Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible: Master the Finesse Swing and Lower Your Score (Dave Pelz Scoring Game Series)

One thing this book can't help you is HOW to make that swing. You have to have a reasonably solid/consistent swing to take advantage of the concepts in the book. It talks about making a synchronized swing but that means different things to different people, so the best way to hone your execution is to go see a pro. The sequenced photos are great but we don't always swing the way we think we do.

The best idea of the book though, which help my short and full shot game, has to do with the stabiliby of the clubhead (pulling a cart vs. pushing). It explains why the Pros are more consistent even on their misses. Given the same club head speed, a stable club head will be more accurate (i.e. longer) on average. I'm an enginerd so I dig all these analytical stuff.

Anyway, a solid book with great ideas.


The Best Book Ever Written About Scoring in Golf   May 28, 2005
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This book sequentially breaks down golf from the viewpoint of a former NASA physicist with a penchant for converting scores of data from a variety of pros into a concise and understandable book for everyone from a layperson to a professional. His charts, graphs, and images outline a consistent theme throught the book that focuses on where golfers use the most strokes (within 100 yards + putting) and where they practice the most strokes (drives and long irons). A must-read for every golfer, especially those that cannot break a plateau score (such as 100, 90, etc...). Reading this book and practicing its dogma, I permanently removed 8 strokes off of my handicap and now shoot consistently between 78-82 from the whites.


dave pelz short game bible   March 2, 2005
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I bought this after looking at it several times in the bookstores. I have always carried a pw, sw and occassionally a lw. I was a pretty good wedge player but didn't always get it close to the hole or stop it. After reading the book, I went to 4 wedges, adding a gap wedge. I practiced the system and last week I was 70 yards out on a par four. I knew that would be a 10:30 gap wedge. It took one bounce and in the hole. It is really neat when this stuff works. You learn how far a chip will run based upon the club and the swing. I was struggling in the sand and the very first swing I took after reading the sand chapter was 5 feet from the pin. Most of the people I play with including some scratch players could use the information in this book. I also had the Putt Like a Pro book and I am automatic from 7 feet in now. It is kind of expensive but you will make that back with the first few bets you win. Now when you play you can see how bad the short game of the other players really is. Actually I hope none of my opponents read this book. I like taking their money.


improves short game, terrible to read and weak instructions   December 13, 2004
 25 out of 25 found this review helpful

The Good:

Peltz introduces a smart and easy system of getting to know 3 distinct (or 6 if you include swings where you are gripping down on the shaft) shooting distances for each wedge in you bag. The system is very useful and gives reproducible results on the course, so the book definitely does gives you an edge training wise. I also liked how he by "scientific" analysis found out how to score better and why the short game is so important (and under rated) - very convincing. I found myself measuring off different wedge shots, putting labels with numbers on the shafts of my wedges (and having fun at it) immediately after reading the book.

The bad:

The book itself is however a terrible read. Peltz stated that he had read a book on learning theory at some stage, but I really wished that he had read a book about communication theory before writing this book. He repeats himself over and over and over and... it gets to a point where it is just not any kind of fun. Even some of the illustrations are repeated at least three times in the book. You constantly go either 'I got it I got it I got it - snap out of it!' or you go 'come on Peltz, get to the f..... point'. He also includes long and detailed annecdotes about how he and his tour friends discovered the facts that he now teaches in the book. This might be great if you are into the semi historical perspectives sitting in front of the fireplace with hot chocolate, but if you buy this book as a reference for improving your short game it just distracts you from the essence.
Another thing annoying me is how he sneaks in this feeling of "Trademark-of-Dave-Peltz-golf-school" all the time. F.ex. your swing plane and grip now becomes the "finesse swing plane" and the "finesse grip" for your "finesse swing" as if he invented the concepts of an upright swingplane and a loose grip for the short game.
The teaching of the mechanics of the short game swing was not very clear (at least for me they weren't). I had hoped for something along the lines of "Ben Hogan's five lessons" where you can feel the words in your body right there from the sofa. The pictures are inconsistent with what is being said. F.ex. he writes 'arms, hips and shoulders move back synchronized - no coiling takes place between shoulders and hip in the finesse swing' and the picture shows a 45 degrees hip turn with a 90 degrees shoulder turn :(
The description of the chip shot is also very weak. I now know where to place the ball, but what to do with the arms relative to hips and shoulders is still not clear.

To conclude:

The book will make you focus more on your short game and most likely result in lower scores if you practice was is being said, but the lessons does not justify a whopping 400 pages - not at all! Also the reading experience is very cumbersome.
The 3 stars reflects the fact that you do get some very useful knowledge from reading the book but also that after going through 400 pages of agonizing repetitions there are still some very fundamental issues about the mechanics that are not completely clear.


Good hints for short game   November 3, 2004
This is a good book for the short game. Dave Pelz has a good analytical mind. There are good hints on chipping, pitching and putting from all kinds of yardages and surfaces. If you really want a great book on the entire game of golf, including the short game, I highly recommend the following:
The Ultimate Golf Instruction Guide: Key Techniques for Becoming a Zero Handicap Golfer or Better (ISBN: 1933023090)
This last book is right on the money for both the long and short game of golf. It helped me to get my scores in the seventies, which I never achieved before.
I recommend Pelz's book because it showed me the different kinds of short shots. However, the second book helped me to improve so much faster than anything else I tried on the market.