Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible

[cpljohnst]

Received this as a Christmas gift. Really looking forward to getting into this. Hope I see the results you guys have seen.

 

[Hawk]

Right on man. I think the thing I"ve liked about the book is that I was able to learn, but still put my own twist on a lot of things I read.

 

[dhill]

Started it late last night and wanted to keep reading but I got sleepy. Good info so far

 

[halfpennyhacker]

Before ide even heard of this teaching method i was applying it to range practice,i have a card in my scorecard wallet with each clubs yardage on it at full and half swing (not all clubs apply half swing...driver,3w,hybrid etc) that i refer to if playing another course other than my own,ive also got my wedges dialled in at full and half and quarter swings,which ide say isnt far of pelzs idea,i just associate the length of my swing as a half or quarter where he does it with a clock face,i tend to know though now which wedge and swing length to give it purely on visuals after adopting this technique for the last 9 months.

 

[JonD]

Right on man. I think the thing I"ve liked about the book is that I was able to learn, but still put my own twist on a lot of things I read.

This. I need to get back and read this book in it's entirety this offseason. I'd say that I'm a bit more of a feel player than a technical one with the short game, but the technique he teaches is solid and I intend to focus on that as much as I can this year.

 

[Hawk]

This. I need to get back and read this book in it's entirety this offseason. I'd say that I'm a bit more of a feel player than a technical one with the short game, but the technique he teaches is solid and I intend to focus on that as much as I can this year.

I think the thoughts on set-up, grip, and ball position were all very helpful to me. I always like to go back and read for a refresher.

 

[Rusty]

What does Pelz say about the length of the follow through on the 7, 9 and 10 o'clock shots? Is it always a full follow through or does the follow through approximate the length of the backswing?

Pelz says always a full follow through on those shots, but I have found that you can let your follow through match the type of shot you're trying to hit. A full follow through will give you a nice, high, hop and top kind shot, but a shorter follow through will help with lower shots.

Would have been the perfect time to get into it. The first part is a pretty quick read from what I remember. I'm a numbers/stats guy though. Eventually it sort of delves into specialty shots, which I still haven't paid much attention to.

I probably already mentioned it in this thread, but those later chapters start to make a lot more sense after you have used his methods for a year or two. Once you've seen the shots and seen how the ball reacts in different situations, it suddenly makes a lot of sense to read about how to hit balls at certain slopes, or whatever. I also really like his bunker instruction, but I am still very hit or miss with bunker shots. Some days I seem like a pro, and other days I am basically out of the hole if I'm in a greenside bunker.

 

[Hawk]

Pelz says always a full follow through on those shots, but I have found that you can let your follow through match the type of shot you're trying to hit. A full follow through will give you a nice, high, hop and top kind shot, but a shorter follow through will help with lower shots.




I probably already mentioned it in this thread, but those later chapters start to make a lot more sense after you have used his methods for a year or two. Once you've seen the shots and seen how the ball reacts in different situations, it suddenly makes a lot of sense to read about how to hit balls at certain slopes, or whatever. I also really like his bunker instruction, but I am still very hit or miss with bunker shots. Some days I seem like a pro, and other days I am basically out of the hole if I'm in a greenside bunker.

That bunker section was one of two things that changed my sand game this year. I went from hoping I got out to actually thinking about getting the ball close. Practice obviously had a lot to do with it as well, but his explanation and the fact that it's very similar to the normal finesse swing really cleared my head.

 

[KellyBo]

You guys inspired me to knock the dust off this book and get to reading. I bought it years ago. We're on a road trip today so I've been reading about ball position, dead hands, swing plane, turn, etc of the finesse shot. Can't wait to get out in the yard and work on his methods.


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[Hawk]

Nice, Kelly. That was probably the most helpful part for me at first.

 

[KellyBo]

Wow, just practiced out in the yard for a little while and was hitting some really nice high "finesse" shots with ease. It reminded me of a lesson my coach gave me a long time ago but I had forgotten how to do it. It's nice to have this book that explains it all so well. I like dropping the "dead" hands which takes all that ugly handsy stuff out! I hate that I only have room to practice the really short pitches but I'll be a pro from 25-35 yards very soon. LOL

 

[Hawk]

Wow, just practiced out in the yard for a little while and was hitting some really nice high "finesse" shots with ease. It reminded me of a lesson my coach gave me a long time ago but I had forgotten how to do it. It's nice to have this book that explains it all so well. I like dropping the "dead" hands which takes all that ugly handsy stuff out! I hate that I only have room to practice the really short pitches but I'll be a pro from 25-35 yards very soon. LOL

That's awesome to hear, Kelly! That was a yardage that I struggled at for awhile because I was doing the exact opposite - practicing 60-100 yards all the time.

 

[TripleBogieTim]

Wow, just practiced out in the yard for a little while and was hitting some really nice high "finesse" shots with ease. It reminded me of a lesson my coach gave me a long time ago but I had forgotten how to do it. It's nice to have this book that explains it all so well. I like dropping the "dead" hands which takes all that ugly handsy stuff out! I hate that I only have room to practice the really short pitches but I'll be a pro from 25-35 yards very soon. LOL

It really is cool to get the "holy crap" it works feeling isn't it!

 

[Xt1ncT-NZ]

That's awesome to hear, Kelly! That was a yardage that I struggled at for awhile because I was doing the exact opposite - practicing 60-100 yards all the time.

