"I'm not a drummer, but I play one on stage."
As soon as I cultivated that attitude, my stage fright vanished, and I actually started being a better drummer. I walked on stage trying to act calm, cool, collected, like I really knew what I was doing. It made a huge difference. I didn't make any fewer mistakes, but I stopped panicking and choking when I made a mistake. I acted more relaxed and confident, so I was more relaxed and confident. To some extent, we become what we pretend to be.
If you think about it, many musicians create characters that they portray. Tom Waits, Leon Redbone, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson - those would be obvious examples, but I think many musicians have an alter ego that they play with. It makes life easier.
So my character is a competent drummer, and I try to play that character convincingly. If all goes well, nobody sees what a hack I really am.
...the more I learned, the more I learned how much I did not know.
That's life. And the less we know, the easier it is to have strong opinions. That's why I try to reign in my strong opinions about drumming. Almost always, they're just symptoms of my ignorance. The more I learn, the less opinionated I get.