Tough time dealing with short-stacks

[bbqsquirrel]

It seems that every time I encounter them I either make a bad play or lose an all-in pot (or both).

Here are some examples, all of them NL or PL 25:

Hand 1. I completed AJ in SB, 5 handed. Flop J73 2 hearts, I bet 4x, shortie called. I put him on a weaker Jack or a flush draw. Turn T non-heart. I bet about 2/3 pot, 9x. Shortie pushed all-in for 28x. I called. Shortie had 98; he caught his gutshot.

Hand 2. Shortie EP raised 4xBB. He had 16x behind. Folded to me on the button and I decided to push him AI with AK. Blinds folded, shortie called. I flopped an Ace to beat shortie's KK.

Hand 3. Shortie, who was a donk and had 20 BBs, raised max (5x) in PL. I had JJ next to him and reraised max. Everyone else folded, and we capped (he went all-in) preflop. He had K9 and rivered a 4-flush on me.

Hand 4. I had JJ and raised 4x in LP, SB, who had ~20BBs, pushed all in. Folded back to me. I called, he had KK and I didn't improve.

Hand 5. I had J2 hearts in PL on the button, decided to get creative and opened the pot with a max raise. Blinds called. I saw the miracle flop of 345 2 hearts, giving me OESD+FD. Checked to me, I bet max (10x), SB folded, BB c/r all-in for another 10x or so. Easy call for me. He had 78, which means I was actually way ahead. But he turned a 7, and that was good enough for him to win the pot.

Hand 6. I had K9 clubs in late position, 5 limped. Flop Q42 with a flush draw (and an over) for me. SB bet 4x, folded to me. He had about 40x remaining...a bit less than half a buy-in and I decided to semibluff shove. SB called quickly. He had Q6 and I didn't improve.

And so my question is: Do I always push a good hand or good potential hand when facing a shortie whose stack is smaller or comparable to pot? Or should I try to live by the saying "Do not press a desperate foe too hard"?

[swiggidy]

Hand 1 - consider raising AJ, post flop, fine.
Hand 5 - you chose to gamble with J2, don't raise, you don't loose here. Post flop, fine.
Hand 6 - I don't care for this. The pot is 10BB and you're pushing for 40?

Your first 4 are fine, sometimes you beat the shorties, sometimes you loose. If they're tight and push you may want to be careful. If they're even semi-loose then TPGK is the nuts post-flop, get them all-in.