We editors have spent countless hours on the practice tee at PGA Tour events, and have watched dozens of pros use training aids in their practice routines. (In fact, some Tour players believe in them so much that they either own a part of the company or are more than happy to endorse them.) Golf training aids are the real deal, and the old stigma that they make a complicated game even more difficult is long gone. If you need proof, just check out the following pages. You’ll see several models that the best players in the world use.

Even golf magazine editors sometimes need to see things for ourselves. Throughout the year, we’re inundated with countless “golf ball test results,” indicating the performance benefits of one ball versus another. We admit there are real differences between golf ball categories—we don’t dispute that. But we’re also clever enough to understand that no two golf ball tests are exactly alike. In fact, they’re all done under different conditions, with different clubs, swing speeds, launch conditions, weather types and a bunch of other variables that are hard to quantify.

Today, fairway woods have become longer, bigger and more powerful than ever. Hybrids, on the other hand, have become more specific, acting as either long-iron replacements or high-lofted fairway-wood replacements. The key is to begin analyzing your current set makeup in order to determine what’s missing. Need a club that goes 215 yards and stops on a dime? How about a 3-wood that flies almost as far as your driver, albeit a lot straighter? Maybe both?

In golf’s modern era, the small, round dimpled orbs that fill the pockets of your golf bags are truly the sum of their parts. From the materials that make up its cover to how it’s filled inside, a golf ball’s composition greatly affects its behavior on the course. Among other things, it determines how high or low it launches off your clubface and spins around the green and how much it compresses when hit. In short, the modern golf ball is a technological masterpiece, with a number of different varieties built specifically for players of varying skill levels. They’ve truly come a long way since a bunch of feathers were sewn inside a ratty piece of leather.