Pelz Short Game and Putting Books

[CybrSlicr]

I would like to make up some strokes in my game and the short game and putting are where I feel I can do that. I had read somewhere that Pelz method wasn't very good, but I can't remember where or the credibility of the source, so I thought I would ask here.

Has anyone read these books? Are they any good? Are they worth the investment? I don't have any problem spending the $$$ on a couple of good books.

Thanks in advance for your help...

 

[Bama Duffer]

I read Pelz Short Game Bible after getting it as a Christmas gift. Verrrrrry wordy. The system is intriguing, I just don't have time to practice enough to implement it. It involves locating your maximum shot length with various wedges, then doing the same for a 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 swing. With practice, I imagine it is effective, but again, not enough time to nail the technique down.

 

[mediaguru]

I'm a feel player under 100 yards, but with the pelz system I do have certain length swings that I know how far they'll go. So the system is pretty cool in that respect. He's a real techie and loves to test and show his results.

Is it effective? Ask Phil Mickelson.

 

[Lamma]

Pelz has helped a lot of people but I found his books tedious and boring. Personally, I got nothing out of them. But I've heard of other people who were really helped by them. So like everything else in golf, it's really a personal matter.


I'd recommend you buy the "Short Game Bible" and make an attempt to apply the techniques contained within it. It can't hurt you and if you can absorb and execute the methods then it will help you.

 

[Farquod]

I have both. They are indeed a lot of reading, but hell, it's golf, so who cares, right?

IMO, his putting bible is definitely worth the read, although I will warn you that his insistance that we under-read break killed quite a few rounds for me last year, as I missed everything in the world on the high side--by miles! Other than that, tho, he has done some solid work here, and if you can trudge through it, it is most definitely worth the read. His teacher clips are the bomb for grooving center contact, btw.

His short game bible is OK too, but had less real "stuff" for me than the putting bible. He advocates a different short game/wedge swing than full swing, a so-called "dead-hands" swing (the putting stroke is also different, btw). This is fine, unless you're working on your full swing at the same time. If so, it can get a little screwy. As Bama noted, tho, practice is the key here (and with putting, too), and he wants you to quantitate a 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 swing with each of 4 wedges. This is fine, except that these yardages will alter as you practice more and more, and get increasingly fluid with your swing. In addition, although the system starts very quantitiatively, it ultimately becomes a "feel" approach, because if you practice to the level he suggests you must, you will become so comfortable with each of these 12 swings that you should be able to tell yardages as soon as they leave the clubhead.

And this is where the irony lies, because if you practice with your existing wedges and your current swing as much as he says, the same thing will happen: you'll stand in the fairway, X yards from the target, and just know what club and swing to use, 'cause you've done it 1000 times. Better yet, you hit your prior shot to your preferred wedge distance, and go on autopilot from there.

In short, I took info out of both, but found his putting bible of more use to me. I average about 32 putts per round, now, and he was instrumental in getting me there. My short game is a work in progress, but have ultimately used much less of his philosophy here.

 

[dave.]

Get a copy of Seve's short game vid (VHS).It will change your game forever