Between November and March plenty of golfers practise more than they play. A training aid earns its place in those months only if it works on the miss you actually have. Here are 11, sorted by fault from grip and aim to the putting stroke, each with a 10-minute session, the catch and the room it needs indoors.
Quick summary
- The Divot Board (£97) shows where the club first met the ground, so it's the pick for fat and thin iron shots, with or without a ball.
- The Swing Plate (£59.99, or £69.99 with sticks) holds an alignment stick at any angle on a mat or carpet, so you can work on an over-the-top swing indoors.
- Grip and aim are the cheapest fixes: Grip It Rite (£29.99) puts the hands in place on the club, and the £19.99 Longridge magnetic trainer shows where an iron's face aims.
- A speed stick such as the £129 Rawspeed is swung like a driver and needs about 2.8m of ceiling indoors, and in a 2021 study a speed-stick warm-up added no more clubhead speed than jumps and press-ups.
- For putting, the £35.99 Visio Start Line Trainer shows whether the face was open or closed at impact, and the £89 Putting Arc MS-3D guides the stroke along an 84cm arc.
- A winter kit of Divot Board, Swing Plate with sticks and Grip It Rite costs £196.98.
Best golf training aids at a glance
The right training aid is the one built for your miss: the Divot Board for fat and thin irons, the Swing Plate for an over-the-top swing and the Visio Start Line Trainer for putts that start off line. Find your fault in the middle column, then go to that number below.
| # | Training aid | The fault it works on | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grip It Rite | A grip that's too strong or too weak | £29.99 |
| 2 | Longridge Magnetic Club Alignment Trainer | A clubface aimed off target | £19.99 |
| 3 | The Swing Plate | An over-the-top swing and a slice | £59.99 (£69.99 with sticks) |
| 4 | Divot Board | Fat and thin iron shots | £97 |
| 5 | ButterBlade Golf Strike Trainer | Off-centre strikes | £149.99 |
| 6 | Power Shift Board | Weight left on the trail foot | £119 |
| 7 | Rawspeed Golf Trainer | Swing speed | £129 |
| 8 | Divot Board Mini | Chunked and scooped chips | £65.99 |
| 9 | Visio Start Line Trainer | Putts that start off line | £35.99 |
| 10 | The Putting Arc MS-3D | A putting stroke that wanders | £89 |
| 11 | Live View Pro | Seeing your own swing | £339 |
Grip It Rite, the Swing Plate, the ButterBlade, the Divot Board Mini and the Visio Start Line Trainer also make good Christmas gifts for golfers who'll spend the winter practising at home.
What makes a golf training aid worth buying?
One that gives you feedback on every rep. All but the speed stick here do: a mark on a board, a click under the lead foot, a putt that clips a gate, a stick in the club's way. The speed stick's check is a club speed reading before and after its programme.
An aid that only feels nice to swing tells you nothing about the next swing.
The picks run in the order of a swing: grip and aim first, then plane, strike, weight shift and speed, then the short game and putting, and the swing camera last.
1. Grip It Rite: best for your grip
Grip It Rite fits onto the club and puts the hands in place with a guidance fin, pads for the index finger and thumb, and a hole for the thumb. A meter on it shows whether the grip is too strong or too weak, and the dimpled rubber is non-slip, so it can stay on a club for a range session. It's £29.99.
A grip that's too strong tends to close the face at impact and one that's too weak tends to leave it open, so a lot of hooks and slices start in the hands before the club has moved.
10 minutes: fit it to an old 7-iron. Take your grip from scratch 10 times and check the fin, the thumb hole and the meter each time. Then make 10 slow half swings with it on. Finish by taking the same grip on your own 7-iron without the aid, and look down to check the hands sit where they did on the trainer.
The catch: it sets the hold at address, and the hands still have to keep it through the swing. The old grip has had years of practice, and the new one has had 10 minutes.
Who it suits: beginners, and anyone changing their grip on a PGA professional's advice.
2. Longridge Magnetic Club Alignment Trainer: best for clubface aim
The Longridge Magnetic Club Alignment Trainer is a rod with a magnet that attaches to the face of an iron or wedge and points where the face aims: open, closed or square. It extends from 16cm to 26.5cm, works for right or left-handers and costs £19.99.
