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Last week, I was sadly watching Ernie Els play in the PGA Tour event at Firestone Country Club.

I say sadly because he was hitting the ball 8 to 10 feet from the hole every time and then missing the putt. I am sure you have experienced similar problems on occasion and said to yourself: “What in the world do I have to do to get the ball in the hole?”

In my opinion, Ernie was misaligning his putter and then using a very fast, out-of-character stroke to get the putter back on a good path on the forward swing.

All of the golf research has proven that if you aim the putter too far to the right you will swing it to the left to get it back on line. In so doing, you will subconsciously open the putter face through impact.

On the other hand, if you aim your putter too far to the left, you will tend to swing way out on the ball through the hitting area. This usually means that you will hit the ball near the heel of the putter if the face is too closed or block it to the right if the face is too open.

When we are misaligned with the face of the putter we also, unconsciously, speed up the pace of the stroke. A short backswing and a jabby, quick downswing never works, and that is what I saw Els doing last week.

Try to keep your stroke even and smooth in both directions. To do this, you must have a light grip and keep the pressure constant all the way through the stroke.

Below are some aiming tips to help you make more of those eight- to 12-foot putts that you struggle with:

n Mark your ball with a straight black line on it. Always line the ball up with your intended target.

n If you are a poor aimer, make sure you buy a putter with a line on the top of it .But go to a custom club golf shop and make sure the line was put on the putter straight. Now line up the putter line with the line on the ball.

n Put the right hand on the putter first, getting your correct aim. As you do this, your eyes should be focusing on a spot only three inches in front of the ball. Run your eyes back and forth to the spot and to the hole. You are just trying to roll your ball over that spot.

n While doing this, do not take your eyes off the intended line of the putt and focus back to the hole. It’s the refocusing on the hole instead of the target line that causes most of the pulled putts.

n Speed is not so important with short putts so go ahead and give it a good rap and don’t play too much break.

n Trust your stroke and work on light, constant grip pressure and a rhythmic stroke. No quickness or jabbing will be permitted.

n Make sure your eyes are right over the target line and your head is not outside or too far inside the line.

If your eyes and head are tilted to the right the putter will swing to the right. Similarly, if the eyes and head are tilted to the left, the path of your putter will swing to the left through impact. Put a small mirror on the ground to test your eyeline.

Better aim means making more putts and a slower tempo stroke. Have fun with it.

Dr. Jim Suttie, the 2000 PGA Teacher of the Year, is director of instruction at The Club at TwinEagles in North Naples and at Cog Hill Golf Club in Lemont, Ill. He also is a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and rated No. 15 by Golf Digest. Suttie coaches the FGCU men’s golf team. E-mail him at jmsuttie@aol.com.