More than 55 million Americans play golf regularly, and they all know that the best chance of lowering their handicap (which is every player's obsession) is in the “short game”—that is, all strokes from about 100 yards into the green. Based on the popular syndicated single-panel golf-tip feature “Master Strokes”—and following up Running Press's successful book Master Strokes (2003)—Master Strokes: The Short Game is a handy pocket-sized compendium that includes single-page illustrated tips to help improve putting, chipping, pitching, sand trap play, reading greens, and much more. Master Strokes: The Short Game is a must-have tool for any golf bag or locker, and the perfect gift for golfers of any level.

Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible is the first book in a four-book series, The Dave Pelz Scoring Game Series. The next volume in the series will be Dave Pelz's Putting Bible. "He who rules the short game collects the gold." --Dave Pelz's Golden Rule of Golf Fed up with trying to imitate the pros, buying the latest expensive equipment, and seeing your handicap stay the same? The first book by bestselling author and internationally revered golf instructor Dave Pelz since Putt Like the Pros, his bestselling classic, Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible can show you the way to lower scores by improving your short game. The result of decades of scientific research studying thousands of golfers, Dave's philosophy is as simple as it is revolutionary and groundbreaking: Instead of practicing the wrong things the right way, or the right things the wrong way, Pelz shows you how to find your own personal weaknesses and how to improve them to efficiently lower your scores. Packed with all the knowledge, charts, and photos needed to learn from the master, Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible is the essential book for every golfer who's looking to improve his or her game. Dave's approach to golf is easy to understand: 80 percent of the strokes golfers lose to par are determined by their play within 100 yards of the green--the crucial scoring game. The most important and yet the least focused-on aspect of golf, your short game, can indeed make or break your entire game. And nobody teaches the short game like Dave Pelz. His renowned golf schools and clinics focus exclusively on putting and the short game, attracting top players like Tom Kite, Colin Montgomerie, two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, reigning PGA champion Vijay Singh, Steve Elkington, Payne Stewart, Peter Jacobsen, and many LPGA players including Annika Sorenstam and Liselotte Neumann. The pros know, as you are about to learn, that while others teach golfers how to swing, Dave Pelz teaches golfers how to score . . . and win. A former physicist for NASA, Dave brings a scientific rigor to his research and instruction that has made him the top short-game expert in the world. Dave has observed and then taught thousands of golfers to improve their ability to score better. The years he has spent studying the short game, including chipping, lobs, pitches, distance wedges, and bunker play, have resulted in an unequaled expertise and a fascinating body of knowledge on golf, with the statistics and data to back it up. In this new book, Dave for the first time shares the understanding and techniques he has taught the pros, including a wide array of innovative tests and exercises for mastering those deceptive and high-pressure shots of the short game. Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible is an essential book for golfers of all levels. Covering everything golfers need to know to improve their short game, Dave's system can--and will--help you to consistently shoot lower scores.

From 50 yards and in, no golfer in history has demonstrated more talent, flair, creativity and precision, or generated more raw excitement, than Phil Mickelson. His ability with the sand wedge and putter are legendary not only among fans but his peers as well, and it is his skill with those clubs that is primarily responsible for his winning 34 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including three major championships. In his first-ever instruction book, Mickelson explains in detail how to master every phase of the short game. Mickelson maintains that any golfer of average ability can become a deadly short-game player by approaching the subject with a blend of science (proper mechanics and setup) and art (imagination and feel). Mickelson does a fine job explaining both; combining the wisdom of his great teachers with his own fertile imagination, cultivated from 34 years of experimentation, trial and error. No golfer can afford to miss out on Mickelson′s secrets and tips.

When it comes to playing golf, all players--amateurs to pros--have one thing in common: the desire to lower their scores. This collection of the most read column on golfing, "Master Strokes," distributed by United Feature Syndicate, is a practical, succinct instructional companion. Designed to offer easy-to-follow tips, each mini-lesson is presented alongside a detailed, full-page illustration. With more than 400 illustrations to help readers visualize new techniques, Master Strokes is perfect for beginning and seasoned golfers alike. Created by Phil Franke, staff illustrator for Golf Tips magazine, and Nick Mastroni, senior editor of Senior Golfer magazine, this sporty guide is ideal for golfers at every level.

