Let’s face it – golf is a game of highs and lows.  One minute, you feel like you’re about to be awarded a green jacket and the next, you feel like Vinko Bogataj tumbling down the mountain during the intro of Wide World of Sports.  There are few places where you’ll hear more more expletives, exasperation, and angst than on the golf course.

Here are ten things that you don’t ever want to hear (or possibly say).

1. “Wow, your club went further than the ball.“  Might be time for new grips.  Or anger management classes.
2. “Uh oh, that’s in the fairway on the next hole.“  The fact that the ball is in the short grass is little consolation when it comes time to perform the Walk of Shame.
3. “Fore!“  Obviously, we hate having to shout this one, but hearing it means that someone might be saying #10 next, where you’re “that guy”.
4. “I think I saw a splash.” I bet you never thought you could slice it that far.
5. “You’re still away.“  Following a four foot putt with a ten foot comeback putt probably isn’t ideal for scoring.
6. “Do you mind if we put a little something on the match?” If you hear this from a stranger, you might want to decline.  Unless you’re a Tour pro ranked in the top 125.
7. “It’s going to be really slow out there today.“  Really? Maybe you should have told me that before taking my money.
8. “You didn’t make it past the forward tee.  Drop ‘em.“  Maybe this just happens with the guys I play with?
9. “Was that lightning?“  And look at you, holding a 3 1/2 foot metal rod in your hands.
10. “Holy @&%$, I think you killed that guy!” Is your homeowners insurance up to date?

These are my top ten.  What are some of yours?

As the season winds down, I’m faced with a painful decision: either devote myself to reaching my goal of single-digit handicap by the end of the season, or continue to make big changes that will pay long-term dividends in exchange for short-term difficulty.

The golf season in this area comes to a close at the end of October.  I will continue playing throughout the fall and winter whenever possible, but scores can only be entered for handicap purposes until the end of the month.  I’m finding this goal becoming increasingly elusive at this point in time for the simple fact that daylight is becoming scarce and after-work practice and play is becoming less frequent.

To make matters worse, at my most recent lesson, my pro and I decided on a couple of changes that have to happen for me to take my game where I want it to be.  The biggest change is a weakening of my right hand grip.  This means rotating it more on top of the shaft, rather than the super-strong position it had been occupying more on the side of the shaft.

Since starting to make the change, my ball striking has seen some definite improvement.  I’m catching the ball more solidly than I have all year.  However, if any of you have ever worked to consciously change your grip, you know that it isn’t easy because there is a long period of discomfort and it’s easy to mindlessly revert to the old way on any specific shot.

On top of that, I’ve been working on keeping the club face a little more open at address, and with a little more loft (i.e. hands back a tiny bit).  These two changes have had the benefit of helping me hit the ball a little higher, and have also transformed my typical ball flight to somewhere between straight and nice fade.

The discomfort I’m feeling as I try to groove the changes has triggered a little erratic ball striking here and there, making it difficult to score.  It has also led to another problem that wasn’t entirely unexpected.

The recent change to my grip hasn’t really turned it into a weak grip so much.  More like, my grip is now somewhere between neutral and strong, maybe a little closer to neutral.

Obviously, with my right hand in such a strong position and the club face maybe ever so slightly shut at address, I needed to delay the release of my hands and arms or risk hitting a massive hook.  Now when I try that with a grip that’s not as strong, it promotes a strong fade.

With the driver, this has led to a massive push-fade and even a slice at times, sending the ball 50-75 yards to the right.  Yes, I’ve had to take the Walk of Shame to adjoining holes a number of times in the last couple of weeks.  The problem diminishes down through the shorter clubs, with some really nice shots coming from the short irons.

Clearly, though, I need to work a little on a proper release of my hands and arms at impact.  This probably calls for a little video analysis, as well.  That will help me understand what’s actually going on, and to make sure I don’t start fixing things that aren’t really broken or even over-fixing things that are.

