DeBell Golf Club Pro Newsletter January 2021

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER BY PGA PROFESSIONAL JOAQUIN HERBOZO

JANUARY 2021

Next on the Tee The Importance of Putting & Mastering It

PGA Tour Putting Stats by Distance 1 Putt Percentages

95% from 3 feet 75% from 5 feet 38% from 10 feet 22% from 15 feet 14% from 20 feet

How Important Really is Your Putting?

2 Putt Percentages

Roughly 50% of what we do on the golf course is represented using a putter and yet it represents less than 25% of our practice time.

When thinking about the complexity of the golf swing, physically the putting stroke is the easiest motion we create. But what makes putting difficult for

1

2

3

GATHER INFO

VISUALIZE

EXECUTE

Green Read by taking a look at the entire green not just your ball and the hole.

See yourself doing it before executing it.

Trust yourself and hit the putt. Analyze then correct mistakes

1

5% from 3 feet 25% from 5 feet 61% from 10 feet 77% from 15 feet 84% from 20 feet 3 Putt Percentage 0.7% from 10 feet 1% from 15 feet 2% from 20 feet 3% from 25 feet 6% from 30 feet Expected Putting Avg. by Distance

1.626 from 10 feet 1.878 from 20 feet 1.978 from 30 feet 2.055 from 40 feet

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 2021

golfers is the inability to control speed, alignment, the art of green reading, and finally routine. Now, when reviewing our round of golf we generally think of things on both extreme sides, like a big tee shot down the middle of the fairway or all those lost balls. But what we overlook are all those shots that add up quickly – The missed 3 foot putt, the chunked chip shot or the bladed 9 iron into the green. We also overlook all the average, boring shots that accumulate into a high numbered scorecard. If you were to 2-putt every hole at DeBell GC you would have 36 strokes represented using a putter. The total par at DeBell is 71, which means roughly 50% of what we do on the course is represented with that flat head club.

Granted, 36 putts to a scratch or low handicap golfer is a bit much, but for the weekend golfer struggling to break 100 that would be a great accomplishment and a chance to finally break into double digits. So, if putting is so important, then why do we neglect to practice it? Well, with over twenty thousand lessons taught in my career I’ve almost heard it all, but the common ones are ‘it’s boring’, ‘not sure what to work on’ or ‘my driver needs more of my time’.

most golfers go straight to their ball and only read from their ball to the hole ignoring all other areas of the putting surface. This, in my opinion, is the easy-way out that will grant some success, however the golfer will never sustain a consistent putting game throughout the days, weeks or months of golfing different courses.

The Art of Green Reading & The Importance of Speed What makes golf pros and low handicap golfers great putters is their ability to see the line, trust it and hit it with the correct speed more often than not.

“seeing golfers habits and how they approach things is embedded in my DNA”

When watching golfers or students on the course I look at things that others watching might not catch. This might be because I teach golf for a living, but seeing golfers habits and how they approach things is embedded in my DNA. I look at their eyes – where they are looking? How do they carry themselves? Is the head down looking into the ground while they walk or are they looking forward to what needs to take place. When on the putting green I see

Instead, start training yourself to look at the entire green, map-out the highs and the lows of the green. Pay attention to how objects, like green side bunkers or a beautiful lake just off 2

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 2021

the green, effect slope on the green. Start with some basic questions to simplify your greenreading: ‘Is this putt traveling uphill or downhill?’ Once you figure that out it will translate into how hard you should hit your putt. Next ask yourself, ‘Will the ball break left or right of the hole?’ This will now give you an idea of the line your ball will be taking. So far this sounds fairly simple, but ultimately it comes down to putting the ball with the correct speed. If you hit the ball hard the ball will stay on its line longer and break later or if you hit the ball too soft it will take more break and most likely miss low.

