On average, over 40 percent of the total strokes you perform on the golf course are going to be putts. That’s why developing your putting skills is an important element to improving your overall game. It’s the reason why serious golfers practice regularly on putting mats at home. The InBirdie Tempo Plus takes the putting mat and turns it into a smart putting assistant.
Like regular putting mats, it lets you run through your putting strokes over and over, so you can build muscle memory, improve your aim, and give you a better feel at controlling the speed of your strokes. Unlike them, this smart golf gadget comes with sensors that can detect and analyze each putt, allowing it to calculate whether the stroke will actually get you to the hole and giving you specific guidelines for improving each shot.
The InBirdie Tempo Plus is a six-foot long putting mat with integrated sensors on the sides that allow it to track your stroke and how the ball responds to it, allowing it to extrapolate all sorts of information that you can get from the companion app. It comes with a rail that’s designed to block the ball at the end, so it automatically bounces back right to starting position, making it easy to set up one putt after another will little downtime.To use, you simply take the app and set how far the hole is located, with the option to set the distance up to 60 feet away. From there, you set down the ball at the starting position, grab your favorite putter, and take your best shot.
As the name implies, it tracks your shot tempo, which is, basically, how long your stroke takes from start to finish, since it’s the biggest factor that will affect what happens to the ball. If you play golf, then you probably know that maintaining a steady and consistent tempo is one of the keys to good putting, so the device tracks that and lets you know whether you’re rushing a shot or taking too long. It also tracks the shot angle, so you can practice angled putts if that’s what you’re trying to work on.
The InBirdie Tempo Plus actually lets you set the speed of the green, so you can simulate different types of grass, from ones that allow the ball to roll unimpeded to those make the exact same shot look weak and plodding. It comes with seven speed settings, so you can practice any adjustments you need to make on every kind of green. If you’re having a hard time imagining a 60-foot shot on a six-foot practice mat, the app can actually create a graphical simulation of your shot in real time. Just mirror the phone or tablet to a TV and you will be able to see every putt you take on the big screen. The app also comes with various putting games, if you prefer something a little more fun than just hitting putts over and over.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the InBirdie Tempo Plus. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at $260.
