10 Best Golf Training Aids On Amazon - TESTED!

10 Best Golf Training Aids On Amazon - Tested!

With so many players looking for ways to get their golfing fix from home by getting the perfect home golf set up, we ordered 10 golf training aids from Amazon. From the basics of the swing to the art of the short game, these all promise to improve your golf but how do they stack up? The Golf Monthly team tested them out to see which ones deliver. Also if you want more golf products from Amazon then take a look at 11 of the best-selling products on the site as well.

Tester: Mike Harris, handicap 9

Price paid: £39.50

Verdict: A simple concept that has been well executed, the PuttOut Pro Putting Gates will undoubtedly hone your putting by focusing on grooving a consistent start line and also helping you better understand breaks. The gates can be used at home and on a practice putting green for the start line and general target practice while using them to understand break requires a green with some slope on it.

Tester: Elliott Heath, handicap 2

Price paid: £39.96

Verdict: I bought this product on Amazon.co.uk and it took just over a week to arrive with free delivery. The Eyeline mirror has lots going on: shoulder alignment, slots to place tee pegs, eyeline and target lines as well as some really nice lines to help with stroke path. With the Eyeline mirror I quickly realised that my eyes weren’t over the ball and my shoulders were closed. On my flat carpet with the mirror I literally can’t miss a putt when I get my shoulders aligned correctly and ensure my eyes are over the ball. I’d say this is more than worth the money, especially with the added feature of creating gates for start lines. I’m excited to continue using this over the coming months. For more bits of gear that might help your putting take a look at our guide on the best putting aids. 

Tester: Joel Tadman, handicap 5

Price paid: £44.99

Verdict: The Champkey Golf Swing Trainer appears to be a less expensive version of the Orange Whip device used by many tour players. It uses a high traction rubber grip, flexible shaft and heavy silica gel head to improve your golf swing tempo and build your muscle strength. It takes time to get used to how it feels but with practice, you soon gain an understanding of how letting the body lead the downswing allows the heavy head to release at the correct moment as well as creating lag for extra power. The Champkey swing trainer does a good job of grooving a smooth rhythm with gradual acceleration. It should also improve your timing as well as the overall consistency of your swing.

Tester: Andy Wright, handicap 2

Price paid: £18.99

Verdict: While simple in design, this golf training mat can be used to highlight certain flaws. It should help if you’re struggling to line the ball up with the centre of the club (especially helpful with the putter). The lines on the mat also do a good job of providing a clear visual guide for different swing paths. Also, because impact is made into the grain of the carpet, the mat highlights, to an extent, how you’ve struck each shot – whether that’s heavy, thin or just right – as well as the exit path of the club. If you want to do more research on mats, then check out our guides on the best golf mat, and best putting mats as well.

Tester: Neil Tappin, handicap 5

Price paid: £15.99

Verdict: The Newthinking Portable Chipping Net is a very simple and easy to assemble piece of kit that certainly could help your short game. It forced me to be more target-orientated and within a few chips, I started to get a good feel for distance. For those wanting to work on technique, not chipping towards a flag and hole allows you to concentrate on the move you are looking to perfect. An ideal training aid for those with limited space to practice at home. 

Tester: Sam Tremlett, handicap 5

Price paid: £24.58

Verdict: I have used putting cups in the past that have been disappointing to say the least but with this model I was pleasantly surprised. The raised slope requires consistently good speed and the ball return system worked well, performing best for putts around 10-feet and closer. Some previous models I have used have lacked oopmh. The design felt reasonably sturdy and did deal with an accidental drop from chest height! Above all, I found it fun to use as did my housemates who have never played golf but wanted to have a go.

Tester: Dominic Smith, handicap 12

Price paid: £29.99

Verdict: The faster you move in the downswing, the more resistance you feel. As there is no guide in the box, it was hard to truly know how to get the most from it. Initially I wasn’t sure what I was meant to be feeling however after some swings, I focussed on realising my forearms to target. Once I stopped swinging I could feel my forearms had been working. This product is sadly no longer available on Amazon, but we've found very similar products at a similar prices called the Toyandona Plastic Golf Trainer in the UK and the Vukayo Golf Power Resistance Golf Trainer in the US.

Tester: Matt Cradock, handicap 4

Price paid: £12.49

Verdict: The SunTrade Swing Trainer is a good quality piece of kit that helps to groove a neutral grip. However it is only available in one size, so someone with extra large or extra small hands might struggle to grip it correctly. It would be useful to have instructions and a clear diagram of how the product works. To test, we gave the grip to a non-golfer to try, and they were confused as to how to use it. When looking online, the aid was being demonstrated with both a baseball grip and the conventional grips used by the majority of players.

Tester: Tom Clarke, handicap 18

Price paid: £15.99

Verdict: If you want to be able to swing a golf club and feel the impact of hitting something then this certainly does the job. The bag arrived quickly, but it is not filled with anything so you need to fill it with old clothes or similar. The pictures on Amazon also make the bag look bigger than it actually is. The bag does have a sturdy handle and the material felt water resistant and durable. The most noticeable issue is the noise it makes when hit, it is very loud! The target logos on the bag are a good visual, but they are halfway up the bag so I wasn’t sure how much ball-striking help it was offering me. I felt like the best use for this would be for a warm up before a round or range time - would certainly get your muscles loose.

Tester: Dan Parker, handicap 9

Price paid: £9.99

Verdict: A great training aid for focussing on swing plane and clubface alignment. After repeated use over a few days, I saw a noticeable change in how I lined up correctly at address. This aid gives you a clear, visual representation of where you are going wrong at address and in the takeaway, allowing you to fix bad habits quickly. Can be used by right and left handers across any club in the bag but was especially useful with a mid-iron to fix bad habits.

That's it - we're confident at least one of these clever gadgets has the ability to transform your game!

What to consider when buying a training aid

There are several factors to consider when looking at buying a training aid. Let's go into them here, and we also recommend reading our best golf training aids guide as well. 

What do you want to work on? - First things first, what is the part of your game that needs work? Putting? Short-game? Grip? Whatever it is there will be a training aid to help so this is obviously the first question you have to consider. Indeed be very specific with this, because the more detailed you can be, the more a specific aid will help. 

Usability - Do you want a training aid to be simple to use, or do you want something that can be complicated so you can really delve into the process and fine-tune your game to minute detail? Ultimately there are models above and elsewhere in the golf world which are both. 

Versatility - Do you want to be able to carry around the training aid? Do you want to be able to use it at home as well as the local course? Many aids slot nicely into your bag whilst others are more difficult to pack away and store. So have a think about how versatile and portable you want your training aid to be. 

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 warranty's on their products in case they break from use. 

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. 

Lessons? - Our final point here is to have a good think about whether a training aid is the right way to go in solving a problem in your game. Perhaps investing in lessons may be a better way to go because a professional coach will be able to point out the issue and look at solving it, whereas a training aid may not get to the root of the issue. Whereas if you just want to gain more confidence by playing putting games or seeing the ball go in the hole, then a training aid like a model we picked above will be perfect for this and a lesson won't be needed. We cannot recommend thinking about this enough.