Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible: Master the Finesse Swing and Lower Your Score (Dave Pelz Scoring Game Series) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "In golf, how to play inside of 100 yards is the prime determinant of how you score..." (more)
Key Phrases: finesse swing, finesse grip, preshot ritual, Tom Kite, Golden Eight, Tom Jenkins (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As the reigning rabbi on the mysteries of golf from 100 yards in, Pelz has earned the right to anoint his expansive instruction on the short game a "Bible." A scientist by training, he's analyzed the macros and dissected the micros to come up with a gospel for pros (Lee Janzen, Vijay Singh, and Anika Sorenstam, to name a few disciples) and weekend hackers alike. Pelz fills his scripture with photos, illustrations, charts, and plenty of sage advice on pitching, chipping, sandplay, putting, equipment, execution, mechanics, technique, practice, attitude, lots of questions, and plenty of answers. Much of the Short Game Bible is pretty sophisticated stuff aimed toward better players--or, at least, players who take their golf seriously. But its basics are appropriate to any skill level of the game: Accurately assess your own weaknesses, and then go about improving them systematically with the author's carefully researched and tested plan. It seems so obvious, but the truth is, most golfers either beat balls on the range in search of distance or slave over eight-foot putts on the practice green; they fail to pay enough attention to the shots in between. Pelz does the math for you here; his figures add up, so that yours can go down--the golfing equivalent of forgiving sins and absolving trespasses. --Jeff Silverman

From Library Journal

Ah, the short game, many a golfer's worst nightmare. It is certainly one of the most difficult aspects of golf, prompting author Pelz to state simply, "He who rules the short game collects the gold." Pelz, a former NASA physicist and the founder of the Pelz Golf Institute, has devoted the last two decades to the physics of golf. He is a consultant to the Professional Golfers Association and contributes regularly to golf periodicals. Pelz and coauthor Frank, editor of Golf Magazine, have collaborated on a useful publication that will assist players of all ages and abilities. According to Pelz, 80 percent of a golfer's handicap is determined by what happens within 100 yards of the green. Complete with numerous photos, drawings, and graphs, plus a list of resources that includes web sites and FAX and phone numbers, this is recommended for all public libraries.ALarry R. Little, Penticton P.L., BC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Broadway Books; 1 edition (May 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767903447
• ISBN-13: 978-0767903448
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,505 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Valuable Information Than I Learned in His Course!, July 20, 2000

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

I took the Dave Pelz 3 day short-game course a few years ago, and got great benefit from it. As helpful as that was, I found this book to be a big additional assist. It explained the Pelz principles better than the school did, and it also looks like he has learned quite a few things since I took the school. There's a lot to learn about the short game, and it is helpful to have this as a reference. If you don't know if you want to get his videos or attend one of his courses, this is also a good introduction.

I found out about Dave Pelz by accident. I was playing golf one day at La Quinta with a woman who hit one amazing pitch shot after another close to the pin. The rest of her game was below average, so I asked her where she had picked up the pitching game. She told me that she had just finished Dave Pelz's short game school at PGA West and said it had helped her a lot. Remembering that caused me to take the course.

Dave Pelz is the ultimate golf engineer. He measures everything, and that has led to new learning. For example, he has found that 60-65% of all shots occur within 100 yards of the hole. More importantly, "about 80% of the shots golfers lose topar occur within 100 yards." In further measurements, he noticed that the largest errors in missing the target occur with wedges (for amateurs and pros). These misses are usually in distance, rather than left and right variance.

From these observations, Pelz developed a four wedge system with 3 lengths of backswing that will give you much more distance precision with wedges within 100 yards. The reason this important relates to putting. Almost all 2 foot putts are made, but pros only make half of the 10 foot putts (amateurs do worse). Beyond 10 feet, the odds drop way off. This means that if you can get your wedge shot to within 10 feet you have a good chance of finishing the hole in one less stroke.

I still haven't converted to four wedges, but reading the book convinced me that I should. I didn't realize how much scoring I was missing with only 3. I can get the ball to 15 feet most of the time, and then 2 putt. Maybe I'll get that extra wedge today and get a lot closer.

There's a lot of other good information on sand shots, chipping, trouble shots of all kinds (including how to hit the ball out from under water and stay reasonably dry).

You'll need more than this book to really improve though. If you like the book, you should begin doing the drills in the back. I would suggest you also try the videos. If that is all helping, consider the golf school. You will get a lot of individualized diagnosis of your weaknesses and instruction on how to improve. I still refer to the notes I got, and find them helpful. One strength of the book is that it has a measurement exercise in it that you can use to diagnose the weaknesses in your short game, so that you can concentrate on those parts of the book that will help you the most with your practice.

If you are like most golfers, you love to belt the ball. That's great, but I'm sure you've heard the old saying "Drive for show, and putt for dough." This book will add the perspective of the short game as essential to that dough as well. You'll have to give up two long clubs (he makes recommendations) to put those two extra wedges in your bag.

Use this book to overcome your stalled thinking about how to improve your golf game. Despite better equipment and balls and a lot of instruction, the score of the average golfer hasn't improved in the last 30 years. With the Pelz approach that can change.

As much as I liked this book, I liked his new book, Dave Pelz's Putting Bible, even more. I strongly recommend that you read that one as well. You can implement it without attending the Pelz course. These two books are the first two in a planned series of four. I'm looking forward to the rest of them.

Donald Mitchel

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic advice for real players, June 10, 2000

By	G. W. Sims (Lancaster, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a graduate engineer and another NASA scientist, I can vouch for the science that lies behind Pelz's book, but I'm sure most potential readers know that Pelz is the real thing in that respect. The book itself impressed me in three ways:

1. It isn't written for scientists, just golfers. He provides all the information you need to make your own game better, but avoids the physics that underlie the advice. Pelz saves that level of science for the journals.

2. This is a textbook, not a teaser. After telling you what you should try to achieve with each type of shot, he goes into the greater detail you start wanting as soon as you actually start to practice a technique. Things like how much difference in roll distance you should expect between a lob wedge, a pitching wedge, and a nine iron for the same pitch distance.

Most "tips" sound good, but leave you wondering why they aren't quite working when you get to the course. Pelz starts you out with the basics of each technique and then follows through with the details you need to really use it on a course.

3. He avoids the "genius" techniques that some folks love to describe. His techniques work for people who are not born artists with a club, and even those of us who lack a spare thirty hours a week to practice the short game. (The amazing number of pros who go to his schools testifies to the value of his advice when you actually do have time to practice<g>.)

This is scoring golf for the rest of us. I'm not Seve, nor are most people. Pelz describes techniques that are more likely to work than not on any given swing because the physics of the swing are in favor of success.

An Excellent book. It should be in the library of any golfer who ever accepts a two-dollar Nassau.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pelz has presented us with an instructional masterpiece., June 16, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Mobile, AL) - See all my reviews

I have long been a fan of Dave Pelz' teachings. Maybe it is the engineer in me. He has applied scientific inquiry and statistics to the scoring games (chipping and putting) for about 40 years. In this very readable textbook, he presents all of his accumulated knowledge and study of the short game. It is both technical and down to earth. Superbly organized, this book can truely offer new insights to a PGA tour pro or teach a novice the basics of one of the most important games in golf. The teaching technique not only tells you what you must do for each type of shot, but explains WHY you must do it that way, and PROVES why this is so. These explanations make a lasting impression which the reader can carry to the practice tee and the golf course.

This is a must read for every player interested in lower scores. I can't wait until the rest of this 4 book series are in print.