (50:27):
Yep.
And a last thing is actually therole of coaches and support
systems.
Uh foster an environment oftrust, motivation, and
constructive feedback.
Again, it's constructivefeedback, it's not criticism.
If it can't be fixed in 10 to 30seconds in a tournament setting,
it is not the appropriate levelof feedback for that person to

(50:48):
receive.
So, some tips to do this.
Communicate openly and regularlywith athletes, provide
individualized support toaddress unique needs, and
encourage team cohesion and mulmutual encouragement.
Let me say that again.
Encourage team cohesion andmutual encouragement.

(51:09):
So uh we all know the pros thathave their caddies that are with
them all the time.
I'm known for having my husbandwith me as my caddy all the
time.
And if I happen to not beplaying an event that Brandon's
playing, I will be his caddy.
Um, but you know, you you buildthat rapport with that person
and you can trust them in thatmoment where you're stressed out

(51:32):
the most, not being your bestself, and they're there to
support you and help you to makethat next best shot.

SPEAKER_03 (51:38):
Well, when you're when you're out there on the
course having a bad day, it'slike an open wound.
And you don't want you don'twant somebody coming in and
poking at it and poking at itand poking at it.
So that's where having the tryou know a coach that you've
really, really, really trust canbe helpful because instead of
you know coming at it like anattack, they can come in like a

(52:02):
band-aid and say, okay, you knowwhat, it's gonna be cool, like
you're gonna be fine, let'smaybe give this a try and see,
you know, and let's build off ofsomething.

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SPEAKER_00 (54:20):
This is Sarah Holcomb.
Go check out the IntentionalDisc Golfer Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 (54:25):
Alright, we're gonna talk about common questions and
misconceptions.
Okay.
Brandon, it's only for athletes.

SPEAKER_03 (54:35):
Sports psychology is not only for athletes.
Sports psychology, or bettersaid, performance psychology, is
something that we use every day.
We use it in business, we use itin the classroom, we use it in
family management, householdmanagement.
We also use it as of course inin sports, um, whether it's from
goal setting or using copingskills to deal with anxiety and

(54:58):
pressure, we always use it allover the place.
And we may not realize it, but alot of you actually probably
have a lot of practice uh inusing these skills effectively.

SPEAKER_01 (55:10):
So in reality, it applies to anyone seeking to
improve focus, resilience, andperformance under pressure.

SPEAKER_03 (55:18):
Yeah.
If you're if you're trying toimprove yourself, you're using
uh performance psychologytactics, whether you know it or
not.

SPEAKER_01 (55:26):
Yeah, but it's just positive thinking.

SPEAKER_03 (55:30):
Which is another common misconception.
There's a lot of self-help booksand stuff out there, and people
try to reduce it to somethingthat's simple, such as like, oh,
just you know, have a great dayor something like that.
But this performance psychologyis actually a practiced skill

(55:51):
that's backed by experiments,data, etc.
etc.
And the better the more you useit, the better you get at it.

SPEAKER_01 (55:58):
So in reality, it involves evidence-based
strategies like visualization,self-regulation, goal setting,
and cognitive restructuring.
But you know, you only need itif something's wrong.

SPEAKER_03 (56:12):
That's not exactly true.
I mean, there are tricks andthings that you can do to pull
yourself out of a pinch or afunk, but sports sports and
performance psychology is bestused when it's used proactively,
uh, such as visualization, suchas uh, you know, you can set
yourself up for copingstrategies with anxiety and

(56:33):
dealing with pressure by puttingyourself into pressure
situations when you practice.
So uh like any skill, it'sbetter to be prepared, and it
doesn't necessarily necessarilylike lessen the blow or lessen
the event, but it speeds youalong along a path of recovery
recovery.

SPEAKER_01 (56:53):
So in reality, it's for anyone looking to move from
good to great, not just foraddressing problems.
But you know what, it's not asimportant as physical training
or technical skills.

SPEAKER_03 (57:04):
Well, and what I'd have to say to that is that you
know, somebody said to me oncethat this this whole game thing
is 90% metal.
Uh m metal.
Metal.
Metal.
Yeah.
Yeah, metal.
I know, that's like your puttinggame.

(57:28):
Dots.
But no, this this game is 90%mental, and uh, I've heard a ton
of people say that, and you canhave all the athletic ability
and talent in the world, but thesame with any sport is that if
you're not focused, if you'renot there, if you don't get rid
of these limiting thoughts andthat keep you from going to that

(57:50):
next level, uh you'll never willsucceed.
It's like it's like that uhthere it there is no spoon, Neo.
You're only limited by your ownby your own mind and
perceptions.

SPEAKER_01 (58:02):
So in reality, mental training complements and
amplifies physical and technicalabilities.

