In my time as a golf coach I’ve come across a wide range of golf training aids that I’ve used personally and some that my students have found useful. In this article I’ll review the best golf training aids on the market and tell you how each will help your golf game.

Below is a list of training aids and swing plane trainers. I’ve categorised them into the aspects of your swing they’ll help improve. Click on each to jump to the full review.

Enjoy – I hope it is of use.

The best golf training aids

Best training aids to improve strike

Best swing plane trainers

Best golf wrist trainers

Best training aids for tempo & connection

Can’t find the swing trainer you are looking for?

If you want a training aid added to this review of the training aids just leave a comment at the bottom of this article. I’ll do my best to get hold of the training aid, find out if it is effective, easy to use and add a review to this article.

P.s. you can click on the titles or pictures to see product prices. These are affiliate links – if you click and purchase the product via these links it does not cost you any extra, but as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please feel free not to use the links if you wish. Thanks and happy golfing, Will.

Best golf training aids review

The Tour Striker is one of the most popular training aids out there. This training aid aims to help you strike your iron shots like a tour player.

The smaller club head encourages you to make a more centred strike, but critically, the face is raised off the ground. The raised club face introduces an interesting element to your practice. To strike the face, and get the ball airborne, your hands must be forward of the club head at impact, which is required for great iron striking.

The raised face also encourages you to create a descending strike through impact. If you fail to do this, the ball will shoot across the ground.

The Tour Striker provides great feedback and a fun way to practice. Before you buy, be clear on what you need to change in your golf swing to improve your strike – is it your hand position, weight transfer or body rotation… This small piece of info will really help you make great progress with your iron striking.

Many amateurs who are trying to improve their strike struggle with a weak left-hand grip. If you have a weak grip and attempt to create a tour-like impact position, you will lose your shots a long way right – so fix your grip first.

If you’ve checked off these points and want to improve your striking, then go ahead and purchase the Tour Striker, it will really speed up your progress.

I would suggest the 7-iron model for most. If you are a single figure golfer and want a challenge there is also an x-pro version. These days Tour Strikers are sold direct via their sites in the US and the UK so check out the links below to grab yours.

The Truswing wrist trainer is a simple but effective way to get feedback on your wrist hinge during your golf swing. This swing trainer attaches to your golf grip and as you full set your wrists, the cup will rest on your left forearm.

Along with providing feedback on if your wrists are fully hinged, the Truswing will also provide feedback on how they are set – if your wrists are too cupped or bowed (flexed / extended) the cup will miss your forearm. This will help you hit straighter shots and ensured its place in this review of the best golf training aids.

The Truswing training aid takes a little tinkering to setup, and you do have to ensure you grip the golf club close to the attachment to get feedback on your wrist hinge. However, overall the Truswing provides a simple and effective way to gain feedback on your wrist hinge and comes in at a lower price than its rival Swingyde wrist hinge trainer.

The B1 Blue strike is a great training aid backed by Hank Haney. It offers a lot, but its key focus is on improving your impact position and strike. Similar to the Tour Striker, the B1 Blue strike has a raised leading edge, which means to get the ball up in the air, you need to strike down on your iron shots.

Alongside this club face adjustment, the Blue Strike training aid has a looped wire that runs from the top of the grip, to just under the base of the grip. This provides you feedback on your left wrist position during your swing.

The developers’ key argument is that most golfers slice the golf ball. If they try to strike down on their iron shots, they will get the club face more open at impact and increase their slice. To solve this issue they have added the looped wire to ensure you have clear feedback on when you have the correct left wrist position and have squared up your club face.

I am a fan of the B1 Blue strike. Golfers who want feedback on their strike, and struggle to square the club face up should consider the B1 Slue Strike.

As a young coach I disregarded wrist hinge trainers, however after a few more years coaching I have changed my view. The premise is simple – you attach this to your golf club and you will receive feedback when your wrists are, or aren’t fully hinged.

