New Tiger Woods Launch Monitor

[Wildest1]

Does the app include a 3D driving range or any visual representation of your shot shape?

 

[aenemated]

Finally got out to the range today to give this guy a go. 

 

And my take is - totally delivers. This is the first launch monitor I've actually owned - my only other experience has been Trackman at Club Champion (and St Andrews) and the FullSwing indoor sim at some of the indoor spots I've been over the years. So if any of this is just "standard" - it's rad and new to me.

 

So, first of - just using it is unbelievably simple. I did the initial pairing and updates the other night and got it charged to 100% - all of which was easy. When I got to the range, went over to my spot and just stepped off 10ish feet, sat my bag down and put it between the stand legs. Opened the app, tapped to go start a session, tapped to connect once it was turned on and we were ready to go. 

 

And you just swing at will. After each shot, takes maybe 3-4 seconds to calculate and display the info. Super easy to see and read in the sun. 

 

All the data looks pretty similar to my Trackman numbers from LA - about half a club or so shorter than here at Vegas elevation, so that'd be a nice feature to have (which I've read is coming) since this is, ya know, home. 

 

A thing I thought was super cool is ... I wasn't sure how to record video so I went in to the app to find out. Tapped one of the buttons in the practice session menu and didn't get any feedback that I noticed so I was like "Eh, I'll figure it out later." Finished up, packed up, walked back to the car and opened up the app to find that it had been automatically recording every swing and ties it to the shot data in a nice little UITableView. The angle of the video is a LITTLE on the low since since it's a smallish device sitting on the ground but it's certainly better than nothing and the integration with the swing data was nice (and unexpected) to see. 

 

I should note it was about 4PM here so getting dark out. 

 

 

I've been too lazy for a while to setup my phone so being able to EASILY get video is a game changer for me. There's things here I thought I'd fixed - and I can see less of the roll in my takeaway in some swings but I'm still going WAY farther back than I thought I was. *sigh* 

 

Anyway, of the maybe 150 balls I hit, it did fail to pick it up a couple times. This may have been due to me moving out of its tracking zone ... but it was only maybe 4 or 5 shots of all of them (including my best driver swing of the day) so even if I just got ahead of it or it didn't work for those; not the end of the world. 

 

Overall, this is precisely the product I wanted and what I hoped it'd be. Very sturdy and attractive piece of hardware, great functionality, great stats (did hit a couple stinkers so it was kinda funny to see a chunked 5 iron carry a whopping 120 yards 😂) and really nice integration with the app.

 

 

[aenemated]

9 hours ago, Wildest1 said:

Does the app include a 3D driving range or any visual representation of your shot shape?

 

 

Yep, has a dispersion chart. 

[Dan13]

7 hours ago, aenemated said:

Finally got out to the range today to give this guy a go. 

 

And my take is - totally delivers. This is the first launch monitor I've actually owned - my only other experience has been Trackman at Club Champion (and St Andrews) and the FullSwing indoor sim at some of the indoor spots I've been over the years. So if any of this is just "standard" - it's rad and new to me.

 

So, first of - just using it is unbelievably simple. I did the initial pairing and updates the other night and got it charged to 100% - all of which was easy. When I got to the range, went over to my spot and just stepped off 10ish feet, sat my bag down and put it between the stand legs. Opened the app, tapped to go start a session, tapped to connect once it was turned on and we were ready to go. 

 

And you just swing at will. After each shot, takes maybe 3-4 seconds to calculate and display the info. Super easy to see and read in the sun. 

 

All the data looks pretty similar to my Trackman numbers from LA - about half a club or so shorter than here at Vegas elevation, so that'd be a nice feature to have (which I've read is coming) since this is, ya know, home. 

 

A thing I thought was super cool is ... I wasn't sure how to record video so I went in to the app to find out. Tapped one of the buttons in the practice session menu and didn't get any feedback that I noticed so I was like "Eh, I'll figure it out later." Finished up, packed up, walked back to the car and opened up the app to find that it had been automatically recording every swing and ties it to the shot data in a nice little UITableView. The angle of the video is a LITTLE on the low since since it's a smallish device sitting on the ground but it's certainly better than nothing and the integration with the swing data was nice (and unexpected) to see. 

 

I should note it was about 4PM here so getting dark out. 

 

 

 

I've been too lazy for a while to setup my phone so being able to EASILY get video is a game changer for me. There's things here I thought I'd fixed - and I can see less of the roll in my takeaway in some swings but I'm still going WAY farther back than I thought I was. *sigh* 

 

Anyway, of the maybe 150 balls I hit, it did fail to pick it up a couple times. This may have been due to me moving out of its tracking zone ... but it was only maybe 4 or 5 shots of all of them (including my best driver swing of the day) so even if I just got ahead of it or it didn't work for those; not the end of the world. 

 

Overall, this is precisely the product I wanted and what I hoped it'd be. Very sturdy and attractive piece of hardware, great functionality, great stats (did hit a couple stinkers so it was kinda funny to see a chunked 5 iron carry a whopping 120 yards 😂) and really nice integration with the app.

