In the ever-evolving world of golf technology, numerous gadgets promise to enhance your game. However, not all deliver on their claims. As The Golf Hacker, I’ve sifted through the noise to bring you a curated list of golf gadgets that truly make a difference. These tools have been tested and proven to provide tangible benefits, helping you improve your skills and enjoy the game even more.

1. Golf Rangefinders

Accurate distance measurement is crucial for club selection and shot planning. Modern rangefinders offer precise yardages, even accounting for slope variations.

• Callaway Golf 300 Pro Laser Rangefinder: This device provides accurate slope measurements and features a pin-locking technology with pulse confirmation. Amazon
• REDTIGER Golf Rangefinder: Known for its 1200-yard range and flag-locking vibration feature, this rangefinder is both reliable and user-friendly. Amazon

2. Swing Analyzers

Understanding and refining your swing mechanics is essential for consistent performance. Swing analyzers offer real-time feedback to help you make necessary adjustments.

• Blast Golf Swing Trainer: This sensor attaches to your club and provides instant feedback on metrics like swing speed, tempo, and face angle. Amazon
• Arccos Caddie Smart Sensors: These sensors attach to your club grips, offering detailed analytics and personalized recommendations through a connected app. Amazon

3. Putting Aids

Improving your putting can significantly lower your scores. Effective putting aids help develop a consistent stroke and better distance control.

• PuttOut Pressure Putt Trainer: Designed to simulate real putting conditions, this trainer helps you practice putts of varying difficulty. Amazon
• SKLZ Golf Putting Cup: This portable putting cup allows you to practice your putting skills anywhere, helping to improve accuracy and consistency. Amazon

4. Golf GPS Devices

Golf GPS devices provide detailed course maps and real-time data, aiding in strategic decision-making on the course.

• Garmin Approach S62: A premium GPS golf watch offering full-color mapping, virtual caddie features, and comprehensive performance tracking. Amazon
• Bushnell Phantom 3 GPS: This compact device provides front, center, and back distances, along with hazard information for over 38,000 courses worldwide. Amazon

5. Training Mats

Practicing your swing at home can be highly beneficial. Quality training mats simulate real turf conditions, allowing for effective practice sessions.

• Rukket Tri-Turf Golf Hitting Mat: Featuring three different turf textures, this mat enables you to practice various shots, from fairway to rough. Amazon
• Dura-Pro Commercial Golf Mat: Known for its durability, this mat provides a realistic feel and can withstand thousands of swings. Amazon

6. Golf Ball Retrievers

Recovering lost balls can save money and reduce frustration. Efficient ball retrievers are essential for retrieving balls from water hazards or hard-to-reach areas.

• Callaway Golf Ball Retriever: This telescopic retriever extends up to 15 feet and features an ergonomic handle for easy use. Amazon
• I GOTCHA Jawz Golf Ball Retriever: Compact and lightweight, this retriever extends up to 18 feet and has a patented spring-release head for secure ball retrieval. Amazon

7. Golf Club Brushes

Keeping your clubs clean ensures optimal performance. High-quality brushes effectively remove dirt and grass from club faces and grooves.

• Pro Golf Club Brush Cleaner: This brush features a retractable zip-line and a squeeze water bottle, making it easy to clean your clubs on the go. Amazon
• Yoport Golf Club Brush and Club Groove Cleaner: With a 2-foot retractable zip-line and ergonomic handle, this brush makes cleaning your clubs effortless. Amazon

8. Golf Alignment Sticks

Alignment sticks are essential for practicing proper alignment and swing path. They help develop consistency and accuracy in your shots.

• SKLZ Golf Alignment Sticks: These durable sticks come with nine drills and games to improve your alignment and overall game. Amazon
• GoSports Golf Alignment Training Sticks: Featuring a foldable design for easy storage, these sticks are perfect for golfers of all levels. Amazon

9. Golf Ball Markers

Personalized ball markers add a touch of individuality and make it easy to identify your ball on the green.

• Team Golf NFL Golf Ball Marker Set: Show off your team spirit with these officially licensed NFL ball markers. Amazon
• Giggle Golf Bling Golf Ball Marker: Add some sparkle to your game with these fun and stylish ball markers. Amazon

10. Golf Training Aids

Various training aids target specific aspects of your game, from swing mechanics to grip and posture.

• Orange Whip Full-Sized Golf Swing Trainer: This trainer helps improve your swing tempo, strength, and flexibility. Amazon
• SKLZ Gold Flex Golf Swing Trainer: Designed to improve your swing tempo and strength, this trainer is perfect for warm-ups and practice sessions. Amazon

Using a marker is an easy way to identify an issue you might have with lie angle

When it comes to club fitting, there are many small details that add up to gaining accuracy and distance, and one of the easiest ways to dial in your gear is to make sure you have the right lie angles with your irons and wedges.

