Single Plane Golf Schools · In their own words
Ten Strokes In About A Month. At Seventy-One.
What happens when a golfer stops watching the videos and comes to the school
David was shooting in the mid-90s. He came to a Short Game School, went home, practiced what Tim showed him, and about a month later he was shooting in the mid-80s. He came back for a second one. Tim got him on camera on day one.
"This isn't a paid advertisement, is it? — "Oh, no. Not at all. I pay him.""
— TIM GRAVES, PGA, talking to David on day one of his second Short Game School
Early Bird on every 2027 school: save $500, and the Single Plane 30 course comes with it
Dear fellow golfer,
James Bell here. I run the schools.
For the last few months we've been putting a camera in front of students on the last afternoon of a school and asking them one thing: what did you get here that you weren't getting at home?
We didn't script a word of it. Nobody was paid. What's on this page is what they said.
Most of them had the videos. Several are members who've been sending in swing videos for years. A few had never set foot on a golf course. They're all over sixty.
And nine of them, without being asked, said the same thing in different words. So that's where I'll start.
The thing they all said
What the videos cannot do
Derek had played golf five times in his life. He bought the DVDs years ago. He took lessons at a sporting-goods store. When he went out with friends, he hit, in his words, "line drives across the ground."
Then he flew from Maryland to Oklahoma for five days.
Derek Smith, Maryland. First school. Five rounds of golf in his life before he came.
"The DVDs were great, but there was nobody to correct me. Here they put their hands on my hips and turned me the right way, put their hands on my shoulder, guided my hands. I could not get that from video alone."
— DEREK SMITH
Brad is a longtime member. He sends swing videos to his coach. He's been to several Bio Schools. He's about as far from a beginner as our students get.
"While the video back and forth is really helpful, it is a whole other level when they physically move you — move your elbow, your knee — into the right position. You get feelings for where your body position really should be. That cannot be replicated on video."
— BRAD JONES, Graves Golf member, Level 3/4 for years
"I've been sending in videos since before phones took videos. There's no substitute for the schools. I could video myself a hundred times and look at that video and read the book and not see what they see."
— Mike Kolhoff
Member for sixteen years. About fifteen schools.
"With the videos you get down the line or you get face view — two dimensions. On-site they can give you the rotational view, which can trick you on film."
— Drew Kelly
Engineer. Back surgery from a two-plane swing. Five-year member.
"They can see your shoulders out maybe two or three degrees, which makes a huge difference. They move your body into the right position, and then you stay in that position so you feel what's right."
— Mary Zadorozniak
I'm not knocking the videos. We made them. They're how most of these people found us.
But a camera shows you two dimensions of a three-dimensional motion, and it can't put a hand on your hip. For most golfers, the position they've been chasing for years takes about ninety seconds to feel once somebody puts them in it.
The second thing they said
It isn't too late to learn this
Anthony turned sixty last year. His knees ended his jogging, so he went looking for a sport he could still do. He spent six months searching for a method simple enough to think with. Then he got on a plane in Sydney.
Anthony Price, near Sydney, Australia. First school, five days.
"I was a little bit anxious coming because I'd only just started. But in our class there were two or three other beginners, and three or four guys who'd been playing for thirty years, and it just doesn't matter. Everyone is on their own journey. There's no judgment."
— ANTHONY PRICE
Michael has been playing for sixty, sixty-five years. He took the three-day school about nine months ago. Then he came back for another one.
Michael Noland. Sixty to sixty-five years of golf. Back for his second school.
"Any of my golfing friends that are interested in improving their game, and the longevity of how long they can play — the Single Plane methodology, taking pressure off your back, easier on your body for your lifetime playing. Try it. You'll like it."
— MICHAEL NOLAND
And David, from the top of this page, is seventy-one. Tim asked him what would happen if he could get to a Short Game School every three months. He said he thinks he could get down to scratch, or three over.
Mary put it the way most of our students eventually do: "I wish I had found Graves Academy twenty years ago." The second-best time is a school that's still sixty days out.
Why they came in the first place
Playing without pain
Penny started the Single Plane Swing three and a half years ago and was doing well. Then she got hurt.
Penny Caroll. Two years she couldn't get to position one without pain.
