I'm not good at fooling myself or talking myself out of things, so pretending that pressure or nervous thoughts aren't there doesn't really work for me. I don't do much of anything in a conscious way while I'm off the approach. I just try to do what I always do, play cards, shoot the bull with teammates, watch the sports on TV, etc. Now, when it comes time to step up on the approach, I just try to give myself one "swing thought" (to use a golfing term) to focus upon. Usually, I try to focus on posting the shot. That's my trigger because 99/100 if I really get down and stay solid at the line, I'm going to execute a good shot. Others may have different thoughts, fast feet, stay under the ball, follow through, whatever. Again, in the end, I don't think there's a right or wrong way to approach this. Whatever gets you focused, yet calm is the way to go. It's all about staying in the moment and treating each shot as if it's no more important than the one that came before it because, truthfully, they aren't. We inject pressure into situations. The ball, lane, and pins don't know whether it's the first shot of the night or the last shot as you try for 300. As such, the more you can just stick with what you always do, the better of you're likely going to be.