10 minutes: put the magnet on a 7-iron and set up to a target 10 times. Each time, read where the rod points against where you meant to aim. Then set up 10 more times without looking at the rod, and check it only once you're settled and ready to swing. The gap between the 2 sets is the aim you've been playing with.
The catch: it only fits iron and wedge heads that a magnet will hold. It isn't suitable for non-magnetic clubs, drivers or putters.
Who it suits: golfers whose iron shots start left or right of where they aimed.
A pair of Longridge Portable Tour Rod alignment sticks on the ground shows where the feet aim while the magnet shows the face. They're £19.49 for 2 and fold into 4 parts, down to a 33cm (13in) tube. The same pair covers aim, ball position, swing path and the putting gate with nothing else to buy.
Both stay on the practice ground. Rule 4.3 says you can't use a training aid such as an alignment rod during a round in any way that helps with swing plane, grip, alignment, ball position or posture (R&A, Rule 4.3a).
Watch out: sticks in a competition round
Check your aim with a stick on the practice ground before you tee off, then put it in the bag. Laying it down to aim during the round costs the general penalty the first time: 2 strokes in stroke play, or the hole in match play. A second breach is disqualification. A rod across the shoulders for a stretch is allowed.
3. The Swing Plate: best for an over-the-top swing
The Swing Plate is a steel base that holds an alignment stick at whatever angle you twist it to, with no tools, and it's heavy enough to stay put on a mat or a carpet. It works on the over-the-top swing, draw and fade paths, start line, chipping and body movement. It's £59.99 for the plate, £69.99 with alignment sticks and £79.99 with an extension pole.
It's made in the UK, it adjusts by hand for right or left-handers, and every purchase comes with access to a library of videos from the maker's PGA coaches (The Swing Plate).
10 minutes: set the base on the mat behind the ball, just outside the ball line, and twist the stick to the angle the shaft sits at address. Make 10 slow half swings without a ball and bring the club down under the stick. Then make 10 three-quarter swings and hit 10 balls into a net. A club that clips the stick on the way down has come over the top, and the clatter tells you before the ball does.
The catch: the £59.99 plate comes without sticks, so it's the £69.99 version unless you already own a pair.
Who it suits: golfers who slice from an over-the-top move, and coaches who want a stick at the same angle every lesson.
The Swing Plate Dual Pro has a heavier base that holds 2 rods, so a plane rail and a path gate go up together without shifting your stance. It sits on mats, carpet or grass and sets for right or left-handers, and it's aimed at teaching bays and simulators. It's £84.99, or £95.99 with sticks.
4. Divot Board: best for fat and thin shots
The Divot Board is a strike pad that shows in one mark where the club first met the ground and which way it was travelling. It's 15cm × 53cm (6in × 21in) and costs £97. Pointed nubs underneath hold it on a carpet, a range mat or outdoors, and a carabiner clips it to the bag.
The maker's instructions are short: line the ball image up with your normal set-up, swing, read where the mark starts against the ball, wipe it clean and go again. It works with a ball for full swings, or without one for practice swings at home. A fat shot shows as a mark that starts behind the ball, because the low point came too early (Divot Board).
10 minutes: make 10 practice swings with a 7-iron and no ball. Read each mark and wipe it before the next. Then hit 10 balls into a net. You're after a mark that starts at the ball or just after it, every time.
The catch: the pad wears. Pads last a year or two or longer, depending on how much the board is used, so a busy winter brings a replacement pad closer.
Who it suits: golfers who hit their irons fat or thin. The board tells you about the fat one before your playing partners do.
The Longridge Strike Training Mat does the low-point half of the job for £54.99. Its velvet leaves a dark mark where the club touched, a wipe the other way resets it, and straps hold it down in the garage or at the range.
5. ButterBlade: best for centred strikes
The ButterBlade Golf Strike Trainer is a weighted training club with a miniature clubface, and its maker says the small face and the weighting give feedback on the swing path and the clubface angle on every swing. It also encourages a lag feel, with the clubhead trailing the hands into impact. It comes left or right-handed in Regular, Stiff and X Stiff. It's £149.99.
