Dave Pelz's Putting Bible

[Stuart]

Has anybody read Dave Pelz's Putting Bible? I've just bought the book, but should have asked around before I did so. Putting is definitely the weakest part of my game. Shot a 77 yesterday, but didn't even give one of my birdie putts a chance. Didn't even lip out on any of them, just plain missed them. Had 12 chances at birdie and not one. :(

[jowlar]

I feel your pain brother. Putting is the achilles of my golf game as well. I have read Pelz's book twice as well as Utley's "The art of putting". I am more of a pelz putter (I use the term "putter" loosely). Pelz gives a lot of good info about why but fails a little in the how department.

[redi630]

I learned a lot from it eventhough I am more of a "Utley" style of putting.

[sonicblue]

Stuart - try something for me. Practice your putting, with this routine. Read your putt, pick your line, your aiming spot, whatever. Get over your putt and align yourself to that spot. Once your aligned, say out loud to yourself: "I am aimed at my spot, it will go in."

IMO, based on my own experience and just watching other people putt, I don't think amateurs (I include myself, although I'm getting better) have any confidence in their pre-shot routine. I mean, it's done for a reason (well, for those who do it). They get over their putt and question their line, their alignment, the speed. That needs to be figured out BEFORE you're over the ball. Once you're there, certainly a good stroke does not involve manipulating the putter head to change your line, and - although we should smoothly accelerate through the ball - we shouldn't overly speed up or down during our stroke.

Hence, you pick your line, aim to it and in your mind decide how hard to hit it BEFORE. Once you're over the ball, you should ONLY be thinking of TRUSTING all those things. The freedom from that trust will be reflected in the lack of tension - and thus accuracy and precision - of your resulting stroke.

[Richie3Jack]

I've got both the Putting and Short Game Bibles by Pelz. They're great because they clear up so many questions about the short game you may have. Personally, I think most of Utley's stuff in junk. Trying to go inside to square to inside requires to great of hand/eye coordinator.

It's also good to get some of Pelz's training aids, particularly the putter clips. Practice with those alone and you'll shave a substantial amount of putts off your game.





3JACK

[srjorion]

Personally, I think most of Utley's stuff in junk. Trying to go inside to square to inside requires to great of hand/eye coordinator.

Personally, I think keeping it square throughout requires a great deal of hand/eye coordination. For me, if I don't manipulate the putter face it comes inside and open on the backswing and then recenters and aligns at impact before coming inside and closed again. When I try to keep it all straight I get jacked up.

But, that's the good thing about putting. It's the one part of your game where you can pretty much do whatever you want as long as it feels good and puts the ball in the cup!

[Stuart]

Thanks for all of your comments guys. Much appreciated.

Sonic I totally agree with the idea of trusting your stroke and psyching yourself up. For some reason, some days I walk onto the green and I'll just plain old pretend to be confident and tell myself I can make any putt, and unbelievably I putt much better. Other days it seems I can't get enough energy to tell myself those lies, and resultantly, I putt like crap.

Richie, my cousin recommended Pelz's clips to me a while back, so I think I'm going to try and track those down. I never seem to be able to find them whenever I happen to be in a golf store though. :(

[wachesawgolfer]

I have a new putting drill. Putt two balls together into the hole from say 5 feet in and less. What this does is get your stroke perfect. If you cut or decelerate the clubhead the balls won't roll together. The secret to short putts is to release the clubhead to the hole on line with a short backswing. I think if you can sink them from 5 feet in most of the time, the longer putts take care of themselves.

[mikelz]

Has anybody read Dave Pelz's Putting Bible? I've just bought the book, but should have asked around before I did so. Putting is definitely the weakest part of my game. Shot a 77 yesterday, but didn't even give one of my birdie putts a chance. Didn't even lip out on any of them, just plain missed them. Had 12 chances at birdie and not one. :(

I haven't read that one but I had the old "Putt Like the Pros". The most valuable information I got out of that was the "lumpy doughnut". Pelz says and I believe that almost nobody is going to put his foot down inside a foot of the hole. Therefore, there is a ring of cruddy surface in a 1-3 foot radius around the hole. I started hitting the 3-4 footers harder with good results. I'm with jowlar about his instruction. He's strong on putting theory and light on instruction. His original book only offered a bunch of training aids for sale to help you groove that unnatural (to me) square-square-square stroke. Pelz knows a lot. I've learned more from him on his Golf Channel clips about wedge play. I don't consider any writer "the" authority on putting. That's until Tiger writes a book about how to increase your talent.

[Richie3Jack]

Personally, I think keeping it square throughout requires a great deal of hand/eye coordination. For me, if I don't manipulate the putter face it comes inside and open on the backswing and then recenters and aligns at impact before coming inside and closed again. When I try to keep it all straight I get jacked up.

