general

This book deserves many more than five stars!

This is simply the best book to improve your putting that has ever been written.

Let me give you an example. I recently played in Southern California after a rain-soaked night. The greens were dripping. My opponent said "I wonder how hard to hit it through this water." And I quoted from this book. He made his putt, and so did I. In fact, the highlight of the round was a tricky 23 foot birdie putt. Thank you, Dave Pelz!

I have taken Dave Pelz's short game course, so I didn't know how much this book would help me. So I came to this book thinking, this will be a good refresher. That was right, but the insights I got from this book exceeded all that I learned in that course about putting.

The book explains the engineering approach that Pelz has brought to putting. He measures everything he can think of. The beginning explains key concepts of green problems -- like the raised donut around the hole where no one steps (the rest of the green is downtrodden by thousands of footsteps daily).

The next section explains the 15 building blocks of putting -- like aim, path, touch, rhythm, ritual, feel, face angle, stability, attitude, and routine.

Then Pelz puts special attention on speed and reading the green. Chapter 7 on green reading was worth the price of the book alone. He answered questions I have asked dozens of pros, and received no good answers to.

Then, he describes how to use these basics to improve your putting. I have been using a number of these for the last several years, and can certainly attest that they work.

Each point is beautifully explained. He has photographs of great players, graphs of experiments he has conducted, graphs of research he has done with average and great players, and diagrams of what to do and not to do. The language is simple and unambiguous.

For the average golfer, this book can take 4-6 strokes off your game. It will mean winning a lot of weekend bets.

One of the book's great strengths is that it starts with the thinking that most people have about putting that gets them in trouble. He helps you identify your stalled thinking that holds back your putting, and then shows you how to break out of the stall and develop an improved habit.

If you have a father, grandfather, uncle, brother, or son who is a father and plays golf, this is the perfect gift for Father's Day. I took the liberty of giving a copy to myself as my Father's Day gift this year. Maybe it will help me win the Father's Day golf tournament!

Keep in mind that in the average round you'll make more putts than you will tee shots, fairway shots, or finesse shots around the green. Get better at putting, and your score can really improve! A two foot putt and a 300 yard drive count for the same on the score -- one stroke.

Enjoy your putting game the most!

If you are serious about the game and want to better understand the most important aspects of playing the game, this book is a must read. It's an in depth study of putting at a level that some won't fully understand. Not to worry, in time you will understand more of what this book has to say. I suspect that it's a book that can be read every few years and it will speak to you at a new level. This book has something for everyone. Particularly those of us that strive for better scores everytime we walk onto the first tee.

I was a good putter before reading this and now I feel Dave Pelz has opened my eyes to significant improvements in putting. The game deserves this kind of study and I'd like to commend Mr. Pelz for writing what will certainly be an instant classic. I can't wait to start "The Short Game Bible".

To start, I would have to say that this book is easily the most detailed, most comprehensive book on putting ever written. Dave Pelz, the super-freak of golf, most definitely covers every aspect of putting that there is.

That having been said, as a big fan of Dave Pelz Short Game Bible, I was thinking that I would like this book just as much. Turns out I was wrong. The style that Pelz presents in the putting bible is not as clear as in the Short Game Bible, and he tends to ramble about certain things and repeat himself continually. I have adjusted some aspects of my putting and feel like I am a better putter after reading this book, but for some reason it did not grab me like the Short Game Bible did.

I would strongly recommend this book for two types of people: VERY serious golfers who are planning on dedicating a large amount of time to improving their putting, and people who consider putting to be their favorite part of golf. For the rest of us, it's not a great read, but can still help any golfer become a much more adept player on the greens.