Help ／ User guide
Everything you can do in the app.
Your AI golf coach with a memory. Capture what's working in your swing, talk it through, take it to the course, and learn what actually holds up under pressure.
This guide walks through everything you can do in the app — screen by screen, tap by tap.
Start here
What this app is
MySwingThoughts is built around one idea: a swing thought (a cue or feel you're working on) is only worth keeping if it actually works. The app helps you capture those cues, talk them through with an AI coach, take them onto the course, and track which ones prove themselves over time.
The four things you'll do most
- Talk to your Coach — a chat-based AI golf coach that remembers your game.
- Capture swing thoughts — by voice or text, anytime, including mid-round.
- Run rounds & practice sessions — with a focus cue and quick thought capture.
- Review what works — mark cues as Testing or Proven and watch patterns emerge.
Access
Signing in
The app uses a passwordless email login by default — no password to remember.
Email magic link (default)
- Enter your email address. Continue with Email stays greyed out until the address looks valid.
- Tap Continue with Email. The screen switches to “Check Your Email.”
- Open the email and tap the link — it brings you straight back into the app, signed in.
On the “Check Your Email” screen you can tap Send Again if it didn't arrive, or Use Different Email to start over.
Prefer a password?
Tap “Sign in with a password instead” to reveal a password field and sign in the classic way.
First launch
First-time setup
The first time you open the app you'll go through a short five-step setup. A progress bar at the top tracks where you are, and you can tap the back chevron at any point.
Navigation
Getting around
There's no tab bar. The app centres on the Coach chat, and everything else lives in a slide-out sidebar.
Opening the sidebar
- Swipe right from the left edge of the screen, or
- Tap the ☰ menu icon in the top-left of the chat or round screen.
Close it by tapping the dimmed area, swiping left, or choosing a destination.
What's in the sidebar
The heart of the app
The Coach (Studio)
The home screen is your AI golf coach, branded “Studio.” It's a chat that remembers your game — your cues, your rounds, your patterns — and you steer it with text, voice, commands, and the cards it sends back.
The welcome screen
Before your first message you'll see an animated orb, a greeting (“Good evening, Lewis…”), a quick stats line (e.g. “5 Proven · Last round 2 May · 61 Tested”), and a set of action cards:
- Capture swing thought — opens Quick Capture to bank a cue by voice.
- Start a chat — begins a fresh conversation.
- Continue a chat — pick up a previous conversation.
- Dynamic prompts — shortcuts like “Recap,” “My focus today,” or “What patterns do you notice?” Tap to send instantly.
The header
The input bar
Cards the Coach sends back
The Coach doesn't just reply in text — it sends interactive cards. The tappable ones:
- Start Round / Start Range card — tap to arm it, then confirm with Start Session (or Cancel). It's always a two-step confirm so you never start a session by accident.
- Save thought / Save plan / Log practice / Watch video rows — one tap does the action and shows a “Saved ✓.”
- Create-plan link — builds and saves a practice plan, then opens it.
- Reply pills, quick replies, yes/no options — tap to send that answer back.
- Thought cards open the thought; session cards open session details; drill cards open a drill with Save/Done; video cards open in your browser.
- Plan cards — tap the header to expand or collapse the weeks.
- Suggested-prompt chips — tap to send that prompt.
Power tools
Commands & mentions
Two shortcuts make the Coach much faster to drive: slash commands and @ mentions.
Slash commands
Type / in the chat (or tap the + button) to open a filter-as-you-type list of commands. You can add extra text after a command, e.g. /recap last Thursday.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/round | Start a round session |
/practice | Start a range / practice session |
/end | End the current session |
/recap | Recap your last session |
/patterns | Ask what patterns the Coach notices |
/focus | Ask what to focus on today |
/plan | Build a practice plan |
/debrief | Force the post-round debrief |
/new | Start a new conversation |
/round and /practice only appear when no session is running; /end only appears when one is.@ mentions
Type @ (at the start of a message or after a space) to bring up a picker of your saved coaches and courses (favourites first). Selecting one inserts its name and attaches it to your message — handy for “How should I play @Pine Valley?” or “What did @Coach Sarah say about my grip?”
Banking cues
Capturing thoughts
A swing thought is the core unit of the app. You can capture one anytime — in chat, from the welcome screen, or with the dedicated Quick Capture sheet (which is ideal mid-round).
Quick Capture
Quick Capture is a bottom sheet you can drag between half and full height. Open it from the welcome screen, the floating mic button during a round, or the “Capture Thought” button on the round screen.
- Idle: tap the big TAP TO RECORD button, or use the “Or type a thought” field instead.
- Recording: you'll see a timer, “Listening…”, and a live waveform. Tap TAP TO FINISH when done. (It's tap-to-toggle — you don't hold it down.)
- Review: your transcript appears in an editable card. Fix any wording, then tap Save Thought — or Re-record to try again.
- Saved: a green check confirms it and the sheet closes automatically.
What happens after you save
The thought is stored, the audio is attached (for voice captures), it's linked to your active session if you're in one, and the AI tidies up the wording and suggests a category and tags in the background. The first time you record, the app will ask for microphone and speech permissions.
On the course
Rounds & practice sessions
A session puts the app into a focused mode for a round of golf or a range session — with one focus cue front and centre and fast thought capture.
Starting a session
Start one with /round or /practice, by tapping a Start card the Coach offers (then confirming), or when the Coach suggests one. You'll move to the Active Round / Active Practice screen.
The Active Round screen
The debrief
After you end a round, the Coach runs a debrief: it returns to the conversation where the round started, shows the session summary, and talks through how it went using the thoughts you captured, the duration, and your focus cue. You can also trigger it manually with /debrief. If you don't debrief right away, a reminder notification nudges you a few hours later (and cancels itself once you do).
