In this video, I expose how the Professional Golfers’ Association helped create and promote a “one size fits all” swing method and not to help golfers improve, but to create dependency, sell certifications, and protect the status quo.
We’ll dig into the history of positional teaching, standardized certification systems, and how this “swing method” turned into a decades long sales pitch disguised as instruction. If you’ve ever felt like you’re being taught what to do instead of understanding why, this will open your eyes.
As a PGA Master Professional, I’ve seen both sides of the curtain. And I’m not staying silent.
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What if I told you the very first swing method wasn’t branded on YouTube, it was certified by the PGA? Yeah, that logo that everyone flexes on their polo, that might have been the original method peddler. And here is a story they don’t like to talk about. Back in the mid 1900s, a legendary coach named Ernest Jones was changing lives. He taught golfers to swing the club head with rhythm, feel, and simplicity. No mechanics, no positions, just movement and intention. And here is the wild part. Ernest Jones lost his leg in World War I. That’s right. He taught the golf swing with only one leg. He couldn’t demonstrate using standard positional technique. So, he developed field-based instruction that focused entirely on motion, tempo, and the natural sequencing of the body. That limitation became his superpower because instead of mimicking movements, he had to communicate them. and that made him one of the most effective teachers of all time. But when the PJ invited him to speak at one of their conferences, their response to his philosophy was shocking. PJ President Horton Smith at the time reportedly told Jones, “Your method is just too simple. We would not sell enough lessons.” To which Jones shot back, “That’s the trouble. You want your students to keep suffering. Just let that sink in.” A field-based approach that actually worked was rejected because it was not profitable. That, ladies and gentlemen, was the moment. That was the fork in the road. The PJ just didn’t turn away from simplicity. They pivoted towards a system, a method. And that method has been evolving ever since. Before stack and tilt, before one plane, before your buddy paid 400 bucks for a video series that ruined his golf game, there was the PGA. Founded in 1916, the PJ set out to elevate golf instruction. But as the game grew, so did the need to scale instruction, and that’s where things started to shift. Instead of tailoring instruction to the player, they began designing a system. And that system, it looked a lot like a method. It wasn’t always like this, but by the 70s, the PJ launched the PGM program, a full-blown curriculum to train coaches how to teach the model swing. Flat wrist, spine angle, parallel to top, match this, copy that. And if you couldn’t, well, you just weren’t doing it right. It became a checklist, not a motion. A position map, not a pattern. And with it came a brand new industry certified to teach a swing, get paid to sell the swing, sell the dream. That’s not instruction. That is a system. And if that is not a method, I don’t know what is. The PJ didn’t invent swing methods, but they created the ecosystem that made them possible. And that mindset of teach the same swing to the masses, certify it, scale it is everywhere now. Even companies like GolfTech, a strategic partner of the PJ, built their brand on systemized instruction. They also promised to lower the national handicap average. That was 20 years ago and over 12 million lessons ago. Guess what? National Handicap still hasn’t moved. Maybe it’s not the player. Maybe it’s the system. Maybe the model swing isn’t just ineffective. Maybe it was never meant to work for everyone in the first place. More certifications, more swing models, more branded solutions that lead average golfers in circles. And if it fails, well, there’s always another method waiting right around the corner. And here’s the plot twist. It’s okay to be average, but what’s not okay is never understanding why you are average. Because acceptance starts where false promises end. And that is what this video is about. And yes, I can say all this because I am one of only 350 master professionals in the world. I studied the material. I passed her test. I respected the institution, but I also outgrew it. Because somewhere along the way, I realized this whole system wasn’t built to set golfers free. It was built to keep them coming back. Rebuild your swing. Rewire your body. Reinvent your tempo. Wait, there it is right there. That’s why every method exists. Don’t you see it? They are preying on your average ability. And building a business around the idea that you never figure it out. Because rebuilding takes time, money, and emotional capital. And that cycle, it’s the product. The last thing I ever want