The golf wrist hinge trainer also provides useful feedback on the angle your wrists are set at (cupped or bowed). The plastic cup will only fall correctly onto your forearm if you have a neutral left wrist position.

If your wrist is bowed or cupped during the backswing or downswing, the cup will miss your arm. A cupped left wrist during a downswing can be a critical factor that causes a slice.

So, for poor wrist setting and wrist position the Swingyde provides great feedback, hence its conclusion is this roundup of the best training aids on the market.

A useful note – if your grip is poor to begin with you will always struggle to hinge your wrists correctly. Be sure to master your golf grip before grabbing this training aid.

This is effectively a shortened golf club with a weight on the end. However, it is surprisingly nice to swing!

The the Sklz tempo trainer focuses on the most critical aspect of golfing technique – the grip. Using this grip training aid will get your left hand in a better position, and should enable your hands to work more as a unit throughout your swing. The result will be increased accuracy and consistency.

If you’re looking for a nice feeling club to swing in a confined space, and want a grip trainer, this is a great option.

The Hanger training aid is a similar product to the swing setter – it gives some great feedback on your wrist hinge and specifically your left wrist position. I shan’t lie this one expensive piece of plastic! It promises to fix a slice and do all sorts else – what does it do?

Pros: It gives you great feedback on your left wrist position throughout your swing. To keep the plastic wing in contact with your arm, you have to keep your left wrist flexed (bowed) which encourages a draw. Your left wrist position has a strong impact on your club face angle at impact and therefore shot shape.

Cons: The Hanger training aid is pricey and is also it is fiddly to attach to your golf club. This training aid will help you reduce your slice, but please do check your left hand grip first. From my experience coaching, achieving a good left wrist position is near impossible without a sound golf grip.

If you have a sound golf grip and want to work on your left wrist position the Hanger training aid is a great option for you and will provide useful feedback to help you hit straighter golf shots.

The impact bag is a classic training aid – they have actually changed in the past 10 years, now you purchase an empty heavy-duty bag and fill it with items, such as a towel or padding. If you read the sales blurb the impact bag suggests you’ll start hitting your irons like Tiger back in his prime, so let’s take a slightly more critical look at what it does and if it works.

Pros: when used correctly the impact bag can make a real difference to how you strike the golf ball. If you’re looking to create a good descending blow with your irons this will help, particularly if you also have some good coaching points to work on.

Although you can just swing and hit the damn thing, I personally feel there are two ways to use this product which are far more useful. The first one is to practice an impact position from a set up position – simply place your impact bag against something that won’t move too much (I use a door frame).

From your setup, just apply force into the bag by pressing – no backswing. When you make this move a few things happen quite naturally: your weight should be predominantly through your front foot, your hands will be ahead of the club head and your hips and chest will be facing towards your target. This is a great impact position and gives you a clear feeling to take into your practice and play.

The second drill requires the bag to be able to slide. Repeat the drill above, but this time we’re going to work on your body and club face rotation through impact. Create the impact position described above, now just turn your body through. The aim is to keep the same relationship between the club head and hands post impact. This is a great drill for anyone who struggles with a hook, as it really focuses on the club head staying square to the path, but the body staying in control of this movement.

From the essay above you can tell I like this swing aid – it served me very well when I was learning to compress my iron shots. Most people actually use this with the aim of improving their club head speed and distance.

I personally would not recommend the impact bag as a work out device or to purely improve club head speed. It will send some serious forces through your joints and soft tissues instead find a great golf workout routine.

Don’t buy this for improving club head speed, but do if you’re looking to improve your strike and post impact body rotation.

This training aid promises a lot – the designers suggests you can use this golf training aid for warming up, improving your swing speed and improving your consistency.

But does it work?

Essentially this training aid is a weighted ball mounted on a flexible shaft. This can be a useful tool for warming up and improving swing speed, but its main benefit is in helping golfers time and sequence their downswing.

As you swing to the top of your backswing the additional mass will want to keep travelling onwards. As you start your downswing your arms will be affected by this additional weight, meaning your lower body will unwind, before your upper body and arms.