At the top, I misled you a little.  I said I had a difficult decision.  As much as I’d like to reach my goal of a single-digit handicap by the end of the season, it’s really no decision.  I’m always going to pursue the avenue that will provide me with the best long-term benefit.

With the season winding down, I need to commit to making these changes stick before winter gets here, or I’m going to find myself doing it again when spring arrives.  I’ve told you all before, but here it is again: I’m in this for the long haul.

It’s rare that I use this space to talk pro golf, but the recently completed FedEx Cup race put a burr under my saddle so I really feel the need to vent a little. I typically try and remain positive too, but I feel drawn to direct some negativity at the whole FedEx Cup playoff scheme.

This year’s “playoff” marked the third since the FedEx Cup was introduced in 2007, with Tiger Woods winning in somewhat predictable fashion.  Then, the following year, Vijay Singh took the Cup home while an injured Tiger Woods sat home recuperating.  The joke of that year was that the outcome was pretty much decided before the last event and Singh basically just had to continue breathing to take home the cup.

Over these first three playoffs, the Tour tweaked the format each year to try and make sure there was a little drama going into the last event.  Well, this year the situation was a little better.  Sunday at the Tour Championship was dramatic, and ultimately, the FedEx Cup was awarded to Tiger Woods, the player who also had the best year (more on that later).

And that player also finished second in the event.  Therein lies the problem.  I’m trying to think of another major sport where the loser of the championship wins it all.  And make no mistake – in any tournament there is exactly one winner, and a whole crowd of losers.

There is not a bigger Tiger Woods fan in the world than I am, but on Sunday he was a loser.  I’m not suggesting Phil Mickelson “deserves” the Cup.  After all, Tiger won it fair and square playing in the framework that the Tour set up.  I submit, though, that this system is severely broken.

Can you imagine if the loser in the Superbowl game actually won the Lombardi trophy because it had accumulated more points throughout the season and then again in the playoffs after the points were reset?  Or, what about the World Series, Stanley Cup, or NBA Championship?  Winning teams don’t blow out the opposition and then lose the final game.

As the FedEx Cup playoffs started approaching this summer, a number of players were vocal in their feelings about the unfairness of the idea that a player who had the best season could get bounced out of the playoffs or that a player who had a mediocre season could win the Cup with some great play in the playoffs.

I’m failing to see the problem there.  If you just want to reward the player who had the best season, then why bother having a playoff system?  Just throw the $10 million at the guy at the top of the money list and forget the playoffs.

In sports that have a playoff system to decide a champion, these are the “unfair” realities.  But in those sports, the regular season is also looked upon as really just a way to buy a seat at the playoff table.  The rewards of playing well in the regular season come in the form of bye weeks, advantageous seeding, and home field/arena advantage.  In all those cases, however, the ultimate winner is the team that wins the last game.

I’m not a tennis guy, but someone tell me:  can a player lose the final match and still win it all?

The fact is, sometimes the teams that had the best year get upset in the playoffs.  The best team doesn’t always win it all.  That adds to the drama. Occasionally, an underdog slips in and wins the championship game in an upset.  And when that happens, they win it all. They don’t give the trophy to the loser.

So how would I do it?

The current format isn’t too far from a good one – with some minor tweaks.  I would have the players accumulate points throughout the regular season, just like now.  Those points would be used to determine the field for the first playoff event.  Once the field is set, toss the points.  Don’t reset them, don’t adjust them.  Trash them.  The winner of the FedEx cup should, well, win.  Accumulating points doesn’t cut it.

As the four events progress, the field should be cut smaller and smaller as the events progress.  If a player doesn’t perform, he goes home – period.  Just like in the current system, start with 125 and then the top 100 move on.  From there, the top 70 move on.  Finally, the top 30 play for the Tour Championship.

The big difference would be, the winner of the Tour Championship wins the FedEx Cup.  Period.

Now, if I had my way, the Tour Championship would also be a match play event.  A mano y mano fight to the finish.  I’ve heard people say that it wouldn’t work for television.  I say, “Bah”.  The WGC Accenture Match Play championship works for television.