But before we get to how to identify a possible issue with your golf club lie angles — let’s explain exactly what it is first.

What is Lie Angle?

Lie angle is the measured angle formed by the hosel/shaft relative to the ground when the head is at rest or when the grooves are parallel with the ground. The higher the lie angle value, the more “upright” the club is. The lower the lie angle, the more “flat” a club is.

If the lie angle of your clubs isn’t adjusted for your natural impact position, it will limit your ability to hit solid shots and create an unwanted bias in your ball flight.

If your irons are too flat for your swing, the face is naturally going to approach the ball open to the target line, and you will either miss shots to the right or notice your ball fading more than desired. Conversely, if your clubs are too upright, the club face will point more left and result in a pull, or shots that overdraw.

How to Check Your Lie Angles

You can do this test on a mat or on real grass.

Beyond the obvious ball flight issues that might be identified just by hitting shots, one of the easiest ways to make sure your lie angles are adjusted properly involves using a dry-erase marker (or any washable marker) and a few range balls.

The Process

Using the marker, draw a 1-inch line on a golf ball and set it down, pointing at the target line.

Once you’ve hit a shot and observed ball flight, take a look at the face or your iron to see where the line is pointing. If the ball traveled as intended and the line is 90 degrees to the grooves or just a hair in either direction, you’re golden.

Purple: great. Green line: too upright. Red line: too flat

If the line is pointed toward the toe, it means your lie angle is too upright and needs to be adjusted flatter. If the line is toward the heel, it means the clubs are too flat and need to be adjusted upright.

(Note: The marker line is NOT relative to the number of degrees the clubs have to be bent because it also represents the face angle at impact, which will exaggerate the marking. This is why it’s important to have a club-fitter do a final check before any adjustments are made, preferably with a launch monitor.)

You can repeat this process for all of your irons and wedges and use the marks as a guideline for adjusting your entire set. Just make sure to chart the information and ball flight before seeing a fitter, who can then individually adjust each club to fit your swing.

For many golfers, the ideal lie angle through their iron sets isn’t a linear progression, which is why the fitting process is crucial to making sure every club in your set is best matched to you.

Tips on how to play better, the latest equipment reviews, interviews with the biggest names, and more… Check us out at ClickitGolf.com for more

When it comes to golf, sadly there is no one magic solution that covers all common afflictions. We’re all different and therefore what has worked wonders for a member of your fourball is unlikely to do the same for you. So, in the article below, I run through 10 of my favorite drills in the hope that there will be something in there that will help the majority of golfers on their way to lower scores.

1. BEST GOLF DRILLS: BALL-STRIKING

Striking the ball consistently is king. The most important thing is knowing where you strike the ball on the clubface. To get a better idea, use a bit of dry shampoo (or hairspray) and spray it on the face. This will tell you if you are good at hitting the ball in the middle or if you tend to favor the heel or struggle with how to eliminate those dreaded toe strikes. Bottom line you will know your miss and can practice on better center of the face impact.

Using this feedback you can then start to identify swing issues and improve the quality and consistency of your shots.

2. SLICE FIX

So many golfers are desperate for a tip on how to stop slicing the ball and believe it or not, a simple swimming noodle can come in handy. This is because it will improve your understanding of the swing and help you figure out how to check your swing path. You move the club around the body in a semicircular movement, so place the noodle accordingly and take some swings – slowly at first so you can observe the path.

Feel how you move back in a circle. At the bottom, the club is moving down and coming through impact, before going on around in that circle to the finish. Using this drill should improve your directional control, get your clubface more toward the target and start to produce more solid strikes.

3. RHYTHM

Many club golfers get diagnosed with a swing that is too fast when it’s really the order in which they change the direction that needs correcting. We want to get a feel for the rotation of the body, almost setting the club at the top and then having a smooth change of direction.

Take your set-up and feel like you make a really nice shoulder turn, rotating 90 degrees from your start position so your left shoulder is pointing down towards the ball. Then set the arms and wrists, so they take the club to the top of the swing.

Finally, you want a smooth rotation of the lower body, with the lead hip and leg starting to rotate. Avoid making a little turn and a big jerky snatch from the top. Get used to this feeling and the three distinct checkpoints and you’ll notice you start to hone a much better downswing sequence

4. BUNKER DRILL

This is a must-try drill that will improve your understanding of how to play bunker shots and how the club should interact with the sand. When practicing, having an image to look at will help, so draw a box in the sand to form a small rectangle around the ball. Your goal is to remove the sand inside the box. The box gives you a visual of where you want the club to enter before throwing the sand out toward the target.

