26 Best Golf Training and Practice Aids

Published on 03/25/2024 · 21 min readElevate your golf game with these top 26 training and practice aids! Improve your swing, putting, and overall skills on the course.

By Golf Expert Brendon Elliott

Photo by Diego

Playing the game better is a goal that many golfers work towards. Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle for many is the sheer lack of time that most have versus the time it takes to show substantial improvement.

With this being the case, many search for anything that can help them improve the various aspects of their game that need work. They watch YouTube videos, Instagram Reels, or TikTok posts seeking help. They watch the Golf Channel and read online articles. Some may venture into one of the best ways to improve their game: retaining a certified PGA or LPGA coach. Others look for the latest and greatest training aids to help them gain an edge.

As I approach three decades working in golf and spending most of the past two as a coach, I can share with you a few truths. First, golf is hard but undeniably addictive. Second, one of the best ways to get better is through taking instruction. Third, golf is a game meant to be enjoyed, so the sooner you learn to enjoy it, even on your worst days, the sooner you can make positive changes and strides forward.

One other truth that I have found, and one that I will explore a little more today, is that many training aids when given a chance and used properly, will indeed help you. I am a self-diagnosed training aid addict. If you ask my wife, she will tell you as much. I genuinely feel that many training aids on the market hold a lot of credibility. As I said earlier, if they are used correctly and given the proper amount of time to start to help you, they can make a world of difference. Granted, some duds are out there, and some are pure snake oil, but many are very helpful.

Golf has many unnatural movements and techniques that feel strange when executed correctly. Golfers generally adapt their style based on things like body type, physical limitations, and, most often, not knowing or being taught how to execute shots properly.

Before you know it, habits are formed, and when that happens, it is complicated to make positive changes and restructure a swing, even when shown how.

To help combat this, I like to utilize some of the best training and practice aids available today. These devices, systems, or even mobile apps are very powerful tools in helping golfers feel what proper should feel like. They help to create a repetitive motion or build a new level of understanding of concepts that may normally be hard to understand. They help reinforce ideas and feelings that coaches try to impart to their players. They also help, in the case of some apps, create better habits.

Today, I will share a few of golf's best training and practice aids. Most are items that I use or have used in the past, which I have found helpful as a coach. More importantly, they have proven useful to the students I have coached.

Other training aids I will share are favorites of countless fellow PGA Pros that I know and trust.

The training and practice aids I will share with you include:

Full Swing:

Swing Speed and Fitness Training:

Short Game and Putting:

Strategy, Statistics, and Playing:

12 Of The Best Full Swing Training Aids

EyeLine Golf Speed Trap 2.0

The EyeLine Golf Speed Trap 2.0 is an extremely useful training aid that helps the golfer in a handful of ways, including:

Aim and Alignment
Swing Path
Better Impact
Shot Shaping

The Speed Trap 2.0 can be used with every club and for every shot, from full swing, controlled shots, short game shots, and even putts. This is a super simple and super useful training aid.

EyeLine Golf Impact Cube

The EyeLine Golf Impact Cube is a modernized version of the classic Impact Bag or Smash Bag training aid. The Impact Cube is a fantastic tool for working on a better impact position with every club in the bag.

Because of its unique design, you can also use it to work on your swing path and eliminate that pesky, over-the-top move that many golfers struggle with.

Like many of the best training aids, the Impact Cube is simple in its design and highly effective in its purpose.

EyeLine Golf Balance Rod

Good balance throughout the swing is a trait found in all good golfers. Many golfers, especially newer ones, find this basic foundational aspect of the golf swing to be a challenge to achieve with every swing of the club.

The EyeLine Golf Balance Rod is an excellent tool to help train golfers with balance issues in their swing. By simply stepping on the Balance Rod and making swings, you are forced to focus on your balance as you swing.

After making swings standing on the Balance Rod, you will gain instant feedback and have an entirely new sense of balance as you step off and start making swings without the rod under your feet. This training aid is perfect for those who need to feel that kind of difference in their balance as they swing the club.

WhyGolf Pressure Plate

Many golfers struggle with the concepts of proper weight and pressure shifts throughout the golf swing. A very common flaw is what is known as a reverse pivot, where a golfer's center mass and pressure move forward as they go back in the swing. The result is the center mass and pressure moving back in the forward swing…that is not a great combo.

WhyGolf’s Pressure Plate allows golfers to feel what a proper weight shift feels like by exaggerating the feeling they have with their current reverse pivot.

This tool improves footwork and the pressure shift into your trail foot during the backswing and the shift into your lead foot in the downswing.

It also helps improve balance by gaining a new feel and appreciation for keeping your center mass stable over the ball.

Golfers will become more consistent, faster, and more powerful with the WhyGolf Pressure Plate.

