Question:
I’ve taken this a bit further, as you suggest below. I’ve started fooling with my grip at setup, after taking a practice swing, trying to find just the right grip to complement the stance, lie, and so on. I don’t do the neutral grip all the time, but it’s often more neutral. Further, I think this depends somewhat on the length of the club. It’s easier to do the neutral grip with the short-irons than it seems to be with the long irons. Mike Mike Dalecki–Charter Member, RSG Clique I do not patronize spammers! Help keep RSG clean. Expect the same etiquette from me on RSG as on the golf course. RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/daleckim.htm – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Mike, I hope you got your rounds in this weekend. I was in Milwaukee this weekend but no golf. I agree that the neutral/weak grip is probably very important. I hit some of those shots so well that i wonder what would happen if they were extended into the full swing – say 12 0′clock with a bit of coil. Doing the Pelz finesse swing I no longer come over the top and drag the ball left. B. J. Wilkinson BJ: I’m having similar luck with his approach. Originally, I read the ideas (this last Christmas), thought they were valid, but for whatever reason I chose not to put them into practice. Part of that, I think, was getting new irons in May, and new fairway woods/driver later in the year. But lately, I’ve been playing with the 7:30 and 9:00 swings with my 60 degree lob wedge. Mostly I was trying to determine if I could have some consistency in how I hit. Surprisingly, I am consistent about 80 percent of the time with them. Now, I don’t know whether the swings are REALLY 7:30 and 9:00. Rather, what they are is repeatable, they have known distances, and I don’t care WHAT the clock says 
What’s really made it work for me is the neutral grip. I’ve tended to use a stronger left-hand on most shots, and that doesn’t let me take the hands out of the Pelzian shots as much as I’d like; his neutral grip works for me. Seemed a bit strange, but once I started seeing results, not strange at all. It has started me fooling around with grips a bit on other shots. I’ve had a tendency to pull shots or hook them when I go wrong, and a slightly weaker, more neutral grip has helped to counter this. It’s been fun finding myself faced with shots I believe I can get close. I only have about 4 ranges that are reliable (two with LW, two with SW), but it’s a start. Like you, I’m lamenting the passage of summer into winter (I’m in SW Wisconsin). But I’m going out tomorrow for 18, and maybe 18 more on Sunday. Mike Mike Dalecki–Charter Member, RSG Clique I do not patronize spammers! Help keep RSG clean. Expect the same etiquette from me on RSG as on the golf course. RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/daleckim.htm That scraping sound i hear is the window of golf opportunity closing here in Central Illinois. I played yesterday on a warmish, grey, windless day after it had rained 0.75 in overnight. I gave myself 4 Pelz weak grip, dead hands, no coil, distance 9 o’clock wedge swings, 3 with the sand wedge about 55 yards, 1 with the 60 degree lob wedge of about 40 yards. Three of them ended up within gimme distance ( 2 SW, 1 LW), the other SW overshot by about 10 yards – maybe downhill, downwind. I was able to make an assertive swing with a full finish with the confidence that a good swing would go the distance and no further. They flew a mile high, dead straight and sat right down. This was much better than the guessing, easing swing i used to use for these shots. Pelz’s Short Game Bible continues to not disappoint me. B. J. Wilkinson
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Response:
I’m having similar luck with his approach. Originally, I read the ideas (this last Christmas), thought they were valid, but for whatever reason I chose not to put them into practice. Part of that, I think, was getting new irons in May, and new fairway woods/driver later in the year. But lately, I’ve been playing with the 7:30 and 9:00 swings with my 60 degree lob wedge. Mostly I was trying to determine if I could have some consistency in how I hit. Surprisingly, I am consistent about 80 percent of the time with them.
