The Chicago Journal

Erik Schjolberg – The Science of Better Golf in Modern Instruction

Erik Schjolberg - The Science of Better Golf in Modern Instruction
Photo Courtesy: Erik Schjolberg

Golf instruction has long been a tradition of wisdom passed from one generation to the next. Yet few professionals have reshaped the teaching landscape as decisively as Erik Schjolberg, founder of the Scottsdale-based EJS Golf Academy. A PGA Professional since 1991, Schjolberg has built his career on the conviction that golfers should improve from the very first lesson rather than endure prolonged regression before progress appears. His approach has positioned him as a leading advocate for data-driven, science-based coaching that transforms golfers into more consistent ball-strikers.

Schjolberg’s career spans more than three decades and includes work with every segment of the game: PGA Tour professionals refining elite patterns, college athletes preparing for NCAA championships, juniors building the foundations of competitive swings, and amateurs striving for more consistency and enjoyment.

What distinguishes him is adaptability. Schjolberg views each golfer through the lens of swing matchups, understanding that grip, pivot, and impact conditions must be calibrated individually to optimize performance. Whether correcting the club path of a Tour professional or helping a mid-handicap player strike the ball cleanly for the first time, his central focus remains constant: measurable, immediate improvement.

In 2017, Schjolberg founded the EJS Golf Academy at McCormick Ranch Golf Club, a facility that blends indoor and outdoor spaces for year-round training. The academy was designed as a hub for measurable performance, built around the sport’s most advanced assessment tools.

Each session begins with a complete evaluation using TrackMan radar, dual 3D pressure plates, and HackMotion wrist sensors. This data anchors Schjolberg’s proprietary matchup philosophy, which ensures a player’s movements work in harmony rather than against one another. Golfers leave with a personal blueprint for consistent impact, an integration of clear explanation and complex numbers. The setting welcomes golfers of all levels while maintaining the same professional standards of feedback and accountability.

Schjolberg has extended his influence beyond the lesson tee, contributing to various platforms with numerous instructional articles and in-depth essays on golf. These writings mirror his instructional style: precise explanations of cause-and-effect relationships and practice routines golfers can implement immediately.

His YouTube channel has become another core platform, hosting breakdowns of swing mechanics and practice strategies and featuring conversations with industry leaders, including biomechanist Dr. Mark Bull and renowned caddie Tim Tucker. These interviews provide golfers with insights into how biomechanics, coaching, and professional preparation intersect.

Schjolberg’s podcast appearances, including Golf Smarter, and his collaborations with PerfectMotion have expanded his audience globally. In each setting, he reinforces his teaching philosophy, which holds that coaching is as much about communication and clarity as it is about mechanics.

Schjolberg’s reputation is rooted not only in decades of experience but also in advanced certification. He is a TrackMan Expert and a Level 3 Titleist Performance Institute instructor, qualifications that require deep study of launch-monitor metrics, biomechanics, and the intersection of physical conditioning with swing performance.

These credentials lend structure to the thousands of lessons he has delivered, ensuring that both scientific research and proven fieldwork support every piece of advice. When he addresses key elements such as low-point control, shaft lean, and angular momentum, his insights are grounded in both radar-based data and the biomechanics of human movement.

Schjolberg has built his teaching on one defining principle: golfers do not need to get worse before they get better. He rejects the traditional notion that progress requires a temporary step backward. Instead, by combining objective feedback with simple, reproducible practice structures, he ensures that golfers begin to compress the ball, control their low point, and deliver the clubface with consistency from the first lesson.

This philosophy, anchored in measurable improvement and immediate results, aligns with today’s golfers, who are both tech-savvy and eager for evident, actionable progress. Yet it also honors timeless fundamentals: ball-first contact, repeatable mechanics, and lasting confidence.

Through the academy, his writing, media presence, and day-to-day instruction continue to influence the evolution of golf instruction. His work bridges the gap between old-school intuition and modern science, offering golfers of every level a path toward measurable, sustainable performance.

Schjolberg’s role as teacher, strategist, and mentor underscores why he remains a central voice in golf education. His insistence on clarity, precision, and proof of progress embodies the very definition of The Science of Better Golf.

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