This move is a key way to generate power and prevent the dreaded over the top move. The positives – if you struggle to get this feeling, this training aid sure will help. The downside, you can’t hit golf balls with it, meaning it will take practice to take this great feeling and apply it to your iron and driver swings.

Overall, this is a really useful training aid for golfers wanting to work on their timing and downswing sequence. You can check out the latest price on the button below.

The Eye Speed Trap claims to do two things – improve your swing plane and improve your strike. Does it work?

Once set up, this device will provide you with highly accurate feedback on your swing path. Based on how you set it up you can focus on pre-impact, post-impact or both.

Having this cumbersome training aid close to your club head really makes you focus on grooving a great swing path. Another big bonus is that this feedback is very close to your impact point, so you’ll notice an immediate affect on your ball flight. If you have struggled to groove your swing path in the past then the Eye Speed Trap will be a great training aid to consider.

The second positive is the Speed Trap base itself. Placing the ball close to the back of the cutout in the base gives great feedback when trying to make a ball – turf strike. This can be really useful for improving the strike of your iron shots and wedges.

You can often find the original Speed Trap (1.0) on Amazon, but for the newer version of this training aid (2.0) you’re best to buy direct from Eyeline Golf. If you’re going to grab one I’d opt for the 2.0. The base is thinner, the strike cut-out is a better shape and you can pin the whole device down.

Next, we have the Golf Impact Ball which claims to help you swing your arms, shoulder and torso in harmony. By placing this object between your forearms, you receive feedback via the impact ball either staying firmly in place, or falling out.

Pros: This training aid doesn’t really state which swing fault it aims to cure. However, from previous experience I can tell you it really does give many golfers a novel feeling. Once in place, you will feel inspired to rotate your forearms and torso more during your backswing.

The same occurs during the downswing. This can be really helpful to flatten out a golfer’s swing plane. It gives a simplified feeling to a golfer who tends to lift their arms too much in their backswing.

It also gives great feedback on how to correctly rotate the club face during the take away, for anyone who gets the club face very shut in their takeaway. Both these can be great to improve both long game and pitching technique.

Cons: not all golfers find it comfortable to swing with. I personally feel it is fine up to a 3/4 swings, but wouldn’t want to use it for full out iron or driver shots. A key reason it has mixed reviews is again down to individuals’ grips.

With a good golf grip this works. However if you have a weak left hand grip, you’ll find the ball won’t secure properly. If you have a strong left hand grip and weak right hand grip (quite common in low teen handicappers) you’ll struggle to fit this between your arms.

What I like about the anti-flip stick is that it is a simple and effective training aid. Golfers struggle with their wrists flipping through impact. This leads to highly destructive hook shots with longer clubs, and even worse effects with chipping and pitching – thins, duffs…. let’s stop there.

The anti-flip stick attaches to the end of your golf grip and gives you clear feedback when your wrists flick through impact – you get a nice whip into your abdominals from the training aid. Unfortunately, the Anti-Flip Stick goes onto claim it will fix your slice and improve your swing plane – in my humble opinion it won’t, but it is still a useful training aid.

Buy this training aid if your wrists break down through impact for long shots, chip shots and you wish to get feedback during practice. Unlike the Hanger and other swing aids, this anti-flip stick doesn’t come with instructions, so you do need to know what you are trying to change in your swing before buying.

Sure-Set training aid

Next in our training aid round up we have the Sure-Set. This training aid has great promise and received a lot of exposure due to The Golf Channel, but how exactly will it help your golf?

The Sure-Set promises a lot, it claims to give you a better understanding of your swing, and to add 25 yards to your shots! How? Well these claims are a little vague, so here is my feedback post testing:

Once you have the Sure-Set setup for your arm length (a very simple process), you hold the grip of the Sure-Set and allow the ball on the other end to nestle into your left armpit.

