Ping Golf's iPING app
Ping Golf has updated its popular iPING app putting-improvement tool for the iPhone 4 and iPod touch. The new iPING Fit feature coincides with the company’s new “Fit for Stroke” approach to putter fitting.
The purpose of iPING Fit is to identify the golfer’s stroke type – straight, slight arc, or strong arc – and then match the player with the Ping putter models that fit their stroke type. Basically it’s a way to match the player to the putter as opposed to matching the putter to the player.
Classifying PING models by their face angle and corresponding stroke type is a new putter-fitting approach the company calls Fit for Stroke. Every putter head is face-balanced for a straight stroke, mid-hang for a slight arc, or toe-down for a strong arc. To make identifying a putter easier, every model has a shaft label that is color coded for stroke type: blue for a straight stroke, green for slight arc, and red for strong arc.
“We’ve done thousands of hours of player testing that show when a golfer’s putter balance matches their stroke type their consistency goes way up, and they make a lot more putts,” said Ping Chairman John Solheim. “iPING Fit and Fit for Stroke are exciting innovations because they give the golfer new information and help them make an educated decision so they choose a putter that will make them more consistent on the greens. As many times as we use our putter during a round, Fit for Stroke offers great potential to shoot lower scores.”
The user accesses iPING Fit via the launch screen or the “More” tab on the iPING app’s home screen. The first step is to hit a series of five putts. The app measures the amount of putter-face rotation during the forward stroke and arrives at an average to determine stroke type. Straight strokes have the least amount of rotation, strong arcs the most. After the session, the app displays a blue, green or red shaft label identifying the user’s stroke type.
Next, the user clicks the “Recommend Putter” tab to bring up a list of every current PING putter model that matches the user’s stroke type, organized by family: Anser Milled, Scottsdale Series, and Karsten 1959. The user scrolls through the lineup of matching putters to choose the model that fits their eye. For more-detailed putter fittings, the Advanced Fit feature offers recommendations for length, loft and lie. There’s also a Help button offering explanations and guidance in using the app.
The iPING app works in conjunction with a PING cradle ($30 MSRP), which holds the iPhone 4 or iPod touch and clips onto the putter shaft just below the grip. Cradles are available for the iPhone 4 and iPod touch (4th gen).
The iPING app is available for free from the App Store on the iPhone 4 & iPod touch at www.itunes.com/appstore.
