Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(114)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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

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.

The Good:

Peltz introduces a smart and easy system of getting to know 3 distinct (or 6 if you include swings where you are gripping down on the shaft) shooting distances for each wedge in you bag. The system is very useful and gives reproducible results on the course, so the book definitely does gives you an edge training wise. I also liked how he by "scientific" analysis found out how to score better and why the short game is so important (and under rated) - very convincing. I found myself measuring off different wedge shots, putting labels with numbers on the shafts of my wedges (and having fun at it) immediately after reading the book.

The bad:

The book itself is however a terrible read. Peltz stated that he had read a book on learning theory at some stage, but I really wished that he had read a book about communication theory before writing this book. He repeats himself over and over and over and... it gets to a point where it is just not any kind of fun. Even some of the illustrations are repeated at least three times in the book. You constantly go either 'I got it I got it I got it - snap out of it!' or you go 'come on Peltz, get to the f..... point'. He also includes long and detailed annecdotes about how he and his tour friends discovered the facts that he now teaches in the book. This might be great if you are into the semi historical perspectives sitting in front of the fireplace with hot chocolate, but if you buy this book as a reference for improving your short game it just distracts you from the essence.
Another thing annoying me is how he sneaks in this feeling of "Trademark-of-Dave-Peltz-golf-school" all the time. F.ex. your swing plane and grip now becomes the "finesse swing plane" and the "finesse grip" for your "finesse swing" as if he invented the concepts of an upright swingplane and a loose grip for the short game.
The teaching of the mechanics of the short game swing was not very clear (at least for me they weren't). I had hoped for something along the lines of "Ben Hogan's five lessons" where you can feel the words in your body right there from the sofa. The pictures are inconsistent with what is being said. F.ex. he writes 'arms, hips and shoulders move back synchronized - no coiling takes place between shoulders and hip in the finesse swing' and the picture shows a 45 degrees hip turn with a 90 degrees shoulder turn :(
The description of the chip shot is also very weak. I now know where to place the ball, but what to do with the arms relative to hips and shoulders is still not clear.

To conclude:

The book will make you focus more on your short game and most likely result in lower scores if you practice was is being said, but the lessons does not justify a whopping 400 pages - not at all! Also the reading experience is very cumbersome.
The 3 stars reflects the fact that you do get some very useful knowledge from reading the book but also that after going through 400 pages of agonizing repetitions there are still some very fundamental issues about the mechanics that are not completely clear.

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.

This book is a masterpiece. However, be forewarned. "Feel" and "hands" players will be forced to leave their prior comfort zones if they wish to transform their games. Dave Pelz does not corrupt the "fundamentals", (although he does challenge some myths), in developing his system for attacking the short game. Even "feel" players will have fun with Dave's analysis of the impact of each of the "five games" especially the long game on one's score. The Trevino/Miller anecdote is especially revealing. My personal experience has been completely positive. Prior to reading the book and as a single digit amateur, I searched constantly to "perfect" my long game swing.(The short game test at the back of the book, was at once enlightening and humiliating. On some tests, I was no better than a beginner...and I routinely have scored in the low 80's/high 70's for years).

Finally, my short game shots have undergone a dramatic transformation. I now hit quality shots from within 120 yards under a variety of conditions, a majority that stop within one-putt distance. I even "back up" short pitches on occasion, (I don't understand the physics of how, since I am swinging with less force...therefore, should not be imparting as much spin...but it's true). If you are interested in improving your scoring, this book is the only one you need on the short game. It is far and away the most comprehensive ever written, (and I own all the others). Enjoy it.

This book is simply the best scoring book that has ever been written. There are so many books on how to swing a golf club. This book explains in mathematical terms how to turn 4 into 3. That is the game of golf!
Until reading this book and taking his scoring test, i had no idea what parts of my short game hurt me most. However pitching chipping and wedging the ball to somewhere between 2 and 10 feet really ensures makeable par savers. Every scratch or better handicapper that i've played with did exactly what pelz talks about. That is, sand shots to 3' with regularity. If you think you can't get any better at golf, this is the book for you. Face the facts, measure your short game and begin to practice your weaknesses.
There are also some chapters that are a little dense. Pelz was a scientist. So i recommend reading the book like text book. Skip around to the revelant chapters and go from there. Leave it on the shelf as a complete reference.
I added the fourth wedge and have found moderate improvements. However, I use my 3iron so rarely that the benefits justify the added club. Plus around 100 yards, being able to swing exact distances is an added bonus. This book is my all time favorite golf book.

