A short while ago, I wrote an article for the Annual Review of Golf Coaching on the impact of John Jacobs on golf coaching. John’s impact on golf instruction cannot be overstated and I thought you would enjoy reading it. The article is reprinted below with permission of the publishers. Hope you enjoy it.
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The Impact of John Jacobs on Golf Coaching:
A Commentary by Jim Hardy
INTRODUCTION
I firmly believe John Jacobs is the father of modern golf instruction worldwide. His revelation on how to always correctly diagnose a student’s problem was revolutionary. It was ground breaking when he introduced it and it still is today. Prior to John’s method of diagnosis and still too often today, the method used by instructors was to start with an examination of the swing relative to the fundamentals that the particular instructor thought was important. The focus was to make the swing conform to a certain preconceived fundamental shape. John’s approach started from an entirely different perspective. He started his diagnosis from the flight of the ball rather than swing shape. His idea claimed the golfer’s mistake was the errant ball flight and you traced the cause of the mistake through a series of logical steps to find its origination.
JACOBS’ METHOD
To understand his method, you first have to accept one of John’s rules of golf as true; i.e., “the sole purpose of the golf swing is to produce a correct impact – the method employed is of no significance as long as it is repetitive.” That statement is at the root of John’s teaching and of his fault diagnosis. The swing might appear unorthodox – look at Jim Furyk, Lee Trevino, John Daly, etc. – but if we are to understand golf, we must first judge the ball flight as to its correctness and repetitive nature. All the game’s great players with unorthodox swings seem to defy swing fundamentals but produce correct, repetitive impacts. If we can assume that a correct, repetitive impact is our goal rather than a correct appearing swing, then we have made the first step in correctly diagnosing all swings. To correct a swing, we must first understand what is wrong with it. The nature of the ball flight, either it’s lack of correctness or repetition, is the student’s problem. Once we start at this point, then we can trace the swing problem to its origination. In this manner, all swing mechanics the instructor applies to the student swing will have a positive effect on the flight of the ball. Through this method, all students will see immediate improvement rather than suffer continued bad golf, or in many cases even worse golf.
IDENTIFYING AND FIXING SWING MISTAKES
The logical steps to correctly identify the swing’s originating mistake is to first trace the ball flight mistake to impact; what the club was doing at impact to cause the ball flight mistake. Once the club’s mistake at impact is understood, then trace what the club was doing in the swing to cause the impact mistake. Next trace what the golfer was doing to cause the club to be swinging incorrectly. Then understand why the golfer was swinging incorrectly. You are now at the root cause of the golfer’s mistake. You have correctly identified the swing mistake because it is now directly related to the golfer’s mistake; his ball flight. The method employed to fix the swing mistake might vary from one instructor to another, but if both instructors are working to solve the same problem, just using different techniques, they are both correct. This diagnosis method is fool proof. It allows personal freedom for swing shape to fit the individual’s body shape and athleticism. It allows the golfer to make some unorthodox moves within the swing as long as they arrive at impact correctly and repetitively. It explains all golf swings, why they work and why they do not. It eliminates guess work and absolute conformity to a model. It reinforces what we see in golf; that all great golfers do not swing alike. What they all do alike is produce correct and repetitive impacts.
CONCLUSION
It is through this diagnosis method that we can see John’s greatest contribution to golf. That contribution is the impact he has had upon the game’s instructors. Yes, John has helped thousands of golfers through his instruction, either personally or through books, articles and appearances; but it is the instructors he has influenced that represents his legacy. John’s generous sharing of his life’s work with other professionals is unparalleled. The hundreds, if not thousands of instructors that he has mentored in turn each teach thousands of golfers. These hundreds of thousands of golfers now have the chance to play the game better more quickly, easily, naturally and to understand why they do so. It is through these instructors, worldwide, that he has lifted golf instruction out of personal preference and guess work into the light of logical understanding. It is because of this that John has earned the mantel of the true ‘father of modern golf instruction.’