I have a confession to make…
…I have trouble putting.
I know, I know - it’s embarrassing - but in my defence I’m pretty sure it’s inherited!
Anyway, as a result of my, er, problem, I am always on the lookout for a way to get better. If you look at different golfers, past or present, they all different styles, different putters, different approaches - no real consistency which I can copy.
However, they do all have a few things in common:
- Pre-putt routine
- Tempo
- Consistency of stroke
But how to make this work for me?
That’s where the iPing app came in. Could it help me improve?
I downloaded the app to my phone from iTunes. I have an iPhone 5 but it’s good to note that it’s also available for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch (4th Gen) and the Samsung Galaxy S III. And the best news? It’s free for all platforms.
The app works in conjunction with a PING cradle which attaches the phone to the putter shaft. You can buy this cradle in most golf shops.
So what does it do?
The app overview states that the iPing calculates and tracks your putting handicap to help improve your putting. Using motion sensor technology, it analyses your impact angle to improve the way you putt and classifies your stroke rotation to help match you to the proper putter model for you to achieve better consistency. You can also measure the tempo of your stroke to improve your control and even compare your stroke with tour pros and friends.
Excellent - that covers all three of the areas that I identified as being important for all golfers.
The first thing to do after downloading the app is to calibrate your phone. Easy - follow the simple instructions on screen and you’re ready to go.
Next, set-up your user profile. Pop in your name, putter, hand choice and whether your putter is a standard length or long putter.
And we’re ready to choose one of the menu options:
- Practice
- Measure
- Compare
- More
Measure
Let’s start with the measure option. This allows you to record the details of a group of five of your putts of 10ft.
It records the stroke type (straight, slight arc or strong arc), the impact angle (the angle face of the putter at impact - open, closed or square), the tempo (ratio of backswing time to forward swing time), the lie angle (a comparison of the lie angle of the putter between set-up and impact) and finally the shaft lean (a comparison of the position of the putter head relative to the ball at set-up and at impact).
Compare
The app stores each group of five shots in a session. You can compare the sessions with one another, with other users or with the pro golfers included in the app.
Using the compare option allows you to identify weak spots which you can then work on in the practice area.
Practice
When you are in the practice option you can switch off any of the five recording details so that you can concentrate on one area, for example tempo.
More
But wait, there’s more! You also get an extensive help system - useful for first time users. There’s a skins game if you are interested in playing against other users. The iPing Fit section allows the user to select from a range of PING putters and is the only ‘up-selling’ aspect of the app. There’s a video showing you all the features of iPing and a set-up video - another useful tool for first time users. Finally, you can share your measure sessions with others (or yourself) using e-mail or Facebook.
My main purpose in using the app was to analyse my putting and improve the iPing handicap.
As I noted earlier, since every golfer has an individual putting style I was not really interested in comparing with others but rather with ensuring that I could build a consistent and reliable stroke that worked for me.
Being comfortable over the ball is essential to create consistency, as is a consistent lie angle between set-up and impact. I found practising different postures and making sure I was comfortable let me keep the lie angle consistent. This was noted on the app and gave me confidence as I progressed.
Shaft Lean. One thing that great putters achieve is a good ball roll.
When you hit a putt the ball will first skid along the ground before starting to roll. Achieving a roll quickly can be helped by maintaining the desired putter face angle. This will change if the shaft lean changes between set up and impact. If hands move ahead of the club then loft will be reduced - if the club head moves ahead of the hands then the loft is increased. As before, it quickly becomes apparent that the most important thing is consistency.
Tempo. Guess what? Consistency is key to this as well! Some golfers have a faster tempo, some slower. Being able to record the tempo of my best shots and trying to replicate this gave me a good idea of what speed works best for me.
Impact angle. The app measures the angle of the club face at impact - closed, open or square. A 1° closed angle over 10 feet will cause the ball to be left of centre of the hole by approximately 2”. This will, all other things being equal, not produce a miss. My target was to replicate an impact angle of less than 1° closed.
Stroke type. My natural putting stroke is to have a slight arc for putts over 4 feet. This was what I was trying to replicate consistently and it was handy to have a way to measure and report on what I was doing and when I was doing it right.
Overall this is a very good app. It helped me see what I was doing when I hit a good putt and what I was doing when I didn’t. This gave me sufficient data to practice and improve. The app doesn’t tell you whether you’re doing something wrong or right - it simply analyses your stroke and lets you know. You have to read the data and see what it tells you compared with how your putt went. In achieving consistency of your putting stroke - this is a great thing to have on your phone.
The cradle isn’t too expensive (although for the more handy among us - I’m sure you could knock something up out of plywood and glue!) and, of course, the app is free - my favourite price!
I compared the recorded sessions over a week and was able to see what I needed to work on and how. My specific issues lie in the shaft lean area and getting that all illusive consistency. The main drawback of the app is the effect of the weight of the phone and cradle on your putting stroke. To counter this, I used the app for measurements and some practise and then removed it for an extended practise. After this, I went back to the app to see if I had been able to improve on the areas that I had intended. If you have it on your putter all the time during practice then you might find it difficult to make the corresponding changes/improvements to your stroke when you get out on the course.
So, all in all this app gets 4 out of 5 stars from me.
Info includes:
This screen comparison with the pro golfer shows a couple of things. 
