Keep Your Left Arm Straight: 4 Aids I Tested, $15-$120

The first lesson I ever took, the pro kept yelling one thing: keep your left arm straight. I could not do it. My arm folded at the top of the backswing like a broken wing, and every fat and thin shot I hit for the next two years traced back to that bend.

Your left arm bends because your arms outrace your body turn, or because your wrist breaks down, or because your shoulder turn is incomplete. It is a symptom, not a discipline problem you solve by trying harder. Fix the cause and the arm stays straight on its own. Fight the symptom and you spend a decade yelling at your own elbow. I wasted two of those years on the second approach before I learned the difference, and I do not want you to do the same.

That is why most straight arm gadgets are a waste of money. They are elbow braces with a golf logo. They hold your arm straight by force, which teaches you nothing and lets the fault survive underneath. Two of the four products in this category actually fix the problem. The Smart Ball is the one to buy; everything below it comes with a catch.

1. Tour Striker Smart Ball $39: Fix the Cause

Best for: Anyone whose lead arm bends because their arms outrace their body turn.

An inflatable ball the size of a softball that you pinch between your forearms. No straps, no bands, no app. You inflate it, wedge it between your arms, and swing. If your arms stay connected to your rotation, the ball stays put. If your arms run away, the ball falls out. That is the whole product, and it works for chips, pitches, and full swings. It fits in your golf bag and there is nothing to set up.

And it is exactly the right feedback, because the lead arm bends when the arms disconnect from the body. Keep your arms linked to your turn and the left arm has nowhere to go but extended. My brother fixed a two-year bent-arm fault in about five days of daily swings with this thing. It costs $39, invented by Martin Chuck of Tour Striker. Golf forums rank it a top-3 training aid under $50 year after year, and the MyGolfSpy forum verdict is two words: such a great training aid.

What does not work. It only fixes connection. If your arm bends because of a wrist breakdown or an incomplete shoulder turn, the ball will not catch it. The included pump is also flimsy. A soccer ball pump works as a replacement.

Verdict: Buy it. The best $39 in golf training. Fix the cause and the symptom disappears on its own.

2. theHANGER $79.95: Clubface Control, Not a Straight Arm

Best for: Golfers whose lead arm chicken-wings through impact and who also fight a slice.

A plastic arm that clips to your grip and runs along your trail forearm, made in the USA by Watson Golf. When your trail wrist stays flat through impact, the HANGER stays glued to your arm. When your wrist breaks down, it separates and jabs you. It sells for $79.95, marked down from $99.95, and its whole purpose is clubface awareness through impact.

This is a clubface and wrist control device, not a straight arm trainer. It keeps your arms structured through impact, which stops the chicken wing. But if your fault is a bent lead arm at the top of the backswing, this is the wrong tool. It does not touch the backswing at all.

What does not work. It will not fix a bent left arm at the top. Different problem entirely.

Verdict: Skip it for this fault. Buy it later if you also fight an open clubface at impact. For a bent lead arm, it is $80 spent on the wrong fix.

3. Wellstream Weighted Elbow Brace $119.95: The Brute Force Option

Best for: Golfers who want the arm physically held straight and do not care why it bends.

A rigid steel bar wrapped in a silicone pad that straps to your lead arm, with a two-pound weight built in. It physically will not let your elbow bend. It also adds weight out at your arm, which the maker says increases your moment of inertia and forces a bigger shoulder turn. It holds a 4.0 rating across 272 Amazon reviews.

It does hold the arm straight. That part is real. The two-pound weight is also genuinely interesting, because it makes a half shoulder turn feel wrong and a full turn feel right. But it trains the symptom, not the cause. Take the brace off and your arm bends again, because nothing taught your arms to stay connected.

What does not work. It is $120 for a brace, and the fix does not transfer off the brace. The weight is also heavy on your lead elbow, which gets uncomfortable over a long practice session.

Verdict: Worth it only if connection drills have failed. For most golfers, the Smart Ball does more for a third of the price.

4. The $15-$30 Straight Arm Braces: Skip Them All

Best for: Nobody.

Search Amazon for straight arm trainer and you get a dozen near-identical elastic sleeves and posture braces with a golf logo and a sound chip that beeps when your arm bends. They cost $10 to $30, and they are the classic version of the trap. They hold your arm straight by squishing it and teach you nothing. The elastic falls apart after a month. They are the reason this category has a bad reputation.

What does not work. Everything. No connection feedback, no wrist feedback, no cause. Just a snug sleeve with a beep.

Verdict: Skip. Spend the $39 on a Smart Ball instead.

What I Would Actually Buy

If your lead arm bends and you do not know why, buy the Tour Striker Smart Ball ($39). It fixes the most common cause of the bend, which is disconnection, and it costs less than a dozen Pro V1s.

If you have tried the Smart Ball, your arms stay connected, and the arm still bends, the problem is your wrist or your shoulder turn, and no brace on Amazon will fix it. That is a lesson problem, not a product problem. Spend the $120 you would have wasted on the Wellstream on one hour with a good pro.

The one case for the Wellstream ($119.95) is a half shoulder turn that needs the two-pound weight to force a full turn. That is a narrow use case, and it is the only one that justifies the price.

Do not buy a $15 sleeve. Do not buy the HANGER for this fault. A straight left arm is a byproduct of a connected, rotating swing, and the Smart Ball is the $39 shortcut to both. If you are new to the game, the Smart Ball is also the best first training aid you can buy, because connection is the foundation everything else builds on.

Where to Buy

• Tour Striker Smart Ball $39 at Amazon
• theHANGER (Right-Handed) $79.95 at Amazon
• Wellstream Weighted Elbow Brace $119.95 at Amazon

Prices updated August 2026. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.