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Best Ground Force Training Aids 2026: The Real Distance Secret
Bryson DeChambeau didn’t invent ground force. He just made it a keyword.
For 20 years, the golf industry sold you clubface technology. Bigger sweet spots. Adjustable weights. AI-fitted shafts. All of it aimed at the six inches of the club that touches the ball. Meanwhile, the best players in the world were quietly using something the marketing department never mentioned: the ground under their feet.
Here’s the actual physics. Newton’s third law says every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Push down into the ground hard enough, at the right time, and the ground pushes back. That push is free clubhead speed. It has nothing to do with your driver. It has everything to do with your feet, and almost nobody trains it because almost nobody knew the term until DeChambeau started talking about it on every broadcast.
I tested four training aids built around this idea. One is $49.99. One is $129.99. The gap between them is not the gap you’d expect.
What Ground Force Actually Fixes
Two things kill mid and low handicappers looking for distance: bad sequencing (shoulders turn before weight shifts, which is backwards) and hanging back on the trail foot through impact. Both cost you 10 to 15 yards. Both are invisible to the naked eye. You cannot see someone’s foot pressure shift by watching their swing. That’s why these aids exist. They make an invisible movement feel obvious.
1. WhyGolf Pressure Plate: Best Direct Feedback ($99.99)
The Pressure Plate is a rigid board with a wedge insert and alignment marks. You stand on it and the wedge tips forward or back depending on where your weight sits. Hang back on your trail foot at impact, which is what most amateurs do, and the board tells you instantly. No guessing.
I used it for 10 minutes before three range sessions. The feedback is blunt in a good way: either your weight moved to your lead side or it didn’t. After a week, my 8-iron miss (a thin shot that comes from staying back) mostly disappeared. WickedSmartGolf’s reviewer noted the same thing: it’s not wide enough for a full driver stance, which is true, but for irons and wedges it’s exactly what you need.
What does not work: The plastic feels budget for $99.99, and it takes up an odd amount of bag or garage space. It only trains lateral weight shift, not rotational force.
Verdict: Buy it. This is the clearest, cheapest way to feel weight transfer that actually exists on the market. If you only buy one thing on this list, this is it.
2. DownUnder Board 2.0: Best Ground Feel ($109)
Built by Bradley Hughes, a PGA Tour instructor and former Australian Masters champion, this board sits between your feet and you actively squeeze it with your lower body throughout the swing. Different mechanism than the Pressure Plate: instead of showing you where your weight sits, it forces stability so your body figures out the correct movement on its own.
The first two swings feel clumsy. By the tenth, my contact got noticeably more centered. Users on GolfWRX report the same pattern: cleaner strikes, less sway, better rotation, all without a single swing thought. Practical Golf’s review was more measured, noting the feedback is physical, not verbal, so without a coach translating the feeling into a fix, you can stand on it for weeks and get nothing but sore legs.
What does not work: It doesn’t fit in a golf bag. Reddit users correctly point out you can cut a $8 piece of plywood to the same dimensions and get similar results.
Verdict: Worth it if you’ve been told you sway, early extend, or come out of your posture. Skip it if you’re a beginner without a repeatable swing yet.
3. The Force Pedal: Best Budget Option ($49.99)
Two silicone discs, one soft and one firm, that you place under your lead foot to feel the sensation of pushing down and exploding through impact. MyGolfSpy tested it and got mixed results, but the tester already had elite ground-force mechanics and a 121 mph clubhead speed. Multiple readers in the comments, all instructors, reported real gains with students who swing with their arms and never learned to use the ground.
That’s the honest takeaway: this product is built for slower-swing golfers, not scratch players. If your swing speed sits below 95 mph and you’ve never consciously used your legs, the Force Pedal teaches the sensation for less than the cost of a dozen premium balls.
What does not work: At $49.99 for what’s essentially two pieces of molded silicone, the markup annoys people. One commenter, a manufacturing engineer, estimated the production cost at under $10.
Verdict: Buy it if budget matters and you’re a slower swinger. Skip it if you already have decent tempo and speed.
4. SuperSpeed Force Board Pro: Best for Distance Chasers ($129.99)
The most expensive and most capable board here. Unlike the others, it trains vertical, horizontal, AND rotational force with swappable attachments, and it’s wide enough to hit real balls off it with a full driver stance. Endorsed by Padraig Harrington and built by the same company behind the SuperSpeed speed-stick system most serious swing-speed chasers already own.
What does not work: One verified Amazon reviewer flagged that full use of the guided training protocols requires a $99-a-year app subscription beyond the initial free video. That’s a steep add-on for a $129.99 board, and it’s not clearly disclosed in the marketing copy.
Verdict: Worth it if you already own SuperSpeed sticks and want the training ecosystem. Skip it if you just want a straightforward pressure-shift feel. The WhyGolf Pressure Plate does that for $30 less with no subscription trap.
The Dual-Use Option: Divot Board
The Divot Board ($59.99-$99.99) isn’t built for ground force specifically, but it’s a useful cross-check. It shows your low point and strike location, which tells you if your weight shift is actually translating into better contact. Use it alongside any of the four above to confirm the feeling is working, not just present.
Quick Comparison
| Aid | Price | What It Trains | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| WhyGolf Pressure Plate | $99.99 | Lateral weight shift | Buy this first |
| DownUnder Board 2.0 | $109 | Stability, footwork | Worth it if you sway or early extend |
| The Force Pedal | $49.99 | Push-and-release feel | Best for slower swingers |
| SuperSpeed Force Board Pro | $129.99 | Vertical, horizontal, rotational force | Worth it in the SuperSpeed ecosystem |
What I Would Actually Buy
If you’re starting from zero, buy the WhyGolf Pressure Plate ($99.99). It’s the cheapest way to feel the exact fault costing you distance: hanging back on your trail foot. Pair it with the Divot Board ($59.99) to confirm the fix is showing up in your strike pattern. Total: $159.58, less than half of a mid-range driver.
If you already know you sway or come out of your posture, spend the extra $9 on the DownUnder Board instead. Skip the SuperSpeed board unless you’re already committed to their speed system and don’t mind the subscription.
Ground force isn’t a fad. It’s just a name for something the best players have always done and nobody bothered to teach the rest of us. Now you don’t need a $3,000 pressure mat in a fitting studio to learn it. You need a $99 board and 10 minutes before you hit balls.
Where to Buy
- WhyGolf Pressure Plate $99.99 at Amazon
- DownUnder Board 2.0 $109 at Amazon
- The Force Pedal $49.99 at Amazon
- SuperSpeed Force Board Pro $129.99 at Amazon
- Divot Board $59.99-$99.99 at Amazon
Prices updated July 2026. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.