Honestly I've given up on making things complicated. Does it work if you kill a bait? Sure why not. In my experiences the simple steady retrieve has worked the best. Fishing is so random and there are so many factors that can influence a bite. Recently I've had days where I'm fishing in 40 degree water with a 7 gear ratio, slow retrieve, and getting skunk. My buddy on the other side of the boat is burning his chatterbait in with an 8 and smacking giants. The same goes for cranks as well. I barely ever grind my cranks on the bottom and I still manage to catch fish just steady retrieving them.
Also you gotta remember pros are always trying to sell something. Besides being a fisherman they are pretty much walking sales guys. They get paid to do a job even if it contradicts what they said previously.