It’s funny you know. I felt the same about Pelz’s book. Good ideas, but didn’t put them into practice. Worked on the 7.30, 9.00 and 10.30 finesse swings for a while, then didn’t persist, parhaps passing them off as too complicated. Then last night I was out on the course playing the usual 10-hole Friday evening competition, and on the 320-metre 8th hit a booming drive straight down the middle off the elevated tee. I finished level with a tree I knew was 75 metres from the pin, which was at green centre. "10.30 sand wedge" I thought, almost in passing. Nice controlled swing, ball lands and stops four feet from the pin. Maybe I took in more than I thought. Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/wilsonc.htm Trentham Golf Club: http://publishing.kyneton.net.au/trentham
Response:
Mike, I hope you got your rounds in this weekend. I was in Milwaukee this weekend but no golf. I agree that the neutral/weak grip is probably very important. I hit some of those shots so well that i wonder what would happen if they were extended into the full swing – say 12 0′clock with a bit of coil. Doing the Pelz finesse swing I no longer come over the top and drag the ball left. B. J. Wilkinson – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – BJ: I’m having similar luck with his approach. Originally, I read the ideas (this last Christmas), thought they were valid, but for whatever reason I chose not to put them into practice. Part of that, I think, was getting new irons in May, and new fairway woods/driver later in the year. But lately, I’ve been playing with the 7:30 and 9:00 swings with my 60 degree lob wedge. Mostly I was trying to determine if I could have some consistency in how I hit. Surprisingly, I am consistent about 80 percent of the time with them. Now, I don’t know whether the swings are REALLY 7:30 and 9:00. Rather, what they are is repeatable, they have known distances, and I don’t care WHAT the clock says What’s really made it work for me is the neutral grip. I’ve tended to use a stronger left-hand on most shots, and that doesn’t let me take the hands out of the Pelzian shots as much as I’d like; his neutral grip works for me. Seemed a bit strange, but once I started seeing results, not strange at all. It has started me fooling around with grips a bit on other shots. I’ve had a tendency to pull shots or hook them when I go wrong, and a slightly weaker, more neutral grip has helped to counter this. It’s been fun finding myself faced with shots I believe I can get close. I only have about 4 ranges that are reliable (two with LW, two with SW), but it’s a start. Like you, I’m lamenting the passage of summer into winter (I’m in SW Wisconsin). But I’m going out tomorrow for 18, and maybe 18 more on Sunday. Mike Mike Dalecki–Charter Member, RSG Clique I do not patronize spammers! Help keep RSG clean. Expect the same etiquette from me on RSG as on the golf course. RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/daleckim.htm That scraping sound i hear is the window of golf opportunity closing here in Central Illinois. I played yesterday on a warmish, grey, windless day after it had rained 0.75 in overnight. I gave myself 4 Pelz weak grip, dead hands, no coil, distance 9 o’clock wedge swings, 3 with the sand wedge about 55 yards, 1 with the 60 degree lob wedge of about 40 yards. Three of them ended up within gimme distance ( 2 SW, 1 LW), the other SW overshot by about 10 yards – maybe downhill, downwind. I was able to make an assertive swing with a full finish with the confidence that a good swing would go the distance and no further. They flew a mile high, dead straight and sat right down. This was much better than the guessing, easing swing i used to use for these shots. Pelz’s Short Game Bible continues to not disappoint me. B. J. Wilkinson
Response:
BJ: I’m having similar luck with his approach. Originally, I read the ideas (this last Christmas), thought they were valid, but for whatever reason I chose not to put them into practice. Part of that, I think, was getting new irons in May, and new fairway woods/driver later in the year. But lately, I’ve been playing with the 7:30 and 9:00 swings with my 60 degree lob wedge. Mostly I was trying to determine if I could have some consistency in how I hit. Surprisingly, I am consistent about 80 percent of the time with them. Now, I don’t know whether the swings are REALLY 7:30 and 9:00. Rather, what they are is repeatable, they have known distances, and I don’t care WHAT the clock says What’s really made it work for me is the neutral grip. I’ve tended to use a stronger left-hand on most shots, and that doesn’t let me take the hands out of the Pelzian shots as much as I’d like; his neutral grip works for me. Seemed a bit strange, but once I started seeing results, not strange at all. It has started me fooling around with grips a bit on other shots. I’ve had a tendency to pull shots or hook them when I go wrong, and a slightly weaker, more neutral grip has helped to counter this. It’s been fun finding myself faced with shots I believe I can get close. I only have about 4 ranges that are reliable (two with LW, two with SW), but it’s a start. Like you, I’m lamenting the passage of summer into winter (I’m in SW Wisconsin). But I’m going out tomorrow for 18, and maybe 18 more on Sunday. Mike Mike Dalecki–Charter Member, RSG Clique I do not patronize spammers! Help keep RSG clean. Expect the same etiquette from me on RSG as on the golf course. RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/daleckim.htm – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – That scraping sound i hear is the window of golf opportunity closing here in Central Illinois. I played yesterday on a warmish, grey, windless day after it had rained 0.75 in overnight. I gave myself 4 Pelz weak grip, dead hands, no coil, distance 9 o’clock wedge swings, 3 with the sand wedge about 55 yards, 1 with the 60 degree lob wedge of about 40 yards. Three of them ended up within gimme distance ( 2 SW, 1 LW), the other SW overshot by about 10 yards – maybe downhill, downwind. I was able to make an assertive swing with a full finish with the confidence that a good swing would go the distance and no further. They flew a mile high, dead straight and sat right down. This was much better than the guessing, easing swing i used to use for these shots. Pelz’s Short Game Bible continues to not disappoint me. B. J. Wilkinson
Response:
That scraping sound i hear is the window of golf opportunity closing here in Central Illinois. I played yesterday on a warmish, grey, windless day after it had rained 0.75 in overnight. I gave myself 4 Pelz weak grip, dead hands, no coil, distance 9 o’clock wedge swings, 3 with the sand wedge about 55 yards, 1 with the 60 degree lob wedge of about 40 yards. Three of them ended up within gimme distance ( 2 SW, 1 LW), the other SW overshot by about 10 yards – maybe downhill, downwind. I was able to make an assertive swing with a full finish with the confidence that a good swing would go the distance and no further. They flew a mile high, dead straight and sat right down. This was much better than the guessing, easing swing i used to use for these shots. Pelz’s Short Game Bible continues to not disappoint me. B. J. Wilkinson