Making backswings with this training aid provides a really good feeling of how your arms and body should work together during your backswing – you can’t collapse your arms, meaning you create a better body turn. It also locks your arms in place, helping them keep in sync with your body.

During the downswing this training aid provides feedback on when you un-hinge your wrists and it also encourages your body and arms to stay in sync. These two parts of the swing are key in creating and storing energy – hence the claims on increased distance. I also like the fact you have a grip trainer attached – which is a useful feature for any beginner.

The downside is that the motions in the downswing discussed above are highly dependent on your lower body dynamics. The Sure-Set comes with some nice drills, but you will not recreate the downswing positions with the golf ball until you have mastered your lower body mechanics.

Secondly, you can’t hit golf balls with this training aid, furthermore you can’t make a full speed swing (without potential injury). The Sure-Set allows you to practice key parts of your backswing and the beginning of your downswing and gives you feedback while doing so, but the transfer to your swing might be limited or take time.

For these reasons the Sure-Set has made our review of the best golf training aids, but I wouldn’t suggest it will revolutionise your golf game.

The LC-1 golf training aid is a relatively new addition to the training aids market. Like many other training aids it promises a lot. The key premise is the LC-1 keeps your arms linked together throughout your swing.

This has two effects, firstly, it restricts your right elbow popping out if you struggle with what golfers like to call a ‘chicken wing’. Secondly, it keeps your arms quieter during your swing, which in turn encourages you you to use more body rotation to swing back and through.

It does take a bit of work to get the LC-1 training aid set up and feeling comfortable, but once in place, it is easy to use and will give you the feeling of a flatter swing, with more forearm rotation back and through.

Before you consider purchasing the LC-1 please check that you have a good golf grip and posture at set up. If both are in check consider this training aid to help improve your wrist and arm action.

Both the LC-1 and golf impact ball are great swing aids if you are looking to improve your arm movement and swing plane.

The golf swing doctor is yet another wrist hinge training aid that promises a lot in this review of the best golf training aids. As with the previous reviews of the Truswing and Swingyde products, this device gives you feedback on when during the golf swing your wrists are fully set.

Furthermore, the cup will only sit on your wrist correctly if your wrists are correctly set – if you are too cupped or bowed and the cup will miss your forearm when setting. The Golf Doctor wrist hinge trainer promises another 40 yards, to cure your slice and stop you topping it. This is a slight exaggeration, but if you want to work on correctly setting your wrists this training aid will provide great feedback – I do also like the little wrist cover that comes with it.

As mentioned in earlier wrist hinge trainer reviews, please check your left hand grip before working on your wrist hinge – this is a common fault that prevents golfers setting their wrists. Once you have that box ticked grab the Swing Doctor, or the Truswing as a similar alternative.

The PlaneSwing Trainer offers golfers a fully adjustable swing plane trainer to engrain that feeling of a great swing plane. The main hoop comes with a roller, the length of a 5-iron and an alignment mat. The roller is heavier than a normal golf club (1.3kg), which the manufacturers suggest ‘helps train the correct golfing muscles’. I’m not sure the added weight will increase learning, but it does provide a really nice way to improve your swing plane, and potentially improve strength.

The PlaneSwing Trainers comes in three options: Par, Birdie and Eagle. Each package comes with the golf swing plane trainer and mat. The Birdie and Eagle packages come with additional length rollers to represent a short-iron and driver. All options offer full adjustability so you can tweak the angle of the trainer to suit your needs.

As with most swing plane trainers you can’t hit full golf shots using the device, rather you use it for training, then transfer that feeling to your practice and play. However, PlaneSwing do suggest golfers have had good success swinging an actual golf club with their trainer, to help provide feedback on club face control, whilst working on their swing plane.

If you’ve struggled improving your swing plane in the past, this trainer is a serious, but great solution to help you improve your swing plane and start firing those drives down the middle of the fairway. I would personally opt for the Par Version, and add additional pieces if and when you wish.