to do is rebuild someone’s swing. that takes months, costs thousands, and destroys confidence. My goal is simple. To educate you, the player, help you understand your swing, your ball flight, your cause and effect. So you don’t need me, and you don’t need a method. So you can play golf on your own terms. Because real trust isn’t built through dependency. It’s built through clarity. And real coaching doesn’t create students. It creates self-sufficient assassins with a seven iron. Say that. six times in a row. And if you want to go deeper on why swing methods don’t actually exist, I made a full video called Methods Don’t Exist. Very original title, I know. The link is in the description. But right now, let’s finish what the PJ started. Let’s break the model. Let’s destroy the method. Let’s give the swing back to the golfer. Because here is one truth. You don’t need to move like a mannequin to hit it flush. You don’t need a swing like a tour pro to play your best. And you definitely don’t need a 2000 program to discover a move you already had. The model swing was a myth. The method was a sales pitch and the PGA might be the original swing guru in disguise. Damn. A huge thank you to these incredible supporters on the screen and to you watching this video. Your support helps us bring our golf curriculum to low-income children around the world at no cost to them. Just like our location in Cape Flat, South Africa, in partnership with the Hillard program. Please like, share, and consider subscribing. Together, we can give the gift of golf to kids who need it the most. [Music]
26 Comments
What do you think? Has the PGA helped or hurt everyday golfers with their “official” swing methods? Let me know your experience with PGA style instruction (good or bad)! 👇
I agree with some of what you say but not everything. We do need a baseline learning method or model for anything. We don’t learn how to write a novel without learning the letters of the alphabet, basic reading skills and writing grammar skills. And golf, like anything, does require some habit formation to move from “unconscious incompetence” to “unconscious competence”. I do think that feel-based golf coaches offer better instruction than position-based coaches because feel-based taps into one’s insight and awareness. Have a look at how Tim Gallwey, a formed university tennis coach, taught an overweight, middle-aged suburban mom to play tennis in 15 minutes when she had never held a tennis racket before by using imagery that she was already aware of. But even there, he had to offer some baseline instruction like how to hold the racket and throw the ball to serve.
Paralysis by analysis., send it
they did the same thing to count yogi
Subbed. Lessons and instruction made me much, much worse over the years. I took up golf at 16 years old and I could hit it straight and long but occasionally would hit one off line. My friends then started giving me advice and I got worse. Then I started to read the golf magazines and my spiral into the golf abyss began. Now, I learned that my grip was too weak (thanks Hogan), my swing was also fine, but I was slow to move my weight forward and once I fixed that, my scores plummeted. I now play all the time to a mid to low 70 scores and I taught my son how to play and he is doing great and just broke 80 a few months ago. He has only been playing about 10 months. I have warned him to not take tips nor read books on "how so and so played" because it will ruin his game. I know, it did mine.
maybe… just maybe… its time you dropped the PGA logo from your branding then? Your a master teacher in your own right. I happily let prospective students know I'm NOT a PGA teacher and have taught successfully for 30 years with lots of success stories . Just sayin 🤙
Bravo, bravo, bravo and a Big AMEN!!!!! 👏🙌👏🙌👏🙌👏
I am a former member of the LPGA Teaching Division. (And a PGA Apprentice forever….passed PGA bus. School 1 and 2, but didn't pass school three by a few points…..got down to a 3 handicap….passed both the playability tests for the PGA and the LPGA Teaching Division……)…… And now at age 61, I am trying to get back to teaching golf again. I cannot play due to my illness:
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but I can stand enough to teach a lesson.
Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉🎉.
You have stated what I have been wanting to say since I started teaching the Ernest Jones Method in 1997. My mentor was Arnie Frankel himself.
Just like Apostolic Succession:
Ernest Jones taught Nick Martino;
Nick Martino taught Arnie Frankel;
Arnie Frankel taught Monique LeMaire…… that's me!!!😮 😊
When I can figure out how to make YouTube videos, I would like to put all my teaching out to the You -niverse on YouTube:
Golf, Piano and music and Biblical Theology.
I am so happy that I found your channel 🎉. Keep up the great work…..and let your students find their natural swinging motion.