MVP Sports Golf Alignment Sticks

One of golf’s most simple but highly effective training aids is the Alignment Stick. You can purchase alignment sticks from countless vendors, such as Tour Sticks Alignment Sticks. I have always turned to MVP Sports as my choice.

MVP Sports is one of the leading producers of these great training tools and also sells hundreds of other quality golf accessories. You can get your alignment sticks from MVP Sports completely custom-made with logos, sayings, and more.

These simple tools help improve alignment, ball position, and swing plane and aid in working on shot shaping. They are also great for short game and putting practice.

Swing Align Pro

The Swing Align Pro takes alignment to another level. In addition to helping golfers get their feet, knees, hips, and shoulders square and parallel left of the target line (for righties), this training aid helps the golfer understand and feel a proper turn.

By wearing an alignment stick across the knees and arms and having one on the ground at your toes, you get a whole new feeling of rotation. You can see how the lower body and upper body turn in relation to each other. This will help you stay centered and rotate much better.

Additionally, because the arms are connected with the cuffs, which hold the arms alignment stick, you can really feel what staying connected feels like. No more chicken wing with that flying trail elbow!

The Swing Align Pro is a really great training aid!

Lag Shot Golf Trainer

The Lag Shot Golf Trainer is one of the most respected pieces of training equipment in golf. Countless PGA and LPGA Professionals love using this with their students, and golfers love the feel they acquire by using it.

The whippiness of the flexible shaft forces golfers to be more patient with their hands in their transition down. By allowing that to happen, the proper downswing sequence and shallowing out of the club can really be felt.

The trainers are offered in a Driver, 7-Iron, and Wedge model and in Men’s, Women’s, and Junior sizes.

HackMotion Golf Wrist Sensor

Your hands and wrists play a major part in your golf swing. The hands, after all, are your only connection between the body and the club. With that thought in mind, it is essential that you have your hands on the club correctly and with proper wrist angles in place at key points in the swing.

The HackMotion Golf Wrist Sensor is a wearable training aid that measures your wrist angles and other key data points with your hands, wrists, and forearms as you swing.

Generally speaking, your lead wrist should be as close to being in a flat position as possible at the top of your swing so that you can deliver it at impact in that same key position. This creates a powerful impact position and straighter shots that fly true.

The HackMotion Golf Wrist Sensor your data against thousands of data points gathered from the game's best players. This is a very powerful tool to help you become a much better golfer.

Golf Daddy Divot Daddy Pro (And Soon to Launch Simulator App!)

Many golfers have seen this next training aid online and on social media. The Golf Daddy Divot Daddy Pro is an upgraded version of the original Divot Daddy.

The Pro version is a substantial upgrade, allowing you to get a sense of your swing path direction and impact. You can train with or without a golf ball, which is great for those who have difficulty finding time to practice.

What’s really cool about Golf Daddy is the upcoming launch of their Golf Daddy Simulator App…and it is under the $100 price point. That should be released very soon!

V1 Golf App

V1 Sports and the V1 Golf swing analysis software platform has been around since 1995. For the past 28 years, they have been at the forefront of golf swing analysis software. Both the desktop studio version, for both the golfer and the professional coach, as well as the mobile app, provide high-speed swing capture and analysis tools to help dissect a golf swing thoroughly.

The V1 Golf App recently had a facelift with new features and updates. V1 Golf allows users to:

Connecting with a coach for online lessons
Analyze your own swing
Compare your swing against a pros (A large library of swings available)
Get great content, including practice drills (For Plus members)

SportsBox AI 3D Golf App

I am a massive fan of SportsBox AI’s 3D Golf App. This is one of the most impressive pieces of training technology that has come out in a very long time.

Through the SportsBox app, you can actually take a captured swing video and turn it into a 3D model of your swing! That 3D model has an absolutely incredible amount of data to help me, as a coach, analyze and explain what almost every part of the golfer's body is doing at every point of the swing. You can also see how you compare to an average range of 100’s of professionals at each body part and each swing position.

This is an amazing app that does what I mentioned above and so, so much more. They are always innovating, too, and working to make the app better and better. One example is the newly released down-the-line view in creating a 3D model. Prior to that launch, it was only from the face-on view that you could model a swing.

This is a must-have golf training app!

FlightScope Mevo+

In the early 2000s, the golf world was forever changed when the high-speed golf radar was introduced. This piece of technology took the art of teaching and coaching to an entirely new level. Through this advancement, the golf swing can be sliced and diced more than ever before through advanced ball and club data. Trackman and FlightScope were the innovators; today, there are countless options for radar systems.

Originally, systems like these cost upwards of $20,000 and were fairly bulky. Today, however, many systems can literally be carried in one hand or put in your golf bag. And that price point has shrunk considerably. The top-of-the-line models are still pricy, but many high-quality models at lower price points can be found.

