Putt Preview: The AR App Designed to Improve Your Putting
Putt Preview is a sign that the future of golf is now
You’re about to stroke a putt, but before you do, you scan your phone to check if you’re really aimed where you think you are.
If you’ve been waiting for augmented reality to come to golf, your wait is over, thanks to the Putt Preview app.
With instant feedback on things like alignment, tempo, stroke length and path, plus more virtual tools at your fingertips, Putt Preview provides a glimpse into what the future of golf practice and training could look like.
I tested this new and mind-boggling golf technology, let’s check it out.
AR Integration
Using the powerful camera available on iPhone 13 and later PRO and PRO MAX models, Putt Preview quickly scans and maps a real or artificial putting surface, including hole location.
From there, you can train with real or virtual balls and Putt Preview logs every putt. Data like face at impact, tempo, and miss tendency is logged for every stroke, giving you a cache of information to improve your performance on the green.
Since the phone is mounted to the grip of the putter, and the camera is always tracking the putting surface and providing real-time feedback, you get a live look at your alignment and putt log throughout each practice session.
If you want to train a specific stroke path with your putter, you can dial up your preferred arc in the app and Putt Preview will instantly overlay it on the screen, helping you learn the proper feel with precise feedback.
Since Putt Preview scans the green and hole location before you begin putting, and gives you the opportunity to set the speed of the green right in the app, it knows the result of each putt, whether it’s a make or miss, long, short, left or right.
A Look into the Future of Sports Tech
I had never considered how augmented reality could make its way into golf, but I have to admit, this is a pretty nifty application.
While Putt Preview offers plenty of advanced features you can take advantage, I found myself using it to check alignment and train tempo most often.
I’d simply line up a putt as if the AR weren’t even there, and before taking my stroke, check Putt Preview to see how I did.
At first, I trusted my own read more than Putt Preview, but it only took a few strokes to realize that Putt Preview is in fact much more accurate than my own eyes, and that I have a slight alignment bias to the right, which is handy information.
Innovative, But Niche
Experimenting with Putt Preview was pretty cool, but it was not without its complexities.
We already mentioned that it works with iPhone 13 or later PRO and PRO MAX models, which means it’s not as widely accessible as most golf training aids and tools.
Also, you must mount the phone to the grip of your putter. Having a putter counterbalanced with a mount and a phone obviously changes the feel of the putter. Putt Preview has formulated some advanced calculations on swingweight given the location of the phone, but I can tell you from experience putting with a phone mounted to the grip feels way different than without. The other part of this is that the mount needs to be about an inch below the top of the grip. That forced me to grip the putter a few inches lower than I normally would, which also changed how the putter felt during the stroke.
Lastly, securing the phone to the mount requires you to have the phone lined up appropriately on multiple planes, which takes some tinkering to get right each time you train.
Because I like to keep my training as simple and as life-like as possible, I found Putt Preview to be more of a cool niche product that offers a glimpse into the future of golf and technology than a must-have training aid for improving performance.
Futuristic Vision
Testing Putt Preview makes me wonder what the next step for AR in golf could be.
Is there a way to apply something like this to the short game, or full swing?
How about course management? I’d love to scan a hole with my phone and see a map of where not to hit it.
For those of us who take the latest technologies for granted, it’s mind-boggling to think about how some of these breakthroughs could apply to golf, and what could be next.
The New Reality
There’s no denying that Putt Preview is a breakthrough technology in golf training that offers a fascinating look at the possibilities for improving our practice.
Sure, there are some hurdles to clear before this type of technology appeals to the masses, from casual players and weekend warriors to instructors and aspiring tour players alike, but the groundwork is being laid for whatever is to come.
