We all frustrate ourselves at times on the putting green, with missing short putts which we feel are easy, often by leaving the ball short or too far past the hole.

Causes: Greens vary in speed according to the course you play and from day to day. We often take a few holes before finding the feel for green speed.

A common technical mistake I see is that many golfers use the same length of stroke for all putts, de-accelerating on the short ones and accelerating on lengthier putts.

Correction: Always take the time to have a few putts on the practice green before teeing off. Even two or three putts is often enough to give some confidence in your stroke for the day.

An exercise to develop feel is to place half a dozen tees about 10 centimetres evenly apart along your putting line just outside the toe of your putter. The tees should run along a line from just outside your back foot finishing outside a line off the front foot.

Number the tees in your mind 1-2-3 back and 1-2-3 forward. Now practice a few putts along a flat surface (not to a hole), swinging smoothly back to tee #3 and forward to tee #3. Now practice some putts using the same speed of stroke from #2 tee back to #2 tee forward, do the same back and forward to #1 tee.

Practice this exercise a few times and you will soon find the balls grouped together for each length of stoke. This practice putting routine is favoured by many PGA Tour and teaching Professionals as it works in developing good technique.