What does Phil Mickelson mean by a Pelz 9-iron (or any iron)?
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What does Phil Mickelson mean by a Pelz 9-iron (or any iron)?

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If you've heard Phil Mickelson and caddie Tim Mickelson have conversations during a golf tournament -- and there's no doubt you have -- then you may have heard the highly successful duo talk about hitting a Pelz 8-iron or a Pelz 9-iron. And you've probably wondered what they mean by that.

What is a Pelz 9-iron?

Decoding what that means is pretty simple. Pelz is invoking for Dave Pelz, who has been Mickelson's long-time short-game coach. And the number is the number of the iron or golf club in question. The club part is easy; that's what he's swinging. But Dave Pelz had to explain what he taught to Mickelson that came to be understood as a Pelz shot.

As he told Golf.com in 2014, the Pelz shot is something he taught Mickelson in the winter of 2003-04. Mickelson takes the club back until his right arm (as a lefty) is parallel to the ground, or 3 o'clock on an imaginary clock for a lefty (9 o'clock for a righty) and then swings through at a normal pace.

It's a shot that goes less distance than the standard-issue iron but also has less spin. Mickelson can use this shot to keep a ball under the wind and skip into a hole location with a reliable understanding of how far the ball will fly.

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Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is founder and editor of Golf News Net. He has been writing and broadcasting about golf for nearly 20 years. Ballengee lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family. He is currently a +2.6 USGA handicap, and he has covered dozens of major championships and professional golf tournaments. He likes writing about golf and making it more accessible by answering the complex questions fans have about the pro game or who want to understand how to play golf better.

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