Dave Pelz's Putting Bible: The Complete Guide to Mastering the Green

by Dave Pelz, James A. Frank

Golf's foremost apostle from 100 yards in, Dave Pelz follows up the bestselling Short Game Bible--his essential testament on how to get on the green--with chapter and verse on what to do once you're finally there. The lower your handicap, the more of a religious experience it should be. While you don't have to be a rocket scientist to explain the forces at work in rolling a small, dimpled ball over changing terrain toward a cup that looks far too small for its purpose, Pelz was in fact a rocket scientist by trade. His approach is analytical, theoretical, mechanical, and systematic, brimming with graphs, charts, and illustrations. But don't let that scare you--for all the science, Pelz and the gospel he preaches are as inspiring as a good sermon and readily understandable regardless of your skill level. Yes, advanced players will no doubt be more intrigued with the depths Pelz plumbs, but high handicappers can draw solace from the quality of the supplicants who've sought his counsel--Lee Janzen, Annika Sorenstam, Steve Elkington, and Colin Montgomery, for starters--and proceed from there. Numbers, charts, and graphs aside, Pelz preaches good grip and stroke, proper reading of lines and distances, the importance of leaving a ball in the best location (that only seems obvious), and the need to identify your putting weaknesses, learn why they're your weaknesses, and address the proper fixes. "Never give up on putting well," Pelz stresses. By studying his bible and heeding his golden rules, you'll find yourself standing over those knee-rattling, downhill 4-footers with a lot more going for you than just a prayer. --Jeff Silverman

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Reference

394 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

David T. Pelz was an American golf coach, known for his expertise and published writing on the art of the short game, particularly putting.
Pelz's Short Game Bible was a New York Times "national best-seller" in 1999. Eleven of Pelz's professional students have won a total of 21 major championships. Pelz was named by Golf Digest magazine as one of the 25 most influential instructors of the 20th Century. He was a regular editorial contributor to Golf Magazine since 1982 and produced and hosted "The Dave Pelz Scoring Game Show" on the Golf Channel from 1995 to 2005. Pelz continued his research and instruction at the Pelz Golf Institute in Spicewood, Texas.

Reviews

[Nick Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book because the short game bible is the best golf book I have read. This book does not compare. Just more theory than teaching. A lot you can pick up on your own. Almost 400 pages. Could have been 150 tops IMO. I'd skip this one and read the short game bible again

[John Matthew IV · Rating 4 out of 5]

p. 32: Practice Tips:
1) Hit putts over 35 feet to within 3 feet of the hole.
2) Hit putts of 6-30 feet so they stop 17" past the hole.
3) Hit putts less than 6 feet into the hole.

p. 66: Position eyes over the Aimline.

p. 102: Figure 4.10.11: Use binocular vision to see distance and down-the-line vision to see alignment.

p. 115: Create pressure situations in practice sessions.

p. 118: Dead-Hands Stroke

p. 123: Hold your finish until the ball stops rolling.

p. 125: 8-Second Rule: "Once you feel and see what you believe to be the perfect practice stroke, you have eight seconds to step up to the ball and stroke it exactly that way."

p. 126: "Great putters don't think their way through great putting strokes. Great putters make great strokes out of habit, while they focus on the feel and size of the stroke they need to make."

p. 135: "The longer the length of the stroke, the longer the roll of the ball."

p. 175: "The plumb-bob doesn't work in putting."

p. 190: "I ... found that optimum speed putts roll about 17 past the back edge."

p. 213: "To practice the wrong thing correctly is as bad as practicing the right thing incorrectly. Neither helps one bit."

p. 214: Missed Putt Chart

Zone 5: Long Left | Zone 6: Long Right
Zone 3: Short of 17" Past Left | Zone 4: Short of 17" Past Right
Zone 1: Short Left - Zone 7 lip out left | Zone 8: Lip Out Right - Zone 2: Short Right

p. 217: Bad practice is worse than no practice.

p. 219: Where To Practice
1. Stroke Mechanics--INDOORS
a. Pick your work area (building block)
* Aim
* Power Source
* Impact Pattern
* Ritual
* Routine
* Face Angle
* Path
* Stability
* Flow Lines
b. Set up feedback device(s) carefully
c. Focus on feedback
d. Avoid real greens and real holes (too distracting)

2. Artistic Fundamentals--OUTDOORS
a. Pick your work area (building blocks)
* Touch
* Routine
* Rhythm
* Green-Reading
* Feel
* Ritual
b. Measure putt distances, set up feedback guidelines
c. Focus on speed, distance and break (forget mechanics)

p. 221: "It's important to understand that practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice helps you move toward perfection."

