iPING on my Ping Scottsdale Senita putter – click to zoom
I’m a not only a golf guy, I’m a Mac guy. In fact I have a Mac site and blog called The Mac Space which has been running for years which I work on occasionally. I put way more time in here though. Way more. So being a Mac guy does mean that I have an iPhone. I have many golf apps which have been submitted for review and I really hope to get to them, probably in the winter when there’s less time to play golf. Perhaps the coolest app I’ve gotten though, which I moved to the top of the review queue, is the iPING app and iPING putter iPhone cradle. This is cool! Check it out.
iPING Overview
iPING is a two component system for analyzing and improving putting, which also happens to recommend a suitable PING putter when asked. Sure no problem. Love PING putters.
Component one is the iPING cradle, which mounts an iPhone 4 to any putter shaft. Sorry, but if you have any iPhone earlier than a 4 you are out of luck. Time to upgrade.
Component two is the iPhone application itself, which is truly amazing. This is no haphazardly put together rush job. The interface is beautiful and the features many.
The app is free, however the cradle is $30. But if you struggle with your putting, this could be the best $30 you’ve ever spent.
How It Works
The iPhone has a accelerometer and gyroscope inside. So the phone can sense motion.
The iPING app records three primary putting stroke properties:
1. Club arc (straight line or arced)
2. Tempo
3. Face angle at impact
iPING then calculates statistical data about your stroke. Several sample sets can be recorded, which allows for a better representation of the results.
The results can be used to determine how to improve the stroke, how to decide what putter type is best to use, or to compare strokes with famous tour pros (PING players only of course).
My Results
My results were fairly consistent. My stroke is a slight arc, not straight back and straight through. I’m pretty in tune with my stroke and I knew that already in the back of my mind. Nice to confirm, and nice to see that my arc is quite repetitive and consistent. I compared my consistency to one of my favorite PING players Angel Cabrera. Guess I understand one of the many reasons why I’m an amateur hack and Cabrera has a U.S. Open and Masters title…
Conclusion
In short, iPING is a full launch monitor system for putters which mounts on your putter. You don’t have to spend $100/hour at a golf shop to do your analysis and get precise digital feedback and numbers representing your stroke. It is nice to be able to get those numbers from anywhere, including the dog house.
Related Links
HOG PING image gallery
HOG iPING image gallery
PING’s iPING web url
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
Not quite as gung ho as you about this product. I gave it a 3 out of 5 in my review two months ago.
I can’t get it to work. I go into measure and tap the start button but nothing happens.