Remember, the 2008 U.S. Open playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate?  That worked for television, and it happened on a Monday for crying out loud.

I’m willing to let go of a match play Tour Championship, though.  I would be happy if the winner of the last event was the winner of the FedEx Cup.  Match play works best for me, but not awarding the trophy to a tournament loser works better.

Look, I’m not naive.  I know a Tiger or Phil win is better for the Tour because it means better TV ratings.  They want their big names out there getting coverage.  However, the cream tends to rise to the top.  More often than not, the Tour is going to get the big names in it down to the wire, even if the winner isn’t who they wish it was.

If that’s not a good enough argument, then just drop the hokey playoff system and award the cup to whomever has the most points at the end of the season and stop calling it “playoffs”.

That’s all I’ve got to say about that.

Think about it:  chipping is such a simple action.  The only stroke that you can make that is more simple at its core is a putting stroke, and chipping can certainly be done in a nearly identical fashion to putting.

At the same time, so many players have trouble chipping effectively.  Put some players just off the green with a perfect lie in the short grass and the results will be somewhere between inconsistent and disastrous.

It almost goes without saying at this point, but I have completely modeled my short game using the techniques outlined in Dave Pelz’s Short Game Bible.  This certainly goes for chipping too.  To summarize his chipping technique:

• Stand relatively tall, close to the ball, feet close together, turned about 20 degrees toward the target, with the ball positioned off the back ankle.
• Around 65% of your weight should be on the front foot.
• Grip down a bit with “dead hands”.  Keep the wrists firm and quiet throughout the stroke, but not tense.
• Use a finesse swing with the upper and lower body synchronized.

The setup is quite simple, really, and the stroke is even more simple.

One thing I want to examine a bit is how close we stand to the ball.  Pelz instructs players to “crowd the ball”.  I’ve heard it said that you almost can’t stand too close.

File that away for a moment and consider another part of the technique:  keeping the wrists firm.  One good way to do that is to bow them down toward the ground a bit.  Grip a club and hold it straight out in front of you.  Now bow your wrists down, making the club head move closer to the ground.  Then, simply address the ball with your wrists bowed like that.  Notice how that helps make your wrists a little more firm, making it easier to keep them from breaking side to side during the stroke.

Have you noticed what happens when you address a chip shot standing very close to the ball with the wrists bowed slightly?  If you noticed that it orients the heel of the club off the ground a little, you win a gold star.  That’s another part of Pelz’s technique, and other players and teachers advocate that, as well.

Getting the heel up helps keep from hitting the ball fat.  With a shallow swing, with the heel coming in first, it’s easy to hit the turf first, causing fat contact.

As I worked heavily on my chipping technique this year, I started to perceive that I was hitting the ball off the toe of the club.  Contact felt very dead and in the few cases where I contacted the sweet spot, I could tell the difference.

I started to question whether I had the heel of the club a little too high and whether I was forcing myself to only be able to hit the ball with the toe of the club.

I decided to experiment a bit.

For several weeks, I worked on standing just a tiny bit further away and addressing the ball with the sole of the club flat.  I started to notice better contact with the sweet spot.  Distance control was a little better.  However, I noticed something: I was hitting more chips fat.  I neglected to realize the specific reason for keeping the heel up a little in the first place.

I went back and reviewed the Pelz technique again and gave that method another go.  Almost immediately, I realized something.  Just like with my full swing, this year, my takeaway was faulty.  I was taking it away too far to the inside, instead of straight back and through.  Exactly like with my full swing, I was then experiencing toe-hits.

After a little work on my chipping swing path, I started to make more solid contact. My distance control got better, and I started hitting more quality chips.

