No, once you are familiar with entering data into the app the benefits of having a swing length (and recommended club for chipping) speed up play. The app standardizes the approach to green reading and reduces your decision time. As all short game shots must be played in sequence reducing the number of short game shots is by far the most effective means of reducing the time to complete a hole. Please become familiar with the app during practice before attempting to use in play.

Greens are maintained to a constant speed throughout the playing season to ensure good green health. This speed can vary from course to course and is typically known by green’s keeper or the starter.

You can remove any club from the chipping menu you don’t have or don’t use for chipping. To remove a club not required for chipping, simply swipe from the right edge of the stepper leftwards to delete the club from the setup menu. You can always restore the original set of club by pressing the restore button in the setup menu.

The app was tested by comparing the apps break to established theoretical results for the break of a golf ball on a planar surface. The app was then tested using specialty test equipment that rolls the ball on a known line and on greens with independently measured green speeds and slopes. The ball break is accurate for distances up to 5 yards and is only limited by the planarity (double breaking type putts) of the green surface near the hole. The surface level measurements from the app have been verified using precision digital levels to 0.1 deg. Chipping was also tested using various clubs and slopes. The chipping algorithm was measured to be accurate to within 5% of the total distance and sufficient to get most chips within a single putt range.

The swing trainer was tested using a flight scope as a reference to confirm the estimated club speed, face angle, toe angle and shaft angle are accurate to within 10%. Shaft angle measurements assume the club is not accelerating at impact - this assumption is valid for pendulum type swings.

Yes, the short game app was tested on all iPhone types from the iPhone 6 to current to ensure the graphics are scaled correctly and are useable.

Mobile apps for the long game are permitted for use in tournament and handicap play by the USGA (see decision 2017-0754). Obviously, the surface level and swing trainer must not be used during official play. Short Game has not yet reached out to the USGA Equipment Standards department for a similar ruling. Until a ruling is obtained, please check with your director of golf or other rules official before using Short Game in tournament or handicap play.

To the contrary, the short game app relies on maintaining constant rhythm and tempo for both putting and chipping. The best players maintain a constant backswing time and downswing time regardless of swing length (see the short video highlighting Jordan Spieth’s putting rhythm/tempo) Using the Short Game swing trainer during practice will focus you on maintaining good short game fundamentals. For chipping the swing trainer will also focus you on maintaining a consistent chipping setup position and pendulum swing with constant wrist position (do not break your wrists during chipping). Short Game is the only app that provides closed loop feedback for your short game.

Use the surface level to measure the break and required swing length and then use the swing trainer to confirm your swing is aligned to the target and has the required swing length/speed.

You do NOT need to do any math to use the Short Game app. This was a key requirement during the development.

The subscription fee for the short game app is less than the price of a premium golf ball per month. This is several times less than other mobile golf apps and provides far more functionality - see competitive comparison of currently available mobile golf short game apps

Yes, the surface level has a calibration routine that will account for any variability in the case thickness or protruding features on the back of the iPhone. The calibration routine takes a long term average of the accelerometers within the iPhone and saves this offset in memory. You need to calibrate on a level surface. Your kitchen counter tops are typically sufficiently level for calibration. You only need to recalibrate if you change the iPhone case or drop your iPhone. After calibration, the surface level is accurate to 0.1 deg and is more than sufficient for determining the break on the fastest greens.

If you change your putter you need to update the reference distance the ball rolls for a known reference putting swing length. The smash factor for putters varies based on the putter type and construction. If you change your wedges you may need to update the club loft in the setup menu.

Chipping much more complex than putting. To determine the required swing length for chipping a reference chipping swing needs to be established. The Short Game app uses the reference carry and distance to determine the recommended club and swing length for every other chip you encounter around the green. The chipping algorithm accounts for total distance, green speed, green firmness, slope, club loft, angle of attack, forward shaft lean, carry, lie and the slope of the hill to determine the best club to get onto the green and roll to the hole. The Short Game app has a complete mathematical model of dynamics of ball flight and frictional losses during ball impact and roll. This is well beyond heuristic rules such as “rule of 12” for chipping and does not require the user to do any math.

The short game app integrates seamlessly with your range finder. During the setup you enter the number of your paces per 24 yards. The app can then use either your pace or range finder yardage for both putts and chips. For a long putt or chip you can simply ping to the flag and use this yardage without having to pace all the way to the hole.

No, the minimum font size is sufficiently large and is 22 pt or larger. The user does not typically require reading glasses during practice or play. This was a key design requirement in the development of the short game app.

No, the Short Game app relies only on maintaining your rhythm and tempo. Use the grip best suites your play.

No, a rangefinder is not required. You still need to enter paces/24 yards to allow the app to convert your pace to yards to estimate the distance to the hole. This distance is needed in yards to determine the break using the surface level and the associated algorithm.

