EDITOR’S NOTE: Hannah Gregg is a 31-year-old tour pro who was born in Sacramento, grew up in Cool, Calif., and attended the University of Nevada in Reno. She turned pro in 2021 and has played much of her career on developmental tours while also earning her card on the Ladies European Tour. This season, she has played in 12 events and ranks 181st in the LET Order of Merit.
I used to think training aids were intimidating. Like the workout machines in the center of my local gym, I didn’t feel qualified to approach them. And I definitely wasn’t sure what the heck they were supposed to do for me. Now I realize that pros use most training aids to dial in the basics: aim, setup, etc. If the best in the world are using training aids to work on the simplest parts of the game, shouldn’t everyone?
Not all training aids are created equal. I’ve seen training aids that range from niche to gimmicky to flat-out genius. The best training aids, however, are often the simplest. Here are three training aids that I think every amateur should have.
Alignment Sticks 1 / 1 
Previous Next Pause Play GoSports Alignment Sticks $10 One of the cheapest, most versatile and most popular training aids you can purchase. Read More Buy Now
Every pro I know has alignment sticks on hand. They’re perfect for checking aim, building a consistent setup, and as an obstacle during technique drills. Being able to aim at your intended target is an underrated skill in golf. As soon as your aim starts drifting left or right, your swing will respond with manipulations galore, and then you’re really in trouble. One of my favorite drills is to stand my alignment stick straight up, about 20 feet in front of my station on the range. I challenge myself to hit cuts, draws, punch shots, slices, and then hooks around it, which forces me to “feel” the shots more than trying to force them. Perhaps the best thing about alignment sticks is how easy it is to get them: a pair online or from your local hardware store will usually run you less than $10.
Putting Mirror 1 / 1 
Previous Next Pause Play Short Game Gains Signature Steel Putting Mirror $100 This mirror will show you where your eyes are relative to the ball at setup. Read More Buy Now
This is the putting aid you will most commonly see out on a tour practice green. Almost every professional golfer has relied on a putting mirror at some point in their career, and you can think of it as the Swiss Army Knife of training aids. The reflective surface immediately reveals where your eyes fall in relation to the golf ball at setup. For most elite players, the eye line is either directly on the golf ball or slightly inside it, and the mirror helps quickly ingrain that optimal setup so they can repeat it every time.
Most putting mirrors also have some kind of start-line gate, and bonus points if it has notches to train your stroke path, like this one. The pros know that starting your ball on the intended line is king when it comes to making putts of any length, and when you’re within eight feet or less of the hole, it becomes even more crucial. This one featured here I developed with my husband.
Tour Tempo App 1 / 1 
Previous Next Pause Play Tour Tempo Tour Tempo App $25 The team at Tour Tempo App says great ball strikers have different swings but one thing in common: Tempo. This app trains you to swing with that same 3:1 tempo. Read More Buy Now
Is this a training aid? Maybe not in the traditional sense. Many golfers remember the old stories of Ben Hogan’s extremely rhythmic and consistent swing. Turns out, there was something mathematical to those movements. Tour Tempo spent years analyzing and comparing the swing ratio of the best ball strikers in the world, including Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Sam Snead, and even Scottie Scheffler. Though they all had very different swing techniques, they all share one thing: a 3:1 tempo ratio.
So often, I hear players complain that they hit it wonderfully on the range, and 10 minutes later on the first tee, they’ve “lost it.” But how can you suddenly change your swing when every other swing adjustment takes hours to groove into memory? Tour Tempo says it’s not your swing changing – it’s your tempo. This app is, in my opinion, the biggest cheat code for grooving a repeatable and reliable swing.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
