Hi there,

I'm just about to start a run of tournaments in Europe - Bulgaria, Holland, Denmark and France - and I'm looking forward to them all for a number of reasons. It's nice not to have the long haul trips to Asia, and the European circuit should give me a chance to get an injection of confidence. Hopefully, I can get a few wins under my belt and improve my worlds ranking (currently No.35)

Not that it will be easy. The Danish and French Opens are part of the Super Series, so all the big names will be playing.

I've recently spent some time down south at Milton Keynes training with some of the English players at the GB National Training Centre. It's the first time for ages that I've gone down there and it was nice to have a change of scenery.

Unfortunately, Tracey Hallam (the Commonwealth Champion and current British No.1) wasn't there, but I did get a chance to work with Liz Cann and Jill Pickard.

In Scotland, I hit with Rita [Yuan Wemyss] but we know each other's games so well that it is good to have different training partners.

But I am feeling very privileged now that Rita has joined Dan Travers as one of the Scottish Institute of Sport coaches. With so many of the younger Scots having moved permanently to Milton Keynes, it means that they have more time to devote to me.

It's funny how Rita has gone from being my big rival to someone who is now helping me with my game. For the first time, she's in a position to point out my weaknesses. And because she has played high level women's singles, she adds an extra dimension that, obviously, I didn't have with Dan. I think that Rita will really help me over the coming months.

The results in the next few tournaments will be important in putting together my diary for the final part of this year. There are the three domestic tournaments - the Bank of Scotland International in Glasgow and the Irish and Welsh Opens - but there is also the chance to go to China and Hong Kong for Super Series tournaments.

It is a real dilemma. It's very tough to travel all the way to Asia only to lose early on - but even a first round defeat in the main draw would earn quite a lot of world-ranking points. Should I chase the points, or should I stay nearer to home and try and put some really good tournaments together?

So much depends on the draw at the Super Series events. But I must admit that even a good draw doesn't guarantee anything. At the moment, I feel I'm playing well, but I just need that wee bit extra confidence that will come with a few victories.

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