Reviews / guides

guides

After Your Lesson: 6 Training Aids I'd Buy, $15-$150

By Tommy Strawn Β· August 23, 2026 Β· 7 min read

After Your Lesson: 6 Training Aids I'd Buy, $15-$150

I have spent over $2,000 on golf lessons in my life, and for a long time I got worse. The pattern was always the same. I would take the lesson, feel the change in my hands for about an hour, drive home convinced I was fixed, and by Thursday I could not remember what the pro actually told me to do. The $150 lesson evaporated, and my swing went right back to whatever it was before.

The lesson is not the product. The reinforcement is the product. A golf pro gives you one specific change. Your job is to drill that change every day until it sticks, and most of us do not own the tool that locks the change in. So we practice the old swing 50 times and call it a day.

This guide maps the six most common fixes a pro hands out to the exact training aid that reinforces each one. If your pro told you X, buy Y. Every one of these is under $150, and most are under $60.

If Your Pro Fixed Your Setup: Buy Alignment Sticks

About half of all lessons start with setup: your alignment, your ball position, your stance. The pro nudges your feet, squares your shoulders, and sends you home with the instruction to β€œcheck your setup every time.” Then you go to the range and set up exactly like you always did, because you cannot see yourself.

Alignment sticks fix this. Two fiberglass rods on the ground give you a target line and a body line you can see while you set up. Callaway alignment sticks run about $20, and a generic two-pack is $12 to $15. Lay one on the target line, one parallel for your feet, and set up to them every single ball. After two weeks the stance becomes automatic.

What does not work: they only help if you use them. Alignment sticks are the most abandoned training aid in golf because they feel like homework. Keep them in the bag, not the garage.

If Your Pro Fixed Your Strike: Buy a Divot Board

The second most common lesson is contact. You hit it fat, you hit it thin, and the pro tells you to hit the ball first and take a divot after. That is a low-point fix, and it is nearly impossible to feel on a mat without feedback.

A Divot Board gives you that feedback instantly. It is a plastic board that registers exactly where your club bottoms out relative to the ball. Hit it fat and the mark shows behind the ball. Hit it clean and the mark is in front. The full-size Divot Board is $99.99, and the mini is $59.99. It is the difference between guessing at your low point and seeing it on every swing.

What does not work: it is a range or backyard tool, not a living-room tool. You need to actually swing, so it only earns its keep if you practice.

If Your Pro Fixed Your Tempo: Buy an Orange Whip

β€œSlow down” is the most common swing thought in golf, and also the most useless one, because slowing down is not a swing change. It is a tempo change, and tempo is trained with weight.

The Orange Whip Trainer at $119.99 is a flexible shaft with a weighted ball on the end. You cannot rush it. Swing it smoothly and the shaft loads and releases in rhythm. Swing it hard and it fights you. Ten swings a day for two weeks smoothed out my transition more than any single lesson did. It is the one aid I would hand to a new golfer before anything else.

What does not work: it does not train speed or contact. It trains rhythm, and only rhythm. Buy it for tempo, not for distance.

If Your Pro Fixed Your Connection: Buy a Tour Striker Smart Ball

A lot of lessons come down to the arms and body working together. The pro tells you to keep your arms connected to your turn, and you nod and then flare your elbows out on the next swing because you cannot feel the separation.

The Tour Striker Smart Ball at about $47 is a soft ball you wedge between your forearms. If your arms separate, the ball drops. Keep it pinched through the whole swing and your arms and body move as one unit. It is the cheapest fix on this list and one of the most effective, because it turns a feel into a physical constraint.

What does not work: it feels awkward for the first few swings, and you will drop it a lot before it clicks. Stick with half swings at first.

If Your Pro Fixed Your Swing Path: Buy a PlaneMate

If your lesson was about coming over the top, your pro is fixing your swing plane. This is the hardest change to feel, because your path is invisible to you in real time.

The Tour Striker PlaneMate is a resistance band that clips to your club and your body. It physically pulls your arms onto the correct path on the backswing and through. You literally cannot come over the top while wearing it. It runs about $150 on sale (regularly higher), which makes it the priciest aid on this list, but it is the only one that forces a path change instead of just suggesting one.

What does not work: it is a commitment. You wear it, it restricts you, and it takes setup time. Buy it only if your lesson was specifically about path.

If Your Pro Fixed Your Putting: Buy a Putting Mirror

Plenty of lessons end at the green. The pro lines you up, fixes your eye position, and tells you your putter face is open at address. You cannot see your own setup, which is exactly why it keeps drifting.

A putting mirror gives you that view. The EyeLine Tour Roll at $79.95 is a mirror with alignment lines and a roll track that trains setup, face angle, and stroke path together. For a budget option, the Visio putting mirror runs about $30 and covers the basics: eye position, alignment, and face angle at address.

What does not work: a mirror is a setup tool, not a stroke fixer. It will not change your path by itself, but it will make sure you start from the right place, which is half the battle on the green.

What I Would Actually Buy

The $47 fix: the Tour Striker Smart Ball. If your lesson was about connection or strike, it is the highest return per dollar in golf. This is the $40 tool from the top of this guide, and it is the one I would buy before anything else.

The $150 rebuild: the Orange Whip plus a Divot Board mini. That covers tempo and contact, the two fixes that survive long after the lesson is over.

The full reinforcement kit: alignment sticks ($15), Smart Ball ($47), Divot Board mini ($59.99), and an Orange Whip ($119.99), about $240 total. That is the cost of one and a half lessons, and it locks in the next ten.

Where to Buy

The EyeLine Tour Roll is sold direct from EyeLine Golf (the link above is an Amazon search). Every other product on this list is available on Amazon.

A lesson without a follow-up aid is a $150 memory. The pro gave you one change. Buy the one tool that makes you practice that change, and it will still be there in a month.

Related Posts