"For two years I could not get to position one without pain. Now I can get to position one and all the way to six without pain, and I have the correct movement because I started over. There's nothing that replaces the hands-on training — putting their hands on you and getting you in that right position."
— PENNY CAROLL
Drew, in the cards above, tore up his back with a two-plane swing and ended up in surgery. He found the Single Plane Swing watching videos during COVID. He's a five-year member now and calls his last camp the best he's ever had.
I'm not going to make medical claims for a golf school. I'll just tell you that the swing we teach was built by a man who hit a thousand balls a day into his sixties, and the first thing most of our older students say about it is that it doesn't hurt.
The part nobody expects
Why they keep coming back
Jay is on his eighth or ninth school. Mike is on something like his fifteenth. Lisa was on her third, and she brought her husband and two friends.
Nobody goes to eight golf schools because the first seven didn't work. They go because each one gives them the next thing to work on, and because the people are good company.
"Nothing like the effectiveness of having an instructor put his hands on you, push you into position, pull you into position. Always impressed with Graves to see the evolution over the last six or seven years. It just gets better."
— Jay Caroll
Eighth or ninth school.
"When he does the videos, he's very businesslike. When he's here in person, he's just himself, and he tells stories, and the stories stick with me."
— Lisa Gok
Third school. Came with her husband and two friends.
"Being here and getting the feedback, it's like putting life into my body that I couldn't get from watching just the videos. It really feels tailor made for me."
— Rebecca Lane
If you've read this far and you're still deciding, Jay has a line for you: "Say, oh yeah, I've been to a short game. Okay, well go again. The pros take instruction. They do the same thing over and over."
January and February 2027 · Just released
The schools the smart golfers take
Orlando and Phoenix, in January and February, while everyone else is waiting for spring. These are the dates we're asked for more than any others.
Early Bird — register sixty days or more ahead and save $500 on any 2027 school
And the Single Plane 30 online course comes with it, so you arrive knowing the fundamentals. The first school crosses the sixty-day line on November 21.
January 20–22, 2027
Phoenix Premier School (3-Day)
15 of 18 seats open
Early Bird through November 21
January 27–29, 2027
Orlando Premier School (3-Day)
18 of 20 seats open
Early Bird through November 28
February 1–5, 2027
Phoenix Build Your Game Camp (5-Day)
10 of 18 seats open
Early Bird through December 3
February 9–11, 2027
Orlando Premier School (3-Day)
19 of 20 seats open
Early Bird through December 11
February 17–19, 2027
Phoenix Premier School (3-Day)
15 of 18 seats open
Early Bird through December 19
February 22–26, 2027
Orlando Build Your Game Camp (5-Day)
15 of 20 seats open
Early Bird through December 24
Seat counts as of October 8, 2026. First come, first served.
Or call the school at 405-250-6960 and ask for James.
Still open this fall
Inside sixty days, so these are at the normal price. Palm Desert and Phoenix December 1–3 are sold out.
What comes with every school
Our promise
Four students to one instructor, guaranteed. In practice it runs two or three to one, because I would rather over-staff a school than under-staff it. The coach who sees you on day one is the coach who sees you on the last afternoon.
Who should not come to a golf school
If you want someone to swing the club for you on Saturday. Derek said it best: it gave him "something to take home to work on." The school is where you learn what to practice. The practice is still yours.
If you're not willing to be a beginner for three days. Bob said he was "a little sore here and there." Jay said day one he'd rather have been hitting balls. The hands-on part is exactly the part that feels strange at first.
If you'd rather keep watching. The videos will still be there. So will the swing you have now.
Every one of them was a name on a list once
David was a mid-90s golfer reading an email. Derek had played five rounds. Anthony was on the other side of the world with bad knees. Penny couldn't get to position one.
They're all on this page because, at some point, they stopped deciding and picked a date.
The January and February dates are up. The Phoenix camp is already more than a third gone.
Or call the school at 405-250-6960 and ask for James.
See you on the range,
James Bell, USGTF
School Director, Single Plane Golf Schools
P.S. — Every student on this page was filmed on the last day of a school, unscripted and unpaid. If you'd like to be the next one, the schedule is here, or call 405-250-6960.
Graves Golf · 4000 N. Kelly Ave., Edmond, OK 73003 · Customer Support: (866) 377-2316