I learned a few important things from this experience:

• Chipping is a seemingly simple action, and it is.  But there are many ways to ruin your chances of making solid chips. Learn proper technique and practice it.
• Learning in golf is not a one-time deal. It’s difficult to absorb everything you learn, and it’s easy over time to forget why something is done a certain way. I did this with my flat-sole experiment. On one hand, it was good to prove proper technique to myself. On the other hand, I could have saved myself some time by just referring to my learning materials in the first place to brush up.
• Even after a skill is learned well, it can just as easily be unlearned without attention to technique as time goes on. I grooved a faulty takeaway in my chipping stroke over time, just like I did with my full swing. It’s always good to perform checkups on your golf swing to be sure you’re not evolving your swing in a way that will be harmful later.  Swing faults don’t occur overnight.  It’s not enough to practice a technique until you start hitting the ball well.  Techniques should be re-examined to be sure they are being adhered to over time.

I’m back on track now, but for a while there, my chipping got hairy.  If you’re having trouble, don’t be lulled into complacency because it’s a seemingly simple action.  Re-learn your chosen technique and then be sure to maintain it as time goes on.

Golf’s Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia, by Dr. David Cook, is a fictional tale set in a real location: Utopia, Texas.  In the book, a chance meeting between a disheartened golf pro and an improbable mentor – a small-town rancher with uncommon insight – leads the pro to a crossroads in his life.

After an on-course meltdown, the pro finds himself some 80 miles west of San Antonio in the town of Utopia where a 9-hole “goat track” surrounds an old cemetery.  The pro meets up with Johnny, the local rancher who takes him through a seven-day journey on the Links of Utopia.

This book is much, much more than simply a story.  Beyond being an interesting tale, it is also a serious lesson in the mental game of golf.  On top of that, it is also a deep spiritual journey.

Dr. Cook is recognized as one of the country’s top sport and performance psychology consultants.  He has served as mental coach to over 100 PGA Tour players, and has also worked with athletes from many levels of sport including the NFL and NBA, Olympics, and collegiate players.  Golf Digest has recognized him as one of the top mental-game coaches.

And that’s just some of the highlights.

It’s clear that Dr. Cook brought together all of his experience with the mental game of golf and crafted a story which is not only compelling, but is also highly informative, educational, and inspirational.   His mantra of “See, feel, and trust” may seem awfully simple, and on some level it is, but it’s something we golfers don’t do very well.  The fictional pro spends his seven days trying to come to grips with that simple philosophy.

But this book isn’t just about a simple mental game philosophy.  It is also a parable for a very spiritual transformation that our friend the pro must go through.  And frankly, it’s a very powerful and uplifting transformation.

When a copy of this book arrived in the mail, I was wondering when I’d have time to fit it in, with the massive pile of books I’m trying to work through.  But, sort of by chance, I had a few minutes that evening and I leafed through the first few pages.  I was hooked.  I ended up moving it to the top of the stack and knocking it out in two or three pre-bedtime reading sessions (which is unheard of for me).

Understand that when I say this book has a spiritual message, I mean in a Christian sense.  And also understand that I’m not a religious person at all (not that there’s anything wrong with that).  However, I still found the message to be very powerful, applicable to me (and really anyone), and I absolutely, positively, felt personally uplifted when I read it.

If I had not been sent a copy of Golf’s Sacred Journey, it’s not likely that I would have read it.  As I said, I’m not a spiritual person, and I don’t tend to read much fiction anyway.  If I saw it on the shelves at my local book store, I might not have connected with it.  However, I’m glad that it showed up at my door.

If you’re a spiritual person who plays golf, I believe you will get a lot from this book.  If you’re a golfer with interest in the mental game, I believe you will get a lot from this book. If for some reason, you really don’t like to delve into spiritual material (and I typically don’t), you might want to give it a pass, but I think you’re really missing out.  The lessons apply to both golf and life, in general, and while a spiritual person may get another layer of meaning from the book, I don’t think a non-spiritual person need feel left out, because the message is still valuable.

I give this book my highest recommendation.

One side note:  the golf hole on the cover of the book is actually a hole through the book itself.  How cool is that!