One of Golf Digest's 10 Best Teachers in America (No. 7) helps you master the most difficult short-game shots in golf, just the way Seve Ballesteros did Here's one golf book you should definitely own if you want to improve your game and lower your scores. Top golf instructor Martin Hall, host of Golf Channel's weekly TV show, School of Golf, teaches you how to conquer challenging short-game shots as played by one of the all-time masters of the short game, Seve Ballesteros. By the time you're done with this book you'll have a fresh arsenal of short-game shots to choose from, whether it be running the ball through a bunker or hooking it around a tree, or hitting a super-high, super-soft flop shot that lands on the green like a butterfly with sore feet. You'll uncover the secrets that made Ballesteros the most dominant and respected short-game player of his era?and put them to work to boost your own game. Presents easy-to-follow techniques for improving your short game, with more than fifty shots inspired by five-time major winner Seve Ballesteros Offers valuable insights into the imagination and thought process of Ballesteros, one of golf's greatest innovators, as well as tips for the average golfer on how to escape the most difficult short-game situations Written by Martin Hall, one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers and the 2008 PGA Teacher of the Year Draws on Hall's hours of experience watching Ballesteros hit balls and create shots up close while playing on the European PGA Tour Includes never-before published photos of Ballesteros at the peak of his career, hitting many of the shots in the book

Supported by state-of-the-art motion analysis research, "short game guru to the pros" James Sieckmann unveils his "finesse wedge" swing -- a proven and pragmatic way to learn, practice, and perform with each wedge in the bag in every situation -- and shows players that upgrading their short game is possible. Since James Sieckmann first revealed his short-game methods two decades ago, he has amassed a cultlike following of more than seventy PGA and LPGA Tour disciples and has been dubbed the “short-game guru to the pros” (GOLF Magazine). Using his system, sev­eral of Sieckmann’s students have become some of the best short-game players of the modern era. A two-time winner on the PGA Tour jumped 117 spots in the Sand Save rankings in one season; another client quickly jumped 81 spots in Scrambling percentage. The benefits of a good short game are undisputed. Unfortunately, players at all levels fail to develop effective short-game skills because instructors teach the exact opposite of the correct technique. Sieckmann studied the greatest short-game players in recent memory—including Seve Ballesteros, Corey Pavin, and Raymond Floyd—to develop a proven and pragmatic way to learn, practice, and perform with each wedge in every situation. His unique observations, which were later verified by motion capture technology, work equally well for amateurs and pros. In his long-awaited first book, Sieckmann opens up his vault of secrets for all golfers. After breaking down the basics, he presents a session-by-session training and practice guide—the same one he creates for his tour clients—to help the reader develop and sustain correct habits, avoid common flaws, and master essential skills. Next, Sieckmann explains how to optimize a player’s wedge swing for every scenario. An easy-to-learn and easy-to-use system, Your Short Game Solution will be the go-to guide anywhere golf is played.

"The hottest instructor in golf" (Sports Illustrated) takes on old-school gurus with a far more accessible, intuitive, and innovative approach to those essential chip shots, pitches, and bunker rescues. Veteran golfers know that the secret to a lower score is a solid short game, but mastering those small strokes can be maddening—even for the pros. One of golf's most revered instructors, Stan Utley now reveals the step-by-step tactics behind his revolutionary short-game techniques in The Art of the Short Game. After introducing readers to his groundbreaking philosophy that explains why most players don't see all the shots available to them near the green, Utley moves on to shatter conventional wisdom about stance, grip, and ball position. From choosing the right clubs (including a checklist of must-haves that should always be in your bag) to spin reduction during chipping and fearless sand play, The Art of the Short Game demystifies the most aggravating shots on the links. Though Utley's primer features a full set of drills, accompanied by more than seventy-five photos, his approach is far removed from the monotonous, mechanical instruction of yesteryear. Giving a time-tested secret weapon to every golfer at every level, Utley's short-game methods turn trouble shots into triumph.