Blessings to you,
Miss Monique 🙂🙏🌷💗
Here in the UK the same thing. I have an early '70s PGA Training Manual with the same methodology you describe. Probably John Jacobs was the natural successor to Ernest Jones, but even he gets a bit prescriptive.
I'll chuck another thing into your pot. Business Management consultancy is driven by developing dependency in their clients
traditional golf teaching makes people bad, I had to develop my techniques that solve the 'golf is hard' problem
What a great video! Also a great shout out to Ernest Jones. I really hope you will do a video about the de la Torre concept.
And most go back to what swing they know……LOL
Excellent! I have been golfing for almost 3 years. I play multiple rounds a week and practice 3+ days a week. First thing I did as a new golfer was a Putting lesson and an Iron lesson. Then I studied the game, and the P system. I keep hitting 90 and will break it soon. THIS video is saying what I believe to be true!! THANK YOU for this video! I hear SO much conflicting advice, word salads about positions and nothing seems to match up. One Pro doing one thing, another doing whatever…I am 'finding' what works for me, and the less I try to 'do it right', the better I get. Golf is fun for me this way. I hope this is good feedback.
Speedgolftv – “hit the tire, marooch. That’s your swing”
Self Sufficient Seven Iron Assassins Scare Sorry Shills So Severely System Seller$ Shank Life Out of Bounds into Mrs. McHafferty's Swimming Pool
SON OF A BUCK 😠
Thanks!
I think GM started it first by introducing a new revamped model every year in the 20's to encourage new purchases. Like swings; the equipment gets an upgrade (an upgrade?) every year with promised improvements; maybe it is the cool you look or shape or colour scheme that gets people excited rather than technical aspects. Interesting Rory and Scheffler winning majors this year with old gear; for Rory the new drivers are not doing it for him.
So so true that's why there is so much interesting pushback from a teaching clinic Manuel De la Torre did for Club Pro's in a banquet hall. the questions they asked represented their level of confusion. For 99% of people not on tour, if you want to learn to swing a club and hit shots, just use Manuel DLT. it just works.
This video is eye opening and golden! Totally agree with you!
“Self sufficient assassins with a seven iron……”
I can only think of Three Great Players that rebuilt their swing and were as good or better than before! Tiger Faldo Hogan Yet we are all trying to do it!
Absolutely true. I found this out 30 yrs ago and found a lot of professional golfers back then that would not join the PGA for this very reason. If you look Pryor to Phil Mickelson 1991 the tour was producing 3 to 4 legends in the game every 10 yrs all the way back to Byron nelson. In the last 35 yrs only 2 legends.tiger and Phil. And do you know most of the guys who won a lot self taught players with minimal golf lessons. Call me Mr 58!
The PGA and golf instruction is like McDonald's.its built on repeat business.lot easier to sell a $2 hamburger for lunch than a steak dinner for $40. If golf was doing what Ernest Jones did one or 2 lessons they would have to find 5 to 10 new students every week just to keep them making a living . It's like Moses took you out in the desert and left you there. The goal is to take you into the promise land. PGA leaves you in the desert. No progress for the amateur after 109 yrs of being in existence. Lee Trevino told me you know what the qualifications of a golf instructor are? There are not any . You will never be able to sue them for malpractice!
love your videos. check this one out, gotta love auto voice translation used in this video.
100% Golf instruction has been a joke for a long time. First it was the preserve of the unathletic guys who made it difficult to join a golf club. Then the athletes like Tiger came in and some barriers came down, but still the myth of lessons continue. Some basics and imperatives are necessary. The rest needs to be left alone to develop athletically for each person.
I’ve been playing golf for around 30 years. I have lost count of the amount of lessons I’ve had over those 3 decades. And I don’t really want to think about how much I’ve spent on those golf lessons. I have always fluctuated around the 18 hcp mark and I’ve never been below 15. I am sure a lot of people here can relate to that and also how is seems virtually impossible to get really good at this game regardless of how many lessons you have or how much you practice what you are taught in those lessons. I’ve nearly given up golf a number of times over the years. But I keep coming back because I love it so much. And that is what these coaches are banking on.