You won't believe the amount of information GolfSense's new device and app can provide for just $129.99. If you're looking to put a purpose into your practice, track your results, and better understand what produces a consistent ball flight (and you love having the latest tech gadgets), you should read on, and think about giving GolfSense a try.

As a golf writer and proprietor of a popular website, I have been exposed to just about every type of advanced computer, video, and fitting system on the market. Sensors attached to my body from head to shoes have made me feel like a lab rat. My teachers have left me with a visual record (in the form of DVD or online video app) of the lesson, but I've never had the opportunity (other than filming my swing with my iPhone) to analyze the progress I was making.

When I recently discovered (through a friend) GolfSense's wafer thin, super-light device that attaches to a glove in the Velcro closure and connects to your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch via Bluetooth, I knew I had to get one and try it out.

The possibilities of this little device measuring the path of my swing, its speed, tempo and the rotation of the hands intrigued me.

Most importantly, it's light, doesn't add weight to the club or add wind-drag like competing products. (Read more about the negative effects of adding weight to your club by using clip-on or end of grip attached devices.)
The wonders of miniaturization became apparent the minute I opened the box and connected GolfSense to my iPhone. It took just a few minutes to calibrate and setup, including an online account which is super- simple to synchronize with the GolfSense app.

Golf swings (sorted by date) and progress are literally stored in the cloud for you to look at and analyze at anytime. On the course or practice tee, a friendly female voice says "You can swing now!" and GolfSense is ready to, well, sense.

In my case, the only technical issue I experienced was staying still before drawing the club back, as GolfSense requires a brief pause (about a second) before it auto-detects impact. Interestingly, the process of learning to "pause" and hold the club still, in itself, helped me. And impact-detection can be turned on or off, as I later learned.

If you take a step back to the first time you connected with a solid and straight golf shot, you may not have known it at the time, but by either luck or sheer talent (wouldn't we all like to think the latter) you found a way to square the club at impact. Doing so consistently is the key to hitting quality shots.

The core data provided by GolfSense is a 3D swing view, at several different angles. It's the most visual, tactile aspect of the data, and the robotic view of the swing and the plane your club travels is captivating, to say the least. Hold the slider down with your finger, and you'll begin to understand the length of your swing. (John Daly's backswing would be interesting - he might get past 270 degrees!)

At the top of the screen, a golf ball with an animated GolfSense logo that says "Analysis" provides a quick view of club speed at impact for the current swing, or any of your saved swings.

Click on the golf ball, and you can "swipe" through several different data points, all with useful charts and graphs:

-Clubhead speed (maximum and at impact)

-Hand speed

-Tempo, (time of backswing and downswing in seconds, plus a ratio of the two)

-Hip rotation

-Shaft position at the top of the backswing

-Plane Comparison (between backswing and downswing)

-Wrist Release (degrees per second)

All of the screens to the right (along with a handful of other metrics) come with little notes for the swing you are viewing. Some offer suggestions (for example I need to slow down my backswing to improve tempo) and others offer compliments. (Excellent release!)

Being an app, GolfSense promises to be an ever-improving analytical tool. Used without a teacher, you will be able to do swing comparison and take stats you couldn't possibly do as frequently or easily without such a device. But to really exploit the app and the data it provides, see a golf professional that is into technology (most have iPhones, and use them for video already). It's also important to keep your club data up-to- date on the website, to calibrate before playing, and to sync the online library with your iPhone or iPad.

GolfSense retails for $129.99 and Amateurgolf.com members save 20% (that's $26!) when they use code "amateurgolf" at GolfSense.me .