Scoring/short game handicap

[Deleted member 1147]

I have read a few posts regarding books various forummers have read (and recommended).
One name I see quite often is Dave Pelz.
Has anyone calculated their short game handicap, based on his system of points for various activities?

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I did try it at the end of last year but it's impossible when the ground conditions change week to week. I practice my short game a lot and may try this again now the ground is consistently hard but haven't decided yet.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Surely you should just change the way you play each pitch/chip/bunker shot depending on ground conditions?

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Well yeah of course you should and you would but I don't think Mr Pelz's takes that into account. I coulad have spent the whole of April doing this on the hard ground we have had and then turn up in our medal on Saturday when it is forecast to be lashing down with rain and all of a sudden I have to play a different shot which means I am naturally not going to hit the ball as close as I take time to adjust to the new conditions. The Pelz's book is all about a consistent swing producing a consistent result and is based on pro's who practice daily on consistent surfaces. The swing I used to chip at our medal at the beginning of April, when I played very well and got cut will have my ball flying off the green if I went and did it today. So I'm not sure whether I will benefit from working out my short game handicap. I am thinking it is better to focus on my technique and use feel to adjust to the shot based on the on course conditions. Hope that makes sense?

 

[sev112]

DP's short game handicap isnt about how well you hit the ball with your wedges; it's totally about how you get your wedges within 10ft of the hole - irrespective of ground conditions.

Yes, you;ll have to take account of longer grass, wetter conditions etc on different days, but he has huge sections in that book on how balls react with greens depending on ground conditions etc.

I tried working this out about 4 or 5 years ago (maybe more)
- biggest difficulty was finding enough space and time to work on each of the 10x each shot !


Still, the guy is a genius ! Cannot recommend his latest offering "Damage Control" any higher - it is probably the reason most golfers handicaps are higher than they think it shoudl be .


Funny that years and years after pelz designed teh 2 ball putter, which was made illegal by USGA, that he is now contracted by Callaway/Odyssey as their putting designer consultant

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I've got the details of his short game and the scoring to deduce the handicap but haven't managed to find the time this season to give it a go. I'm off all of next week so it might be a fun way of whiling away a morning

 

[roccokj]

ya, havent really done much of them yet altough i do plan to.

3handicap in short sand

 

[HawkeyeMS]

DP's short game handicap isnt about how well you hit the ball with your wedges; it's totally about how you get your wedges within 10ft of the hole - irrespective of ground conditions.

Yes, you;ll have to take account of longer grass, wetter conditions etc on different days, but he has huge sections in that book on how balls react with greens depending on ground conditions etc.

I get all that, and I've read the book but if you spend months practicing on hard ground and get your short game handicap down to say 5 and then it pisses down, no matter how much you understand about the balls reaction on the green, you're short game won't be as good as it was because you haven't been practicing in those conditions. That's my opinion anyway.

I also disagree that it isn't about how well you hit the ball, how do you expect to hit 10 x 50 yard wedge shots to within 6 feet if your ball striking is inconsistent?

I've spent a lot of time practicing the clock thing with my 4 wedges and I am seeing the benefits, but it only works if you hit the ball well, if you hit some fate, some thin, some off the toe you are never, no matter how much you understand the conditions, going to hit a consistent yardage.

On top of all that, I don't think I have the time to do this.