SPEAKER_03 (58:07):
I would say probably mental training is the most
important above physical andmental abilities.
Because look at like say,compare someone like Patrick
Mahomes to Peyton Manning,right?
Patrick Mahomes, he's just he'sa rock star.
Like he's got all sorts ofathletic ability, he does all
this crazy stuff, and I'm notsaying that he's not smart, but

(58:30):
if you look like a quarterbacklike Peyton Manning, he's got
great athletic ability andeverything.
I don't think everybody anybodywould say he's the greatest
athlete, but he's the one thatalways would beat you with his
mind, and that's why he was sosuccessful, because he was so
smart at the game.

SPEAKER_01 (58:48):
Yeah, but all these things are just a quick fix.

SPEAKER_03 (58:52):
A lot of people they start dabbling in performance
psychology, start using some ofthese tools, and I think it's a
learning curve just likeanything else.
You you get a little bit of aresult, a little bit of a boost
right at the beginning, uh, thatbeginner's luck kind of phase,
because you have a larger marginfor growth, and so the the

(59:13):
result seems huge, but then itstarts to level off and plateau,
and people often give up on itafter a little bit because
they're like, okay, well, youknow, this stopped working or
whatever because I'm not seeingthe same level of result that I
had.
The fact of the matter is thatyou need to stick with it and
practice it and practice it justlike anything else.

(59:33):
And honestly, the the better youget at it, the more the better
it works.

SPEAKER_01 (59:38):
So in reality, building mental resilience and
habits takes consistent effortand time.

SPEAKER_03 (59:43):
What what's the old the old adage?
It's uh twenty one days to forma habit, thirty day thirty days
to form a habit, something likethat.
You know you know the thesaying.

SPEAKER_01 (59:57):
I'd have to look it up.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:00):
But you know what?
I I would challenge anybody outthere to commit to doing
something for thirty days.
Anybody can do something forthirty days.
Pick something small, do it forthirty days, do it consistently,
whether it's the same time everyday, the same thing every day,
whatever, take five, tenminutes, and at the end of the
thirty days measure your resultsand see where you started and

(01:00:22):
where you ended up.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:23):
Okay, Brandon, but I don't have time for it.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:27):
So a lot of these techniques and tricks can be
interwoven throughout your day,whether it's riding in your car,
listening to a mantra or ameditation like we often do, or
if it's just taking that fiveminutes before you go to bed,
commit commit to something smalland get those early victories
and then build upon that.

(01:00:47):
And next thing you know, you'llfind yourself doing it just kind
of automatically without eventhinking about it.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:54):
Yeah, it doesn't work for me.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:57):
Well, that's the thing, is that psychology works
for everybody, whether itwhether you believe in it or
not.
That's the the kind of the nicething about science.
But each and every one of thesemess methods is customizable,
and working with some sort ofqualified professional or
qualified trainer, they can helpadapt whatever program and

(01:01:19):
whatever structure to yourspecific needs.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:21):
Those are great ideas, but it's too abstract.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:25):
Tools like biofeedback and goal setting
frameworks are really nicebecause they provide you
something with a measurableoutcome where you can see, you
know, I raise my 20-foot puttingpercentage from you know 93% to
94%.
And uh, we talked about itbefore.
Keep keep data, keep like alittle logbook, you know, it

(01:01:47):
doesn't have to be extensive.
People get into things, andoften things, hey, I gotta do
all the things, I gotta do allthe things right now, I gotta do
it all at once.
No, just focus on somethingsmall and get those small
victories.
And that's also a key conceptfor building confidence.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:03):
I can't afford it.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:07):
I would say to that that this day and age, we are in
the age of information.
It's I think it's been said like95% of human knowledge is on the
internet.
Um but also you gotta kind offilter that with reputable
sources and everything.
Uh ChatGTP is a great resourcefor uh figuring out different

(01:02:30):
training routines and differentmental habits.
Um books, we love reading booksbecause it's a lot of
information, very concise anddriven to a point.
Community workshops, uh supportgroups, things of that nature.
And uh, you know, th all thesedifferent places, they they
offer free to no expense uhentry points.

(01:02:53):
I mean, even a library card.
Like you can you can get digitallibrary cards now and download
them on your phone on certainapplications, and you can find
books there.
Uh we read a lot of books off ofthe library app, actually.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:08):
Thanks, but I already perform well under
pressure.

