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I’d overlooked for years the benefits of practicing with golf grip trainers, thinking that they were purely gimmicks that were a waste of money. But within weeks of first using one, I’m converted!

First, a golf grip trainer forces you to place your hands into the correct position on the club. It also helps you to maintain this perfect grip through the back swing and then down into striking the ball and the follow through. Having used the swing trainer several, my hands automatically started to fall into the correct position. Correcting an error that my lessons have failed to sort, no matter how many times it has been pointed out that my grip is slightly off.

Now my grip feels comfortable at the top of the back swing, a feeling that had previously not been there. OK, professionals can correct your grip and show you how to hold the club properly, but it is so easy to go back to old habits if you aren’t having weekly lessons.

By picking up the golf swing trainer, the grip trainer in the handle automatically moves your fingers into the right place, correcting nasty habits that you might be developing.

They are also, typically, shorter than most clubs whilst weighted and twisted so that they feel correct during the swing. With care, they can be used to practice indoors safely! This means that you can simply pick up the training aid and do a few practice swings each night.

The second training element of this trainer is the swing training. Because of the weighting the ideal path of the swing is slowly coached into your arms and when you go back onto the course or the range, you should feel you are striking much better.

I never thought much of these tools until I tried one. But having experienced what they can do I am sure that for the small price they really are worth the effort of buying one. You can practice in a spare 10 minutes in an evening, and because you aren’t actually hitting balls, you really do concentrate on the swing, not seeing how far you can belt the poor ball.

So today was my first trip out around a golf course since I’ve been using the swing trainer. Did I see any difference? Well, on the very first hole, a par 4, instead of losing the ball off to the right somewhere, with a 3-iron it soared straight down the fairway, much to my amazement. Which was a pity, as I’d aimed left and at a bunker, which I thought at over 240 yards was well out of reach. Sadly, a bounce or two and then my ball plugged into the bunker.

I wasn’t upset – a straight hit with a carry of over 200 yards with a 3-iron is a vast improvement on my game. I’ll be using that swing trainer every night now to make sure that more are going dead straight and far!

P.S. For the tips about golf stretching exercise – check out this blog post.