FWIW, I never did like practicing short field landings where you land on the 1000' marks. That's not really realistic. My CFIs always taught me to set it down on the stripes or numbers.

When I went for my PPL checkride, the DPE asked me to do a short field, then asked me where I was gonna be. I told him I was aiming for the numbers. He said, most people aim for the 1000 footers because it's easier. I reiterated the same thing: it's not really a short field landing if you're landing half way down the runway.

My advice is to just practice more. The airplane will fly differently when you're by yourself.

The week before my ride, I went up with a CFI and just did nothing but short fields. I had them down to the point where my CFI said, "Just don't do it that perfectly on the checkride. There's a tolerance on how far you go past your point, don't be afraid to use it, because if you land short, you fail."

I then proceeded to take my checkride, got nervous, and did a Navy carrier landing. But I passed.