The point of that feedback is a square strike from the centre of the face. A strike off the heel or the toe costs distance and sends the ball offline, and in a garage net it's the shot that finds the frame.
10 minutes: make 10 slow swings without a ball and feel where the weight pulls the club. Then hit 10 balls into a net at three-quarter speed. Finish with 5 balls hit with your own 7-iron, to check the feel carries over.
The catch: the feedback is a feel, with no mark to read, and with a ball it needs the range or a net. Indoors, a practice net that stops a full iron shot comes before the first swing.
Who it suits: improvers who catch it off the heel or the toe.
6. Power Shift Board: best for weight shift
The Power Shift Board is a board you stand on to feel pressure load onto one leg and unload from it during the swing. It clicks when the lead leg presses down with enough pressure, and spikes underneath hold it steady. It's £119.
Hanging back on the trail foot moves the low point behind the ball and takes power out of the strike, and from the inside it feels like a perfectly good swing. The click gives you a second opinion.
10 minutes: stand on the board with a mid-iron and make slow rehearsal swings until the click comes as the lead leg presses down in the downswing. Then make 10 swings at half speed and listen for the click on every one. A swing with no click is a swing where the lead leg never pressed down hard enough.
The catch: those spikes need something to grip, so it belongs on a mat, a carpet or the lawn.
Who it suits: golfers who hang back on the trail foot through impact.
The SuperSpeed Force Pedal Bundle is £69.99 for a soft and a firm pedal. A pedal goes under the ball of the lead foot, between the 1st and 4th metatarsals. You push down on it in the downswing, between the lead arm reaching parallel to the ground and the shaft reaching parallel.
Practising in the garage this winter?
Send us the room's height, width and depth, and we'll tell you what fits, from a net and a mat to a full simulator. It's free.
Book a free consultation7. Rawspeed Golf Trainer: best for swing speed
The Rawspeed Golf Trainer Standard 45in is a shaft with an interchangeable weight adapter, 3 weights of 100g, 150g and 200g, and a training and instruction guide. It comes in 4 lengths, all £129: Standard 114cm (45in), Long Drive 122cm (48in), Ladies 109cm (43in) and Junior 104cm (41in). The Junior has lighter weights of 50g, 100g and 150g.
10 minutes: follow the programme in the guide and swing the weights in the order it sets. Rawspeed claims 20 yards or more of distance in under 8 weeks, so measure your club speed with a driver before week 1 and again after week 8. A Shot Scope LM1 reads club speed for £194.99, with no subscription.
The catch: the independent evidence is thin. In a 2021 study led from St Mary's University, Twickenham, 13 skilled male golfers with an average handicap of 1 hit 10 drives each on a Trackman after 3 different warm-ups, a week apart.
A speed-stick warm-up and a warm-up of jumps and plyometric press-ups both raised clubhead speed and carry against a normal warm-up. The speed sticks added nothing over the jumps and press-ups, and ball speed and total distance didn't change (Bliss, Livingstone and Tallent, 2021). The study only measured the effect on the day, so it says nothing either way about 8 weeks of training.
Then there's the room. A 114cm (45in) stick is driver length and gets swung like a driver, and we plan on 2.8m (9ft 2in) of ceiling for a full driver swing.
Watch out: speed sticks under a low ceiling
At full speed nobody stops a swing halfway. In a standard 2.4m room the stick finds the ceiling or the light fitting first, so take it into the garden, or into a room with the headroom. A speed stick and a pendant light only meet once.
Who it suits: golfers after distance who'll stick to an 8-week plan.
The Speed Toad works on speed with your own driver shaft, for £125. It's a 140g trainer head, against the roughly 195g its maker gives for most driver heads, and a training plan comes with it.
8. Divot Board Mini: best for chipping
The Divot Board Mini has the same patented feedback as the original Divot Board on a smaller board made for the short game and small spaces, and it works with every club that strikes the turf. Suction cups hold it on a hard floor, tee anchors on turf and grip spikes on a mat, and the pad swaps out on Velcro. It's £65.99.
