Training aids, and how to practise with them.

What the rules say

Rule 4.3a of the 2023 Rules of Golf, in effect from 1 January 2023, does not allow you to use golf training or swing aids, such as alignment devices, during a round. General stretching equipment is allowed, though not during a practice swing. The same rule rules out using audio to keep swing tempo, equipment that analyses your swing, and data from the current round. A first breach brings the general penalty and a second, after an intervening event, disqualification. The R&A says the next edition of the Rules is due on 1 January 2028.

Two other rules matter for practice:

• Aiming objects. Rule 10.2b(3) says you must not set an object down to help with aim or stance, such as a club laid along your line, and removing it before the stroke does not avoid the general penalty.
• Practising on the course. Rule 5.2b says that in stroke play you must not practise on the competition course before a round on the day, except putting or chipping near the first teeing area and on practice areas. Rule 5.5a bans practice strokes while playing a hole; a practice swing with no intent to hit a ball is not a practice stroke.

So every aid on this page belongs in your practice bag, not in play.

What the research says about practising

• Focus on the club or the target. Gabriele Wulf and Jiang Su (Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 2007) had 30 novices hit pitch shots under different instructions; on a test a day later, those told to focus on the club's motion scored clearly higher than those told to focus on their arms. Keogh and Hume's 2012 review in Sports Biomechanics reached a similar conclusion across studies.
• A dissenting result. Perkins-Ceccato, Passmore and Lee (Journal of Sports Sciences, 2003) found skilled golfers did better with a target focus but low-skilled golfers did better focusing on swing form. Wulf and Su argue that study's conditions differed in information as well as focus.
• Structure. Keogh and Hume suggest frequent short sessions of blocked, error-free practice may suit novice putters, and varied practice may suit skilled golfers. Mark Guadagnoli and Chris Bertram (International Journal of Golf Science, 2014) argue for varying practice tasks to build learning that holds up under pressure.
• Feedback. Keogh and Hume suggest that video, verbal or combined feedback can improve mid to short iron distance for novice to mid-handicap golfers.

None of those studies tested a particular product. They describe how to practise, which is what to bring to any aid you buy.

Our picks by category

How to choose

Start with what a coach wants you to work on

An aid helps only if it targets the right thing. A professional who has watched you can tell you whether your priority is aim, contact or putting, and which drill to use. Some drills need no purchase at all: Colin Sinclair, Head Professional at Carnoustie Golf Links, uses a mirror drill to check posture, tilting from the hips rather than bending at the waist.

Putting practice that carries over

Samuel Vine, Lee Moore and Mark Wilson (Frontiers in Psychology, 2011) randomly assigned 22 elite male golfers either to a control group or to training in the "quiet eye", a steady gaze on the ball held before and through the stroke. The trained group took 1.92 fewer putts per round in competition afterwards, while the control group showed no significant change. It is a way of practising, not a product. See putting.

Vary it once you improve

If you are past the beginner stage, Keogh and Hume, and Guadagnoli and Bertram, point towards varying the practice task rather than hitting the same shot repeatedly.

Before a round, leave the aids in the car. On the course, Rule 4.3a and Rule 10.2b(3) apply.