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Best Short Game Training Aids for Beginners
The golf training aid industry is a $2 billion business built on one lie: that buying gear is the same as getting better.
In the 1990s, golf training aids were a novelty aisle at Golf Galaxy. Now they are a $2 billion category on Amazon. The quality has not improved proportionally.
I remember my first year of golf. I spent $400 on training aids I saw on Instagram. Every single one is in a closet. The one thing that actually worked was a $40 alignment stick and 15 minutes of practice three times a week. I did not need more gear. I needed to use the gear I had.
Beginners lose more strokes around the green than anywhere else - but most short game content assumes you already know how to chip. This guide starts at zero: which training aids give instant feedback when you don’t know what “correct” feels like, which are cheap enough to buy before you’ve committed to the game, and which ones won’t collect dust after two weeks. The focus is on feedback-driven tools that tell you what you’re doing wrong without needing a coach to interpret the results.
1. Tour Striker Smart Ball - $40-$45 - connection and arm-body sync, instant physical feedback: $40
The Smart Ball is an inflatable ball on a lanyard you pinch between your forearms. It sounds like a gimmick. It is not. If you swing with just your arms, the ball drops. If you rotate your core through the shot, it stays pinched. The feedback is immediate. At $40, it is the cheapest fix for the most common swing fault in golf.
What does not: It only trains connection, not contact or distance control. A beginner can pinch the ball perfectly and still chunk chips because low-point control is a separate skill. Pair it with a chipping net or plate, not as a standalone short-game fix.
Buy this: Tour Striker Smart Ball, $40. Best first purchase for a beginner whose arms disconnect from the body on chips and pitches. Martin Chuck designed it specifically to teach that connection feel in under a week of daily reps.
Skip: If you will not use it every day, do not buy any training aid. The gear does not fix your swing. Practice does.
2. WhyGolf Chipping Plate - $40-$60 - ball position and setup feedback for clean contact: $40
Chipping nets are the most underrated training aid in golf. Everyone buys a putting mat. Nobody buys a chipping net. That is backwards. Most amateurs lose more strokes around the green than on it. At $40, a chipping net gives you a target, distance feedback, and gamified practice that makes chipping drills actually fun.
What does not: It only diagnoses low-point and contact quality, not distance control or trajectory. If your chips are catching the plate cleanly but still coming up short or long, that is a pace problem the plate cannot show you. You need reps to a real target for that.
Buy this: WhyGolf Chipping Plate, $40. The hard plastic plate sits under your stance and you hear the club catch it on a fat chip before you even see the ball miss. For a beginner who does not yet know what clean contact feels like, that instant audible feedback teaches the difference faster than a coach standing over your shoulder.
Skip: If you will not use it every day, do not buy any training aid. The gear does not fix your swing. Practice does.
3. Wedge Game / Tic-Tac-Toe Net - $40-$60 - gamified chipping, makes practice fun instead of frustrating: $40
Chipping nets are the most underrated training aid in golf. Everyone buys a putting mat. Nobody buys a chipping net. That is backwards. Most amateurs lose more strokes around the green than on it. At $40, a chipping net gives you a target, distance feedback, and gamified practice that makes chipping drills actually fun.
What does not: Setup takes a couple minutes with the steel frame, so it is not a grab-and-go net you fold behind the couch between sessions. This is a leave-it-up net for a dedicated garage or basement corner.
Buy this: Wedge Game / Tic-Tac-Toe Net, $40. The interchangeable target panels turn chipping into an actual game against yourself or a buddy. For a beginner who gets bored chipping into a blank target after 15 minutes, the game pressure is what keeps the reps coming.
Skip: If you will not use it every day, do not buy any training aid. The gear does not fix your swing. Practice does.
4. Me & My Golf Chipping Net - $40-$60 - coaching-backed, good entry point: $40
Chipping nets are the most underrated training aid in golf. Everyone buys a putting mat. Nobody buys a chipping net. That is backwards. Most amateurs lose more strokes around the green than on it. At $40, a chipping net gives you a target, distance feedback, and gamified practice that makes chipping drills actually fun.
What does not: The mesh is lighter-duty than a build like FORB’s. A full year of daily outdoor use in sun and rain will wear it out faster. Treat this as an indoor-primary net if you want it to last.
Buy this: Me & My Golf Chipping Net, $40 (real street price closer to $23). It comes from Piers Ward and Andy Proudman, the coaches behind a YouTube channel with over a million subscribers, and the three target rings give a beginner a specific goal instead of chipping vaguely at a blank net.
Skip: If you will not use it every day, do not buy any training aid. The gear does not fix your swing. Practice does.
5. FORB Chipping Net - $30-$50 - budget indoor/outdoor option. Don’t forget the alignment sticks they probably already own - free bonus section on using sticks for chipping path drills.: $30
Alignment sticks are $15. They are the most underrated training aid in golf. Every tour player carries two. You can use them for alignment, ball position, swing path drills, putting gates, and a dozen other things. If you buy one thing on this list, buy alignment sticks.
What does not: The Velcro target attachments can shift if you hit them with a full wedge swing instead of a chip. Fine for the short shots this net is meant for, annoying if you try to use it for pitch shots too.
Buy this: FORB Chipping Net, $30. FORB is the golf division of Net World Sports, a company that has been building nets for decades, so the mesh and fiberglass poles are a step up in durability from generic pop-up nets. The 31x28-inch catching area with three removable targets is also bigger than most nets in this price range, meaning fewer stray balls rolling under the furniture.
Skip: If you will not use it every day, do not buy any training aid. The gear does not fix your swing. Practice does.
Quick Comparison
| Product | Price | What It Fixes | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tour Striker Smart Ball | $40 | Arm-body connection | Beginners |
| WhyGolf Chipping Plate | $40 | Contact/low-point feedback | Beginners |
| Wedge Game / Tic-Tac-Toe Net | $40 | Gamified chipping practice | Beginners |
| Me & My Golf Chipping Net | $40 | Coaching-backed target practice | Beginners |
| FORB Chipping Net | $30 | Budget durability, bigger catch area | Beginners |
What I Would Actually Buy
If you are just starting out, buy Tour Striker Smart Ball ($40) and alignment sticks ($15). Total: under $60. That covers the fundamentals. You do not need more gear in your first year. You need to practice with what you have.
The golf industry wants you to buy 15 training aids. You need one or two. Buy them. Use them every day for a month. That is how you get better.
Where to Buy
- Tour Striker Smart Ball at Amazon
- WhyGolf Chipping Plate at Amazon
- Wedge Game / Tic-Tac-Toe Net at Amazon
- Me & My Golf Chipping Net at Amazon
- FORB Chipping Net at Amazon
Prices verified July 2026. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.