Dave Pelz Helps Phil Mickelson and Wants to Help You

Phil MIckelson knows how important his short game is. Since working with short-game guru Dave Pelz, Mickelson has won three majors. Check out this article about how Pelz was able to help Mickelson, and some basic tips he gives all golfers.

I've been to two of the Pelz one-day local short game schools, and the first time I took one, it lowered my handicap by 4 strokes. They claim that isn't unusual for a mid to high handicapper. I haven't been able to test out the results of my recent second short game course because of too much blogging, not enough practice.

Last week, I was able to see one of Pelz's tips in action at the Shell Houston Open. I was talking to someone at the range, and a local pro asked if anyone had a camera. I had one, so we raced in a cart to the private chipping area side of the range, and there was Brad Faxon talking to Phil Mickelson while Mickelson was hitting short pitch shots.

Someone oohed about a shot that went to inches before the cup, and Mickelson looked up, smiled and replied:

"Yeah, but it didn't go 17 inches past the hole."

One of the Pelz tips is that the perfect pace of your putt should be that it will end up 17 inches past the hole if it doesn't go in. Pelz is a golfer and scientist by background, and he did experiments to determine what is the perfect pace for a ball to ensure that it is most likely to get into the hole and not leave a long putt coming back. He came up with 17 inches.

The reason for this is if you leave a perfectly aimed putt short, it has no chance to go into the hole. The 17 inch figure is one that accounts for the damage around the hole. The only place on the green that everyone stomps on is around the cup. Over time, a donut shaped depression will form around the cup where people reach down and pick up their holed balls.

If you roll your putt at a speed that will make the ball go 17 inches past the cup if it doesn't go in, over time you will have your balls roll more true through the damaged area and more likely to go into the hole.

The remarkable thing about Mickelson's comment last week was that he was working on pitching not putting. He is so dialed into his practice that it wasn't good enough to pitch close, but rather he wants to pitch with the right speed so that the ball has a better chance of going in the hole.

The short game is all about confidence, and Pelz's schools do a great job of giving you left-brain confidence in your short game. He studies what physics says about the short game, and then gets golfers confident that if they practice with the purpose that he gives them, their game will improve.

Club manufacturers haven't caught up to what Pelz is preaching yet. Pelz believes that most people putt with too long a putter because of the typical sizing of them in stores and most people do not have properly fitted putters.

In addition, he believes that for reliability under pressure you should let the clubs do the work instead of having your small muscles force shots. To do this properly, he believes that people should carry both a 60 and 64 degree wedge because too many people rely on just one or two clubs for the majority of the shots that happen 100 yards and in.

Good luck at finding many versions of either one of those clubs at your local shop. Typically, you are fortunate to find one or two 60 degree wedges, and I've never seen a 64 degree wedge in a shop. I've come to love my 60 degree wedge and can't imagine the need for a 64 degree one.

Also overheard at the chipping green was Mickelson explaining that he is going to be carrying for the Masters basically the same clubs as he did for the Shell Houston Open. The only difference is that instead of his hybrid, he will be carrying a three iron.

(Pictured above: Shell Houston Open course superintendent, Brad Faxon and tiny orange-shirted Mickelson in the background).