Your library
Swing Thoughts (journal)
Open Swing Thoughts from the sidebar to see every cue you've captured, plus your sessions. This is where you recall and review.
At the top
- Proportion meter — a quick read of how many cues are Testing vs Focus vs Proven.
- Search — matches the cue text, the original transcript, the AI summary, and tags.
- Filter pills — All / Focus / Proven / Testing / Sessions, each with a live count.
- View toggle — switch between Timeline (grouped by date) and Card layouts.
Status badges
Each thought carries a badge so you can see its standing at a glance:
- ★ Proven — it's worked under pressure.
- ✓ Testing — you're trying it out.
- ★ Focus (untested) — chosen as a focus but not yet tested.
- Untested — captured, not yet tried.
- ✕ Rejected — discarded (still recoverable).
Detail view
Working a single thought
Tap any thought to open its detail screen — where you validate it, act on it, and review its history.
Set its status
A lifecycle selector (Untested → Testing → Proven) lets you tap to update where a cue stands. You'll also see confidence pips, a “Last Used / Works On” stats strip, and a “Coach Read” insight.
Act on it
You'll also see the original capture, any source video link, and the cue's tags (shown as #chips).
Saved content
Drills library
Open Drills from the sidebar. This holds drills you've saved from your chats with the Coach.
- Search drills by name.
- Filter tabs: All / Drills / Videos (Videos is reserved for a future update).
- Tap a drill to open its detail — description and numbered steps — where you can Remove from Library or tap Done.
If it's empty, ask the Coach for a drill and save the card it sends you.
Training
Practice plans
Open Plans from the sidebar. These are structured training programs the Coach builds for you.
- Active plans show first, with a Completed section below.
- Each plan card shows a progress bar and drill counts — tap to open the detail.
- In the detail, drills are grouped by session. Tap the completion toggle on a drill to tick it off (this saves and syncs), and tap a drill to expand its description, steps, and reps.
No plans yet? Ask the Coach: “Build me a practice plan.”
History
Sessions, reflections & logs
Your rounds and practice sessions are saved with their own detail views, reachable from the Sessions filter in your journal or from session cards in chat.
Session detail
Shows the session type, date, conditions, and stats, plus AI insights (what went well, what needs work, a pattern spotted, and a suggestion for next time) and collapsible sections for focus thoughts, captured thoughts, ratings, and reflections.
Ending a session & adding reflections
When you end a session you get an automatic AI summary and prompt pills to add a reflection. To add one, pick a prompt, write your response, and tap Save Reflection.
Logging practice
The Practice Log lets you record a session in detail:
- Type (Round / Range / Training / Lesson) and Duration
- Focus areas (multi-select) and Primary issue
- Miss tendency (Slice, Hook, Fat, Thin, Push, Pull, Top, Shank)
- Confidence slider (1–10) and a star rating (1–5)
- Notes, then tap Log Practice
Conversations
Chat history
From the sidebar, tap See All Chats for the full list of your conversations.
- Search conversations by title.
- Sectioned into Pinned / Today / This Week / This Month / Older.
- Tap to reopen a conversation.
- Swipe a conversation to archive it (it's archived, not hard-deleted).
Setup
Settings
Open Settings from the sidebar. It's a single scrolling page.
Make it yours
Courses, coaches & your game
The more the app knows, the more useful the Coach's advice. All three editors live under Settings → Personalise.
Courses
Add the courses you play. Tap Add Course, then set a Name (required), Course Type (Links, Parkland, Heathland, Desert, Mountain, Resort), Par, Notes, and a Favourite toggle. Swipe-left to delete a course, or long-press for Edit/Delete.
Coaches
Add your coaches the same way. Each has a Name (required), an optional Specialty (Full Swing, Short Game, Putting, Mental Game, Course Management, Fitness), Notes, and Favourite.
My Game
An auto-saving profile: your Name, your level (Beginner / Casual / Competitive / Serious), and how often you play.
Reminders
Notifications
The app sends a small number of helpful nudges. Both are on by default and can be toggled off in Settings.
- Post-round debrief reminder — a few hours after a round, nudges you to debrief. Cancels itself if you've already done it.
- Untested-thought nudge — when you have a few captured cues you haven't tested yet, reminds you to take them out and try them.
Learn the app
Getting Started checklist
Open it from the sidebar card or Settings. It's a 15-item checklist across four areas that ticks itself off as you use features — a guided tour of everything worth trying.
Basics
Start a conversation · Save a swing thought · Try voice capture · Try / commands · Try @ mentions
Personalise
Add a course · Add your coach
On the Course
Start a round · Set a Focus thought · Track a cue's lifecycle · Complete a debrief
Power User
Ask for a practice plan · Pin a conversation · Try Quick Capture · Explore your patterns
Each row expands for a short how-to. Tap Hide Guide to switch it off; it disappears on its own once everything's complete.
Cheat sheet
Quick reference
Slash commands
/round | Start a round |
/practice | Start range practice |
/end | End the session |
/recap | Recap last session |
/patterns | Spot patterns in your game |
/focus | What to focus on today |
/plan | Build a practice plan |
/debrief | Run the post-round debrief |
/new | New conversation |
Gestures & shortcuts
| Swipe right (left edge) | Open the sidebar |
Type @ | Mention a course or coach |
| Shake phone (in session) | Open Quick Capture — if enabled in Settings |
| Tap mic in chat | Dictate; transcript lands in the text field to edit |
| Long-press a course/coach | Edit or delete it |
| Swipe a chat | Archive it |
Thought statuses
| Untested | Captured but not tried yet |
| Testing | You're trying it out |
| Proven | It's held up under pressure |
| Focus | Chosen as the focus for a session |
| Rejected | Discarded — recoverable |