The FlightScope Mevo+ is one example of this. This pocket version is small yet powerful. With it, you can capture data points, both indoors and outdoors, such as:

Ball Speed
Club Head Speed
Smash Factor
Carry Distance
Total Distance
Launch Angle
Spin Rate
And 13 other date parameters…

Additionally, through E6 Connect for iOS and PC, you have an awesome golf simulator where can play 10 great courses, including Bay Hill, Wade Hampton, and The Belfry, and practice on 17 differently themed practice ranges.

You can also use additional apps in conjunction with the Mevo+, such as FS Skills, which has great practice combines, and FlightScope Multicam, which combines video capture with data capture.

At $2,000, this is almost as good as any $20,000 radar system!

3 Great Swing Speed and Fitness Golf Training Aids

GolfForever Swing Trainer

Fitness and speed training have become all the rage in recent years. Not only have these things become a major focus for the pros, but the more serious golfer as well. You could buy plenty of non-golf-specific fitness items, but training your golf muscles through aids like resistance bands can only get you so far.

The GolfForever Swing Trainer is both an at-home and on-the-go training aid and training system that helps improve your flexibility and range of motion and increase your clubhead speed.

“GolfForever is a tool and approach that is critical to my preparation for the PGA TOUR.”

Scottie Scheffler, #1 Golfer in the World

If the GolfForever Swing Trainer and System is good enough for Scottie, it is well worth your looking at it!

Aero-Swing Speed Trainer

Speed is a hot topic in golf. There is no denying that. Everyone wants to get faster and hit it further. Resistance swing trainers have been around for a very long time; think back to the Swing Fan, one of the game's first resistance swing trainers.

The Aero-Swing Speed Trainer is today's version of the Swing Fan. It helps golfers pick up speed in their swing through air resistance. Over 60% of World Long Drive professionals and amateurs use the Aero-Swing Speed Trainer.

This is a product worth checking out.

Mach 3 Golf Speed Training

I met Mach 3 Golf Speed Training founder Michael Romatowski a few months ago. I have been a fan since learning about his system and philosophies on speed training.

Mach 3 is a golf speed training protocol that focuses on its “Speed Out in Front” concept. You will get faster through Mach 3’s training tools and protocols and Michael’s expert guidance. In fact, since 2017, when Michael founded Mach 3, program participants have gained an average of 11.5 mph in driver clubhead speed. That is pretty remarkable!

8 Of The Best Golf Training Aids For Short Game and Putting

EyeLine Golf Target Package

No matter what kind of shot you are practicing, from a putt to a full swing and everything in between, you should always have a target in mind. Hitting shots without a target in mind is pointless practice.

EyeLine Golf offers a variety of practice targets that will help you conduct focused and meaningful short-game practice sessions.

The EyeLine Golf Target Package includes the following:

The EyeLine Golf Short Game Targets

The EyeLine Golf Target Circles

EyeLine Golf Target Holes 3-Pack

EyeLine Golf Groove Plus Putting Mirror

Having a proper setup and aim is critical in putting. Having a good, repeatable, down-the-target line stroke is also key to being a great putter.

EyeLine Golf’s Groove Plus Putting Mirror is the latest in a long line of putting mirrors from EyeLine Golf…and this is the best so far!

With 16 out of the top 20 tour players on the OWGR using an EyeLine Putting Mirror, shouldn't you?

EyeLine Golf Putting Circut Trainers

EyeLine Golf is both an innovator and a leader in the golf training aid market. For the last 21 years, EyeLine has produced some of the best and most used training aids in golf.

At the end of the 2020-2021 season, 15 of the top 20 players in the OWGR used at least one of EyeLine’s products in their daily practice routines.

The new EyeLine Golf Putting Circut Trainers offer three unique trainers with four different putting drills on each. These 12 total drills help golfers dig in and create highly effective, structured putting practice sessions.

The EyeLine Golf Putting Circut Trainers are fantastic tools to help golfers become the best putter they can be.

WhyGolf Chipping Plate

Many golfers struggle mightly with their chipping. A seemingly easy and effortless motion that many overcomplicate. One of the biggest reasons for this is improper setup.

Your weight must be set forward at address for chip shots, with roughly 60 to 70 percent on your lead side. You must maintain that position throughout the chipping stroke to ensure a proper impact position and good contact.

Many golfers have their weight poorly distributed at setup, and some even transfer it back to the trail food in the backswing and then keep it there through the forward swing. This could cause fat shots and poor contact.

The WhyGolf Chipping Plate allows you to set your weight forward and really feel it. It also lets you feel when your weight improperly moves to your trail side.

