“Tiger Woods just has this uncanny ability to go up another notch when someone approaches him.” That was the comment Chris DiMarco made after he shot an impressive 68 in the final round at Hoylake, but he still fell 2 shots behind Tiger at the end. Tiger Woods just wouldn’t give up. Tiger is mentally strong under pressure.

Would you like to have that same mental toughness? How can you gain that mental strength?

Let’s take a look at one part of his game as an example: his putting.

How do you practice?

Are you like most people who practice putting by throwing several golf balls on the local practice green and trying to get a few in the hole? Or do you have one of those long indoor practice greens in your office? You know the type. You have a long strip of green felt that goes up into a cup, you just hit the ball into the hole and some kind of mechanism returns it to you. You do this over and over again, maybe a hundred times a day, a thousand times a week. And yet, when you want to play in a foursome with your friends, you can’t sink that last putt from left to right that would win the game. And you can’t understand it, you’ve practiced so much!

The reason you couldn’t sink the putt is simple. You have not become a mentally tough putter. Do you realize you missed “last putt from left to right”? Like most people, all of his practice occurred on a flat green that offered no real challenge. Whether you realize it or not, once you stand on a real putting green with the surface running left to right, right to left, sloping up or down or any number of ways, you’re not really ready. Why not? Because you didn’t practice that way. Like any other sport, your practice needs to simulate how the real game plays out in all its infinite variations.

And when did you push yourself to putt in your training? Most people feel that it is just a matter of practicing your putting stroke and transferring it to the green. But what about the mental aspects of the game? Have you incorporated that part into your putting exercises to transfer it to the green as well? Do you know how? Do you have a method that measures your ability to sink a putt and know if you are improving or not?

Becoming a mentally tough putter requires practice that mimics the real game of golf. Be sure to set up your practice routine to improve your swing, but also to develop the mental characteristics of a Tiger Woods.