Best Golf Training Aids 2025

If you want to improve your golf, you need to practice. While playing a round helps you to work on your decision making as well as learning to hit shots under pressure and figure out how to score, the golf course isn’t the best place to hone your technique. After all, golf is hard enough without standing on the first tee with a head full of swing thoughts. Instead, save that for the range or even at home, when you can focus on a specific feel or area of your game, with the support of a dedicated training aid.

The best golf training aids are numerous, designed to help you with your swing and your putting. Some are fairly complex, while others are deceptively simple, but when used consistently can really pay dividends. And if you think that training aids are just for struggling golfers or high-handicappers, then think again. At every professional event the range is full of tour pros grooving their swings with the help of a particular aid. Many of these are focused on the fundamentals, showing that even the best in the world need constant reminders of set-up, grip and alignment - typically these take the form of alignment sticks, but also think Tommy Fleetwood with his swing plane perfector, Scottie Scheffler with his grip trainer, or Rory Mcllory, who unveiled a short practice club in Dubai this week that’s he’s using to help him better embed the mechanics of his new takeaway.

Below we’ve selected our favorite training aids, all of which have been tested thoroughly by the Golf Monthly team. Whatever part of your game you need to work on there should be a product here that will help you in your pursuit of greater consistency and lower scores. Similarly, if you’ve made a resolution to practice ‘smarter’ then check out our guides on the best golf launch monitors, best golf simulator and our picks for the best golf net.

The Quick List

Best Golf Training Aids

Our top pick

Improving your putting is a surefire way to lower your scores and greater consistency on the greens starts with the ability to deliver a square face at impact. The Devil Ball from PuttOut provides instant feedback on this, which makes it such an effective tool we included them in our Editors Choice Awards and gave them the top spot in this guide.

These fall into the ‘deceptively simple’ category mentioned in the intro. The ball, of which you get two, features a flat-edged design that exaggerates the putter’s face angle as you strike it. If the face was open or closed at impact, the ball will roll to the left or right and with a great deal of wobble. Only by presenting a square face will you get a smooth roll and a ball that hits your intended start line.

The ball can be placed in three different ways to offer a range of difficulty - it’s an element we liked as it allows you plenty of room for improvement. We really did gain a strong understanding of our face angle, and given the direct feedback, started to see some real improvement in our putting.

• Read our full PuttOUT Devil Balls Review

Best for swing plane

‘Setting the club’ is a term you’ll likely have heard or read before. While there are different approaches to set positions and when to achieve them in the swing, the principle remains the same, with the idea of getting the club on plane, with the arms and hands connected and in front of the body. The idea is that from here you can deliver the club squarely without having to make too many adjustments in the downswing.

Dan Frost’s Sure-Set training aid works on getting you in a powerful and wide position at the top of the backswing. It does this using different elements. First, there’s the moulded grip trainer, which encourages you to place your hands on the club in a neutral position. From here the L-shaped device is swung back, with the aim being the ball that sits at the end of it comes to sit inside your lead armpit. To achieve this position you need the proper connection and rotation between the wrists, the arms and the body.

We found that it really helped us to feel greater width in our backswing, and vitally, in keeping this width as we transitioned from the top of the swing down. If you have the tendency to get too narrow in the downswing then this aid could be of great help. All in all, it’s an easy-to-use tool that can be adjusted to fit different body types.

• Read our full Sure Set Training Aid Review

Most affordable

Watch Scottie Scheffler closely, whether it’s during tournament play or on the range, and you’ll see just how careful and deliberately he places his hands on the club. Clearly it’s a fundamental that arguably the world’s best golfer and his coach Randy Smith believe is not to be overlooked, and to help him he uses the G-Rip Grip Trainer.

It’s a wonderfully simple and affordable device, in essence it's just a moulded grip that ensures you place your hands on the club in the same way each time. If Scheffler feels it’s necessary to do this as part of his routine, there's a good chance it's something we all should take on board.

It couldn’t be easier to use. Just fit it to a club and use it for a few swings during every session at the range. You can also just swing the club at home, building in the muscle memory so when you're out on the course you’re more likely to grip the club with consistency. It’s particularly well-suited to new golfers who are still ingraining the fundamentals into their game or for seasoned players who have a tendency to get too weak or too strong with their grip.

