The training aids that help most with uneven lies are the ones that put you on an actual slope, or show you what a slope is doing to your setup and strike. That means sloped mats, tilting platforms and, for free, a bank on the practice ground. Alignment sticks, strike spray and a launch monitor then help you read what's happening. Plenty of other aids are fine for your swing in general but do very little for slopes, because they're used on flat ground.
Here's what's out there, grouped by what it does, with an honest view on each.
Start with the free one
Before spending anything, look around your club. Many practice grounds have a mound, a bank or a sloping edge. Some short-game areas have a slope beside the green. If your club lets you hit from there, it's the best uneven-lie training aid you'll find, because it's real grass and a real slope.
The downsides are obvious. It's not always allowed, it's outdoors, and you can't change the angle. But if you have access, use it before buying anything. Our uneven lie drills work well on a practice ground bank.
Aids that create a slope
Sloped mats and wedges
A hitting surface set at a fixed angle. Cheap and simple, and good for one lie. The catch is you get the angle you buy, and combined lies are hard.
Tilting platforms
An adjustable base you stand on and lock at different angles. More variety and, if the settings are marked, repeatable lies. They cost more than a sloped mat and take more room. We compare the two properly in sloped golf mats vs tilting platforms.
Motorised stages
Floors that tilt at the press of a button, found in some high-end studios. Brilliant for variety, but priced at £20,000 and up, so they're a commercial or very serious home option.
DIY ramps
A plywood ramp can give you one slope. Make sure it's stable, grippy and strong, and accept that changing the angle means building another one.
Aids that help you read the slope
Alignment sticks
Probably the most useful cheap aid for slopes. On a sidehill lie, lay one on the ground along your target line and another along your feet, then step back and look. Many golfers find their feet and shoulders drift when the ground isn't level. On an uphill or downhill lie, hold a stick across your shoulders to see whether they match the slope.
Strike spray or foot powder
Spray the face, hit a shot, look at the mark. Uphill lies tend to bring heavy contact and downhill lies tend to bring thin contact. Seeing where you actually made contact on the face tells you a lot about your balance.
A launch monitor
If you have access to one, it shows you how start line, curve, launch and carry change on each slope. For a right-hander, expect the ball to go left with the ball above your feet and right with it below, higher and shorter uphill, lower downhill. Seeing your own numbers makes it stick.
Aids for balance
Balance boards, foam pads and wobble cushions are sold as general golf fitness kit. They can help your stability in general, and holding a balanced finish is a big part of playing from slopes. They're not slopes, though. Standing on a wobbly surface is a different feeling from standing on firm, tilted ground.
If balance is your main problem on hills, our post on balance on uneven lies covers why swinging at about 80 percent and holding your finish helps.
Aids that don't do much for slopes
Most swing trainers, weighted clubs, hinge trainers and grip aids are used on flat ground. They may help your swing, which helps on any lie. They won't teach you how a slope changes your setup or ball flight.
The same goes for putting mats and most indoor nets on their own. Good for what they do. Not slope training.
What we'd actually buy, in order
- Two alignment sticks.
- A can of strike spray or foot powder.
- Access to a slope, whether that's a practice ground bank, a sloped mat or a platform.
- Launch monitor time, if you can get it.
If you're not sure what each lie needs in the first place, start with the four uneven lies explained simply.
Libro is one of the tilting platforms in the slope-making group above. It sets uphill, downhill and sidehill lies in seconds with a cam lock, up to 7 degrees along its length and 13 degrees across, with engraved height lines so you can repeat a lie and count your reps. No batteries, no subscription, and it works with any launch monitor. It comes to Kickstarter in early 2027, and you can reserve one for £10.