Swingprofile swing recording and analysis app

[Rooter]

So, i was lucky enough to get a copy of this to review it for GM. Being only a small app, the mag don't need many words! so thank goodness for the internetz so i can type away without worrying about word counts!

OK, so first off, the app is tiny in size, smaller than Angry birds free and even with now 40 videos, its still under 80MB, so no worries about filling up your phone/pad.

On first look, it looks and feels very slick, a nice slide out tool bar on the left of the screen:





once you have decided how you are going to video yourself (this is harder than you may think!) I ended up resting my phone on a chair, it would be much better to use a proper tripod i expect with a helper to set you up correctly, but it is possible to do DIY.

Once the phone is set, you can have a play with the light balance, as driving ranges are notoriously bad for filming, the app has a great feature where you can adjust the light balance of certain areas within the shot. they do recommend that you wear the optimal clothing for the auto recognition, dark trousers and a plain light top.

And you are ready to go! you can have audio on it, so it beeps when its ready for you, i just went for it though. This is where the app is very clever and is its best USP. The software recognizes the movement of a golf swing and will only record the bits you want! no more wasted storage or time editing afterwards, simply set it up and you are off. I did a quick bucket of 30 balls, turned round, picked up my phone and i had 30 individual videos and broken down swings in stills.





From here, you can start to read into what you are doing well or badly. In my pictures, i hadn't set the auto lines, this inputs a fixed "wedge" between hands and ball (down shaft) and shoulders and ball. Very helpful when watching back to see what plane you are coming in on. You can also compare your self with a number of pro pre saved videos and stills, and also share with twitter and facebook as well emailing the file to yourself.

[video=youtube;PsKlN3-jfeE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsKlN3-jfeE[/video]

On reviewing your video there is tons of instructions written by Stephen Cowan, you can read up on everything from stance to swings and grips..



Overall, its a very good app. however, i feel its i little clunky to use at times, i would like to flick from one video to the next one quickly with a swipe, but you have to go back to your folder and choose the next one. Also, on iphone, the screen is too small to make the manual drawing of lines easy, there is an iPad version which would be much better but this is more money i believe.

Pro and cons:

Pros -

Once set up, just hit away
great software offering slow motion video and breakdown of swing
gives fantastic instant access to your swing and you can compare yourself against yourself as you change things

Cons -
Cost, at £20.99 its for the serious range user or teaching pro only i think
some of the navigation is a bit cluky
ideally need a helper to get you set up for the best quality video

Overall i would give it 8/10, its fantastic for what it does, just let down slightly by navigation and cost. (you can see why i couldn't get this to 100 words now!!

Also, i will be stood behind the first tee at West Hill next week recording everyone from the forum and posting up! LOL

 

[chrisd]

Great write up Rooter

I tried the free trial version but very quickly went back to Swingreader as i found it easier to use and store, you can zoom in and out, edit, and draw all the usual lines on. I got Swingreader free and didnt find Swingprofile worth the cost by cvomparison

 

[Region3]

I only tried to use it once with not a lot of success because I had nowhere to properly rest/mount my phone, but I was impressed after reading up about it.

A couple of things not mentioned so far:
The app will sync side on and down the line swings together side by side so you can watch what's going on at the same time from 2 angles.
It will also sync your swing against somebody else (most likely use a pro) in perfect time, even if one swing is much quicker than the other, to compare positions from one to the other.
You can use either camera, so if you don't want the sound on at the range you can use the front camera and look at it to see when it's ready.


The only downside I found was that the zoom on the camera wasn't available when I tried to use it, but maybe that's just the front camera? If no zoom is used in the app at all it would make a great addition, because it would save having to find the perfect distance away from you to fit yourself inside the lines.

 

[Rooter]

The only downside I found was that the zoom on the camera wasn't available when I tried to use it, but maybe that's just the front camera? If no zoom is used in the app at all it would make a great addition, because it would save having to find the perfect distance away from you to fit yourself inside the lines.

There is no zoom, to try an get consistent videos you can compare over time, it wants you to record from the same distance each time, hence the head and feet target line on the view finder. Its great that you can do this, but i can see it being a pain when you dont have much room behind you.. i found you need at least 8 feet behind you..

I agree that resting the phone somewhere stable is probably the hardest thing!! my local range is OK as the have a load of old banqueting chairs behind each bay, so i use them... i think something like the iPing cradle clipped to your driver in your cart bag behind you would work!!