Our resident gear tester Joe Ferguson made a replica of his seven-iron and fitted one of these grips on it, to see if it could make a difference. After a period of time, Joe said;

"I personally believe that the training grip has had a monumental impact on my ability to place my hands on the club consistently and in turn my ability to control the clubface....With so many things that can and do go wrong within the golf swing, eliminating a variable such as the grip is both easy to do and will reap huge rewards in terms of consistency."

• Read our full article on Scottie Scheffler's use of this grip

Best for slicers

Great tempo is an enviable quality in a golf swing. To a degree we all have a ‘natural’ tempo that’s hard to change but learning to swing with better rhythm will help your game, whether you have the quicker tempo of say a Tom Watson or the slower, silky action of a Ernie Els. And while the ChampKey Golf Swing Trainer is unlikely to turn you into an five-time Open champion, or the possessor of a swing so smooth they’ll call you the Big Easy 2, we believe it’s an effective tool for those struggling with their sequencing and timing.

We loved just how simple the ChampKey trainer is to use. Suitable both indoors and out, it features a rubber grip, a flexible shaft and a silica gel head. After a little bit of adjustment time, we were feeling the benefits, gaining feedback of just when to release the club. If you struggle with getting too quick in the transition or from throwing the club from the top, especially in pressure situations, then this should be a highly beneficial tool. It also has the added benefit of increasing the strength of your golfing muscles if used regularly.

• Read our full Champkey Swing Trainer Review

Best for sequencing

The GForce 7 Iron Swing Trainer has some similarities with the ChampKey trainer in that it’s designed to help you improve tempo and timing but with the additional benefit of being an actual golf club - as the name suggests it’s weighted to replicate a 7-iron.

Where it differs greatly from a regular club is in the shaft. Here it’s super flexible and we couldn’t help but notice just how whippy it is. With the club head attached it makes for a good warm up tool ahead of a round while also giving you instant feedback, with the club exaggerating the shape of the shot. It’s even USGA-approved so you could, technically, use it during a round if you saw fit.

So who is it well-suited to? As stated it should help with tempo, timing and sequencing. We also think it’s a great tool if you have a tendency to get a little handsy through impact or are prone to release the club too early. To achieve solid impact and a straight ball flight, you need to really deliver the club solidly and squarely with this device.

• Read our full GForce 7 Iron Swing Trainer Review

Best putting mat

While working on your swing can often mean a trip to the range or heading out into the garden to hit a few balls into one of the best golf nets, putting practice can be done with great success from the comfort of indoors. All you need is one of the best putting mats, such as this model from Perfect Practice.

Our top pick in that guide, it’s a high-quality product that features a putting mat with two holes alongside a wooden backstop and ball returner. The mat is marked with different lines, helping you with your alignment and we really like how it’s sloped up toward the holes - only firmly struck putts will make it, so it’s ideally suited for golfers who are guilty of ‘leaving it short’ with regularity.

• Read our full Perfect Practice Perfect Putting Mat Review

Best for hookers

We’ve already discussed aids that allow you to focus on the fundamentals, and here’s another that aims to promote a neutral and repeatable grip.

The True Grip glove from the Me and my Golf team features three blue silicone areas that give you visual feedback to just how well you’re gripping the club. The channel across the base of the fingers helps the club to sit there - often a poor grip starts by the club being gripped too much in the palm. From this position it’s near impossible to hinge the club effectively. Then there are two more areas that sit atop the glove as well as an arrow tip that should point at your right shoulder (for right handers). Too weak or too strong and you won’t see these visuals.

We like training aids that give immediate feedback, and this glove does just that. Conforming to the Rules of Golf, you can also use it during play, allowing you to better ingrain a solid grip. The glove can come up slightly small but it does stretch well so I would recommend ordering to your usual sizing.

• Read our full Me And My Golf True Grip Glove review

Best for improving speed

Golfers of all abilities crave some extra yards. Typically they’ll look to invest in one the best drivers or a set of the best irons to find more distance. But training can also help you hit further, with tools like this SuperSpeed set on hand to assist your gains.

