PING has launched a new app that includes the Golf Workout, an Apple Watch feature engineered to capture and track fitness data, swing tempo and on-course statistics.
The PING app also houses updates to iPING, a putting-improvement tool that attaches to a putter shaft using an iPING Cradle, and works in conjunction with iPhone. In addition, there’s a new PING trivia game created to share the brand’s rich heritage and its focus on innovations that help golfers play their best.
The iPING app is a free download from the App Store. The full Golf Workout experience is available as an in-app purchase at an introductory price of £3.99.
“Our Golf Workout for Apple Watch presents a tremendous benefit for golfers without disturbing the tranquility that somany of them seek through the game,” said David Solheim, PING Vice President. “We’re strong believers that electronic technologies can play a positive role in the future of golf, but they need to be delivered in the most organic and unobtrusive way possible. By utilising the power of Apple Watch, we have taken an already desirable device and crafted an experience that renders the inherent appeal of golf more accessible and helps golfers improve their game via sensor data.”
According to Solheim, PING’s in-house app development team focused on bringing more visibility to golf’s health benefits by using key exercise metrics gathered from Apple Watch. Golf Workout records heart rate, step count and calories burned in either the Swing Practice or Play Golf modes.
“One of the benefits of Apple Watch is the ability to monitor your fitness activity. This has led to the popularity of Apple Watch owners challenging themselves to ‘close their Activity Rings’ on a daily basis,” Solheim said. “With the Golf Workout feature, you receive Workout credit during your round or while you’re practicing. It’s a great way to bring the fitness element of golf into the general conversation of the many benefits golf has to offer current and future players.”
In the Swing Practice mode, golfers can also time their backswing and downswing, providing a measure of tempo to help hone their swings for improved results on the course. The Play Golf function allows the stat-focused golfer to track important data, including fairways hit, greens in regulation, and putts per round. You can also keep score using the PING app on Apple Watch.
“We look for technologies that improve a golfer’s experience and ultimately help him or her play better and enjoy the game more,” Solheim added. “We see Apple Watch as a way to further that strategy of innovation in a harmonious manner.”
The iPING feature has been updated with a new graphic interface and provides golfers two options that lead to improved putting. In Practice mode, golfers can focus on improving key attributes of their putting stroke, including tempo. The Putting Handicap function analyses a series of five putts to determine a consistency score, which equates to a handicap patterned after the traditional handicap system (lower is better). Each five-putt session is stored for comparison as golfers challenge themselves to lower their Putting Handicap (PHcp). PING is offering new iPING cradles to fit the iPhone 6/iPhone 6s and iPhone6 Plus/iPhone 6s Plus.
“When it was introduced five years ago, iPING quickly distinguished itself as an important putting-improvement tool used by golfers of all abilities,” Solheim said. “The new version simplifies the experience while offering the same benefit of improving consistency on the greens.”
Users can also learn the story of the PING brand through a trivia game that tests their knowledge of the company’s rich history, tour staff and product technologies.
PING www.ping.com
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