Tour Striker Impact Sling: The Better Golf Rope Training Aid

If you’ve paid attention to golf training aids over the years, you’ve no doubt seen the golf rope training aid. There’s a new (and of course, improved) version of this classic device, the Impact Sling from Tour Striker.

I’ve been incorporating the Impact Sling into my warm-up and practice sessions for a couple of months now, testing it out to see if it’s a game-changer or merely a rope on a golf grip.

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Versatile, you can use it to train a lot of different elements
• Teaches through feel rather than technique
• Easily fits into a golf bag
• Instructional videos provide many different ways to train with it, and they’re actually quite functional
• Use it indoors or out

Cons:

• Pricey
• Results are tough to measure

I’ll admit it, even though I’ve finished testing the Impact Sling for the purpose of writing this review, I’ll continue to train with it. 

That’s not to say I think it’s a great training aid for everyone, but if you go through times when a golf club feels like a foreign object in your hands, and your swing completely falls out of sync, then I think the Impact Sling is a very helpful tool.

Let’s back up. What is the Impact Sling?

It’s a golf handle with eyelets on both ends, and it comes with three bands (two resistance bands and a weighted rope band) that connect to the eyelets. The primary setup is to connect the weighted rope band to the shaft end of the grip, allowing you to swing it like a rope.

When you swing the rope, allowing it to tap your back at the top of the backswing, and again at the finish position, your swing naturally falls into a good rhythm. It improves tempo, plane, and length of your swing.

I like taking 10-20 swings with it before a practice session or before I head to the course for a round, just to activate that feel of a nice fluid swing. When, inevitably, my swing starts to fall apart out on the course, I make a few practice swings with an 8-iron, feeling the feel of swinging the rope, and things fall back into place.

Add in the two resistance bands and the ability to connect bands to either end of the grip, and there are all kinds of different strength, stretching, and other drills you can do with the Impact Sling. There’s also an 11-part video series led by Martin Chuck, with demonstrations of many of the different ways you can train with the Impact Sling. I went through each of these, and my takeaway was that if you’re having an issue with your swing, you can probably work through it in one way or another using the Impact Sling. I’ve definitely improved my tempo, consistency, and ball-striking with the help of the Impact Sling. 

Using the resistance bands, you can work on your flexibility, balance, and strength, which can all equate to more distance, especially if you’re currently neglecting those areas. However, if you’re looking for a device with the primary focus of gaining distance, there are other, more distance-focused products that I would recommend.

The thing about the Impact Sling is that, in my opinion, it’s a feel trainer, and it’s difficult to measure its impact on your game. It’s given me a feel I can draw upon when my swing starts to get out of sync, and for me it works, but I can’t predict what it will do for you.

I feel more consistency in my ball-striking. The result looks like a more consistent version of the good shots I was already hitting. Can I chalk that up to the Impact Sling? Maybe. But the results are not measurable like some other aids. 

Take speed training, for example, where you swing it at one speed, then train, then swing at a noticeably higher speed, and have measurable results. It’s almost the opposite of that.

For a lot of players, that will be a welcomed change. There’s no complicated technique to think about. It’s all feel. The Impact Sling can help groove a swing into some better positions without forcing you to think about technique, and it can serve as a great tool to use for just a few minutes before you swing a real club, just to harness that feel.

On the other hand, some players will question this device’s impact on their game since the results of the Impact Sling are tough to measure.