My Experiences With a Variety of Golf Training Aids

[SEMI_Duffer]

I may take some flak for some of this 

Automatic Putt Return
    My experience: Amusing, but, not particularly effective

    Any practice is better than none, I suppose, but, this thing would have you believe you'd make putts that never in a million years would drop IRL.

Orange Whip
    My Experience: Fun to use.  Good for flexibility/warm-up, not a particularly effective training aid
 

SeeMore SPi Golf Training Board
    My Experience: Makes a nice decoration hung on the wall 
 

Smart Ball (Tour Striker SmartBall knockoff)
    My Experience: Very effective

    The Tour Striker SmartBall is a very good training aid to instill in one keeping their arms connected throughout the back-swing and into the transition.
 

TacTic Elbow Golf Swing Tempo Trainer
    My Experience: Somewhat effective

    Helped me to get things straight  with my lead arm.  Thing is: I'd so many other swing flaws, that, alone, wasn't a big help.  But, it did do what they claimed it would do.
 

SKLZ Golf Putting Cup Accuracy Trainer
    My Experience: Mixed
 

Impact Bag
    My Experience: Ineffective as a training aid
 

WellPut Putting Mat
    My Experience: One of the best investments one can make

    Probably most any quality putting mat is very effective in giving one the opportunity to practice their putting swing whenever the opportunity arises or the mood strikes. The benefit there should be apparent.

PutOut Pressure Putt Trainer
    My Experience: Mixed.  IMO, rolling the ball over the target "hole" on my putting mat gives me better feedback.
 

Blast Motion Golf Swing & Stroke Analyzer
    My Experience: Ineffective

    Even when it did register swings (mine has been very, very erratic in this respect): I found myself spending more time chasing numbers than improving my getting my ball into the hole.  At times I ended-up putting worse, after a session with it, rather than better.

Tour Striker PlaneMate
    My Experience: Very effective

    I used for only one thing, during my swing training. I'd been having a difficult time getting take-away right.  At my coach's suggestion I acquired and tried a PlaneMate.  It got me over that hump in, literally, one day.

Orange Whip Lightspeed
    My Experience: Haven't started using it yet

    Bought last year with the intention of working on my swing speed once I completed full swing training.  I haven't completed full swing training yet.

SeeMore Putter Consistency Training Mirror
    My Experience: Effective

    Like the PlaneMate, I used it to identify and solve one problem: It identified I hadn't been setting up with my shoulders quite square to the ball.

SeeMore Putting Triangulator
    My Experience: Haven't used it yet

    Bought on a whim at the same time I bought the mirror.  In retrospect it struck me as more trouble to use during practice than it's worth.  To be fair: I haven't given it a chance.  Perhaps I should.

GEM Swing Trainer
    My Experience: Haven't used it yet

    Haven't gotten to the point in my swing training I'm ready for it.

 

Edited June 18, 2023 by SEMI_Duffer