The Azalea stand

I've been through three cheap tripods off Amazon in two years. First one snapped at the hinge. Second one had that spring-loaded phone clamp that slowly loosens until your phone tips forward mid-swing. Third one I just gave up on because setting it up took longer than the actual practice. This is a different category of product. It has real weight to it, the parts are metal, and the magnetic head means there's nothing to clamp or tighten. Yes it costs more. I've now spent less on this one than I did on the three that ended up in a bin.

For about a year my setup was leaning my phone against my golf bag, or a range bucket, or once against a bin. Half the videos ended up filming the sky or my feet. The other half fell over. I told myself it was fine. It wasn't fine, I was just used to it. Now I plant this in the ground, snap the phone on, and it films what I actually asked it to film. Sounds basic. It changed how often I bother recording at all, which is the real point.

First session with this I filmed six swings down-the-line and watched them back in the car park. My coach had been telling me for two years that I come over the top. I'd nodded along every time without really believing it. Watching it back, it was obvious within about four seconds. Not subtle. I'd been doing it my whole golfing life and never once seen it. That's the thing nobody tells you about practice: you can hit 300 balls a week and just get better at doing the wrong thing.

Worked out I pay about £60 a lesson. This cost roughly one lesson. In the three months since, it's shown me things between lessons that I'd otherwise have brought to my coach and paid to be told. It doesn't replace a coach — it makes the lessons you do pay for more useful, because you turn up already knowing what's happening.

Bought this knowing I'm on a Samsung and half expecting a hassle. It comes with adhesive magnetic discs. Stuck one on the back of my case, took ten seconds, and it now holds exactly as hard as my mate's iPhone does. If you're on Android and hesitating over the MagSafe thing in the description, don't. Just be a bit deliberate about where you stick the disc — I put mine slightly off-centre first time and the phone sat crooked. Peeled it off and redid it.

The reason my old tripod stopped coming with me wasn't that it was bad, it's that it took two minutes to set up and I couldn't be bothered. This is genuinely about ten seconds. Spike in the ground, pull the shaft up, phone snaps on. That difference sounds trivial and it absolutely is not — it's the difference between filming every session and filming none of them.

Played in about 40kmh gusts last month, fully expecting to spend the round picking my phone out of the rough. It didn't move once. The ground spike goes properly into the turf, which is why it holds where a normal tripod would just skate across the grass. On the mats indoors I swap to the tripod base — one tip, make sure the legs are sitting completely flat, not splayed at an angle, or it can slide on a smooth floor.

Six months in, roughly twice a week, mostly outdoors and often in the wet. It lives in my bag permanently. No rust, the magnet is exactly as strong as day one, and the shaft still holds whatever height I set it to. I've been slightly careless with it too — it's been rained on and thrown in a boot more than once. Still fine.

Went from 21 to 8 over a season. I'm not going to pretend a phone stand did that, I also had lessons and put in the hours. But I'd been stuck at 16 for three years doing exactly the same hours. The difference this season was that I could see what I was actually doing instead of guessing from feel. Feel lies. Video doesn't.

Bought this for my husband's birthday knowing almost nothing about golf, just that he films his swing on a phone propped against things and complains about it. Was slightly worried it'd be one of those gifts that gets a polite thank you. He took it to the range the same evening and has used it every week since. Arrived well packaged and looked properly premium unwrapping it, which matters when it's a gift.

I teach full time, indoor studio in winter and outdoors the rest of the year. I use this for both. Steady footage without a second person holding a phone, and it's quick enough that I can reposition mid-lesson without breaking the flow. I've had four pupils buy one after seeing it. The only thing I'd add is a proper instruction card in the box — took me a minute to realise the shaft is a slide mechanism and not screw-lock.