It’s 100 percent true that you can get better at golf by practicing. But if you’re practicing the wrong things, you could be grooving an ineffective swing.
Enter golf training aids. Every year, more and more of them hit the market, courtesy of clever inventors who know a big market when they see one. None of them are substitutes for spending time with a PGA Teaching Professional. But there are many that can absolutely help you improve your fundamentals and build confidence.
Some players just tuck towels under their arms to create connection. Others swear by pool noodles—or even simple yardsticks—which they use to improve alignment. Still others wrap rubber bands around their putter heads to encourage dead-center strikes. Those are all good ideas, and cheap as heck. But there are lots of modern products whose creators have put time and thought into developing that you should absolutely consider.
Here’s a list of 10 golf training aids that can help you swing better, putt better, and score better—at prices that won’t put a big dent in your wallet.
Ray Cook Twin Pole Alignment System
Alignment sticks are inexpensive, easy to carry and use, and offer a variety of benefits. Used in parallel on the practice range, they can help promote a straighter, more repeatable swing path. Crossed at your feet, they can help you dial-in ball position. Angle one into the ground, and they can be used to help you shallow the club and eliminate an over-the-top swing. These Ray Cook sticks are great because they’re collapsible, so they’re easy to carry and store. ($6.99 – BUY NOW)
Lamkin Training Grip
Many players take up golf without ever learning how to grip a club properly. Then they wonder why they struggle. A proper grip is the foundation for a good golf swing. Without it, you risk doing all kinds of bad things to compensate for your grip’s inadequacies. The Lamkin Training Grip is molded to help you understand quickly what a proper grip feels like. Just stick it on a spare club, swing with it, then take that feel to the course. ($10.99 – BUY NOW)
Puttout Devil Balls
Puttout’s Devil Balls let you know immediately whether you’ve struck a putt square or not. The Devil Ball has a flat-edged impact zone that you line up perpendicular to your target line. If you hit that flat edge squarely, the ball rolls true and you know you’ve made a good stroke. If you strike the ball with your putter face slightly open or closed, though, it will spin off erratically. It has the same size, weight, and feel as a normal ball, and you can work your way up to pro level by adjusting where the flat edge sits. It may be frustrating at first, but as you get the hang of it, you’ll be grooving a putting stroke that’ll help you sink more putts. ($29.99 – BUY NOW)
David Leadbetter StraightAway Swing Aid
David Leadbetter has been teaching golf to top players for long enough to know one thing for sure: If you don’t start your swing correctly, you’ll struggle to get anything close to the best results. Many of the ills that plague average players begin in the first segment of their swings, and that’s what the StraightAway was designed to help correct. It attaches to the shaft of your club, and when paired with an alignment stick placed on the ground, it helps you identify the optimal place for the club to be as you work into your backswing. The theory goes that if you can consistently get the club in that position, with your hands staying in and the clubhead out, you’ll be in much better shape to execute a solid swing from there. ($64.99 – BUY NOW)
Back 2 Basics Putting Mirror
Putting mirrors can have a range of benefits, and this one from Back 2 Basics is among the best—if not the best. Cameron Smith uses it, and the advantage he gets from it can be your advantage, too. Several features here are advantageous. Like all mirrors, it can help you square up the putter and achieve better clubface-to-line alignment. It’s larger than most mirrors, too, so you can see not only where your eyes are in relation to the ball but also your shoulders. And the tee slots are wide, so you can anchor it to the green with tees set at the right width for your putter head. Finally, its graphics include lines that can help you gauge pace but also arc. ($69.99 – BUY NOW)
Orange Whip and Orange Whip Lightspeed Trainers
The Orange Whip has been around since 2008, and it’s developed quite a following since then, including with PGA and LPGA pros. It’s a counterbalanced swing trainer that’s heavier than a regular golf club, and especially useful for helping you develop good rhythm and stop lunging at the ball. Finding that right rhythm has another benefit—it helps you stay balanced better. The Orange Whip comes in three sizes that approximate driver, mid-iron, and wedge lengths—plus one that’s sized for juniors. They make a Lightspeed Trainer, too, whose flexible shaft helps you develop a better feel for how to flex, load, and lag the club. (From $99.99 – BUY NOW)
Power Shift Board
You can do a lot of good things in your swing, but if your weight shift is off, you’ll be sacrificing power and consistency. We’ve all seen players who have a reverse weight shift, or who get stuck on their back foot. Neither scenario is famous for producing good results. The best players know that the timing and sequence of a golf swing depends on having a good weight shift and using your lower body and the ground as an ally to generate power. The Power Shift Board’s front side is spring-loaded and generates a click when pressure is applied there as you push into the ground. Using it, you’ll know when you’ve properly sequenced your swing and body shift. It’s great for chipping drills, too, when you want to keep your weight on your lead foot and not transfer any weight. ($99.99 – BUY NOW)
Laser Putt
How many strokes would you save by starting more putts on the right line? Lots of players struggle with this, and it’s not their fault. When we stand over a putt, our perception of what the right line is can change—and even a small error can lead to missed putts and frustration. The Laser Putt was designed to help you train your eyes to see the line better. It attaches under the putter grip and is easily adjusted to ensure proper alignment. And it comes with a vinyl template that shows instructions for drills that can help you calibrate both direction and distance. It works best indoors or on days that aren’t too sunny. But wherever you put it into practice, it can help you get immediate feedback on your alignment—which should help you make more putts on the course. ($109.90 – BUY NOW)
Swing Jacket
Grooving a solid swing is all about creating muscle memory, which is hard to do if your arms and core aren’t in sync and helping you repeat a sound swing during your practice sessions. The Swing Jacket was designed to make your reps more consistent and “do your thinking for you.” Put it on, adjust it to get a good snug fit, and start swinging. You’ll notice immediately that the Swing Jacket is synching your arms and body to promote more rotation and engage your upper body’s larger core muscles, while restricting how much your arms flail. Each one comes with online training videos to help you get the most out of your practice sessions with it. ($147.85 – BUY NOW)
B29 Blue Brick
The B29 Blue Brick is exactly what its name says it is: a blue brick, which in its case has 11 slots into which you can place collapsible alignment rods to help you groove a better swing path. Three slots to help you shallow the club. One that helps promote an inside swing path. One for getting the shaft in a more forward-leaning, ball-compressing position. One for launching wedges at the pros’ preferred 30-degree angle. Two for helping you start shots on target and create squarer divots. And three for honing your alignment and ball position. It’s like a Swiss Army Knife for your swing, and it’s especially helpful for players who are battling that dreaded over-the-top swing. ($169 – BUY NOW)
Have you found any affordable training aids that have helped your golf game? Tell us about them in the comment section.
