Written by Michael VanDerLaan
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If you watch golf on TV, you’ve probably seen Rocco Mediate endorsing the newest craze in golf swing training aids - The Straight Stick from Performance Golf. In our Straight Stick review, the experts at Golf Gear Advisor have tested the product to find out whether it is worth your time and money.
We will discuss some of our favorite aspects of the swing trainer, as well as a couple of skepticisms we still have after using it ourselves. We play at different levels of golf, from recreational to the PGA Tour, and we have all contributed thoughts and experiences to the review. Jump in with us and find out if the Straight Stick is for you!
Who Is Performance Golf?
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Performance Golf is a company that develops training aids, golf products and online training and lessons. It is made up of some of the best players and instructors in the game of golf.
Players like Rocco Mediate and major champion Nick Faldo, top online golf instructors, Hank Haney, Eric Cogorno, Brian Mogg, Erica Larkin, Brixton Albert, Nick Bradley, and even Martin Chuck, who developed the Performance Golf ONE Wedge.
They offer incredible value by providing quality training and lessons with every product they sell. This is why they are so successful and we find them to be a real asset to players looking to improve their game.
What Is The Straight Stick?
The Straight Stick is a golf swing trainer intended to help you learn everything from the proper golf grip to the way the club should release through impact. You might be wondering, how can it be so multi-funcitonal?
Well, let’s start at the grip end. Every Straight Stick is built with an adjustable training grip. This is by far the best golf grip for learning how to play the game, and it is improved upon by the adjustability factor that the Straight Stick offers. Simply by practicing with the swing trainer, you will build good habits in your grip, which will set you up for success in the golf swing. That’s a pretty good start!
Working down the shaft, you will find a magnetic anchor with an adjustable slide that sits among a set of tick marks each labeled with a swing speed. This is the money piece of the Straight Stick. We will explain how it works in a moment, but it is worth noting that it is a very easy mechanism to learn, and only takes about 30 seconds to adjust to the proper setting for you.
Continuing down, there is a non-magnetic metal piece around the ferrel of the club. This is what allows the Straight Stick to make its signature clicking sound at impact.
Finally, the club head. Every Straight Stick is built with the head of a 7 iron. This is common for training aids as the 7 iron provides a down-the-middle approach to practice that is fairly easy to translate to every club in your golf bag. It has the appearance of a game improvement iron, which makes it a good bridge to most golfers' actual clubs as well.
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How Does The Straight Stick Work?
Look closely and you can see the sliding metal piece detached from the anchor and moving down the shaft
The idea behind the Straight Stick is actually very simple. It uses patented compression clicker technology. If you swing the club on plane and release it properly, the metal piece that is magnetically attached to the anchor on the shaft will detach and collide with the metal piece on the ferrel, creating an audible click. Positive reinforcement for the golf swing is a great thing to incorporate into your practice, and is a great way to start getting better at golf without taking lessons.
The anchor itself consists of a loosening and tightening piece that keeps the magnet in the proper place. Simply screw the anchor loose (counter clockwise) and slide the whole thing to your approximate 7 iron club speed. Re-tighten the anchor and you’re good to go! It’s super simple to learn, and should only take you about 30 seconds to set it up.
I had it clicking perfectly after just a few swings, resulting in beautifully compressed contact.
7 Iron Swing Speed Chart
For your convenience, we have included the chart below to approximate your 7 iron club speed. Keep in mind that this number will be significantly different than your driver speed. As an example, a professional golfer who swings their driver 120 mph typically swings their 7 iron between 90-95 mph!
Carry Distance of 7 iron | approximate swing speed |
|---|---|
<115 Yards (105 Meters) | 50 mph (80 km/h) |
115-130 yards (105-120 Meters) | 60 mph (95 km/h) |
130-150 yards (120-137 meters) | 70 mph (110 km/h) |
150-170 yards (137-155 meters) | 80 mph (125 km/h) |
170-190 yards (155-174 meters) | 90 mph (145 km/h) |
>190 yards (174 meters) | 100 mph (160 km/h) |
It’s important to remember that you may carry your 7 iron a different number than someone else with the same club head speed based on other components of your swing, as well as what style of irons you play. That’s why we gave you a range!
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How To Start Using The Straight Stick
The Straight Stick is a really easy swing trainer to use. It’s a uniform step by step process that will scale you all the way up to hitting balls - and probably hitting them pretty well:
- Determine your approximate 7 iron club speed from the chart above. Adjust the Straight Stick anchor mechanism accordingly.
- Make practice swings without a golf ball. Your goal is to get the Straight Stick to click right around the bottom of your swing. If you are struggling to do this, play around with your swing path. Try swinging the club more from inside to out or outside to in and determine how you can most consistently make it click. Practice this feel until you can do it every time.
- Hit balls using this feel! You will be able to hear both the click of the Straight Stick and the sound of impact. The goal is to get these to happen as close to the same time as possible. If you are successful, you should hit a relatively straight shot, taking a small divot after impact.
That’s it! Part of the beauty of the Straight Stick is its simplicity. You can hit as many balls as you want using this process, and we feel that the more you practice like this, the more consistent you will become as a ball striker.
NOTE: Remember to reset the magnet after each swing with the Straight Stick. If you forget, there is no way to get feedback from the swing trainer. This can lead to a lot of frustration and confusion.
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Pros And Cons Of The Straight Stick
What We Like
What We Don't Like
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the Straight Stick fix a slice?
The Straight Stick is a great tool to help fix a slice. Between building a better grip and teaching you to swing on plane, you will definitely see a reduction in the size of a slice. That said, it will take time and practice to completely cure that banana ball.
Is the Straight Stick easy to use?
Yes, the Straight Stick is incredibly easy to use. It should take you less than 30 seconds to go from setting it up to swinging it and improving your game.
The main thing to be attentive to is that the sliding metal piece reattaches to the anchor after each swing. It can be easy for it not to slide back up the shaft between shots, which renders the training aid ineffective.
Is the Straight Stick worth the money?
Yes, the Straight Stick is absolutely worth the money. It will train your grip, help you get the club on the proper plane, and teach you how to sequence your golf swing for the proper release.
Whether you struggle with a hook or a slice, the Straight Stick will help you improve.
Final Thoughts
Our overall rating of the Straight Stick is 8/10. It is a very good swing trainer that will absolutely help you swing the club both more on plane and in the proper sequence. We are confident that consistent use of the Straight Stick will result in better ball striking for the vast majority of golfers.
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It doesn’t score higher for use for the 2 reasons we mentioned. First, the aesthetic of a black finish club head is great when it is new out of the box, but we don’t like the way the finish wears off as you hit balls with it. We would rather a chrome finish that doesn’t show wear marks nearly as quickly. And second, the shaft takes a sort of “one flex fits all” approach that won’t feel quite right if it does not fit your swing. Our playing professionals John and Michael both had a hard time hitting the ball solid due to the shaft being too flexible - although the ball still went straight!
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So what does all of this mean for you? Well, if you are looking for a golf swing training aid that will help you build better fundamentals, only give you feedback when you make a good swing, and that you can use to hit balls, this one's for you. Use it consistently, and let us know when you starting hitting more shots dead at your target!
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