This is a must-have training aid for those who struggle with chipping and can even be something you can practice at home when combined with a chipping net.

The One Putt Trainer By Athletic Motion Golf

Sometimes, the most straightforward training aids can be the most effective. That is the case with Athletic Motion Golf's new One Putt Trainer.

The One Putt Trainer allows golfers to learn how to start the ball on the right line with every putt. Additionally, it simplifies improvement in green reading, alignment, and speed control.

This is a very simple yet highly effective putting training aid.

Perfect Practice V5 Putting Mat

Every golfer can benefit from practicing their putting stroke whenever they get the chance. With the busy lives golfers lead, finding the time to get to the golf course may sometimes prove difficult, and practicing on an average carpet at home won't cut it.

That is why the Perfect Practice Putting Mats are perfect for the serious golfer who wants to improve their stroke and distance control but seldom has the time.

With the Perfect Practice V5 Putting Mat, the newest offering by Perfect Practice, you can put anywhere on a high-quality putting surface. The V5 Putting Mat offers realistic putting every time you roll it out.

Blast Motion Blast Golf Sensor

Good, consistent rhythm and tempo is one of the essential attributes of all good putters, good short-game players, wedge players, and full swingers. The best putters maintain a consistent tempo, with a 2:1 ratio with their stroke. That is, their through swing is twice as fast as the back swing, regardless of the length of the putt. The ratio for wedge and full swings is somewhere near a 3:1 ratio.

The Blast Motion Blast Golf Sensor is an innovative piece of technology placed on the top of your grip. Through the sensor and accompanying app, Blast captures unparalleled data related to tempo. It also measures countless other data points, such as backstroke and throughstroke times, impact stroke speed, face rotation, and more.

Tour Aim Golf Training Aid

From putting and all the way up to the driver, aim and alignment are basic golf skills critical to playing good golf. Although these are seemingly straightforward aspects, many golfers struggle with them. A golfer's perception of how they align to the target is often off to the left or right. Some are only slightly off, and others are off mightly.

On the putting green, you can be off as little as a quarter of an inch or less and miss.

With the full swing, bad alignment can cause a bad swing path. A bad swing path leads to offline shots.

The Tour Aim Golf Training Aid helps in several ways, including:

Training both the eyes and brain to see the correct target line
Helps create proper aim and alignment on every shot
Helps make practice more structured

3 Best Strategy, Statistics, and Playing Training Aids

DECADE Golf App

Since I stumbled on the DECADE Golf System and App, I have become a massive fan. This system, developed by Scott Fawcett, has been a game-changer for me as a coach. And for golfers that adopt this system, things like first tee jitters will become a thing of the past.

DECADE is a course and playing management system. DECADE is an acronym that stands for Distance, Expectation, Correct Target, Analyze, Discipline, and Execute. Through this system, golfers are taught, through tour-level statistics and other data, how to approach playing a round of golf properly and do so by playing with their tendencies in mind. This is perfect for young intermediate to advanced players, but can be adopted by anyone really.

Anyone who coaches teens, as I do, knows that emotions, such as doubt, frustration, and failure, cause havoc on results. Kids and parents get too caught up in the wrong things, such as searching for a “perfect swing,” which should be known as non-existent in golf. Good scoring comes from having and following a game plan without emotion and without thinking about technique while on the course. You play YOUR game based on YOUR tendencies and follow YOUR plan. That is what DECADE helps players

V1 Game App

V1 Sports launched the V1 Game app in November of 2019. This golf performance stats and analysis app allows you, the golfer, to turn your phone, or Apple Watch, into a personal caddie, on-course GPS device, and shot tracker. Using the app regularly lets you gain insight into your game and accumulate comprehensive statistics showing your strengths, weaknesses, and paths to improvement.

Data is power, and when you can go out and play a round with the app on and running on your phone, capturing data as you go, nothing could be easier or more powerful.

Operation 36 Golf

It is not necessarily a training aid per se but rather a how-to-play golf development program. Operation 36 Golf is a fresh new approach to taking beginner golfers of any age and getting them on the course playing the game quickly. As they play, they learn and have fun all at the same time.

Operation 36 provides beginners with both a developmental program and a mobile app to learn to play golf on the course and not only on the driving range. Participants learn how to become skilled golfers by following a motivating roadmap to shooting Par (36) or better for 9 holes.

Program participants start off playing 9 holes from 25 yards on each hole. Once they shoot a par 36 from that yardage, then they can move back to 50-yard holes. The progression from there is 100-yard holes, 150 yards, and 200 yards. Participants can not move to the next yardage level until they pass the preceding level.

Once you get through the Standard Divisions, you then move on to the course tee boxes divisions, starting with the shortest and working your way back to the longest after you shoot a par 36 on each.