Dave Peltz's Putting Bible

[JBsNuggets]

Just got my copy of Peltz's Putting Bible last night in the mail. I am 2 chapters in to this point. I personally was shocked that someone could write a book that thick on putting!

 

Anyway, I haven't really gotten into the meat and potatoes of this thing yet, but I was hoping to start a discussion about some of his premises and get the board's opinion on the book overall, his teaching style, etc.

[larrybud]

I've read it many times, and I don't buy the straight back, straight through method unless your spine at your shoulders is horizontal to the ground, otherwise you would have to compensate somewhere to get the putter to go SBST.

I do think there's some good stuff in there, but for my money, I like the short game bible better.

The best thing I ever did for my putting is understanding Geoff Mangum/Aimpoint method of reading greens, finding the fall line, etc, however I don't buy into Mangum's gravity stroke either, since our shoulders aren't a level riding on a lubricated hinge.

[ej002]

SBST works if your hands are in the position described.

[larrybud]

Your shoulders turn perpendicular to your spine. If your spine isn't parallel to the ground at your shoulders, it means your shoulders can't turn without going "inside" the line, which means for your hands to go SBST, you would have to push your hands away from you relative to your shoulders as you take it back.

Mangum at least acknowledges this and advocates having the spine at your shoulder parallel to the ground (I'm sure he through out some medical term for that part of your spine, but I can't recall what it is).

[ej002]

Your spine rounds and you can get your neck tilt perp to the ground which can get you a SBST shoulder rock. It is not hard.

[onuzim]

I just started reading this now, I need all the help I can get at the moment. Played a quick 9 after work today and had 23 putts - I am almost inconsolable with a gross score of 47! My putting is killing my game.

I have an arc stroke, does Dave Pelz promote SBST?

[ej002]

he does, his theory is that if you put the hands directly under the shoulders they will rock back and forth. I have no problems doing that provided my eyes look straight down at the fall... no adam scott looking down your cheeks.

If the hands are inside the shoulders, they will reverse roll, outside, they will open shut.

[onuzim]

[quote name='ej002' timestamp='1399053554' post='9219125']
he does, his theory is that if you put the hands directly under the shoulders they will rock back and forth. I have no problems doing that provided my eyes look straight down at the fall... no adam scott looking down your cheeks.

If the hands are inside the shoulders, they will reverse roll, outside, they will open shut.
[/quote]

Great, thanks for the reply. Best I get down to some studying then - I am open to anything right now.

[4pillars]

You should read Tom Stickney's article on SBST

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/135327/the-arc-vs-square-to-square-putting-method-either-or-neither/"]http://www.golfwrx.com/135327/the-arc-vs-square-to-square-putting-method-either-or-neither/[/url]

[COACH9]

Most important info in the book is how much more important face angle is than swing path. But he seems to accentuate swing path by being a SBST guy.

[larrybud]

[quote name='4pillars' timestamp='1399059126' post='9219697']
You should read Tom Stickney's article on SBST

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/135327/the-arc-vs-square-to-square-putting-method-either-or-neither/"]http://www.golfwrx.c...her-or-neither/[/url]
[/quote]


[quote]
"The conclusion: Every natural, non-manipulated putting stroke has some degree of arc. The only way to eliminate this arc would be to set the body in a very bent-over posture and/or make a stroke manipulation during the transition period of the stroke.

[left][color=#000000][background=rgb(255, 255, 255)]If the player’s back was 90 degrees to the ground, it would be very possible for his arc to be almost straight back and straight through with no manipulations necessary."[/background][/color][/left]
[/quote]

Bingo.

Probably the only player on either tour with a true SBST is Michelle Wie.

[JBsNuggets]

I'm a little over halfway through the book at this point, his way of explaining things (from a rocket scientist POV) is really interesting. The thing I like about everything he 'preaches' is that it is a direct result of observations he has made through testing periods. He assumes nothing and experiments and puts theories that have existed in golf for years to the test to see if there is validity or not. Very interesting guy to say the least whether you agree with his results or not. He is very thorough.

That being said I seem to agree with all of his major premises; that the simpler the putting stroke the more repeatable, that the SBST method is the simplest concept (whether or not there is a minuscule amount of face rotation due to the spine/shoulder angle issue that was previously stated up there ^^^ is irrelevant IMO). If you setup the way he describes it truly is simple and natural to have a SBST putting stroke, but the main purpose of this comes from his findings that the face impact angle is the most important determinant in where the ball will go.

His views on green reading and measuring break are spot on, visualizing the line to incorporate the break and the speed of the putt together and using consistent tempo/rhythm to learn distance control has helped my putting tremendously. Definitely a great read so far, I will probably check out his short game book as well once I finish the book.

Edit: The section about figuring out the center mass of each individual golf ball may have been a little over the top for the average weekend warrior

[JBsNuggets]

[quote name='COACH9' timestamp='1399059221' post='9219705']
Most important info in the book is how much more important face angle is than swing path. But he seems to accentuate swing path by being a SBST guy.
[/quote]

I'm guessing you haven't read the book (or at least the first 11 chapters where I am to this point), but I don't recall a sentence where he has accentuated the stroke path. He actually goes into detail about the faults of amateurs and pointlessness of their practice sessions because they only focus on stroke path. Point being he certainly does not accentuate the path, his reasoning for being SBST is that it minimizes face rotation.

[Parzinski]

What I found most helpful is the "lumpy doughnut" concept.....

....A ball rolling thru a footprint will be impacted as much as a human stepping off a curb...or something to that effect

Sometimes you can do everything right...line, stroke, speed..and still miss...because of a footprint that was made hours before

I blame most of my misses on the "lumpy doughnut"..... It helps keeps my putter from turning into a helicopter

[JBsNuggets]

Yea, he does a good job of pointing out the main flaw in the putting journey of amateurs, how they assume the result of a putt is caused by something that may be working perfectly fine. Practicing straight-line issues like alignment, path, face angle, etc. on sloped greens (which I now realizes is pointless), missing a breaking putt to the low side and blaming it on the read, when it was probably the speed, etc...

[Parzinski]

He does have some great traing aids...the Tutor is fantastic

[dlam]

I became a better putter when I did not pay any attention to this SBST or arc business. My eyes are more concerned with how square my putter is to the target.
When i was too concerned about path i was watching the path and not enough attention to keep face angle square. I think my path depends on what weather or not I want to keep a square face and I naturally go SBST or if I want to open-close the face then I have to arc the path.