2025 PGA TEACHING & COACHING SUMMIT PREVIEW
By Don Jozwiak, Senior Editor
The PGA of America Teaching & Coaching Summit has provided the setting for numerous memorable moments at the biennial gathering of the game’s top instructors. For the 2025 Summit set to kick of PGA Show Week in Orlando this month, attendees will get to experience a new take on one of the most talked-about and enduring sessions in the event’s history.
That legendary session – a debate about swing styles between iconic coaches Jimmy Ballard and Jim Flick – happened back in 1998, when the sixth PGA of America Teaching & Coaching Summit was held at New Orleans’ Hyatt Regency and Louisiana Superdome. The back-and-forth between the two highly influential instructors was civil yet pointed, with Ballard defending the style he used to help players like Curtis Strange and Hal Sutton as Flick used his experiences coaching Jack Nicklaus to bolster his viewpoints.
The ”debate” between Ballard and Flick was held in a world without smartphone cameras and YouTube, yet it lives on via VHS tapes and DVDs passed between golf coaches. When the time came to set the agenda for the 2025 PGA of America Teaching & Coaching Summit, organizers decided to tap into the spirit of the Ballard-Flick session for a new generation of debates.
“People have always loved the debate style of presentation, and we still talk about things Ballard and Flick discussed on stage in New Orleans,” says PGA Master Professional Joe Hallett (pictured), the 2024 PGA Teacher and Coach of the Year and emcee of this year’s Summit. “So, we’re bringing back the friendly debates as a way to show multiple sides of a topic in a fun and informative way.
“Are there going to be fights? Are there going to be disagreements? Are there going to be agreements?” Hallett adds. “There’s going to be everything there for coaches, and attendees are going to benefit from being part of it.”
A pair of debates are set for 2025 PGA of America Teaching & Coaching Summit, which will be held Jan. 19–20 at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center. On the first day of the Summit, PGA of America Coaches David Orr and David Edel will debate different approaches to putting in a session moderated by PGA of America Coach Todd Sones, himself a putting expert.
Day Two of the Summit will feature a debate between PGA of America Coaches Brian Manzella and Jon Tattersall on picking the best strategy for fixing a swing fault, moderated by PGA of America Coach Jason Baile. Both debates are expected to illustrate the merits of different teaching and learning styles, giving the coaches in attendance a chance to bolster their own knowledge and see which elements fit their own personal coaching approach.
“As golf coaches, we all have our preferences for how we’d like to teach our students,” Baile says. “But we’re confident and experienced enough to know that there are multiple ways of getting the job done. Sometimes you come across students that need you to take a alternative strategy, and these debates are a good way to look at coaching from a couple different perspectives.”
Offering multiple perspectives on the science and business of golf instruction is the overarching theme of the 2025 PGA Teaching & Coaching Summit. The agenda is packed with a variety of presentations from PGA of America Coaches and subject matter experts on a wide range of topics.
For example, some of the new frontiers in golf instruction will be at the forefront, like fitness and technology. PGA of America Golf Professional Rick Murphy and fitness expert Dr. Gary Gray will lead a session called “Unleashing Potential: Optimizing 3-D Functional Movement for Enhanced Performance” that will help attendees better understand the ways they can improve movement for their clients – information that helps on and off the golf course. The mental side of the game will be addressed in Andy Matthews’ presentation on helping golfers perform under pressure.
Technology will also be a prime topic, with presentations from 2023 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year Kevin Weeks on getting a 3-D look at the golf swing using 2-D technology and Hallett hosting a panel discussion on coaching with data and statistics that includes PGA of America Coach Heath Wassem, statistician Lou Wagner and Aimpoint founder Mark Sweeney.
“When I need fresh and innovative ideas to spice up my teaching business, think of the golf swing in different ways and come up with new ideas to help my students play better, the PGA of America Teaching & Coaching Summit is where I find all the secrets,” says PGA of America Master Professional Dr. Alison Curdt, who will lead a discussion on how PGA Coaches can unlock their value to their facilities.
For more information on how to attend the 2025 PGA of America Teaching and Coaching Summit, log on to rsvp.pgahq.com/pgateachingandcoachingsummit. PGA of America Members will earn 16 PDR credits for attending both days of the Summit, and the event is open to non-PGA Members as well.