The short answer: buy the training aid that matches your actual miss, not the one with the best ad. If you hit it fat or thin, a Tour Striker training iron or an impact bag attacks your low point. If your arms separate or your lead arm folds, the Tour Striker Smart Ball. If your wrists flip at the ball, the Tour Striker Educator. If you three-putt, The Putting Arc. If you want more distance, a structured speed trainer like the Rypstick or SuperSpeed. If your swing is rushed, the Orange Whip or Tour Striker’s Impact Sling.
Published October 2026 · Prices checked on brand and retailer sites, October 2026
How to Choose: Start With the Problem
Most training aids fail because golfers buy them for the wrong problem. A speed stick will not fix a slice. Name your single most expensive miss, buy one aid for it, and use it for a month before adding another.
Feedback beats instruction. The best aids below tell you right away when you got it wrong: a mishit off a tiny sweet spot, a dropped ball, a bump on the forearm, a shaft that flops out of sync.
One disclosure up front: the Divot Depot store carries the Tour Striker line, so those picks link to our store. Everything else links to retailers, and we may earn a commission there too. The recommendations are the same either way.
| Problem | Training aid | Price | Feedback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fat and thin iron shots | Tour Striker Red Stripe 7-Iron | $97.00 | Almost no face below the sweet spot |
| Fat and thin (advanced) | Tour Striker Pro 7X | $97.00 | Quarter-sized sweet spot |
| Arms separate, chicken wing | Tour Striker Smart Ball | $39.00 | Ball drops if arms separate |
| Flipping, face control | Tour Striker Educator | $57.00 | Arm bumps the forearm |
| Tempo, swing plane | Tour Striker Impact Sling | $87.00 | A rope cannot be forced |
| Impact position | Golf Impact Bag by Dr. Gary Wiren | $54.99 | Feel of impact position |
| Putting stroke path | The Putting Arc MSIII / T3 / MS-3D | $79.99 / $49.99 / $99.99 | Putter rides a curved rail |
| Putting line and pace | PuttOUT Pressure Putt Trainer | from $39.99 | Only a good putt stays in |
| Weight shift | Power Shift Board | $99.99 | Springs click on a good shift |
| Swing speed | Rypstick / SuperSpeed Speed Sticks Pro | $199.00 / $199.99 | App-guided overspeed program |
| Tempo | Orange Whip Trainer | $99.99–$119.99 | Flexible shaft punishes rushing |
| Aim and setup | Tour Striker Alignment Sticks (3-pack) | $27.00 | Visual reference on the ground |
Tour Striker prices from the Divot Depot store. Others from theputtingarc.com, indoorgolfoutlet.com, rypgolf.com, superspeedgolf.com, orangewhipgolf.com and 2ndswing.com, October 2026.
Fat and Thin Shots: Tour Striker Training Irons
Fat and thin shots almost always share one root: the club bottoms out in the wrong place, usually because the hands stall and the clubhead passes them before impact. The Tour Striker 7-iron attacks that directly. Most of the face below the sweet spot is cut away, so the only way to hit a solid shot is to arrive with the shaft leaning forward and the club still descending. Scoop at it and you catch the leading edge. That makes the feedback instant, and it is the same impact position you want with every iron in your bag.
There are two versions in the current Red Stripe 15th Anniversary run. The standard Red Stripe 7-Iron ($97.00) comes in right- or left-handed and is where most golfers should start. The Pro 7X ($97.00, right-handed) shrinks the sweet spot to about the size of a quarter, and Tour Striker positions it as the advanced model for golfers who already strike it reasonably well. Both have a 433 stainless head, a True Temper Uniflex steel shaft and are made in the USA. Hit half shots first; full swings with either club are hard until your impact improves.
Tour Striker Red Stripe 7-Iron
$97.00The original forward-shaft-lean trainer. Little face below the sweet spot means only a descending, hands-ahead strike flies well. Available in right- or left-handed.
Buy from our store →Tour Striker Pro 7X
$97.00Same idea with a quarter-sized sweet spot, so it is far less forgiving. Pick it only if the standard model already feels easy. Right-handed only.
Buy from our store →Arms and Body Out of Sync: Smart Ball
The Tour Striker Smart Ball is an inflatable ball on an adjustable lanyard that you hold between your forearms. If your arms separate during the swing, the classic “chicken wing,” the ball drops. Tour Striker says it syncs arm and body motion from putter to driver, and it doubles as a drill for finishing the swing instead of quitting on it. At $39.00 it is the cheapest aid here worth owning, and it works indoors with no ball at all.
Tour Striker Smart Ball
$39.00Keeps the arms and body connected through the swing; the ball falls if you separate. An easy first purchase for almost any golfer.
Buy from our store →Flipping and Face Control: Educator
The Tour Striker Educator is a small rod that slides into the end of your grip, with a plastic arm you position for the drill you are doing. When your wrists break down or flip through impact, the arm bumps your forearm. Plugged In Golf’s review found it quick to set up, small enough to live in your bag and useful with every club, from wristy putting strokes and scoopy chips to full-swing hooks and slices. The reviewer noted one catch in the comments: on an oversize grip the cap may not snap on, though the rod still fits. It comes with a quick-start video and a drill series from Tour Striker.
Tour Striker Educator
$57.00Clips into any club and gives a bump on the forearm when the wrists break down. Small, discreet and works from putter to driver.
