iSlice iPhone app offers to fix your golf swing

Swinging your iPhone around without a wrist strap sounds like a really bad idea, but if you're brave enough, there's a new app called iSlice Golf that promises to reward your efforts with a better golf swing.

The app, which currently runs for $2.99, was developed by ASC Software in conjunction with PGA golf pro Duncan Kegg, and serves up how-to lessons with instructional videos and audio feedback. To detect what you're doing, it makes use of the iPhone's accelerometer; users hold their phones just like a golf club, and get feedback on their angles as voiced by Kegg. When they're doing it right it emits a series of beeps.

It's worth noting you don't actually begin things by doing a full swing from beginning to end. Instead, the app has you work on the swing one section at a time, so you can focus on things like your grip, your backswing, and the eventual follow-through. Each of these sections has its own video how-to, and a measuring tool that checks how you're holding the phone until you're within a reasonable tolerance for success. Once you've gone through each part of the swing, the app will examine your entire shot at once.

According to Australian news site Perth Now, the app cost Kegg and his fellow creators some $37,000 (AUS) to get out the door. Kegg's other app, called "My Golf Bag," also implements the iPhone's accelerometer, but uses it to measure the lie and the loft of golf clubs.

iSlice Golf joins a handful of other golf swing analysis applications, including Golf Swing, Golf SwingPlane, and iSwing Golf--all of which make use of the iPhone's camera to record videos of your swing, though none actually have you using your phone to mimic the swinging action.