p. 221: Dave Pelz's Practice Guidelines

p. 222-6: Five-Step Routine:
1) Make three preliminary practice swings to get a rough feel for distance. Imagine a ball track starting on the Aimline, rolling into the hole.
2) Walk along the extended Aimline and internalize it.
3) Set up parallel left of the Aimline, 4 inches left of your ball.
4) Make 3-6 practice strokes
5) Pull the trigger

p. 227: Measure your cadence

p. 241: Ritual:
1) Trigger
2) Down
3) Look
4) Look
5) Back
6) Through

p. 272: "Practice without feedback is a waste of time."

p. 284: Teacher Clips: https://www.amazon.com/Pelz-Golf-DP40...

p. 286: Tru-Putt

p. 291: Truthboard Routine
1) Putt 30 putts per session until you make all 30 in a row.
2) Roll every other one with your eyes closed.
3) Putt 30 putts to a smaller hole
4) Putt every other one with eyes closed to smaller hole.

p. 309: Chiputting: "The chiputt is a stroke made with a putter but utilizing a chipping grip, stance, posture, swing and follow-through."

p. 316: Figure 13.3.3: Safe-Zone is a 34-inch-radius semicircle behind the hole.

p. 320: "All putts are speed putts."

p. 326: Scorecard marking:
A) Above Hole
B) Below Hole

p. 339: Five Steps In Green Reading

p. 348: Lag Putt Drills (13.2)

p. 348: "Putt if there's no reason not to."

p. 348: "Never putt from a bad lie."

p. 368: Pure-In-Line-Square (PILS) Stroke

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not any new earth shaking insights. I have played golf a long time. Had once been a great putter with no thinking involved. Over the years I grew worse. Was trying to find a piece of information to jump start me back. It is a book of great basic information. Very technical on all putting aspects. I will try to recall what I picked up to get better.

[Bruce Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much detail. Really need to try his exercises to evaluate.

[Pierre Tassé (Enjoying Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot more detailed than I was thinking but I remember Phil Mickelson had Dave help him with some putting tips. Good enough for Phil, good enough for me-is it good enough for you?

[Zack Calvert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reserve the right to modify my rating should my putting greatly suffer.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

To reiterate another reviewer's point, Pelz goes into excrutiating detail on the science of putting. In fact, personally, I think he's a little over the top in the amount of minute detail he covers, and sometimes found myself thinking, come on Dave, I trust you on that point; you can stop explaining now. Still, I give it 5 stars, not because I think it is such an engaging read -- much of it is not -- but because of the thoroughly comprehensive coverage of everything, from the golfer, to the equipment, to green reading, to the science behind everything he explains. Although I am a beginner at this game, I would venture to say that if there is anything about putting this book does not mention, it is probably something you don't need to know.

[Tim Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave Pelz 19s Putting Bible will cover all the idea 19s you 19ve ever heard about putting and with his scientific methods prove or disprove all you ever believed. The knowledge learned would definitely improve your putting and eliminate any questions in your mind that might confuse you. I have put his drills to the test and they definitely will help your putting. Aside from the wealth of information you will also discover a great way to measure your putting progress. All I knew was that my putting sucked, but with Pelz 19s self-evaluation concepts I was able to identify exactly what needed improvement.

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is like a reference book, a very precise and detailed study of the art of putting. I loved all the attention to detail and the passion for putting by Dave. Dave's way is simple, he details all the elements involved in putting so that as a player we stop blaming our selves and learn to instead focus on the enormity of the task at hand. One of the best nuggets I picked from this book is to stop thinking and start playing.

I wish I had the time and the weather to practice all of his techniques but alas I live in UK where golf is generally a summer past time :(

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as his short game bible. I find many of the thoughts to be too technical. While Dave's lessons have done much to improve my putting, they have caused me to be to technical. Once that happens, it is hard to get those thoughts out of your head. They make me focus too much on rote reactions to distance and not on feel.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This looks really good and thorough. I'm not actively playing golf right now, but I found plenty of ideas and tips in here, just skimming, to help my game when I get back to it. It helped that my golf teacher already had me approaching putting like this.

[John Jannuzzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excruciating detail, but as a scientist/engineer I appreciated understanding the "whys" of all the putting mechanics. Definitely a complete analysis of putting.

[Công Nguyễn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is One of the best Golf books. Praticing recommend exercises helped me dropping 5 stroke off my handicap in 2 weeks. Highly recommend!