Take your set-up with the ball a fraction forward of the center and a little more pressure on your lead side. Then, open the clubface slightly so you start to use the sole in a more efficient way to prevent the leading edge from digging into the sand, which slows momentum.

Take a big swing and let your right-hand work down and underneath, so the sand is thrown out nice and high and the ball comes out toward the target.

5. STRIKE THE MATCH

You won’t get the desired result with your long irons without the correct speed through impact. But it’s not all about swinging as fast as you can. Learning how to compress the golf ball is far more important. As the club comes into impact, imagine yourself striking a match, imagine that same sound.

A sharp sound through impact means you’ve generated good speed, and crucially, at the right moment. This will help you improve the launch, control and increase the distance you hit your irons.

6. TEE PEG DRILL

The is a difference between pitching and chipping, so before working on your short game, it pays to improve your understanding. Designed to help your pitching, this drill is especially useful in getting rid of that nasty habit where the leading edge of the club digs down too much, one reason for those dreaded duff (chunk) shots.

Instead, tee the ball up, take your normal set-up position, and rehearse a few swings, visualizing just clipping the ball up and away off the tee. A shallower angle of attack will allow the sole of the club and the bounce angle to do the work. Breaking the tee is a no-no, as this means that the leading edge of your club is digging down.

7. HYBRID DRILL

Even though the best golf hybrids are designed to be easy to hit, there’s a tendency for club golfers to get too shallow and try to “lift” the ball instead of compressing it flush. In fact, you need more of a downward impact, which is where this drill will help. Place a coin two or three inches in front of the ball and play your shot as you would do normally. If you miss the coin, it’s because the sole of the club is traveling upwards too soon – the likely result is a thin contact and a dreaded skull or skinny shot.

You want to hit the coin, as this tells you that you have the correct downward angle of attack. This will lead to ad more pure and consistent strikes, which is going to give you added distance too.

8. PUTTING DRILL

You could be the best player in the world at reading greens, but if you don’t start the ball on the right lines, the putts simply won’t drop. This is why clubface alignment at impact is so crucial. In a bid to improve in this area, many people turn to their putting technique, but the answer is often much simpler. 

The task here is clear: hit the ball along the yardstick into the hole. This is one of my favorite putting drills that will help you to square the clubface at impact on a more consistent basis while giving you visual feedback as to whether you’re pushing putts by opening the face or pulling them by closing it.

In both cases, the ball will roll along the yardstick or whatever flat surface you chose. If your speed is right, you’ll find the bottom of the cup. 

9. FACE CONTROL

You can practice this at home to improve your awareness of how the clubface is affected by the way you hold the club. Attach a pencil to the center of your clubface with Blu Tack, as shown. You will be surprised at where you are aimed vs. where you think you are aimed!

At address, the pencil should cover the alignment stick. From here, you’ll get an understanding of where your clubface is during the backswing and whether you tend to open it (pencil up), close it (pencil down), or keep it fairly neutral (pencil straight).

A strong golf grip with lots of knuckles showing on the top hand will encourage more of a closed clubface when you take the club back; a weak golf grip will see the pencil pointing more toward the sky. Work on presenting the club back to the target without any twisting or manipulation.

10. FIXING THAT DREADED TOP

Topping often comes as a result of trying to hit up on the ball. It’s a common fault in which you see the elbows separating and the wrists then acting to save the shot. If you’re guilty of this and want a drill on how to stop topping the golf ball, you’ve come to the right place. First, apply the resistance band as shown. 

What I’m having to do is fight the resistance pulling my arms back toward my body. It helps you get used to the feeling of your arms extending as you go out and down toward the ball.

After a few swings, remove the band and you should find it’s far easier to get your arms extended. Brush the ground with the sole and get that ‘whoosh’ sound (One of my favorite sounds on the planet). This will tell you that you’re extending your arms more and your chances of topping the ball will be greatly reduced.

IMPORTANT: Practice these individually. You don’t want to be bogged down by too many swing thoughts. We all know what happens with paralysis by analysis…At your next range session pick one that applies to your game and focus solely on the drill. Pay no mind to immediate results – it’s the 10,000 hours theory – it will not happen overnight. But, if you perfect each of these drills, and really practice them individually and with intent/purpose…you can and will reap the benefits. Once you feel comfortable, take some of these to the course and watch your scores creep down slowly but surely.