Dave Pelz: “Studying the game”

If you’re familiar with my philosophies, you know how seriously I take the scoring game, and how important it is to your overall score. My research on putting and wedge play is now stretching into its fourth decade, so that’s the area where I can help you the most.

Playing the ball forward in your stance to pitch the ball higher is a no-no.

Of course, there isn’t enough room here to cover everything I’ve discovered in more than 30 years—we’ll save that for future issues of GOLF Magazine. (Look for the new “Pelz Files” beginning in September.) What you can learn right now, however, are the must-have elements of creating Tour-like touch from 100 yards and in. It’s the same information I give to students in my Scoring Game Schools, and it can help you, too.

It’s your bad shots and weaknesses—not your strengths—that largely determine your scores. Take what I know, make it your own, and turn 2006 into your best season ever. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by Leonard Kamsler

No matter what your ability level you can learn to hit wedge shots pure and close to the hole. So if you hit some wedge shots fat and skull others, there’s hope for fast improvement in a term you might remember from high school geometry class: radius. (And you thought you’d never use that stuff again!)

You will hit better wedge shots by keeping the radius of your left arm constant through your swing.

In my schools I see many golfers who alter the length of their left arm radius during their swings. This causes severe timing problems in getting the club-head back to the ball at the perfect height position for impact—namely, the one you started with at address. Tremendous inconsistency in wedge shots results. When you bend your elbow like this, you are picking the club up instead of swinging it around your body. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been fortunate to see Phil Mickelson’s rise to greatness from up close. Phil and I worked together extensively early last year and in the weeks before each of the year’s majors. I can help you understand what he changed in 2004, so you can take your own game to the next level this year.

Photo by Fred Vuich

First, a stat that sums up Phil’s 2004 season. Everyone knows he won The Masters, but did you know that Phil beat World No. 1 Vijay Singh by a combined 34 strokes in last year’s five biggest events (the four majors plus the Players Championship–see “The Phil Factor”)?

The Phil Factor

Here is how the top four players performed in 2004’s biggest events: Read the rest of this entry »

Do you have trouble pitching from mounds around the green? The problem may not be your swing, but your face. The face of your wedge, that is.

On wedge shots, most golfers set up with the clubface grooves perpendicular to the target line. They assume that by aligning the grooves that way, they are aiming the clubface at the target. But that’s not always so, as one of my favorite training aids proves. Aligning with the grooves perpendicular to the target line works great from level lies. The same alignment works when you crouch to hit a shot below your feet. But face-groove alignment and aim are not always the same, particularly if the ball is above your feet. Read the rest of this entry »

What is the “worst shot” in golf? It’s the 40-yard wedge, and I have the evidence to prove it.

Photo by Sam Greenwood

Let’s start with a definition. By “worst shot,” I mean the one consistently executed with the least amount of success or accuracy. In my research over the years, I have measured the “error” for every shot in golf, with error being the distance the ball finishes from the pin divided by the shot’s original length. That means if a golfer hits a 9-iron from 100 yards and it finishes 20 feet (almost seven yards) from the hole, the Percent Error (PE) for that shot is about 7 percent. Hit 40 9-irons, average the PEs, and you come up with a Percent Error Index (PEI) for that shot and that player.

I’ve measured the PEIs of pros and amateurs on every kind of shot, from drives to putts. For drives and fairway woods, most pros average about 7 percent error; for irons, about the same; for wedges, about 15 percent; and for putting, 5 to 10 percent. Amateurs’ PEIs extend over a much wider range, of course, depending on their skill level. I’ve also measured many of the specialty short-game shots — greenside sand, chips, pitches, and so on. (Measuring the PEIs of all your shots is a wonderful way to determine your strong and weak areas and chart your progress. I highly recommend it.) Read the rest of this entry »