SPEAKER_03 (01:03:12):
Could you be better?
So I think I think a greatanecdote here is I'm not a big
fan of Tom Brady, but you gottayou gotta give him credit.
He is probably one of thegreatest to ever play the game.
Um, one of the most recognizedathletes in the world.
And I remember seeing this thingon ESPN or something once where

(01:03:35):
when he was at Michigan andworking, the uh the coaching
staff was like, Okay, you'regonna go work with our with our
performance psychologist, andhe's gonna be assigned to you.
And oh, I you know, I he'sreally reluctant, I don't need
to do that, or whatever.
He's an 18-year-old kid cominginto you know big time football.
I don't need to do that, I'malready you know, whatever.

(01:03:57):
And he the coach was like, Okay,just go give it a try.
Right?
Like, this is a requirement foryou to play here.
And he started working with thatuh sports psychologist, the
performance psychologist, andgoing through these different
drills and started unwrappingand uncovering these traumas and
these limiting thoughts that hehe never even knew that he had.

(01:04:18):
And it was so successful that heended up taking this sports
psych sports performancepsychologist with him all the
way up through his entire careerand still maintaining that
relationship, even even wellinto the NFL, all the way up to
his retirement.
So don't don't underestimate,you know.
These are trained professionals,they're very good at what they

(01:04:41):
do.
They know you know, they theycan uh reveal things that you
didn't even know about yourselfto bring you from that so-so
level to the elite level.

SPEAKER_01 (01:04:53):
Yeah, and that's the thing about learning too, is
that once you think you can'tlearn anything, you're right,
because you've closed yourselfoff to learning.
So you always want toacknowledge that you know
there's someone out there whoknows something you don't know.
So, Brandon?
Can you think of ways you'veused performance psychology to

(01:05:14):
improve your game?

SPEAKER_03 (01:05:17):
I'm a big fan of performance psychology, as you
can tell.
Yay, bitch hands.
And um You know, I I think myfavorite sports psychology tool
is visualization.
Uh I know when I'm out there onthe course I try to visualize
the path of the shot and the theflip of the disc.
I try to visualize uh, you know,if I was you know looking at

(01:05:41):
myself in my form, what would Ilook like and try to dissect
that and take it apart.
Um I I really don't know anykind of disc al disc golf
athlete that doesn't performsome sort of visualization
tactic during their round.
Um because I know we all we allhave to pick our shot and figure
out, you know, even if it's justa matter of, oh, I'm just gonna

(01:06:03):
pass it over this point righthere and hope for the best.
So I I think that's one of myfavorite tools um in performance
psychology is visualization.
Um and and I also find thatallows me to practice when I'm
not like actively practicing.
Um so I mean we watch a lot ofcoverage on uh on YouTube and uh

(01:06:29):
you know, you can you can putyourself there and you can find
your find yourself there onthose courses with those shots,
and then you know, also thedecision making and wondering,
well, why did they do thatinstead of this?
And so um we have the luxury ofhaving a course nearby us that
we can play at uh that the prosuh also play at, and you know,

(01:06:51):
trying to pick their game apartand f figure out why they made
the decisions that they made.
How about you, Jenny?
What are your favorite tips andtricks for uh using sports
psychology out there when you'replaying?

SPEAKER_01 (01:07:04):
I I I guess the um the time that it really paid off
for me was uh the Farragut Openthat last round where I want to
say I went in behind um I thinksomeone else was leading me to

(01:07:26):
like four or five points, maybesomething like that.
And uh I had found a uhaffirmation for athletes and was
listening to it intentionallyfor like the twenty minutes

(01:07:47):
before my round started.
I really focused on uh closingmyself off to the sounds and
other things going on uh duringthe game.
So I was uh the person who wasahead of me uh started having a

(01:08:10):
really rough round and trying tokeep that from uh setting in
with my game, trying to find myown wins, um, just trying to
enjoy the company of the peopleI was playing with.
Uh and I had at that pointgotten myself to a point where I

(01:08:31):
would practice throwing,visualizing each putt to make
those really big putts, and Ijust it all came together and I
ended up winning it.

SPEAKER_03 (01:08:42):
Very nice.
Success story.
Well, I know also something foryou that you use a lot of is
mindfulness out there.
It's like you really try tobring yourself into that present
moment.
What are what are some thingsthat you do to try to capture
that?

SPEAKER_01 (01:08:57):
Well like like we've said, I I focus on my heart rate
and also a lot of it actually isfiltering out everyone else
because a lot of the players arelike, oh man, last time I was
here I shanked this shot and itwent forty feet over that way,

(01:09:17):
and I hit this tree and I hitthat tree, and oh man, I had
such a hard time with this, andjust putting all that out there,
it really sucks.
Like no one wants to hear that,no one wants to hear about your
crappy shot.
We saw it, but you're putting itout there and it affects the
other players on your card.
So having to filter that out uhthrough ignoring people, putting

(01:09:43):
in the earplugs, and sometimesrefusing to watch their shots,
like disconnecting yourself fromwhat's going on there.
Um those are some of the thingsthat I do.

