I am a traditionalist when it comes to the practice aids I use when teaching my clients and the reason is quite simple.
The more basic and straightforward to use generally yield the best results.
So what would my top 5 training aids be?
The first up is the humble golf ball.
A golf ball is a great aid for teaching a number of things and demonstrating how a certain movement or position should feel.
Examples of how to use a golf ball as part of your practice regime:
1 – Place a ball under your heels, this will move your weight forward and create a better more natural posture and improve balance in your swing
2 – Place a ball between your target forearm and putter grip to correctly position the forearm in your grip. It also shows up any unwanted wrist movement.
Second Place has to be a mirror, and the only reason this is not the first is because they can be cumbersome and awkward to get to the practice ground, although now you can buy portable mirrors which do the same job.
A mirror when used correctly allows you to see what positions you are creating and help you to integrate a new movement seamlessly into your swing.
Third place goes to the golf tee.
I love it because like the golf ball you always have some in your golf bag.
Tees are multi-functional they can be used for the simplest of drills from putting to the full swing.
Some examples are;
1 – improving your take-away and downswing path.
2 – improving your putting arc and swing length control
3 – Impact position
4 – Green reading
Fourth place is one that we all should have in the bag, but many especially when practising won´t; A water bottle (with water in it)
A water bottle is a great training aid for improving your chipping technique.
So many amateurs take a long backswing resulting in a deceleration of the club head into impact.
Placing a half full bottle at a set distance on your swing path, will provide immediate feedback on three levels:
Visual, audio and kinaesthetic.
If we can utilise the three major feedback routes at the same time we decrease the time it takes to learn a new skill.
Finally, my fifth favourite training aid is a shaft or a stick.
The most available of all training aids.
A shaft can help with shaft angle through the swing.
But without doubt the most important area that a shaft can help you with is alignment.
Alignment is hard to practice and harder to maintain so the ability to practice it every time you head to the range is paramount to be able to practice.
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