I have always been a feel player, especially with the short game and thought that Mr. Pelz would be a little too technical with his "Short Game Bible". But after reading his studies and trying his approach to the short game, I have lowered my handicap from a 7 to a 3 in the course of a summer. I have since become a huge fan of Mr. Pelz and I continue to get better and better. I highly recommend this book to golfers of every level of ability.

Great instructional book for those wanting to shoot in the low 80s or breaking 80 3 out of 4 times. The 3X4 method improved my confidence that I will get the ball close, even when I miss the green. This has the effect of being aggressive with the irons and knowing that you'll still be able to make par. After reading the book, practicing and calibrating my wedges (I now play 5 wedges!), I have brought my handicap index from 13.2 to 8.8 in one month! It took a month to get used to the new grip, swing and the calibration. The improvement in my game and the bets I've won paid for this book 10 times over. Now that's what I got from the book.

Here's what's in it: First, there's lots of data regarding why the short game is important. Data on where golfers miss in the irons vs wedges. There are snipets of humor to emphasize his points. If you want to get the most at the shortest time, jump into the 3X4 system. Read the rest of the book at your own leisure and if statistical data turns you on.

Finally, if putting is your problem, try Peltz' "Putt Like a Pro." That's another must read book for those who can't average less than 31 putts a round.

As a collegiate golf coach, I have made Dave Pelz's book Putt Like the Pros required reading for the members of the team for over 4 years now. IT is real, and it works...The Short Game Bible can be expressed in the same terms. Unlike the pile of golf literature out there written by some big name player and providing advice that, while probably entertaining, will never lower your score...Dave Pelz PROVES it to you. Practicing the techniques in his book, with a practice buddy to make sure your form is correct, just twice a week for an hour...will give you a tremendous confidence boost, and the KNOWLEDGE to lower your score. I have been teaching these Pelz techniques to my team since I took his school with great results...this book just makes it simple and visual. Add another item to your summer reading list boys...Thanks Dave.

It's difficult to imagine a more clearly written book than "Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible". It has the look and feel of a college textbook, complete with scientific-style decimal section headings, but it has been written by someone with a genuine interest in your comprehension. One almost expects review questions at the end of each chapter to check your retention. But, it is not a book for the faint of heart. Rather than a collection of short game tips and tricks, Pelz offers an integrated system for hitting short shots precise distances. He directs his narrative toward serious golfers who know and love the value of practice. Others need not apply.

Pelz defines the short game as shots hit from 100 yards out to the edge of the green. He does not include putting (covered in a subsequent book). His method involves learning a "finesse swing", which is different from the power swing, and calibrating it to produce repeatable yardages. His goal is to have you hit your shots inside of 10 feet from the pin, because his research indicates that at that distance the chance of holing your next shot increases drammatically. His methods are based on years of the sort of research one would expect from a scientist, which he is. Many of his conclusions are surprising, but they take as much of the guesswork out of the short game as is humanly possible. With doubt removed, all that is left for the reader to do is practice, practice, practice...

And therein lies the problem, for unless you have a football field-sized back yard, there is nearly nowhere on earth where you can do the kind of practice Pelz recommends. Pelz wants you to learn three variants of his basic wedge swing and use them with four different wedges to produce 12 reliable ball flight distances. To calibrate this system, you have to measure the distance of *every* practice shot. Unfortunately, diving ranges won't let you walk out and measure your shots, and golf courses won't like you peppering their greens with the thousands of practice shots required to master this system. So, buy the book if you'd like the clearest description of the short game imaginable, but don't be surprised if you won't be able to put any of it to work.