Customer Reviews

Phil Mickelson - Secrets of the Short Game

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

So I have just finished watching Phil's first video and he just makes the short game shorts all make sense. Of all the golf DVD's I have watched this one makes the most sense. Now as a disclaimer I am a PM fan, but I also love to play the short game shorts well when I am out playing. Phil has found a method that just simplifies everything in regards to the short game. His ideas for putting are very simple and as for his thoughts and teachings in chipping both short and long chips he teaches a method that works the same for both types of shot. There is nothing complicated about his methods and with practice we can use his methods to have more fun with our own short game. I highly recommend this video.

This is the best golf instruction dvd I have ever seen. Both of them that is, since it is a 2 part dvd set. Phil is not holding much back. This is not a puff video like so many other pros have put out. He is not holding back. Tells great info on putting, chipping, sand, and the lob shot he is so well known for. Some things were shared in these videos I have never seen before and I have studied the game for nearly 2o years and bought many dvds and even more books. Great job on the production of these dvds. Very professional quality.

Just go ahead and buy it. Its great. Best golf instructional dvds I have seen (by far). Lots of info on putting/chipping on disc one. Disc two is lob shots and bunker play. Very detailed in all sections. High quality production with great slow motion shots of different shots (club going through ball). Great video for anyone wanting to improve their short game.

While I enjoyed the video and the production quality was excellent, I have tried the "method" and it fails the "amateur test". Obviously Phil can do what he is demonstrating but I think he should have tried these ideas on real average golfers first to see if they could learn them. I am an average 14 handicaper with a decent short game already but I can't copy his results after hours of trying. I even think I know why: his hinge and hold has a fatal flaw. If you hinge and come steeply down to the ball you have to be pretty accurate to catch the ball consistently well. There is just too little room for error and average golfers don't typically hit thousands of balls a week to perfect these moves. Everything else about the chip technique is fine and it is fun to hit his flop shots but I don't trust it to use during play. The bunker technique is supposed to be rhythmical but you have to hinge up close to your body and then swing outwards towards the pin at about 40 degrees while maintaining a firm wrist and extension. Sound easy? Now do that so consistenly that you land within the 3 foot circle. Nope - still in the sand. Now that I have tried his method I think he is a little hypocritical in saying his is the only correct method. Perhaps for pros, but not for Joes. Stick with Pelz' more forgiving technique with a shallower approach. The putting has the same problem. He promotes a rotating clubhead that is timed just right and takes a lot of feel. Again, stick with his teacher, Pelz, and use a straight putt move. Kind of mechanical but hard to screw up. I was really hoping this would be good, especially with Pelz in the background. I suppose we will now have Tiger telling us how to get 120 mph swing speeds "the easy way"!

I have bought and used a number of golf training DVDs and books in the past and have been able to get something positive out of all of them.

Phil's "Secrets of the Short Game" is by far the best. The lessons are short and clear with great video examples. Because he doesn't dwell on a hundred of the finer points the process and execution are very easy to commit to memory and use on the range or course.

After the first session at the range, about an hour and a half, I had pretty well gotten the technique down. When I went to the course I didn't trust it at first but then willed myself to do it just as I had on the practice range and accept the results.

What happened is that my short game improved dramatically right away. I was more accurate and learned to control the distance to a much finer degree.

After a month and a half I walk up to a shot of a 120 yards or less and confidently smack the ball right where I want it to go. My handicap has dropped two points to 11 and the trend is down.

Now I am working on variations of loft using a higher lofted clubs and by opening the club face. I have really started to know the effects in differing conditions such as deep rough, different sand compositions, and tighter lies. It is going to take some time before I get really good in all those conditions but I am working in that direction.

A very large benefit of Phil's technique is that it has greatly improved my tempo with all of my clubs. My confidense is higher and I believe my distance has improved as well.

By far, this is the best video lesson I have and I have Ledbetter, Smith, Harmon, and a couple of others. All have their positives but this one is the best.

On a side note, the DVD set is worth the price just to watch Phil hit those astounding shots he is capable of.

Hope this helps.

This is a great DVD. It's not filled with detail about grip and mechanics, its more about the approach to the short game, a couple of guiding principals and some drills. If you take note of the key elements and make an effort to try them out and practice them, your short game will improve.

Watching Phil explain it the way he does is much better than reading articles in golf publications trying to provide 30 seconds worth of tips.

Interesting insights into how Phil approaches the short game. I've been able to incorporate some of what's included in the video into my game but ultimately you have to practice, practice, practice. Even Phil points out in the video how how his dad built a green in his back yard when he was a kid and he spent hours working on his shots. There are some very good tips in the video but the video alone won't fix your short game.

Money and time well spent. I am a tip junkie. I could teach golf I've watched so many videos and I'm talking VHS. Some pros or just instructors are nice guys, well meaning but just can't get their points across. Arnold is one. Lee Trevio, Ben Crenshaw. Phil is one of those who CAN. Like Jack. His passion for the game and his desire to share what he knows with all who will listen come through.
Phil has the advantage of modern technology to keep his viewer captivated and his system or methodology is so straight forward and consistant with established methods, match that with his personality and the expert direction/production and you have a video you will not want to end.
Dave Pelz is a techie, Phil is one also. You bring those two guys together and skill plus science gets the job done. Now one can take the video to the course with them and put it on the seat and expect their score to go down. You have to practice on GRASS a bit to see the result, thats with anything but these methods makes sense. Well, thats my two cents. I don't really care if no one else buys another copy, I've got mine, but I know how important the short game is and to get better one needs a plan, and this is as good as any I've seen

Rich Silver Spring, MD

Albeit not a huge Mickelson's fan, I am constantly looking for ways to improve my short game. In books, nothing has been more of an eye-opener to me than Stan Utley's book "The Art of the Short Game", and Phil's DVD fill in the hole by providing live images to almost the same concepts. They are called and presented differently, but it all ends into how well you strike the ball and how to ensure you do it consistently.

Phil's DVD is great in how the images allow to really understand the moves and the set-up required. Also the drills, especially on putting, are good to know and include in your training routine.

Finally, Phil's a real entertainer and watching the DVD is also real good fun besides the instructional function... no other golf instructional DVDs I've happened to watch were able to be as pleasant as this one to watch - the worse are Leadbetter's, bordering sleep-inducing-boredom!

Really worth it's money, and probably more!

Its good, very good. The technique is proposes are similar to Stan Utley. There's a reason why he is considered to have one of the best short games on tour.