How to choose a swing path trainer

What a swing path trainer actually does

A path trainer does not change your swing. It changes what a swing feels like, which is a different and much more useful thing. Most golfers who come over the top already know they come over the top. They have been told, they have seen it on video, and they can describe the fix in reasonable detail. What they cannot do is feel the difference between the move they intend and the move they make, because both happen in about a quarter of a second.

A trainer closes that gap by putting a physical constraint or a physical cue where the fault happens. Your trail arm drifts away from your body, and you feel it immediately rather than finding out from the ball flight ten seconds later. That immediacy is the entire value. Everything else, the branding, the packaging, the endorsements, is decoration.

Note also what a trainer cannot do. It cannot fix a grip, it cannot fix a setup that aims thirty yards right, and it will not help if your problem is contact rather than path. Diagnose the fault first. Our guide on how to stop coming over the top explains how to tell the difference, and does it without mentioning any product.

What to look for

Fit and sizing

This is the one that decides whether the product gets used or ends up in the garage. A band that is too tight restricts your turn and teaches you a shorter, more arms-only swing, which is the opposite of what you want. A band that is too loose does nothing at all. Golfers are not a standard size, so a single one-size product is a gamble on your build. Look for several sizes, a published measuring guide, or a maker who will build to your measurements. Before you order anything, measure round your upper arms and your chest with a soft tape.

Materials and build

You are going to sweat on this thing, leave it in a wet golf bag, and pull it hard several hundred times a month. Elastic that has lost its snap after a season is common and it is not always obvious from the listing photographs. Look for stated materials, proper stitched seams rather than glued or welded joins, and fastenings that are metal or moulded rather than lightweight plastic clips. If a listing will not say what something is made from, assume the answer is not flattering.

Whether it restricts your turn

There is a real difference between a trainer that reminds you where your arms should be and one that physically prevents a full shoulder turn. The first builds a feeling you can take to the course. The second builds a swing you can only make while wearing it. If you cannot get to a comfortable top of backswing with the trainer on, it is too restrictive for you, whatever the marketing says.

Where it ships from

Plenty of training aids sold to UK golfers dispatch from overseas. That is not a criticism of the product, but it does change what you are buying: longer delivery, the possibility of import VAT and a handling fee on arrival, and a returns process that means paying international postage yourself if it does not fit. Check the dispatch country before you order, not after.

Guarantee terms

Read what the guarantee actually covers. A thirty day window is meaningless if you have to pay to send a bulky item back across a border. A money back promise that requires the original packaging is a promise most people cannot keep. The useful question is not how long the guarantee lasts, it is what you personally would have to do to claim on it.

What to avoid

• Anything promising a number of yards or a specific handicap drop. Nobody can promise that, and the ones who do are selling the promise rather than the product.
• Trainers that need to be worn while you play. If it is not legal in competition it is a practice tool, and it should be sold as one.
• Kits of six items where five are elastic bands. You are paying for the box.
• Listings with no sizing information and no returns address. Both are cheap to publish and their absence tells you something.
• Reviews that all read the same. Affiliate content dominates this category, so weight what golfers say in forums above what appears in a top ten list.

Who these do not suit

If your miss is a fat or thin strike rather than a pull or a slice, a path trainer is the wrong tool. Contact faults usually come from low point control, and you want a low point drill or a wedge trainer instead.

If you are early in learning the game and your swing changes shape week to week, spend the money on a lesson first. A trainer grooves whatever you give it, and grooving a half-formed pattern is not progress. Golfers with a shoulder or elbow injury should check with a physiotherapist before wearing anything that holds the arms together, as some designs load the trail shoulder more than a normal swing does.

And if you will not practise, be honest with yourself. Ten minutes several times a week is the difference between a trainer that works and a trainer that lives in the boot.

Where ours fits in

We make the Fat Free Swing Glide, which is one option among several. It is designed and manufactured by hand in Great Britain and dispatched from the UK, so there is no import wait and no customs charge. Sizing is covered by our Fitting Promise: if the standard bands do not fit your build, we make one that does, free. There is a three-round guarantee, and claiming it does not involve posting anything back.

It is £34.99 plus £3.65 UK delivery, or £55 with the Wedge Trainer and delivery included. It is not the cheapest thing you can buy and it will not suit you if your fault is contact rather than path. If you want the comparison against the product most people ask us about, we have written a side by side that includes the parts where we come second.