The London Golf Show

The day finally arrived and I was off up to London on the train for the London Golf Show at Earls Court. Very excited as I planned the schedule for the 3 days of the show although building flexibility into the planned times just in case somebody famous turned up.

I arrived at Earls Court at around 12:30pm and started to get accustomed to the space I would be working in and performing for the next three days. As the afternoon progressed I was able to connect with the exhibitors I would be interviewing over the course of the show. The Innovations section was a challenging piece as I had 7 products to showcase in 25-30 minutes as a Golf Show meets Gadget Show idea.

As well as planning for this section I was keen to introduce myself to other exhibitors and discover more about their products. One of the first I chatted with was Mick on the Pure Strike stand. The concept was simple and I do like simple. The majority of putters have 4 to 5 degrees of loft and Mick had noticed that he had to make a forward press to putt well. His thinking lead him to creating a putter that did not require a forward press and the "Pure Strike Putter" was born. I tried it and the roll on the ball was amazing.

Later in the afternoon I was sitting on stage planning more of the schedule and I glanced up and noticed a "Walk Pain Free" banner. Having had trouble with my left foot since visiting and playing golf in Bulgaria in July and knowing that I would be on my feet for three days I was curious and wandered over. I introduced myself and had a chat with the guys and they asked me to remove my shoes and they put a pair of the insoles in them. I put my shoes back on and was informed that the pain would disappear straight away and it did, I was amazed and have worn the insoles every day since and the pain has stayed away, truly amazing.

Thursday came to an end and after dinner with Damian and others from the team it was time to get some rest and prepare for day one of the show. I awoke early, had breakfast and made the short walk from my hotel to Earls Court 2.

The final preparations were being made to stands and the adrenalin was flowing, at least for me anyway. Nervous excitement and a certain calmness was the order fo the day. 10:00am was drawing closer and soon the doors would be open. It was time, all mic'd up by my sound man for the three days Ian and we were off. Good Morning Golf Show hit filled the air of Earls Court and we were off.

The highlight of Day One was interviewing Iain Carter, the BBC's golf correspondent about his work and recent book "Monty's Manor" about Colin Montgomerie's love affair with the Ryder Cup. The interview went great and felt very natural and thanks Iain for helping me to relax.

Over the course of the day I interviewed several golf pro's about their products and ideas about golf including Dean Halford the Online Golf Coach and from Serious Golf, Derwynne Honan of 3D Motion Golf, Jon Farmer of Plaser Golf plus Gerry Crawford of MySP Performance about his amazing swing trainer.

The Innovations section went well as did my own tske on golf coaching. As the end of the day drew near a game of "Heads and Tails" was played and was won by Charlie who did not even want to come to the show. At 5pm the show closed and it was time to relax. I had dinner with David, one of the Directors of the Golf Show Company and we had a fascinating chat about the show and life.

I walked back to my hotel and after making a call to say goodnight to Anna and Hollie I settled down to watch Have I Got News for You and then Live at the Apollo. I never saw either and woke up at 01:05 with the TV still on.

Saturday morning arrived and it was off the show again. Well rested and ready for another day of presenting and interviews and this time I knew what to expect. Energy was high and at 10:00am we were off again. Timings were working well and at around 11am I was introduced to Derek Martin aka Charlie Slater from Eastenders. About an hour or so later he was on stage with me and I was interviewing him about Eastenders and golf and with two new knees he is getting back into golf. Thanks Derek for the interview, it went well.

During the afternoon there was also an impromptu chat with David Edwards of Trick Shot fame about all things golf from our life in golf so far. 5pm arrived and the day was done. Today was much better timed and the presenters were great at allowing for a bit of flexibilty. Thanks also to Vivien Saunders who I interviewed and then followed it with a great 15 minute talk on golf psychology. Well Done to Melissa whi won "Heads and Tails"

Dinner again with David and Penny, plus I was a lot less tired this night than the previous night. After a short walk back to my hotel and a quick chat with Anna sleep beckoned and preparation was done for the final day.

Sunday arrived and my final walk into Earls Court 2. Today's stage show was action packed with an hour less on the schedule, timing was key. It all went well with the guys for the Innivations section being more relaxed and practiced and all the other presenters followed my lead in keeping to time. Congratulations also to Harshim who won "Heads and Tails".

4pm arrived and the show was over. I was tired and very happy eith how the three days had gone. Thanks to Damian and the team for all your support and help over the 3 days of the show and to all the exhibitors and interviewees for your messages of support and thanks.

Looking forward to the NEC in 2012.

http://www.groovefix.com/ Ges and Adam Sheldrake and Gil
http://www.purestrikegolf.co.uk/ Mick and John
http://www.fedaboa.com/ Raha, Alicia, John and Leon
http://www.plaser.co.uk/ Jon and Richard
http://www.pleasygolf.com/ Joakim and Geoff
http://gripeeze.com/grip-par-mens-golf-glove-6.html Stuart and Liam
http://www.pain-free.co.uk/index.html John and Andrew
http://www.sportsperformancebuddy.com/gerry-crawford.html Gerry and Simon
http://www.golflessonbirmingham.co.uk/andy.htm Andy Gorman
http://www.david-edwards.co.uk/ David Edwards

Thanks all for your help and support.