The Vari-Break Putting Green by SKLZ simulates wavy greens indoors

I’m a streaky putter.

I can make a bunch and then miss a bunch.

A new training aid in my basement, the Vari-Break Putting Green, should help me become a more consistent putter.

The new putting mat will be put to good use this winter. Its unique design offers an endless array of putting challenges. It’s made by SKLZ, the innovative company from Carlsbad, Calif., known for its creative athletic training aids.

The mat is 11 feet long by 3 feet wide with a Stimpmeter rating of 10 when placed on a firm rug, or 11 on a linoleum surface. By putting against the grain (away from the hole cut in the carpet), the green speeds shrink to 9 on the stimpmeter, still faster than some of the shaggy greens I play on.

The Vari-Break’s oversized true-roll putting surface is easily manipulated with two movable foam wedges. These wedges create “breaks” in the green. If I want a big bender at the hole, I just pile the two wedges on top of one another and slide them under the mat. If I want the two wedges to simulate a large hump right in front of my ball, but feet from the hole, that creates another dynamic altogether.

“When you play a round of golf, rarely is a putt perfect, flat and straight, so your practice putting routine shouldn’t be either,” Greg Shoman, the vice president of marketing for SKLZ, said in a statement. “Now golfers finally have a practice putting mat that acts like an actual putting green, which will help improve putting on virtually any type of lie.”

Putters who think they’re really hot stuff can add the horseshoe-shaped SKLZ Putt Pocket on top of the hole. This horseshoe can be aligned so that only putts breaking from the high side (the pro side as some call it) fall into the cup. All others are blocked away. It just requires more focus and precision to find the hole.

My 8-year-old son and I find using the Vari-Break way more entertaining than just your average round of putting practice indoors on a flat mat. It’s fun to create new scenarios: From swooping three-footers with big breaks to double-breakers the entire length of the mat. If you can master the Vari-Break, you should be more confident in the ability to make more putts on the course. The Vari-Break retails $99.99. Visit Sklz.com for more.