SPEAKER_03 (01:09:56):
Awesome.
Alright, well, that just aboutdoes it for this episode of The
Intentional Discgolfer.
We are talking about performancepsychology.
In this episode, you may havelearned the basic knowledge and
origins of performancepsychology and understood the
role of sports psychology andwhy it matters.
We hope you've obtained ageneral understanding of the

main areas of sports psychology: focus, attention control, (01:10:17):
undefined
emotional regulation, goalsetting, motivation, resilience,
and coping strategies,confidence building, stress and
anxiety management,visualization and imagery, and
decision making under pressure.

SPEAKER_01 (01:10:33):
And again, we're going to be going into these in
more detail in future episodes.

SPEAKER_03 (01:10:39):
We hope that we've been able to show share at least
a few useful tools andtechniques that we use to help
you improve your game.
And we've also tried to discusssome common misconceptions and
some objections that people mayhave to using performance
psychology.
We've also had a chance to hearfrom us about you know, a little
discussion about techniques andthings that we use in tournament

(01:11:03):
play to be able to kind ofsettle ourselves and bring us
bring ourselves back on track.
And if you appreciate us andlike what you hear here, here,
here, here, please uh feel freeto leave us a comment on this
episode or wherever you'relistening.
Uh you can find us on our socialmedias.
We have all the social medias.

(01:11:23):
Just search the intentionaldiscgolfer podcast and we should
be able to find it.
And if you want to email usdirectly, we have the
intentional discgolfer atgmail.com.
We love your fan mail, so pleaseemail us.
And if you need a good laughafter this episode, we will be
pinning some uh bloopers andsome highlights and some funnies
uh after the episode.

(01:11:44):
So do stick around after theoutro music.
We would like to thank oursponsors real quick.
Uh, we have Prodigy Disc, wehave Salty Unicorns Disc Golf
Apparel, and Treasures of theForest, and also our fans,
because you guys are the reasonthat we can keep doing this.
You're the reason that we dowhat we do.
We'd love hearing from you.

(01:12:04):
Leave us a comment, help usdefeat the algorithm.
And here at the Intentional DiscGolfer Podcast, my name is
Brandon.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:14):
And I'm Jenny.

SPEAKER_03 (01:12:16):
And we truly do believe that disc golf has the
power to change lives.
So go out there and grow thesport.

(01:12:52):
To avoid this, please stoplistening and move on to the
next episode now.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:57):
Hey, stop.

SPEAKER_03 (01:12:59):
Yes.

SPEAKER_01 (01:13:00):
Slow down.
Read your words.
You read it.
Ennunciate.
Read it.
I don't want to read offlearning targets because I think
it's dumb.
You're gonna learn about sportspsychology, which includes all
the parts of sports psychology,to the point where what I
received from you says justpsycho.
So learning targets.

(01:13:20):
We're in it.
Have a basic knowledge of theorigins of performance
psychology.
Wait, start again.

SPEAKER_03 (01:13:27):
Understand my start again without my without.

SPEAKER_01 (01:13:36):
He asks me to speak when he's not speaking.
I wish I had that on video.
Wrong button.

SPEAKER_03 (01:13:48):
That was very well done, Jenny.
No shit.
Very well done.
It's like you've done thisbefore.

SPEAKER_00 (01:13:53):
I know.

SPEAKER_03 (01:13:53):
Alright, stop swearing.
Why?
Because.
You're gonna cut it out.
Yeah, but that doesn't mean thatit's for continuity.

SPEAKER_00 (01:14:02):
Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 (01:14:02):
You're welcome.
You know, I love waggly tailsand wet noses.
It's one of my favorite thingsof the day.
I know spy with love dogs.
I know, love dogs.
Especially catahulas.
While we wait, if you haven'thad a catahoula catahula dog,
you might want to check outJack's dogs.

(01:14:23):
Brandon.
From the Olympic dog to theSeattle dog.

SPEAKER_01 (01:14:27):
I told you not to say anything about that.
I'm not gonna put it in thething.
I'm just And why are you tellingpeople to eat our dogs?
I'm not telling you, I'mputting- You haven't had a
Catahula dog, Jack's dog.
Why don't you say the KalachiCatahulas where you can actually
adopt a dog?

SPEAKER_03 (01:14:42):
Kalachi Catahoulas, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:14:45):
Alright.
Fine-tune your motor skills andmentor a The application is to
fine-tune your motor skotor.
Skills.
I don't know why this is sohard.
Precision.
That's why.

SPEAKER_03 (01:15:06):
Do we need to go back to that one?

SPEAKER_01 (01:15:07):
No.
The precision.