iSwing: Golf for iPhone

The golf swing is probably one of the most unnatural motions in sports. Developing a good swinging motion takes lots of study and practice. As with any endeavor in sports, a key component to improving your game is self-evaluation, and getting your golf swing on video is probably the best way to figure out exactly what you could improve. iSwing: Golf from Keuminotti sets out to help you record, analyze, and improve your swing.

iSwing lets you quickly capture video of your swing using the iPhone’s camera—even with the 3G model. Of course, the frame rate will be lower when you use the 3G’s camera as opposed to the more advanced cameras in the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4.

Guidelines help you frame the scene, and a timer gives you a 12- or 14-second delay before the app starts automatically recording video. Once the video is shot, iSwing takes you to the playback screen where you can watch yourself in action. You can play back the video at full speed, or view it at 20 or 60 percent of normal speed; you can also opt to play the video in a continuous loop. iSwing lets you manually scrub back and forth through your video as well.

The app offers a few tools to help analyze your motion and form. You can draw straight lines in either red or blue to check your angles. The red line tool even gives you the exact angle of the line. There’s also a circle tool and an eraser that automatically deletes the last line you created. You can zoom into a video or even flip the video for a mirrored view.

You can compare your swing video to a pro’s video side by side. When I tested the app, there was one pro video available as an in-app purchase. The pro is Adam Scott and you get eight videos of swings from different angles and with different clubs. You can control each video’s playback independently or both at the same time to keep things in sync.

iSwing has a very simple interface with a minimalist feel to it that’s refreshing. This app does exactly what it sets out to do in a very intuitive and polished way. If you’re looking to improve your golf swing, iSwing is definitely worth a look.

[Tim Mercer is a technology enthusiast, graphic designer, and blogger, whose blog, digital-artist-toolbox.com, offers free resources to the digital artist and graphic designer.]