Of all the positions in football, perhaps no position needs to be mentally stronger than kickers.

Georgia’s Peyton Woodring can empathize.

Although it’s been two years, the Bulldog junior vividly remembers the first time he ran on the field in the 2023 opener to attempt his first field goal.

Although the attempt was just 23 yards and the game was against mid-level non-conference foe UT-Martin, the butterflies were there.

“I was a little nervous,” Woodring said. “I didn't really understand the full moment, yet I didn't come like I didn't grow up in a place where like there was a bunch of people watching so that was my first like big experience. But I feel like once I fixed my mindset, I stopped getting nervous about it, and I feel like it's really helped me to improve throughout my career.”

Woodring’s numbers since that nerve-wracking kick – which was successful – bear this out.

In 48 attempts, the Shreveport native has only misfired on six, with a career-long of 55 yards.

When Woodring talks about “fixing his mindset,” he’s not talking about something he did alone.

He had some help.

“I did a lot of work with the sports psychologist, kind of like becoming more confident within myself and my ability to do it because I know whenever I go out there, I can always make it,” Woodring said. “Early on, my mindset was kind of getting in the way a little bit, but after that, I feel like I really worked on it. I feel like it's helped improve me overall.”

However, there’s still work to do.

“I feel like there's always places to get better at like even if you think you're good enough you're never good enough,” Woodring said. “I feel like whenever you're in college, you're still preparing like for the goals to go to the NFL or whatever. I don't feel like you become an NFL kicker whenever you get there; you’ve got to keep working toward that goal every day to try to get better."

Kirby Smart and his staff ensure that Woodring stays sharp.

“I feel like they always do create a lot of pressure whether it's like the whole team watching or whatever coach smart kind of putting pressure on me,” Woodring said. “I feel like it's important to have that type of pressure in certain moments. I feel like the scrimmages kind of add a game-like feel to us, so I feel like it's very important to have those. I feel like that's probably where the most pressure comes is in those scrimmages performing in front of everybody.”

Of course, having the support of your head coach helps too, especially during those early days when Woodruff’s confidence wasn’t quite where it is now.

“It meant a lot to me,” he said. “I feel like it's one of the places that one of the reasons that I came here was because I knew that I would be able to grow and become a better player and I think it took me having those struggles to kind of reassess my mindset and my technique and all that to become a better kicker and I think it's helped me in the long run him having that confidence in me and becoming more better like mentally.”