Today’s Golfer selects the best golf training aids to help improve your game and lower your handicap.
What are the best golf training aids?
Click on the product you’re interested in to jump straight to its review or click ‘View Offer’ to buy now:
1. SkyTrak Personal Launch Monitor and Simulator | RRP £1,995 | VIEW OFFER
2. Callaway Alignment Stix (Yellow) | RRP £12.95 | VIEW OFFER
3. Orange Whip Full-Sized Golf Swing Trainer | RRP £139.99 | VIEW OFFER
4. Links Choice Practice Net | RRP £79.99 | VIEW OFFER
5. PuttOut Academy Putting Studio | RRP £159.99 | VIEW OFFER
6. Eyeline Golf Masters Putting Alignment Mirror Training Aid | RRP £39.99 | VIEW OFFER
7. V GEBY Golf Smash Bag impact trainer | RRP £24.99 | VIEW OFFER
8. Rawspeed Golf Standard 45” Swing Trainer | RRP £129.95 | VIEW OFFER
9. FORB Freestanding Professional Golf Cage and Net | RRP £517.99 | VIEW OFFER
10. SuperSpeed Golf Training System | RRP £219.99 | VIEW OFFER
– View the best of the rest
Golf is awash with gadgets and gizmos that promise to transform elements of your game and lower your handicap. It can be hard to see the wood for the trees and we would always recommend you consult a PGA Pro if you are unsure of the real benefits of a particular training aid.
And if you’re in the market for practice aids check out our features on the Best Golf GPS Watch, Best Home Golf Simulators, Best Golf Practice Nets and Best Putting Mats.
Also, keep checking our live Black Friday Golf Deals 2021 page. It is updated daily with the best golf bargains.
But let’s start with the best golf training aids.
– Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this page, we never allow this to influence product selections.
1. SkyTrak Personal Launch Monitor and Simulator
RRP £1,995 | VIEW OFFER
A truly fantastic piece of kit that makes it affordable for most golfers to get every bit of information they could ever wish for while hitting practice balls.
It captures all the important data – distance (carry), swing speed, ball speed, back spin, side spin.
It also hooks up to your tablet or computer so you get immediate readouts and a subscription gives you the opportunity to play some of the most famous courses in the world from anywhere with the required space. You could be hitting balls in your back garden into a net off a matt, ensuring your practice sessions will never be the same again.
RELATED: How to improve your golf at home
2. Callaway Alignment Stix (Yellow)
RRP £12.95 | VIEW OFFER
Most golfers call them rods and for years many of us just used another club when making sure our alignment was on the money.
However the alignment rod has become one of the most popular training aids in the world.
In this set you get six 48” yellow rods from Callaway so when you are on the practice ground you can guarantee your aim and that is really helpful when you are practising properly.
3. Orange Whip Full-Sized Golf Swing Trainer
RRP £139.99 | VIEW OFFER
It was pretty revolutionary at the time and its success can be measured by the enormous number of variations it has inspired.
However the Orange Whip training system is still as popular as ever because not only does it assist strengthening the muscles we all need to swing the club properly, but also helps with the all-important rhythm of the golf swing.
Its real genius is you instantly know when the tempo isn’t quite right because of the famous wobble you get due to its design. Also a great way of warming up your muscles ahead of playing a round.
4. Links Choice Practice Net
RRP £79.99 | VIEW OFFER
This is one of the many easy-to-store, golf-practice-net options but it will also be attractive to those who don’t have lots of space or money to spend on this type of training aid.
It is compact (7ft x 10ft x 5ft (max)) but it won’t take you long to work out the optimum striking distance and it is plenty wide enough to cope with even the worst mis-hit. It also feels nice and sturdy once it’s ready for use.
The black target helps take the sting out of even the biggest drives so there are no safety concerns and it is a golf practice net that is relatively quick and easy to assemble.
5. PuttOut Academy Putting Studio
RRP £159.99 | VIEW OFFER
How much time do you spend working on your putting? If you’re any like us, then not enough. At least, that was the case until we treated ourselves to one of these, so we could practise whenever we fancied at home.