A chunked chip travels about as far as its divot, and a scooped one runs through the green. The Mini shows which one you hit before the ball has stopped.
10 minutes: hit 10 chips with a wedge and read where each mark starts before you wipe it clean. Then hit 10 half-swing pitches. As on the bigger board, the marks should start at the ball or just after it.
The catch: it gives the same feedback as the Divot Board, so if you already own the original, you don't need both.
Who it suits: golfers who chunk their chips, and rooms where a full swing won't fit, because the suction cups hold it on a kitchen or hall floor.
The Striker 3000 is a polycarbonate strike board with a simple brief: hit the ball without hitting the board. Shallow out early and scoop at the ball, and you hit the board. It doubles as a check on set-up and stroke path for putting, and it's £59.
9. Visio Start Line Trainer: best for your putting start line
The Visio Start Line Trainer is a gate the putt has to roll through. For a right-hander, clipping the left side means the face was most likely closed at impact, and clipping the right means it was most likely open. It's £35.99.
On a flat carpet nothing bends a putt back once it starts off line, so the gate gives an honest read of the face at impact.
10 minutes: set the gate on your line just in front of the ball. Hit 10 putts from the same spot and count the clean passes. Move the ball back a putter head's length and hit 10 more. Write the 2 scores down and beat them next time.
The catch: it tests start line only, so pace needs a hole or a target past the gate.
Who it suits: golfers who miss short putts on both sides of the hole.
The PuttAIM PLUS is a laser alignment aid in solid aluminium, with a regulation-size cup attached to its base. It's made for indoors, or shade outdoors, and it costs £129.99. Its maker suggests 5 to 10 minutes a day.
10. The Putting Arc MS-3D: best for your putting stroke
The Putting Arc MS-3D is an 84cm (33in) arc that the heel or the toe of the putter runs against through the stroke, with an adjustable mirror that shows the head and shoulders at address. It weighs 1kg (2.2lb), works right or left-handed, and sits on non-slip pads, with tee holes for staking it down. It's £89.
10 minutes: check your eyes and shoulders in the mirror at address. Rest the putter's heel against the arc and make 10 strokes without a ball, keeping the heel on the arc back and through. Then hit 10 putts along the arc.
The catch: it trains an arcing stroke. If you putt straight back and straight through, you'll get more from the putting mirror or the gate.
Who it suits: golfers whose stroke wanders off line.
The Visio Putting Mirror STEEL weighs 790g and shows shoulder alignment, head and eye position and face alignment at address, with slots for tee pegs to set up strike and path drills. It's £49.99.
The PuttOut Slim Putting Mat gives you a true roll to putt on. It's 240cm × 25cm with markings to 6ft, reads 10 on the Stimpmeter and costs £49.99. At 25cm wide, it's a putting mat that fits a hallway.
11. Live View Pro: best for seeing your swing
The Live View Pro is a wireless camera its maker calls a digital swing mirror, with 0.3 seconds or less between the swing and the picture on your screen. It weighs under 113g (4oz), runs for up to 2 hours and sends up to 60 frames per second to the device you watch on. A smart swing trigger starts an automatic slow-motion replay. It's optimised for indoor use, and it's £339.
10 minutes: set the camera face-on and make 10 swings. Check one position per replay: the top of the backswing first, then impact. Move it down the line and repeat.
The catch: video shows positions and gives no club path or face numbers. For those numbers on every shot, a launch monitor under £1,000 reads club path and face-to-path from £421. A phone on a tripod films a swing for nothing, with a wait before you see it.
Who it suits: golfers working on positions with a coach, who want to see each swing before the next one.
Which golf training aids can you use indoors?
