Hi there, 

I suffered a real shock a couple of weeks ago when I went for a shot in training and ended up writhing on the court in agony.  My back went into spasm and totally seized up.

I've heard people complaining about back injuries in the past, but never really appreciated how bad it could be. I was in agony and could hardly move. Now I'll have more sympathy for my fellow players.

It didn't take long for me to recover - thanks to the physiotherapy staff and the Scottish Institute of Sport - but it did force me to pull out of the Spanish Open in Madrid.

But I was fit enough to end the season at the Toulouse Open in France - and I will soon get a trip to Spain. I'm going there for a couple of weeks' holiday at the start of June.

Looking back, it's been a funny, old season. I had hoped to maybe make the Olympics, but it wasn't to be and, at times, it was all quite stressful. So now I'm looking forward to having a couple of weeks break and putting badminton out of my mind before coming back to start training for the new campaign.

I don't think I'll have any tournaments until September, but that will be a nice long run of really hard training.

My goal for next season is to get back into the top 25 in the world in women's singles. It should be a little easier once the Olympics are over.

There is certainly plenty to look forward to. In 2009, there are the world individual championships and the Sudirman Cup, while even the next Commonwealth Games - in 2010 in New Delhi - are not too far away.

My intention is to keep going at least until London 2012. It really would be amazing to get to an Olympics. I'll be watching the badminton from Beijing with a little bit of envy.

But September will be the start of a new season - I promise I'll be ready.

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