Dave Pelz: “Studying the game”

"This data allowed us to assess amateur skills with an accuracy never before possible."

“If you want to improve your playing skills, you have to know exactly what needs improving. It won’t help to empty a bucket of range balls with your driver when it’s your putting that’s killing your scores.

I understood this 30 years ago, when I first began measuring the skills of the PGA Tour players I worked with. This was before laser rangefinders, so I had to walk off distances before tournaments then run outside the ropes during events to chart where players hit their shots. I used these shot patterns and scores to identify weak areas and help the players turn those weaknesses into strengths. This research-based instruction formed the foundation of my teaching career and Scoring Game Schools, and today it remains a driving force within both. Read the rest of this entry »

The mantra of many hot putters on Tour has become, "I CAME, I SAWED, I CONQUERED!"

The Problem

Too many of your missed putts miss left of the hole.

Why it’s happening

You swing your putter like your irons and woods, rotating your forearms through impact. This rotates your putterface through impact, which can send your putt left of target. Read the rest of this entry »

Send your questions to askpelz@golf.com

Dear Dave,
Do you favor putting with an oversized putter grip? A couple of years ago I took my favorite putter and cut it down to better suit my height (I’m only 5′6″). When I re-gripped it, I had an oversized putter grip put on. I also went to lead-hand low. Since the, my putting has improved a lot, I have more feel and I seldom three-putt. But since I changed three variables at once, I can’t tell which one actually did the trick. Do you have any feeling for this putter grip size thing of mine?
Sincerely,
Bill Havrilla

Read the rest of this entry »

Did you happen to watch the putt I lucked in from 206 feet (almost 70 yards) on the 18th green at Whistling Straits, while filming a segment for The Golf Channel at the 2004 PGA Championship? I’m told it is the longest televised putt ever holed on a green (if you know of a longer one, please write to comments@pelzgolf.com). Pure luck it was, and I know I couldn’t make it again in maybe a million tries. I could never read the break of such a putt precisely, and I don’t practice enough on putts that long to have a good feel. But I did hit it solidly, and if it hadn’t gone in, it would have stopped close to the hole and I could have two-putted, which I’ll take every time! Read the rest of this entry »