Plus getting up and down from 25-35 yards more than you currently do can only do wonders for your handicap!



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[KellyBo]

That's awesome to hear, Kelly! That was a yardage that I struggled at for awhile because I was doing the exact opposite - practicing 60-100 yards all the time.

I plan to practice at home on these short distances and at the range on the longer pitches. I am really excited about this book. I have to improve the short game and I believe this book and a lot of practice is the ticket.

It really is cool to get the "holy crap" it works feeling isn't it!

Yes it is!

Plus getting up and down from 25-35 yards more than you currently do can only do wonders for your handicap!

You're not kidding. These finesse shots have been killing me.

 

[Xt1ncT-NZ]

I plan to practice at home on these short distances and at the range on the longer pitches. I am really excited about this book. I have to improve the short game and I believe this book and a lot of practice is the ticket.



Yes it is!




You're not kidding. These finesse shots have been killing me.

When I first got into single figures, this book was one of the main reasons.

I'm in the process of setting up a practice area in my back yard and will one practicing the finesse swing as much as if not more than the full swing.


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[dhill]

Haven't read enough yet to get a good feel. Or practiced it enough yet so today I was stuck in between. Not a fun place to be. More practice is required.

 

[Xt1ncT-NZ]

I find the hardest one to master is the 7.30 swing, but when it works its awesome. Is normally great with something like a 50/52/54 wedge


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[Philo]

I've skimmed this quickly but haven't read the entire thread. Are most folks using Pelz's suggested techniques or simply drawing on his information/advice on where to land the ball, etc?

I had this book and found some of the information very useful but the techniques were a bit to mechanical for my personality.

 

[wadesworld]

I've skimmed this quickly but haven't read the entire thread. Are most folks using Pelz's suggested techniques or simply drawing on his information/advice on where to land the ball, etc?

I had this book and found some of the information very useful but the techniques were a bit to mechanical for my personality.

I follow some of his general advice, but I do not use the 3x4 system.

The first reason I don't is I don't have an appropriate range to go out and put laundry baskets to measure my shot distances. Even if I just used a laser, as a higher-handicap player, I think there'd be a pretty big margin of error.

The main reason though is that I'm a big believer in the Shawn Clement school of "we are gravity experts." We know how much momentum it takes to hit the ball a certain distance. When you fail do so, it's because something went wrong with your execution. You hit it too thin, too fat, failed to account for slope, etc. If none of that happened and your distance was still way wrong, then you manipulated the club, which erased your natural ability (i.e. feel) to determine how far to hit the ball.

Knowing that I hit my hit 9'oclock 52-degree 83 yards doesn't help me, unless the shot happens to be 83 yards. If I have to add some on or take some off, I'm back into "feel" territory.

Now don't misunderstand me - I don't think there's anything wrong with knowing the distances the 3x4 system will give you. But for me, I don't think it has any measurable positive impact on my game. Whether the ball goes the right distance or not depends on my execution and my feel.

 

[Xt1ncT-NZ]

I've skimmed this quickly but haven't read the entire thread. Are most folks using Pelz's suggested techniques or simply drawing on his information/advice on where to land the ball, etc?

I had this book and found some of the information very useful but the techniques were a bit to mechanical for my personality.

I use his techniques - for me the 7.30/9/10.30 concepts are genius and fit nicely with how I conceptualise things.

It's probably been the best but I've made golf book wise.


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[Xt1ncT-NZ]

I follow some of his general advice, but I do not use the 3x4 system.

The first reason I don't is I don't have an appropriate range to go out and put laundry baskets to measure my shot distances. Even if I just used a laser, as a higher-handicap player, I think there'd be a pretty big margin of error.

The main reason though is that I'm a big believer in the Shawn Clement school of "we are gravity experts." We know how much momentum it takes to hit the ball a certain distance. When you fail do so, it's because something went wrong with your execution. You hit it too thin, too fat, failed to account for slope, etc. If none of that happened and your distance was still way wrong, then you manipulated the club, which erased your natural ability (i.e. feel) to determine how far to hit the ball.

Knowing that I hit my hit 9'oclock 52-degree 83 yards doesn't help me, unless the shot happens to be 83 yards. If I have to add some on or take some off, I'm back into "feel" territory.

Now don't misunderstand me - I don't think there's anything wrong with knowing the distances the 3x4 system will give you. But for me, I don't think it has any measurable positive impact on my game. Whether the ball goes the right distance or not depends on my execution and my feel.

I think this comes down to the sort if person you are - I'm very much a numbers an statistics person and not so much of a feel person. For people who are similar to me this works perfectly - but for someone like you not so much.

I'd imagine the same would be said if Bubba!!


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[Philo]

Interesting stuff guys. I'm more with Wadesworld on this one on the 3x4 distance technique and could never make consistently solid contact using his pitching/chipping approach. However, despite that I still found other sections of the book useful. Life would be very boring if we all did things the same way and its great to have multiple techniques from which to choose.

 

[tequila4kapp]

Interesting perspectives. I think every approach ultimately depends on human's executing one thing or another. The idea of knowing what I should do to achieve a particular outcome resonates with me. From there it is on me to make it happen. No guessing is huge. I am new to this stuff but will soon start doing the 3x4 work and plan to keep the info on me on the course to use as needed. And hopefully I will have some amount of feel when I execute the shots

 

[TripleBogieTim]

I am going to re-read this book and I bet I pick up some new stuff the second time through.