Often times during practice, especially when it's just ourselves, we can tend to give ourselves short putts particularly under 4 feet . The reason behind this can be just speed of play but it can also be due to not wanting ourselves to miss the putt and therefore damaging our confidence and score.
The best way however to fully condition ourselves for competition golf is practicing exactly how we would play. If for example you always give yourself short putts, the next time when you're in competition you may feel heightened pressure as your stroke is not accustomed to being under stress.
What we want to do is make sure that during practice, that we putt out everything while we keep the pre-shot routine the same for every putt. Even if you do miss some putts that you think you should of made, it gives you a great opportunity to learn what you did and resolve for next time. The more you putt out every putt especially when you start converting successfully from short range, the stronger your mindset becomes.
Therefore when you do play competition, your mind and body will be more equipped on how to handle pressure situations. Its is important though when you are putting out everything and you do miss the occasional putt, to keep your mood high in order to teach your mind not to react to negative situations. Generally the more positive we are, the less likely our nervous system will attach negative experiences and thus be able to resolve problems faster.
If you'd ike any further advice on how to prepare for competition, please don't hesitate to ask.
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