 

 

Thanks for the review. I’m sure that they will be adding an ability to adjust for elevation/environment. You should have that for the price. Sounds like all the data looked good(?). Tracking full flight ( is there a way to tell?) , Spin, FTP, club speed, spin axis? 
 

I think the question for potential buyers that are cost conscious is why should I spend the extra $1-2k over the Mevo +. In your opinion does it come down to full flight tracking and convenience? Bit easier set up (auto leveling), on unit display, other? How precise do the instructions ask you to be during set up - sounds like about 10’ was good enough. Worry about elevation difference btw unit and ball? 
 

MGS just did a review on this and said there were some subscription options. Do you plan on staying with the base offering? 

[J_Birdie]

The back of my range drops like 3 feet and the tee was set up toward the back so I had the kit roughly 2-3 feet below the ball and it still read out like normal. Video angle was s*** obviously. 

I have confirmed with FS that the kit is measured full flight, learns on the fly and will get monthly updates to improve features and fix bugs. Their dev team has been very responsive to me when I submit bugs or requests (shake the app to submit bugs or features request!)

 

Normalization is on the horizon soon, they’ll pull location data and use weather reports to set the normalization algorithm, rather than any measuring on-device. 
 

Tracking pitches inside 30 yards is still technically unsupported as of now but I have not had issue. 
 

also, I have the premium sub that stores all your historical data forever for $99/yr. Nice price for that. 
 

FYI the app ONLY saves videos you “star” and it will start to delete and overwrite videos around 100 shots, but it won’t send a video to the cloud until it’s starred. This is an iOS rule I’m sure regulating video/storage usage on device with each shot being 15MB. 

Edited November 21, 2021 by J_Birdie

[Dan13]

24 minutes ago, J_Birdie said:

The back of my range drops like 3 feet and the tee was set up toward the back so I had the kit roughly 2-3 feet below the ball and it still read out like normal. Video angle was s*** obviously. 

I have confirmed with FS that the kit is measured full flight, learns on the fly and will get monthly updates to improve features and fix bugs. Their dev team has been very responsive to me when I submit bugs or requests (shake the app to submit bugs or features request!)

 

Normalization is on the horizon soon, they’ll pull location data and use weather reports to set the normalization algorithm, rather than any measuring on-device. 
 

Tracking pitches inside 30 yards is still technically unsupported as of now but I have not had issue. 
 

also, I have the premium sub that stores all your historical data forever for $99/yr. Nice price for that. 
 

FYI the app ONLY saves videos you “star” and it will start to delete and overwrite videos around 100 shots, but it won’t send a video to the cloud until it’s starred. This is an iOS rule I’m sure regulating video/storage usage on device with each shot being 15MB. 

I would think that putting the unit 2’ lower (and 10’ behind) would impact some club data like AoA, path and FTP but not ball data like carry and spin. 
 

Aenemated thought his distances were alittle short but it’s supposedly tracking full flight?  Maybe it wasn’t quite tracking full flight and then didn’t have the ability (yet) to normalize the data to Vegas elevation / weather. 
 

It seems like a great piece of kit (pun intended) with upgrades coming and some clear advantages over Mevo + but w the Fusion / pro package coming I think I’ll stay put. 

Amazing time for launch monitors with all the competition. Good for all of us trying to make practice more productive. 

[J_Birdie]

I laser tested shots up to 245 and am confident it is reading the full flight accurately up to that yardage at least. A group of us were hitting hundreds of wedges to certain yardages laser-confirmed with great accuracy. I would say my kit has over 1000 shots on it in the week I got it and we have had less than a dozen no-reads/misreads. We did notice twice that if another ball crossed paths with ours mid flight it would give a wonky read. 

[Paybax]

And Tiger Woods just posted a video of him using the Kit. More Kit orders incoming. 
 

https://fb.watch/9qdxpUgqim/

Edited November 21, 2021 by Paybax

[Paybax]

3 hours ago, Dan13 said:

I would think that putting the unit 2’ lower (and 10’ behind) would impact some club data like AoA, path and FTP but not ball data like carry and spin. 
 

Aenemated thought his distances were alittle short but it’s supposedly tracking full flight?  Maybe it wasn’t quite tracking full flight and then didn’t have the ability (yet) to normalize the data to Vegas elevation / weather. 
 

It seems like a great piece of kit (pun intended) with upgrades coming and some clear advantages over Mevo + but w the Fusion / pro package coming I think I’ll stay put. 

Amazing time for launch monitors with all the competition. Good for all of us trying to make practice more productive. 

Me too. I want the Kit but have to see Mevo+ with the pro package first. 

[larciel]

3 hours ago, J_Birdie said:

I laser tested shots up to 245 and am confident it is reading the full flight accurately up to that yardage at least. A group of us were hitting hundreds of wedges to certain yardages laser-confirmed with great accuracy. I would say my kit has over 1000 shots on it in the week I got it and we have had less than a dozen no-reads/misreads. We did notice twice that if another ball crossed paths with ours mid flight it would give a wonky read. 

you were testing at a outdoor range?