Shouldn't require any hand eye coordination doing the straight back and thru if you: 1. Have your body and shoulders truly parrallel left to target. 2. Swing your swing your triangle up and down the target. 3. Are not putting from 75 feet+ From my experience, almost all putters that tell me that the straight back and thru doesn't work for them usually are doing something technically wrong and that causes them to force their hands to keep it straight back and thru. 3JACK

[Big_M]

Pelz is more of a square to square guy if memory serves me... which is how I put, so I guess I should check out his book... at leat give it a look. My putting is so HOT and COLD... and for me I think it is all a confidence thing, some days the hole literally looks like a coffee can, other days it looks like a shot glass. If I ever get hot with my putter when the rest of my game is firing, I may actually shoot par... but alas, something usually lets me down.

[iacas]

From my experience, almost all putters that tell me that the straight back and thru doesn't work for them usually are doing something technically wrong and that causes them to force their hands to keep it straight back and thru.

Pelz is more of a square to square guy if memory serves me... which is how I put, so I guess I should check out his book... at leat give it a look. My putting is so HOT and COLD... and for me I think it is all a confidence thing, some days the hole literally looks like a coffee can, other days it looks like a shot glass. If I ever get hot with my putter when the rest of my game is firing, I may actually shoot par... but alas, something usually lets me down.

The putting stroke is one of the few things in golf about which I'm adamant.

The square to square stroke (Pelz) is garbage. It doesn't work. Ask Dean Thompson, the Z-Factor guy, about square to square and he'll tell you two things: 1) In all his years on the PGA Tour, he's found TWO square to square putters. Both use that stroke only on putts of about 20 feet or less. 2) The non-pro golfer will often tell you they're square to square, but they almost never are, and the ones that are will not be consistent. I like Dave's short game bible. I use it and like the clock system for wedges. But his putting bible is crap. Who are Dave's clients? Phil Mickelson uses an arc stroke. Stan Utley has literally a ton of clients, all using an arc, just like everyone else on the PGA Tour. You may think you're putting square to square, but the odds are, you aren't.

[Big_M]

The putting stroke is one of the few things in golf about which I'm adamant.

I've heard people say that often those who think they are S2S are actually putting with a small arc... I don't have a Z-factor, so I don't know for sure. Either way, I want to improve my putting this year and learn a little more about MY stroke... I retooled my swing the last 2 years and dropped the 8 strokes I had put on after high school from not playing as much, now it's time to focus on short game and go for mid singles this year.

Erik... is there a good putting guide, etc. that you recomend.

[iacas]

I've heard people say that often those who think they are S2S are actually putting with a small arc... I don't have a Z-factor, so I don't know for sure. Either way, I want to improve my putting this year and learn a little more about MY stroke... I retooled my swing the last 2 years and dropped the 8 strokes I had put on after high school from not playing as much, now it's time to focus on short game and go for mid singles this year.

I've never really used a putting guide. I read the Utley book but didn't agree with every little detail... I'd recommend picking up the Z-Factor or doing something like buying a metal yardstick and making your own small arc (with three tees).

Part of the reason I think people mistakenly think they're square to square is that the arc isn't always very big. I'm guessing here, but your putting stroke is only about three feet long (backswing through swing), and it's along the outside of a circle with anywhere from (again, guessing) a 20 to 50' diameter. It's not like this tight arc where the putter moves six inches inside the line or anything - it moves maybe 10 degrees open on a longer putt to 10 degrees shut and an inch or so inside the line.

[mikelz]

I've never really used a putting guide. I read the Utley book but didn't agree with every little detail... I'd recommend picking up the Z-Factor or doing something like buying a metal yardstick and making your own small arc (with three tees).

I agree with you completely but I'm not going into the kinesiologies of it.

I remember reading an article by Jan Stephenson. She said when she practices she wanted to see the putter going slightly inside out of the corner of her eye. I read Crenshaw saying something like, "You don't want to put anything unnatural in your putting stroke because it's likely to find it's way into your swing." I have scads of VHS instruction. Every one that deals with putting says "it's a golf swing". This is coming from Flick, Rod Myers, Peggy Kirk Bell, Bob Toski, Arnold Palmer, Trevino, Gary Wiren, and more. I'm going with them and not an author whose motives might be more than teaching you how to play.

[Stuart]

I agree with the contention that we all go inside to square to inside. No matter how straight I try to take the putter back, if I go back far enough my club comes inside. I have pretty much accepted this and I think I've improved just from not struggling against the natural order of it. I have been studying the majority of strokes I see, and it seems to hold true for everybody. I just finished reading Tiger's book, and am now holding the putter much lighter in my hands. That alone has improved my feel. I am also messing around with trying to keep my eye on the hole when I'm lag putting to help improve my feel for distances on the greens.

[tmoult]

How do you tell the difference between an arc stroke or straight back and straight through stroke?

[mikelz]

How do you tell the difference between an arc stroke or straight back and straight through stroke?

Try this:

• Get a piece of 2x4 of something similar (like a baseboard).
• Assume your setup with the toe of your putter lightly against the board
• Make a stroke.
• If the putter stays in contact with your straight edge, that's straight.
• If the putter moves away from the object on the back and through swings, that's an arc.

You can reverse that and put the heel on the far side. The principle is the same. To identify the arc, you would have to play the heel an inch or away from the board. If you want to try grooving a straight stroke, it's a cheap training device. Joey Sindelar carried a board his dad made for him in his bag. Or, you can just peek out of the corner of your eye (just don't do it during play).