The brand claims that its Golf Training set can give you an added 30 yards with the driver. While we didn’t test it for quite long enough to see quite such results, after two weeks of use we can report that our swing speed had increased, with the bonus of added flexibility in our swing.

Each set comes with three weighted golf shafts, allowing you to begin with the lighter model before working up to the heavier shafts. You’ll need to follow the guidelines and make sure that you swing from both sides, but in essence it’s a simple tool that’s really easy to use.

It’s worth remembering that any gains in speed should ideally be reached alongside improvements in your swing mechanics. After all, if you’re suffering with an over the top move that causes a big slice, more speed is only going to further exaggerate the issue.

• Read our full SuperSpeed Golf Training Set Review

Best for breaking putts

Another putting mat, but this time it’s a model that allows you to work on breaking putts while at home.

The aptly named Breaking Ball putting mat comes with three weighted golf balls, each one designed to replicate degrees of break, from slight, to medium to heavy. They are colour coded so you can’t make a mistake and can be positioned to emulate left-to-righters or right-to-lefters.

Certainly we believe it adds another dimension to putting at home, which should translate to more confidence the next time you;re standing over a tricky right-to-left putt out on the course. Vitally the weighted balls feel pretty close to regular golf balls.

• Read our full Breaking Ball Putting Mat review

How we test training aids

Our gear testing methodology is based on rigorous testing done over weeks rather than an hour or two. It’s this thorough approach to testing that allows us to gain plenty of insight into just how the product performs, both during practice and play. Over this time we can consider the strengths and weaknesses of a particular club, ball, shoe or, in this case training aid, so we can provide you with an honest review that’s designed to help you find the best gear for your game. Vitally, at Golf Monthly a good review can never be bought by a brand; our unbiased opinions are formed by the time spent with the product and nothing else.

What to consider when buying a training aid

There are a myriad of golf training aids on the market, each making bold claims as to how they can benefit your game. To help you make an informed decision about the right aids for you, we’ve listed some key factors you should consider before you buy.

1. What do you want to work on?

This is the most important question to answer. If you’re new to the game and are unsure of what you need to work on, we’d suggest choosing an aid that focuses on the fundamentals first, such as grip or alignment. If you’re an experienced golfer you’ll likely have a better idea of your weaknesses, and can find an aid to match.

2. Usability

Some golfers want an aid they can carry in their golf bag and simply use on the practice range or during a warm up. Others may prefer to work on their game at home, setting up a practice putting mat for example. Have a think also about whether you respond best to a simple tool or whether you’d benefit from something more complicated and in depth.

3. Versatility

An extension of the above question to some degree, there are aids that are designed to be portable and those which are far harder to carry around. A training aid that you can pop in your golf bag, or suitcase, as well as use at home is a versatile tool indeed.

4. Durability

A good golf training aid should also be strong as well so be aware of what certain models are made from and whether brands offer warranties on their products in case they break from use.

5. Price

Golf can be an expensive sport right and given the choice of buying new clubs, balls, bags or clothes, a training aid might be the bottom of that list despite it helping maybe the most. However it is important to realise that there are aids at lots of different price points so if you do decide to invest in one, be aware of how much you are willing to spend.

6. Lessons?

While we’ve tested all these training aids and selected them because we feel they are effective, we’d still advise that taking a lesson or two is likely the best way to begin to iron out problems in your swing. A professional can spot the issue quickly, before giving you an action plan of how to best eradicate the particular problem, which might involve using one of the aids we’ve suggested. Self-diagnosis can lead you to go down a rabbit hole that can be tricky to get out of, so if you’re unsure of what the issue is, it’s best to get a professional opinion before you start buying any training aids.

That said, if you’re looking to gain more confidence by playing putting games or seeing the ball go in the hole, then a training aid like one of the putting mats above is a great idea, and one that doesn’t necessarily have to be used alongside a lesson from a teaching pro.

If you're after more golf training aids, why not check out some of the best putting aids on the market, best alignment sticks and best putting mats.

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