I’m a geek, and I’m a golfer. As such, the $130 seems like a gadget designed just for me. The Sensor itself is a small, very light (17-gram) device that attaches to your golf glove and works with an to help improve your golf game. Specifically, the Sensor stores swing data, and then communicates that data with the app for analysis. You interact with the app to study the recorded data and (in theory) figure out why your golf ball isn’t going where you want it to go. The hardware The Sensor attaches to your glove using two rubber straps on the back of the sensor, which slide over the velcro closure found on (most) golf gloves. The Sensor is amazingly light: Whether I was hitting balls at the range, playing a round of golf, or just swinging a club in the backyard, I didn’t even notice the device was on my hand.

It’s also small enough that it doesn’t interfere with any hand motions. The GolfSense sensor on my hand On the other hand, while I never had any issues with the Sensor falling off during a swing, the way it attaches does make it much less convenient to remove your glove, say, when putting—remove the glove the wrong way, and the sensor falls to the ground. Also, the rubber straps feel like they may stretch over time, leading to a less secure attachment, but I had no problems during my two weeks with the device. Finally, closing the velcro on my glove was a bit trickier with the sensor in place, as there’s not much free material to grab and pull. A USB-based charging station keeps the Sensor ready to go when you’re not using it. The Software To use the GolfSense app, you need a free GolfSense account, which can be easily setup within the app. You can have more than one account on a given device, in case you’re using a shared smartphone or tablet.

There are even versions of the app for both the iPad and iPhone, and your data syncs between devices. This means you can take your iPhone to the range to record your practice, then come home and then use your iPad to sync and view your data. (I didn’t test the Android app.) I found the app side of GolfSense to be well designed, intuitive, and loaded with features that should appeal to golf geeks everywhere. The main screen features four tabs (Home, History, Account, and More), as well as on-screen instructions for pairing and using the sensor, if needed. Once you’ve recorded your golfing, the app lets you view any recorded swing. When doing so, you can watch a replay, dig into the stats, or just use the overview to get a sense for what was good and bad about that particular swing.

The golf video analysis software is equipped with all imaginable drawing tools, slow motion playback and side by side comparison. All your uploaded swings are automatically stored in the Swing Explorer and neatly organized based on name, time, date and club type.

The app's main app window, as seen when looking at a recorded swing In general, the sync feature also worked well. The only trouble I had was that I couldn’t get the app to sync my golf club setup across devices—I wound up doing this by hand on each device. According to the company, this data should sync, but we were unable to figure out why mine did not. Using GolfSense GolfSense is first and foremost a training aid, rather than something to use during an actual round of golf—you’ll want to use it either while at the driving range or while taking practice swings in the backyard. I’m pretty sure use during a competitive round would be very much against the rules, but since I don’t play competitive golf, I went ahead and gave that a try, too.

When used for practice, GolfSense works great. Before swinging, you simply pause in address (ready-to-hit-the-ball) position for a second to prepare the sensor. Then you take your normal swing, and the GolfSense sensor automatically records your swing data. There’s even an option in the program to ignore swings that don’t result in ground/ball contact, so that you can take practice swings that don’t get recorded.

Fable 4 like games for mac. The History tab in the app shows you a calendar, highlighting days with recorded swings. Tap any day to see that day’s recordings, then tap any recorded swing to select it for further study.

I wish you could easily swipe between a day’s recorded swings, but, alas, you must return the to History tab to select another swing. (At least the History view remains open to the selected day.) The calendar (left) shows days with recorded activity; the detail view (right) lets you pick any swing for analysis. Prior to each swing, you tell GolfSense which club you’re swinging by tapping a pop-up menu on the main screen.

When used on the practice range, this feature worked fine in my testing. When I tried to use the device while actually playing, though, this screen would occasionally become non-responsive, forcing me to quit the app and relaunch it. A recent software update helped that issue, though it didn’t completely eliminate it. The other problem I had using the device while actually playing a round was battery life. The sensor itself was fine, but over the course of nine holes of golf, my iPhone 5’s battery drained down to just over 30 percent of a full charge.