Nick's tip - Be realistic and don't beat yourself up too much this winter 

You're not Tiger Woods, and one of the game's greatest mind coaches has a newsflash for you. "It is unrealistic to think that you are going to go out there and shoot under your handicap when the greens are rubbish and the weather is awful," reveals Dr Karl Morris. "Subsequently, at this time of year, I always sit down with my clients and discuss the concept of 'realistic par'. This basically means I want golfers to stop thinking that their course is the same par all year round and start thinking about adding strokes onto par to make up for the course's conditions during the winter months.

"As a general rule, given the state of British courses between November and February and the harshness of our weather, I don't think it's unreasonable for us to add two strokes on to the par of the course for each nine, making a par-68 course a par 72 and so on. "The point of this isn't to be defeatist, it's to increase your chances of a confidence-boosting winter by being realistic." Stop procrastinating and get adding. If it's good enough for Tiger, it's good enough for you.

Sam's tip -  Stop duffing the ball

With a 'duff', the club head digs into the ground before impact, and the ball is moved only a short distance. There are many things that can lead to this particular shot occuring. Check the following symptoms below to see where you may be going wrong: 

- Grip: You may be holding the club too tightly. Strong finish position 
- Ball position: The ball may be too far forward in your stance. 
- Stance: Your hands are probably too far behind the ball as you set up. (See above).  
- Posture: Transfer your weight so that you end up with a strong and balanced finish position. Just like you see the professionals do it. 
- Swing: Check the top of your backswing to make sure you are not 'throwing your wrists' into the forward swing, which results in the club taking a wider path and hitting the ground before the ball. 

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