Once you have your clubs—purchased, fitted or borrowed, you’ve bought a box of your favorite balls, you’ve taken a lesson or two, and you’ve played a few rounds with friends, you should know if you want to continue with this crazy game of golf. If you do, then sooner or later you will be looking to improve.
There are dozens of golf training aids for sale in retail stores or online. Some are great and will bring you success, others are close to bogus. How can you tell which is which? Talk to your friends, ask your pro and listen to the experts tell you what they find works or not. Don’t go by price. You’d be surprised, sometimes the simplest training aids are the best. The most expensive are often a waste of money.
One training device we have tried, purchased and can endorse: The Orange Whip. It trains you to swing in tempo and on a comfortable, natural arc. It uses your natural swing and improves upon it. Read the post we published featuring The Orange Whip.: The Best Golf Training Device I’ve Found. It includes a couple of videos that show you the device in action.
Other Golf Training Devices:
If you’ve got money to burn ($899 US) you might consider The Explanar This is a standup circular device that you stand into. Using the supplied pole, you swing along a fixed plane… “Explanar will give you a powerful and repeatable swing. Fix a slice or hook quickly and hit the ball longer, straighter and more consistently.” – Pros will use this device at their training centers, but if you have the room and the inclination, you can purchase one for your personal use. The price is high but if you are totally dedicated to improving your game, you might consider it.
The Path Finder is a putting device aid that “adapts to the individual, it’s easy to use and it provides rapid results. Path Finder is a training aid that helps you find a better putting stroke, better ball impact and better alignment. Underneath the device there are magnets that keep the six pins in place. The 6 pins can be individually adjusted to the golfer’s skills and what kind of putter is being used.” Check it out here.
Here’s something we are curious about… the almostGolf ball. A ball you can use in your backyard to practice and improve anytime.
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You can get 2 FREE almostGOLF Balls yourself by going to almostGOLF.com and signing up. Easy to do. We signed up for golfgurls and will write up a review once we’ve had a chance to try them out.
Here’s one training aid we can’t recommend.
A Training Device We Don’t Like: One we don’t recommend is the Medicus system. It just doesn’t work for most golfers. This is a training club that will “break” if you are not swinging on the optimum plane. Now that’s great if what the Medicus engineers call the optimum swing plane, and your natural swing plane are the same. But for most golfers, there is no match. I know you can twist yourself into a pretzel trying to learn to use the device… but all the instructors I’ve talked with have little use for it. Sorry Medicus. I’ve tried using your 5 iron swing training device and give it a thumbs down. All I got was a blood blister when the hinge bit my finger. 🙁
Books & Publications
There are dozens of good publications. DVDs, movies, and magazines on the market today. You can purchase your own copes or check out your local library. YouTube.com has dozens of great training videos you can watch and use for practice. Just go to the youtube.com website and search for golf tips or golf training. We’ve gathered quite a few and placed them on our golf tips page for easy access.
Books:
- The Women’s Guide to Golf: A Handbook for Beginners
- Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game
- Feeling Naked on the First Tee: An Essential Guide for New Women Golfers
- Golf Girl’s Little Tartan Book: How to Be True to Your Sex and Get the Most from Your Game
- A Woman’s Guide to Better Golf
- The Game Before the Game: The Perfect 30-Minute Practice
- Every Shot Must Have a Purpose: How GOLF54 Can Make You a Better Player
VHS / DVDs / CDs
- Phil Mickelson: Secrets of the Short Game (2009)
Golf: Perfect Putting- Mental Training & Hypnotherapy by Dawn Grant
Putting Out of Your Mind - Your 15th Club Audio Book by Dr. Bob Rotella – One Color Each
- Bob Rotella: Golf Is Not A Game Of Perfect
- Short Game Swing Simple By Scott Barrett Golf Instruction DVD Video Putting Chipping Pitching Sand Shots