Dave Pelz Golf Teacher - adding science to the art of the short game, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Dave Pelz Golf Teacher - adding science to the art of the short game, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

I think if anybody wants to ask you who’s got the short game out on the Tour, the guy that often springs to mind for a lot of people is Mickelson. Mickelson has the ability to hit these recovery shots and recover the lot because he’s been in a lot of bad place in the first place. That’s a different point.

He hits these recovery shots over the top of the grandstands, over the crowds’ heads, over the back of greens and bunkers, lands them stone dead next to the flag. The guy that taught him to do that is a guy called Dave Pelz.

Now Dave Pelz has got an unbelievable approach to the game of golf. He came from a NASA background. He was a NASA physicist and scientist. He approached the game of golf like it’s never been approached before. Everyone always played the game as a field sport without a great deal of sort of scientific knowledge. It was always just feel the ball and get it round the course.

Pelz approached it with data, and science, and experiments, and numbers. He really changed the way we look at numbers. He really changed the way we look at things. There’s a lot of influence of Dave Pelz, his methods in coaching, that I actually use in my day to day coaching as well. Certainly a big fan of his 2 books: the Putting Bible and the Short Game Bible.

Pelz talked about how 60% of your shots on the course are hit within the last 100 yards of the green. I agree with that, from my own golf and the people I teach as well. I see their shots. They’re losing most of their shots in that last 100 yards.

I like Pelz’s idea that a putt should be hit 17 inches past the hole. I think that gives a good opportunity for the ball to go in but still minimizes the chance of you 3-putting, coming back.

Dave Pelz also devised some scoring tests. Sort of 9 different chip shots where you chip from around the ground, pitch, putt from around the green. That produces a score in relation to your handicap. I think those putting tests were a great way of improving your short game.

So if you want to look at improving your short game, look out for Dave Pelz’s books. Look out for his methods. Look out for his short game test. You can’t go wrong by following Mickelson’s coach.

 2013-01-18

I think if anybody wants to ask you who’s got the short game out on the Tour, the guy that often springs to mind for a lot of people is Mickelson. Mickelson has the ability to hit these recovery shots and recover the lot because he’s been in a lot of bad place in the first place. That’s a different point.

He hits these recovery shots over the top of the grandstands, over the crowds’ heads, over the back of greens and bunkers, lands them stone dead next to the flag. The guy that taught him to do that is a guy called Dave Pelz.

Now Dave Pelz has got an unbelievable approach to the game of golf. He came from a NASA background. He was a NASA physicist and scientist. He approached the game of golf like it’s never been approached before. Everyone always played the game as a field sport without a great deal of sort of scientific knowledge. It was always just feel the ball and get it round the course.

Pelz approached it with data, and science, and experiments, and numbers. He really changed the way we look at numbers. He really changed the way we look at things. There’s a lot of influence of Dave Pelz, his methods in coaching, that I actually use in my day to day coaching as well. Certainly a big fan of his 2 books: the Putting Bible and the Short Game Bible.

Pelz talked about how 60% of your shots on the course are hit within the last 100 yards of the green. I agree with that, from my own golf and the people I teach as well. I see their shots. They’re losing most of their shots in that last 100 yards.

I like Pelz’s idea that a putt should be hit 17 inches past the hole. I think that gives a good opportunity for the ball to go in but still minimizes the chance of you 3-putting, coming back.

Dave Pelz also devised some scoring tests. Sort of 9 different chip shots where you chip from around the ground, pitch, putt from around the green. That produces a score in relation to your handicap. I think those putting tests were a great way of improving your short game.

So if you want to look at improving your short game, look out for Dave Pelz’s books. Look out for his methods. Look out for his short game test. You can’t go wrong by following Mickelson’s coach.