With this being my first blog I cannot help but relate this feeling of anxiety to that of my mindset when putting. Writers block; the equivalent of a 5ft left to right downhill putt – you just don’t know where to begin.

So rarely in golf does the long and short game fuse together for that sought after perfect round and so often in my case it’s the short game that lets me down. Playing off a handicap 7 my long game has become somewhat reliable but I’m still struggling to shoot really low as the short stick struggles to keep up. Constantly frustrated with this I have found it to be something of a recurrent theme amongst amateur golfers. I’m sure that many golfers have experienced the ‘why do I play this game’ feeling many times as a result of hitting a par 5 in two and 3 putting for the most soul destroying of pars.

Many methods have been recommended to me; different putters, different grips or wider stances but it all comes down to the mindset. I’ve found confidence to be the biggest factor; if I hole a good putt on the 1st hole then generally I putt better. However, this unfortunately is a rare occurrence and that all too familiar feeling creeps in on the 1st hole with 17 more to go…

I’ve long been a subscriber to eyeing up new equipment, whether that be the newest Taylormade big headed driver or a set of new blades. You will not however, catch me eyeing up a new putter. I’ve always been an advocate of the long game as I find nothing more satisfying than middling a drive down the middle of the fairway but as the old saying goes, drive for show – putt for dough. With the weekly money matches with the lads this saying is regrettably all too true for myself as it all too frequently seems to be me footing the bill for the post-game pints.

With the dream of being a tour professional many years gone it’s not something that I should worry myself with too much, even if the teeofftimes.co.uk boys do use my putting stroke as 1st green banter every time we play. The only thing to do from here on in is work on my iron play; if I can hit it to 2 feet every time I may save myself some serious putting practice, but even then, 2 feet seems rather long…