Chipping away...

Things are on the up and this evening I had a chance to spend some more time practicing on my short game. So target circle and wedges in hand I made my way over to the heath and spent 80 blissful minutes working on my short game. Interestingly I seem to be playing fewer chips nowadays, this is mainly because I find myself playing my third shot (on a par 4) to the green and hitting it. The root cause is either a ropey tee shot or a duffed second shot that usually leaves me in wedge range.

My distances and accuracy are much improved and I seem to be finding the green, hitting two putts and walking off with bogey. That was certainly the case on Wednesday. I hit four GIR, making three pars one bogey. I also hit nine greens one over GIR and two putted them all. But crucially when I missed the green one over GIR I didn't get up and down. Most of the time I didn't give myself a chance. In fact I am probably likely to finish closer to the hole from 90 yards than I am from 19, especially when I have to go over an obstacle.

Without wishing to tempt fate, I have got better at chipping in terms of connection, but in my efforts to ensure I don't leave it short, I often run it long. So today was about keeping those hands soft and working on my touch and landing zone. I'm not going to pretend that a single session has resolved my issues but I did get a little more consistent on distance control.

Luke Donald is my short game hero and, as the Masters draws near, I'll be intrigued to watch his wedge play around Augusta. Judging by his twitter feed he certainly spends a lot of time working on his wedge play. I'm still trying to keep up with Padraig Harrington's 20 minutes a day recommendation. I must confess it is much harder than I thought it would be: balancing golf with a commute and family life is tough.

The new season is almost upon us and the April medal is drawing near. There is still time to place your vote on my handicap progress in the first half of the season, so please have a gander opposite and let me know your thoughts. In the meantime I'll keep chipping away at my short game...