Smart Ball Sleeve: New training accessory tackles a common swing fault

Smart Ball Sleeve, the latest addition to the golf training-aid line created by GOLF Top 100 Teacher Martin Chuck, targets a common swing fault: the arms separating from the body.

Unlike the original Smart Ball worn under a neck lanyard, the Smart Ball Sleeve can be attached to the arms, legs and hips. That allows golfers not only to keep the arms connected to the torso through the swing, but also to run lower-body stability and hip-rotation drills the original design could not address.

The Smart Ball has been around since 2026. Its mechanism is similar to the classic towel-under-the-armpits drill: if the arms leave the body, the ball held between the chest and arms drops and gives instant feedback. The difference is a tidier, wearable package.

Adding the Sleeve is the more telling move. By expanding attachment points to the legs and hips, Tour Striker is reaching into different fault groups such as lower-body instability and poor hip rotation. In other words, the brand is moving away from fixing one fault toward building a drill system that covers a bigger part of the swing chain.

The product text claims the Smart Ball can still be found on practice tees at nearly every PGA Tour stop. Yet no player or event is named, which makes the claim marketing rhetoric rather than independent evidence. Under Rule 4.3, training aids cannot be used during a competitive round, so any practice-tee sightings are about practice, not play.

The Smart Ball plus Sleeve bundle sells for $57 at tourstriker.com. The article provides no measurements or before-and-after data. Golfers should treat the piece as a product announcement, not proof of effectiveness, and should look for independent reviews before buying. The long-term value of the Sleeve lies not in the gadget but in whether a golfer practises with it consistently and correctly.