All 11 work indoors. Where each one goes depends on whether it needs a ball, what floor it sits on and how much ceiling the swing needs.
| Training aid | Needs a ball? | Works on | Height it needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grip It Rite | No | Anywhere | Any room |
| Magnetic Club Alignment Trainer | No | Carpet, mat or turf | Any room (set-up only) |
| The Swing Plate | Optional | Mat or carpet (steel base) | 2.4m with an iron, 2.8m with a driver |
| Divot Board | Optional | Carpet, mat or turf (nubs) | 2.4m with an iron |
| ButterBlade | Yes, into a net | Mat | Room for an iron swing |
| Power Shift Board | No | Mat, carpet or turf (spikes) | 2.4m with an iron |
| Rawspeed Golf Trainer | No | Anywhere with the height | 2.8m |
| Divot Board Mini | Optional | Hard floor, mat or turf | 2.4m with a wedge |
| Visio Start Line Trainer | Yes | Carpet, putting mat or green | Any room |
| The Putting Arc MS-3D | Optional | Carpet or mat (non-slip pads), turf (tee holes) | Any room |
| Live View Pro | No | Anywhere | Any room |
The Swing Plate's steel base and the Divot Board's nubs both sit on a 1.5m × 1.5m hitting mat, which costs from £189 and saves the carpet. Add a Divot Board to a £913 practice bay with a launch monitor, a net and a mat, and it comes to £1,010. The board shows the strike, and the launch monitor gives the numbers.
GolfBays tip
Leave the aid where you practise. Park the Swing Plate's base beside the spot where the ball sits on the mat and keep the Grip It Rite on an old 7-iron by the door, so a 10-minute session needs nothing fetched first. A training aid in the cupboard under the stairs fixes nothing.
Do golf swing training aids work?
They work when the aid gives feedback on a fault you actually have and you keep using it. Few training aids have been through an independent trial, so the proof worth trusting is the feedback you can check yourself: the mark on the board, the click under the lead foot, the putt through the gate, a club speed reading before and after.
The 2021 speed-stick study measured a warm-up effect on the day, and jumps and press-ups matched it. Every other aid here stands on whether its feedback changes your next swing, and that's a test you can run in a month.
A PGA professional can name the fault in a lesson, and an aid gives you the reps between lessons. A habit built over years won't shift in a fortnight of evenings.
✓ Do this
Pick the one miss that costs you the most shots, buy the aid for it, use it for 10 minutes 3 times a week for a month, then check the miss again.
✕ Not this
Buy 3 aids for 3 faults, rotate them every session and judge none of them.
Golf training aid FAQs
What is the most effective golf swing trainer?
The one that gives feedback on your miss. For contact, that's the Divot Board at £97, because the mark shows where the club met the ground. For an over-the-top swing, it's the Swing Plate at £59.99, with a stick at the shaft's angle to swing under.
What is the best putting training aid?
A start-line gate for most golfers, because a short putt that starts off line has little room to come back. The Visio Start Line Trainer is £35.99. If the stroke itself wanders, the Putting Arc MS-3D at £89 guides it along an 84cm arc.
What are some good golf aids for seniors?
Aids that need no full-speed swing: the putting aids, the Divot Board Mini, the Swing Plate and Grip It Rite. For speed work, the shortest adult Rawspeed is the Ladies at 109cm (43in), £129 like the other lengths.
How can I improve my swing plane at home?
Swing under a stick set at the shaft's angle. The Swing Plate holds one on a mat or carpet for £59.99, or £69.99 with sticks, and the Swing Plate Dual Pro holds 2 rods for a plane rail and a path gate at once, from £84.99.
How can I practise golf at home without hitting balls?
Use an aid that gives feedback on a practice swing. The Divot Board marks every swing, and its maker suggests using it without a ball at home. The Power Shift Board clicks under the lead leg, Grip It Rite needs no swing at all, and a speed stick needs 2.8m of ceiling.
How can I measure my swing speed at home?
With a launch monitor. The Shot Scope LM1 reads club speed, ball speed and smash factor for £194.99 with no subscription, which is enough to track a speed programme from week 1 to week 8.
Do grip trainers work?
As a check on where the hands sit before you swing, yes. Grip It Rite's fin and thumb hole put the hands in place, and its meter shows whether the grip is too strong or too weak. Keeping that grip through the swing still takes practice with your own clubs.
What training aid stops casting?
The Striker 3000 catches the scoop that casting often ends in, and the ButterBlade's weighting encourages a lag feel, according to its maker. Casting is releasing the wrist angle early in the downswing. Scoop at the ball and you hit the £59 Striker board.
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