Well, said Bill.
Pelz outlines the path to perfecting one's short game in his Pyramid of Learning (Fig. 1.61 -SG Bible). While it looks like a long advertisement for his products, it is really a road map for getting the most out of his system. You go as far as you wish/can affford. Most players will only work on the bottum one or so levels. And for most of us, that might be the best return for the money/time. But if you are working towards going Pro, or have the passion, time and money, you can work further up the pyramid.
The interesting part is that he doesn't suggest the Short Game Clinic as an alternate first level - you know, "If you don't have the patience for working through the book, then come get the hands-on, short-version done in a day"... His first tier is reading and "intellectually understanding" the book. Then watch videos and listen to course-oriented audio tapes, THEN attend a clinic.
If you go to a clinic for $375 and haven't done your homework of reading and trying everything you can to understand and practice what is in it, then you are not getting your money's worth in the Clinic. But I imagine his instructors are skilled enough to fine tune your understanding and practice of the system with feedback during the clinics.
Someday I hope to attend a clinic, but as much as I have improved in my short game, really understanding the book will take me a good while longer. (I'm taking it with me to Mazatlan on vacation, should get some quality reading in there!
)
BTW, as a personal anecdote, the reason I started working on the Pelz system was because 100 yds to green - was the worse part of my game. I would, several times in a round, whack a beautiful drive on a par 4 to within 20-50 yards of the green, and then literally score a bogey on these holes! Very frustrating, especially as my putting is pretty good. I can say that working the 4x3 wedge system, using a small laminated chart of the distances for those
clubs in my pocket, my short has REALLY improved. I had 50 yd shot after my drive on a par 4 the other day, looked at my chart, decided on a 9:00 SW, hit it like I'm supposed to, and stuck it 5 feet from the pin! I never used to do that.
I actually use 5 wedges
. My PW is 46º, so I also have a 50º GW, 55º SW, 60º LW and a 64º XW. When I first played back in the 70'S a 46º club was a 9 iron, so the PW used to be what a GW is now - one of the results of "getting more distance" out of new
irons (by changing the loft in the sets). I find I really don't use the XW much, so if I find I miss one of my long
irons, I'll drop XW. I'd still be using 4 wedges...