Nike has long been working to help golfers improve their game, but now it wants to do it digitally.The world’s largest producer of sporting goods has just obtained a patent to put data-collecting sensors in golf clubs that would track your swing — helping to improve performance and add a level of customisation that has never been seen before on the golf course.Bloomberg News is reporting that plans for the new high-tech clubs are very ... George Jetson-like, allowing golfers to see an analysis of their swing on a display screen embedded right on the back of the golf club’s head. The company said the technology would make getting fit for golf clubs faster and more precise."Custom fitting is outdated, and can be inaccurate," Nike said in documents posted on the website of the US Patent and Trademark Office. While most fitting is done indoors on a hard surface, the new club would allow golfers to measure a swing out on a course, which would garner more accurate data, Nike said.While golf equipment has become more sophisticated, including balls designed to cater to a player's strengths, fitting is largely a trial-and-error process, Nike said.This patent would remove that uncertainty by using accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure as many as 100 data points to record such measurements as the angle of the club face.No word yet on when such a product might come to market, but if you’re a club-throwing type who gets incensed when your game is off, you might want to consider something less breakable.High-tech kicksNike was also granted a patent last week for data collecting shoes that would automatically track the distance and time of your run or walk. The data could then be shared with the user by sending it to a mobile device or computer.For some of us, this would only confirm what we already know — we run a 15-minute mile. But maybe, just maybe, they could help you become less of a slowpoke.Nike has sensors in a lot of other products — it already has a chip you can put in shoes that analyses your run and sends the information to your iPod. But with the new patent, your kicks would come pre-fitted with these sensors.Team sport analysisNot an individual sport kind of person? Don’t feel left out. Nike has also obtained a patent for a computerised radar system that places sensors on soccer balls and other equipment as a way to offer data analysis for team sports. It may be able to track two soccer players at the same time with sensors on their shoes as well as the ball to measure how well they pass to each other.The Beaverton, Oregon-based company this year introduced a wristband that tracks daily activity and shoes equipped with sensors that can record such metrics as how high a basketball player jumps doing a dunk.Other products in Nike's digital sport unit include a watch that can track location, distance and heartbeat and a video game workout for Microsoft Corp.'s Kinect for Xbox 360.Brand loyalty & marketing potentialNike has been adding sensors to its athletic gear since 2006, though some of the products send data to an iPod or accompanying fitness watch rather than to a smartphone.While the technology lets users measure and improve results, it also increases the time consumers spend with the brand, which can increase loyalty and sales. The company says the Nike+ community has grown to more than six million “digitally connected” athletes.Beyond measuring performance, there is also marketing potential, Bloomberg reports. In one example, a person walks into a store and the shoe sensor tells the salesman the kind of sneaker, the shopper's identity and how long he or she has worn the shoe. Advertising based on that data is then shown to the person wearing the shoes through an in-store terminal or is sent to a mobile device.The system may also allow Nike to offer promotions based on how much the shoes are used. In one scenario from the patent document, a person buys shoes and registers for a contest that offers a prize if they run 100 miles in a month.Revenue from Nike's running category surged 32 percent to $3.7 billion in its fiscal year ended May 31, while golf rose ten percent to $726 million. The company's total revenue was $24.1 billion.