Golf is a sport that has twice as many gadgets to practice your game as equipment to actually play it. Training aids range from the highly elaborate to the excessively simple. Every once in awhile, however, a training aid comes along that offers true benefits to golfers at any level. The Bender Stik is one such training aid. The Bender Stik – designed by master instructor Mike Bender – appears simple in its design. It is comprised of a long stake that you can stick into the turf, a bendable upper portion that can be shaped in many ways and a large, soft, yellow ball at its end. You can use the Bender Stik to work on many different aspects of your swing, including posture, swing plane and weight shift.

I had the chance to try out the Bender Stik at a local driving range to get a closer look at its versatility. By placing the Bender Stik in the ground in front of my address position, I was able to practice a proper downswing.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlhUYzAMhRI]

By sticking the Bender Stik next to my lead leg and positioning the bell near my left hip, I was able to practice a proper weight shift without over-rotating.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eAhQ42ssI8]

The Bender Stik retails for $99.95 and comes with an instructional DVD to give you more examples of how you can use it to work on your game.