This package includes their original six-foot Pro Practice Putting Mat, which rolls flat immediately out of the carry bag and runs at around 10 on the stimp to mimic medium-fast greens. It includes alignment markings and targets along with suggested drills.
You also get the brilliant Puttout Pressure Trainer, a scientifically shaped target which rejects bad putts and returns good ones. Increase the difficulty by opening a small hole in the trainer and aiming for the ‘perfect putt’.
The icing on the cake is the Putting Mirror and Alignment gate to help you perfect your stroke and start line. Both the trainer and mirror can also be used on real greens.
If you’re looking for a useful golf gift for your loved one, this is it. Scottsdale also have great deals on PuttOut’s Pro Mat, Slim Mat, Putting Plan Alignment Stick Set and Pro Putting Gates.
Head over to our Best Putting Mats for loads of other options.
6. Eyeline Golf Masters Putting Alignment Mirror Training Aid
RRP £39.99 | VIEW OFFER
It’s one of the most popular putting training aids in the world and used by the majority of the world’s best players.
It ensures that everything is aligned as it should be so, when you are doing your putting drills, you are fully confident that you are aiming correctly. Unfortunately it won’t read the greens for you though!
Highly portable and easy to use for left handers as well as right handers and you can add tees in two different slots to create a putter gate to help you concentrate on middling those putts every time.
RELATED: Tested – Best Putters
7. V GEBY Golf Smash Bag impact trainer
RRP £24.99 | VIEW OFFER
As a teenager Ian Woosnam used to whack old tyres to help him understand his impact position. Now there are plenty of smash bag options, which will help you do exactly the same thing.
They are a really clever way of focusing attention on just exactly what is going on with your body at the point of hitting the ball. For many this will come as a bit of a shock.
For the majority of golfers who just don’t get enough body into their swings, this will help clarify your thoughts and there are a number of drills golfers can use to aid body rotation and get themselves swinging the golf club more effectively.
This bag comes with a handy target.
8. Rawspeed Golf Standard 45” Swing Trainer
RRP £129.95 | VIEW OFFER
The science behind swing trainers makes perfect sense. Strengthening the muscles we use when swinging a golf club allows us to swing faster and hit further. Therefore use the swing motion as the basis for training the muscles and gradually build up the resistance to gradually build up muscle mass.
All of which makes Rawspeed’s range of swing trainers an attractive propostion. This is the standard 45” model but there are variations measuring 48” (long drive), 43” (ladies) and 41” (juniors).
Included in the package are three weights (100g/150g/200g) and a training guide which advocates a programme to give you 20 yards more of distance off the tee in eight weeks.
9. FORB Freestanding Professional Golf Cage and Net
RRP £517.99 | VIEW OFFER
This is a serious bit of kit for a serious player who wants a very permanent golf practice net and has the space for it.
The cage wouldn’t look out of place on the practice ground of any golf club – it is 10ft x 10ft x 10ft – and is made of hard-wearing steel while the premium mesh netting is rot proof.
It is also freestanding so relatively easy to move should the need arise but it is so sturdy there are no concerns about it being blown about…even when the worst storm hits.
10. SuperSpeed Golf Training System
RRP £219.99 | VIEW OFFER
Arguably the most famous swing speed training aid, this is pricier than some of its rivals but you do get a lot of help for your money.
Included in the package are three swing sticks – green (light), blue (medium) and red (heavy) – and enough online video instruction to keep you going for months.
The makers claim it will increase clubhead speed by 5% in six weeks and only requires 30 minutes of use per week to reach that target.
Works on training/strengthening the key muscles involved in swinging a golf club properly and certainly benefits shorter hitters more.
RELATED: How to create more driver power
Best of the Rest: Golf Training Aids
Foresight GC2 Home Golf Simulator
RRP £18,295 | VIEW OFFER
Foresight’s Home Golf Simulator really is the Rolls Royce of golf training aids and if it wasn’t for the price then it’d be No.1 in our list. The cost makes it unrealistic for most of us, but it’s the industry’s best-selling launch monitor for a reason.