Buy from our store →Tempo and Swing Plane: Impact Sling vs. Orange Whip
The Tour Striker Impact Sling ($87.00) is a modern take on the old rope-swing drill: a golf grip handle attached to a swing rope. The idea behind the rope drill is that you cannot force a rope: it only swings well with smooth tempo and good sequencing, so rushing from the top shows up right away. It comes with a carry bag and video lessons with Martin Chuck, the PGA teaching pro behind Tour Striker. It also works as a pre-round warm-up.
The Orange Whip is a flexible shaft with a weighted orange ball on the end and a counterweight at the grip. Sizes are 47-inch full-size, 43-inch mid-size, 35.5-inch compact (all $119.99) and a 38-inch junior ($99.99). It is longer and heavier than the sling, so it also builds some swing strength.
Which one: the Impact Sling packs smaller and feels more like a drill. The Orange Whip is the better pick if you want a club-length feel and do not mind storing a 47-inch trainer.
Tour Striker Impact Sling
$87.00A grip and swing rope that reward smooth tempo and punish a rushed transition. Packs into a carry bag and doubles as a warm-up tool.
Buy from our store →Orange Whip Trainer
$119.99A counterbalanced flexible shaft that exaggerates a rushed or jerky swing. Full-size suits most men; mid-size suits many women, seniors and teens.
Check price →Impact Position Without a Ball: Impact Bag
The Golf Impact Bag by Dr. Gary Wiren is a durable bag you fill yourself with old towels (it ships empty). You swing into it and stop at impact, which lets you feel and check the position you want: hands ahead, lead wrist flat, weight forward. It pairs well with a Tour Striker iron: the bag shows you the position, the iron tests whether you can deliver it with a ball in the way. Indoor Golf Outlet lists it at $54.99.
Golf Impact Bag by Dr. Gary Wiren
$54.99Fill it with towels and swing into it to groove a forward-shaft, flat-wrist impact position. Good for golfers who flip or scoop.
Check price →Putting: The Putting Arc vs. PuttOUT
The Putting Arc is a curved rail you set beside the ball. Rest the heel of the putter against it and stroke along the curve, which keeps the putter on plane and the face square to the arc through impact. The 33-inch MSIII ($79.99) is the all-around model, the 21-inch T3 ($49.99) fits in your bag, and the MS-3D ($99.99) adds a mirror for setup feedback.
The PuttOUT Pressure Putt Trainer solves a different problem. It is a small ramp with a micro-target: only a putt on the right line with the right speed stays in. It trains pace and start line, not stroke mechanics. Which one: if your stroke wobbles, the Putting Arc. If your stroke is fine but your speed is not, the PuttOUT.
The Putting Arc MSIII
$79.99A rail that teaches an on-plane, square-at-impact stroke through feel. The T3 is the travel version and the MS-3D adds mirror feedback.
Check price →Weight Shift and Speed
If you finish on your back foot, the Power Shift Board ($99.99) is a spring-loaded platform that clicks when your weight reaches your lead side. Plugged In Golf liked its grip and build but pointed out it is bulky and only helps golfers who actually have a weight-shift problem.
For distance, speed training means swinging lighter and heavier weights as fast as you can a few times a week. The Rypstick ($199.00) is one stick with adjustable weights and an app program. SuperSpeed’s Speed Sticks Pro ($199.99) uses three weighted sticks and a five-level app protocol; SuperSpeed reports an 11.1 mph average gain among app users who logged 25 or more sessions, which is self-reported data from committed users, so treat it as a ceiling. Either works if you actually do the sessions.
Power Shift Board
$99.99Audible clicks tell you when your weight reaches your lead side at the right time. Skip it if your pivot is already solid.
Check price →SuperSpeed Speed Sticks Pro
$199.99Three weighted sticks and an app protocol from the brand that popularized overspeed training. Best for golfers who will train three times a week.
Check price →Do Not Skip Alignment Sticks
Lay one stick along your target line and one along your ball position to check aim, a common hidden cause of a bad shot pattern. Tour Striker’s 3-pack is $27.00 in our store, and the third stick is handy for swing-path gates and putting drills.
Tour Striker Alignment Sticks (3-pack)
$27.00Three sticks for aim, ball position and swing-path drills. The cheapest way to make every range session count.
Buy from our store →Name your most expensive miss, buy one aid that gives instant feedback on it, and use it for a month before buying anything else.
Training aids work best when your gear is not fighting you. If your misses are mostly a slice, read the best golf balls for a slice, and if your strike is inconsistent with long irons, see our game-improvement irons guide. For a plan to use all of this at home, grab our free 20-minute practice routine.
Do golf training aids actually work?
The ones with instant feedback do, if they target your real problem and you use them consistently. An aid that clicks, drops, bumps or punishes a mishit teaches faster than one that only shows a position.
What is the best training aid for a beginner?
Alignment sticks and the Tour Striker Smart Ball. Both cost under $40, help every part of the swing, and are hard to misuse.
Should I get the Tour Striker 7-iron or the Pro 7X?
The standard Red Stripe 7-iron for almost everyone. The Pro 7X has a quarter-sized sweet spot and is meant for golfers who already strike their irons well. Start with half swings on either one.
How much swing speed can a speed trainer add?
Brands claim roughly 5–11 mph for golfers who follow the program. SuperSpeed’s 11.1 mph average comes from app users who logged 25+ sessions, so expect less if you train casually.
Can I use these indoors?
Most of them. The Smart Ball, Educator, Impact Bag, Putting Arc, PuttOUT and Power Shift Board all work at home. The Impact Sling, speed sticks and Orange Whip need ceiling height or outdoor space.
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