The Explanar is possible the most famous swing plane trainer. Developed by Master PGA Professional Luther Blacklock, it was his way of helping pupils get the feeling of the ideal backswing and downswing plane. The Explanar is a large metal hoop, that comes with a weighted swing trainer.

The hoop is fully adjustable, allowing golfers to tilt the frame to suit their perfect swing. The large fin on top provides additional feedback on if you are ‘on plane’ at the top of your swing.

Just like the PlaneSwing Trainers, the weighted roller is heavier than a normal golf club, but provides a really nice feeling as your move back and through your swing.

Once setup this training aid is easy to use and offers a great way to practice your swing.

We’ve put this second in this list and not first because of price – it is very well built, everything is top notch, but it comes in at twice the price of the Par PlaneSwing Trainer. If money isn’t an issues, you’ll love this, but if you’re shopping on a budget stick to the option above, or read below for a great value plane trainer.

Tour Striker have a great history making great training aids. The Tour Striker Plane Station is their offering to help golfers improve their swing plane. This is a simple, but effective trainer to help golfers whilst making practice swings or hitting golf balls on the range.

The Tour Striker Plane Station doesn’t offer the feeling of the ideal golf swing, like the first two trainers, but it does give great feedback when you are too far inside, or out-to-in during your take away and as you approach impact.

The Plane station is full adjustable (40 – 65º), so that you can alter the stick to suit your swing and the club you are using. You can then position the trainer outside your ideal swing plane (as pictured above) if you suffer from that over-the-top swing plane. Or place it closer to your back foot, if you struggle with dropping the club too far inside during your downswing.

The big advantage this swing trainer offers is the ability to hit actual golf shots, whilst getting feedback on your swing. I would recommend this product to golfers who have a relativity good swing plane, but struggle as they get closer to impact.

Unlike the PlaneSwing Trainer or Explanar, this swing trainer doesn’t come with additional instructional content, meaning you have to know how you want to set up this tool to improve your golf game. If you know what you need to work on, but need extra feedback, then grab one of these.

Usually the Plane Station is best purchased direct from Tour Striker, but I’ve also added an Amazon link too.

Do any training aids work?

The short answer is yes – they don’t fix your swing instantly. Instead they provide feedback on when you make the correct or poor movements when you swing the golf club.

Training aids often claim to fix many faults, however as you can see in this review each training aid provides specific, instant feedback on one or more swing principles. These swing principles in turn affect your performance, leading to straighter, longer golf shots.

What are the best golf training aids?

The best golf training aid will be the one that fit the area of your swing you are trying to improve. A golf swing trainer doesn’t cure a slice, stop you fatting it or prevent the yips.

How does a golf swing trainer work?

Training aids focus on giving you better feedback on factors that cause these outcomes. For example, a slice is caused by an open club face and an out-to-in swing path at impact.

So before you dive in and search for the best golf training aid you need to understand which swing principle is causing the errant performance in your golf swing. If you don’t know, go find a good PGA pro or drop me an email.

Buy a training aid once you know ‘I need to refine my left wrist position‘, or ‘my poor weight transfer is causing my fat shots’. This understanding will help you buy a golf training aid that is easy to use and will truly help you improve.

What is the difference between a training aids and swing trainers?

Essentially there is no difference between training aids and golf swing trainers. They are both devices that are used to improve your golf swing. Larger tools such as plane trainers are often labelled as ‘swing trainers’ instead of a training aid.

There are also a range of putting aids including putting mirrors, the Puttout Pressure trainer and putting alignment aids that are designed to help golfers improve their putting performance.

What are the best putting training aids?

We have a full article on the best putting training aids. Click the link you are on the look out for the best putting training aids, putting mirrors or putting gadgets to help you hole more putts.

Or for the best indoor putting greens to improve your putting stroke check out this article.

Summary

I hope this guide has been useful for selecting the best training aids for you. Remember to focus on the swing principles causing your fault when choosing the best swing trainers.

If you would like an article like this one email to you every Monday, then come sign up for the Golf Insider weekly post.

Happy golfing – Will @ Golf Insider UK

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