Currently short game does not account for the grain of the green. This is an area of active investigation. There is no available open source data pertaining to the impact of the grain on green speed and grass type. We are planning to gather our own data on the impact of the grain on green speed and offer an update in late 2023 to address this limitation. This will be a free upgrade to existing users.

Double tap on any graphical feature and a short video tutorial is displayed on your iPhone that provides in context instructions on how to maximize the use of the Short Game app for any situation you will encounter around the greens. These tutorials are embedded in the app and do not require WiFi access.

You can use any method of green reading. Estimate the slope visually, using your putter as a plumb, or by sensing your weight balance using your feet. You need to practice your method of estimating slope and learn to correlate your method with an actual slope (in degrees) as measured by the Short Game app. This is the only way to confirm your method is accurate.

You can use the short game app to standardize your warmup routine. You can save measured slopes on your practice green and recall these shots to setup a repeatable, fast and effective short game warmup. Save up to 5 putt and chip shots with measured slopes at know locations on your practice green. If the green speed changes update the green speed prior to starting your practice round and the swing lengths automatically update using today’s green speed. Shorten your warmup by putting/chipping uphill and downhill from these know locations. Use the swing trainer to restore your rhythm and tempo rapidly prior to your round by repeating shots and improve your consistency before you play.

In short neither of these technologies is suitable for green reading for the purpose of training. There are 2 fundamental and separate skills for green reading

For short putts (< 5 yds) you need to read the green near the hole and interpret both the slope and direction to estimate both the break and required speed. An accurate reading near the hole is essential.

For long putts (> 5 yds) you need to read the average slope between the hole and the ball. An accurate reading of the average slope is essential to develop good distance control.

Augmented Reality (AR) and LIDAR do not provide accurate slope data. Creating a visualization of the contour is impressive but not useful for training. Also these technologies do not lead to a seamless transition between practice and play as there is no means for the player to enter contour data in a useful manner during play.

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is available on the iPhone 12 pro and iPhone 13 pro/max. LiDAR uses a scanning laser to determine distance to construct a 3D model. Augmented Reality (AR) uses photogrammetry to construct 3D models from multiple photos. Either method is very limited in constructing contour maps of greens because the 3D content is minimal.

Handheld LiDAR, for example, is capable of creating contour maps but is limited as the contour map must use iPhone’s accelerometers to reference the map to a local level and is inherently less accurate than using the accelerometers directly to determine the break near the hole

AR is not effective for determining the break on a green and typically requires using the iPhone as a level regardless. AR only seems effective at determining the distance between the hole and ball and is of limited value as you have to walk to the hole to measure the slope using the level - just pace the distance and avoid the complexity of using AR.

Green firmness determines the depth of ball marks and is only needed to improve the accuracy of the chipping algorithm. You can estimate firmness by simply dropping a golf ball from hip height and estimating the height of the first bounce. For hard greens the first bounce height is 4” to 5”, medium 2” to 3” and soft 2” or less. Greens tend to soften after heavy rains.

When the swing trainer is activated you should hear a short introduction for both putting and chipping.

If you do not hear this introduction your iPhone is either on “silent” (button on left side is depressed down and a red bar is visible above the button) or the volume level is too low.

This often happens when you change the iPhone case.

The swing trainer monitors the club lie angle and only activates when the club lie is within a nominal range. For putting the lie should be about 20 degs +/- 5 degs. For chipping the lie should be about 23 - 18 deg and allows for an upright chipping setup.

When you setup is stationary and sufficiently upright you should hear a message stating the swing length setpoint - this indicates you can start your swing

check the setup menu to ensure your swing direction is correct - either left or righthanded. The swing trainer uses the swing direction to monitor you swing in the intended direction and reject unintended movements.

Also ensure you setup is stationary and sufficiently upright - if you hear the “moved” message the swing trainer is detected unintended movement - check to ensure the iPhone cradle is perpendicular to the club face (the cradle will shift if it is not sufficiently tight on the shaft) to avoid detecting excessive cross axis movement during your swing.

First ensure in the setup menu your shoulder height is correct. The swing trainer uses your shoulder height as measured from your shoulder sockets to the ground to convert the gyro measurements into a swing length.

Second ensure your swing is from your shoulders and does not have any wrist movement. The swing trainer assumes pendulum type movement about the center of your shoulder sockets (sternum).

Third ensure your iPhone is not in the low power mode (battery life less than 20%). To save power, your iPhone reduces the CPU performance in the low power mode and this results in erroneous swing trainer readings. You need to recharge your iPhone above 80% to exit the low power mode and restore full CPU performance.

Fourth check the gyros by running the surface level calibration. The gyros are checked during calibration and will indicate failed if they are not functioning. The gyro chip can be replaced.

No, a typical iPhone only weights 140 grams. This is only 5% of the moment of inertia (MOI) of a typical mallet style putter and only 10% of a typical blade style putter.