Greetings golfers,

I am writing to you this week on a beautiful sunny Tuesday having just played in a South Region professional's qualifier at Mid Kent in Gravesend. Today was a very good day and as I speak I sit in second place after a 4 under round of 66.

Good for me! I hear you all saying but as usual I like to use these things to pass on bits and pieces that can help us all in our golf. So what can I glean from today and pass on?

Firstly, I did not hit every fairway (9/13) and neither did I hit every green (13/18) but what I did very well was hit the ball consistently in the same place. In most of my teaching I go on and on about consistency. Good golf is just knowing where the ball is going to go and aiming accordingly. If you can then hit the ball reasonably well all the time then you will not drop many shots. Today, if I hit a bad shot it basically went the same way - a small fade - which left me with a few short chips from short right and two bunker shots. This is a bad swing that I am working on all the time. Clearly the work is not finished yet, but as they are far better than in the past I am clearly getting there.

But as I'm sure you can imagine it was my short game that made my score today. Inside 70 yards I was 6 from 9. That included two shots from around the 50 yard mark and two bunker shots (100%). My only bogey was at a hole where I missed just left and then had a 6 foot par putt with 2 feet of break! Sadly I just missed it but it was a toughie and everyone in my group bogeyed the hole. Incidentally imagine every hole being like that and we probably have some idea of what the top pros face at Augusta and this is why they all talk about missing in the right place - you don't want 2 foot breaking 6 footers on every hole!

But my putter nearly incinerated its cover today. That was the only putt inside 10 foot that I missed. I only had 27 putts and I made 100 feet of putts including two from around 18 feet. And I know why. In the last few weeks I have just tried to commit to every putt. That means deciding on a line and pace and then not questioning it. It also means not watching the ball rolling away from your putter. I kept my head down on every putt, even the ones that missed, and hit my line every time, even when it wasn't correct. Trust me, if you can practise doing that and then take it to the course you WILL hole more putts. You will hit your line more often and you will be surprised how often you get the ball to the hole. I was short only twice today and one of those was a scary down-hiller. That's twice in 27 putts!

I can also now hear you all saying 'ah but you have the chance to practise all the time'. Well it is true that having my indoor studio means I can hit balls regularly, so that may accounts for long game improvements. But I really don't practise my short game as much as I could. In the last week I've played a few holes three times and the last time I played 18 holes was three weeks ago on holiday. The time before that was before Christmas!! I have been practising my putting however and let's face it, you can practise that at any time.

So the one thing I want to highlight above all is my mind set and it is something you can most definitely learn from. I had one swing thought all day and I stuck to it, even when it didn't work perfectly. I then tried to be as decided and committed as I could to my putts. That's it! Do not complicate things - it's hard enough out there. If you'd like help with any part of your game then come and see me. I am now starting my new Summer Package which includes a playing lesson and studio lessons for £99 and I firmly believe this is the best way to move your game on, if you feel like this will benefit you then please click here to book.

One last thing about my round, and it's a bit of a sales pitch so please forgive me. I wore a brand new pair of Skechers Elite shoes for my round. They are the softest and most comfortable pair of shoes I have ever worn, period. At the end my feet were untouched and I could have happily played on. Not something I would have said in Vilamoura when I wore a pair of shoes from another manufacturer. My feet were sore and I was exhausted. Seriously, if you haven't tried them do so. Prices start at £65 for their new range. Come and find out why I'll be wearing them all year.




I now have my Callaway stock in, which includes the fitting system for the new Steelhead XR irons. Clearly, if you are looking at new clubs and Callaway in particular then it would make sense to see what I can do for you. If you are just interested in seeing if the new equipment could benefit you I am very happy to put you on the SkyTrak system to test clubs. But I would really like to stress that I can also supply most makes and I will be very competitive. Please give me the chance to quote you and you might be very surprised.

If you'd like to book a fitting and test the latest brands then please click here.


  

I've had quite a few of you taking up the FREE grip offer that I have running at the moment. This is your opportunity to have a new Golf Pride grip on your 7 iron (yes it does have to be your 7 iron) so that you can try something different and experience what new grips can do for your clubs. This is completely free of charge! How often does that happen now? If you want to you can then have the rest of your clubs, or just a few, re-gripped at my discounted rates. I guarantee most of you haven't changed grips for years and new ones will actually help your golf.


 

Lastly, my Masters sweep is filling up fast so if you'd like a chance to win one of two great prizes then get your names down quickly. It's only £5 to enter and that means you could win a Callaway fairway wood or an Odyssey putter - can't be bad!