These basic questions are just the start to mastering speed of putt. Once this is accomplished on a regular basis, you will then move into more intermediate questions like ‘Where is my break point in relation to my aim point?’ Sounds confusing, but when broken down will start to increase your percentage of putts made. I’ll tackle this question in future newsletters or shoot me an email for further discussion.

SHARPIE LINE ON THE BALL TO HELP WITH ALIGNMENT Many of us mark our golf balls for identification purposes, but consider adding an additional line that covers the small type on the ball.

Doing this it will allow you to use the sharpie line to help you aim correctly and will make lining-up your putter-site lines much easier.

This is a two-second process that can possibly shave a few strokes off your game, but more importantly, it will give you the confidence and peace of mind that you are aiming correctly.

The Power of Visualization & Routine When I was younger, I was lucky enough to take lessons from PGA Master Professional, Tim Eberlein. He was a very strict instructor who always made me practice like I was playing. He would always yell out, ‘Routine Joaquin, routine….stop forgetting to do your (bleep) routine!’

As a youngster I did it to please my instructor, but as I grew it became more than just routine. This routine helps me control my emotions, stress levels and anxiety over my shot. Routine made me feel like I was comfortable at home in my PJ’s watching a great movie. Something so simple is usually overlooked over and over amongst all levels of students. There is a select few I see show up to a putting green with their main objective to master their routine. With all the different types of shots

3

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 2021

we create in the golf swing, trying to remember all the concepts to create a decent shot can all get blended together. This is were having a routine for everything you do on a course is beneficial.

For putting, I have two routines. The first is for inside 15 feet where I’m trying to make a putt while focusing on speed and path. The second, is for lag putting where the make-percentages are very low, but speed is ultimately the contributing factor to walking off the green with a 2 putt. This is the challenge I have for you. Next time you are on the putting green, place the ball at 10 feet from the hole and work on a routine from start to finish – from grabbing that putter to the ball in the hole. Then see if you can duplicate your routine every single time. When hitting a string of shots in front of students or doing my routine in front of student they realize that everything I do is the exact same way every time all the way down to the twirl. When seeing me around the course don’t be afraid to approach me and see this first hand – it’s quite impressive if I may say so myself.

While having a great routine will increase the percentages of a good shot, what will get you playing your best golf is visualization. Have you ever played the golf course in your head prior to showing up to the course to physically play? I can say I have played thousands of rounds visually without ever showing up to the course and in some cases I’ve been able to manifest the visualized round with exact accuracy - crazy, right?. Visualization is a huge factor to having success on the course. How many of you have heard the phrase, “Golf is played six-inches between your ears.”? It’s not a joke, it’s a true statement about visualization. Eventually with practice, we all develop a somewhat decent swing, but how you think and control your emotions is the difference between having a great round or a poor round. When crouched down reading a putt, I’m visualizing the golf ball and how it will roll, take the slope and how it will drop in the hole – this is how it started for me. Pretty soon, the visual routine becomes second nature and you start taking it further and further like visualizing the sharpie line rolling end over end and hitting the back of the cup creating that perfect cup sound of a ball dropping in the hole. The end goal with visualizing is to be able to do it with every shot in your bag and eventually you’ll be able to play golf at home while flopped on the couch. This takes time and patience but I can guarantee that you will drop more shots in the hole if you see it before you do it.

4

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 2021

Straight from the Pro Well DeBell fans, I hope you enjoyed my first of 12 Newsletters for 2021. A few things to look forward to this year from your Head Golf Professional: monthly newsletters, my new YouTube page called, Swing Solutions (videos currently being created) with it’s own Facebook and Instagram Page (TBD), and finally my EBook to hit the Apple App store by end of 2021 called ‘The Golfer’s Cookbook’, a collection of drills to cover all areas of your golf game that will be interactive with video tutorials to help guide the reader.

I thank all of you and if you are interested in private lessons I can be reached via email at joaquin@debellgolf.com or via phone (818)314-0455.

I wish all of you health, success and most importantly a perfect round of golf in 2021.

5