As part of the package you also get a frame and screen, turf (up to 4 x 1.5m) and hitting mat with tee holders, an HD projector with performance laptop and stand complete with Surge protection, and the FSX 2020 programme with five standard courses and Fairground All-Ages game suite (that’s a great way to get kids swinging a club)
The on-screen graphics and attention to detail are astonishing and the technology which tracks your ball’s behaviour is market leading.
However this package will not provide you with club and golf ball data. The golf ball data-added package comes in at £23,130 and when you throw in the club data it will cost you in the region of £28,000.
Forb Home Golf Putting Mats
RRP £60.99-£89.99 | VIEW OFFER
Available in two sizes (10ft/12ft), the Forb mat consists of an EVA foam base and a non-crease polyester surface. Combine the two and you have an excellent training aid which affords you a highly consistent roll.
Designed with three holes and some uphill gradient as you approach the cups, it also folds away neatly.
RELATED: Matt Fitzpatrick’s six steps to becoming a better putter
PGA Tour Swing Grip trainer
RRP £19.99 | VIEW OFFER
This is a clever bit of kit that gets your hands in the right place while it will also effectively strengthens the all-important muscles you use while hitting a ball.
The moulded grip ensures you put all the fingers in the right place. The majority of club golfers don’t hold the club properly. The heavy steel weighted construction then does the rest as a swing speed trainer.
It also important to mention tightness of grip. So many golfers hold their clubs too tightly, putting tension in their forearms and killing their chances of maximising their swing speed.
A great tip in terms of how lightly you should hold is club is to imagine you are trying to keep hold of a small bird. Strong enough so it doesn’t fly away but lightly enough so you don’t harm it.
RELATED: Four steps to the perfect golf grip
Fat Plate
RRP £49.95 | VIEW OFFER
This handy ball-striking gadget was created about five years ago and is a simple-yet-effective way of monitoring your angles of attack.
It works be notifying you that your angles are too shallow. If that happens the bottom of your clubhead will catch the fat plate before the ball. There are settings for wedges, mid irons and long irons.
Works well in conjunction with a little bit of pro advice to get you hitting the ball at just the right point of your downswing and for those who hit their irons at slightly the wrong point in their arc, you will quickly feel the benefit.
Included in the package is a 24-page guide on getting the best out of your Fat Plate. Plus you get 25 StrikeStrips, which will give you a stronger visual sense of where you are hitting the Fat Plate.
Puttout Pressure Putt Trainer
RRP £24.99 | VIEW OFFER
If you don’t want an entire putting studio then you could just treat yourself to this superb training aid.
The Pressure Putt Trainer can be used on the practice green, with other mats or just on the carpet in your lounge and it helps you master pace and line.
Designed to fold down to fit easily into your golf bag, it recreates the pressure you would feel during a competitive round of golf with a micro target that will only hold putts that are bang on line and perfectly paced. If you miss the micro target, the amount the ball rolls back towards you is the distance the ball would have travelled past the hole if it hadn’t been online. A very clever design from PuttOut and a bargain gift for the golfer in your life.
Available in white, orange and blue.
Upgraded Golf Swing Plane Training Aid
RRP £15.99 | VIEW OFFER
If you have issues with getting the correct wrist hinge in the swing then this is the training aid for you.
It can help improve your swing plane, clubface alignment and follow-through position. Of course, no relatively cheap gadget is going to fix your swing on its own. Combine this tool, which easily attaches to the shaft of your club, with the advice of your coach (or online tutorials) and then put in the hours on the driving range and it will pay dividends.
Works for right and left-handed golfers.
RELATED: How to achieve the key move that all good golfers make
Mark Flanagan has been a golf journalist since 2008 having worked at a number of daily newspapers before that as part of the sports teams.
He’s been playing golf since the age of 11, starting out at Olton in the West Midlands and has also been a member at Hull, Waterton Park near Wakefield and Hollins Hall in Baildon. He currently plays off a nine handicap.
You can get in touch with Mark, here.