[aenemated]

5 hours ago, Dan13 said:

Thanks for the review. I’m sure that they will be adding an ability to adjust for elevation/environment. You should have that for the price. Sounds like all the data looked good(?). Tracking full flight ( is there a way to tell?) , Spin, FTP, club speed, spin axis? 
 

I think the question for potential buyers that are cost conscious is why should I spend the extra $1-2k over the Mevo +. In your opinion does it come down to full flight tracking and convenience? Bit easier set up (auto leveling), on unit display, other? How precise do the instructions ask you to be during set up - sounds like about 10’ was good enough. Worry about elevation difference btw unit and ball? 
 

MGS just did a review on this and said there were some subscription options. Do you plan on staying with the base offering? 

 

Yeah, the numbers looked like what I expected to see. It was a little cool out (hence the fleece vest that makes me look fat haha) and we're always hitting into a bit of a headwind and my 8i carry (T100) averaged 145. That's ... my 8 iron in LA. Without any other numbers to compare it to, I can only assume but an average -1.1° clubpath and -0.9 clubface is the current state of my irons and what I've been trying to fix.

 

I haven't used a Mevo+ so I can't speak to a direct comparison. When I say it couldn't be easier to start a session, I really don't think it could be. Our range is pretty big and flat (it's TPC Summerlin, FWIW) so no worries about elevation between me and the device. All I had to do was find a spot, stuck a tee in the ground there and took 3 big steps from it. Turned it on, set it down, made sure it was facing down the line, connected with the app, started a session and ... that was it. 

 

The on unit display is a big one for me. Having the immediate feedback was great. Like after a strike that felt pure, it was great to glance back and have it confirmed with data (like having a coach with me being all "yeah dude, perfect - keep doing that") - and vice versa on bad ones, at which point I can pull out my phone and check everything and see what went wrong. That alone is the biggest value to me.

 

I'm also just a big hardware/software design guy (I'm a software developer in real life) so that the device itself is nicely designed and built is a key to me. Feels very durable and sturdy and just LOOKS good. 

 

Subscription as is looks to just be historic data storage in the cloud. At $99/yr, yeah, I'll probably keep it (turned on the free trial) having read what @J_Birdie said. 

[aenemated]

43 minutes ago, Paybax said:

And Tiger Woods just posted a video of him using the Kit. More Kit orders incoming. 
 

https://fb.watch/9qdxpUgqim/

 

Oh snap! 

[aenemated]

4 hours ago, Dan13 said:

Aenemated thought his distances were alittle short but it’s supposedly tracking full flight?  Maybe it wasn’t quite tracking full flight and then didn’t have the ability (yet) to normalize the data to Vegas elevation / weather. 

 

Yeah, like, 8 iron is my go-to practice iron - and has been since I was a kid - so I feel like I know it pretty well. That said, there's always a little headwind and it was on the cool side since it was later in the day. 

 

Or it could totally be that I've been overestimating my 8 iron a bit. I've really only done launch monitor work outdoors a couple times so perhaps that *IS* my number and that's awesome to know. Totally why I wanted this thing in the first place - so I can see the data and work to improve it. 👍

Edited November 21, 2021 by aenemated

[J_Birdie]

2 hours ago, larciel said:

you were testing at a outdoor range?

Yes

[HiTrajLoSpin]

@aenemated and @J_Birdie how long between ordering and delivery for the Kit?

[aenemated]

27 minutes ago, HiTrajLoSpin said:

@aenemated and @J_Birdie how long between ordering and delivery for the Kit?

 

I ordered on Oct 25th when they opened it up for pre-order folks. Arrived last Wednesday the 17th. 

[Cactus Jack]

Looks who’s back, and what he’s training with!!!

 

[marmot8]

I think I know the clear answer - out of luck - but my range uses good quality, new every year Limited Flight Range Balls.  I expect like all other units the data will be skewed, but is there a chance it would be skewed consistently such that this would be worthwhile?

[Paybax]

1 hour ago, marmot8 said:

I think I know the clear answer - out of luck - but my range uses good quality, new every year Limited Flight Range Balls.  I expect like all other units the data will be skewed, but is there a chance it would be skewed consistently such that this would be worthwhile?

I would hope the Kit has an option. Mevo+ you select range balls for limited flight ones. 

[J_Birdie]

Normalization is coming soon. Currently the unit doesn’t have any way to account for limited flight balls. If you hit it 200, it’ll display 200. 

[marmot8]

57 minutes ago, Paybax said:

I would hope the Kit has an option. Mevo+ you select range balls for limited flight ones. 

Had no idea - any real experience on accuracy out there?

[Dan13]

7 minutes ago, marmot8 said:

Had no idea - any real experience on accuracy out there?

Scott Hogan has a video on this. Just google his name and mevo plus and range balls. It’s not ideal but if you are trying to estimate actual carry distances with range balls it’s a starting point. Better off using real balls into a net in my opinion. 

[maamold]

A well known instructor in my area that I have taken a lesson from just started using the Fullswing, He seems to like it.

[RmoorePE]

Took our FSK out over the weekend and laser tested it. Tested it between 150 and 20 yards. Was dead on and never missed a single ball. We were hitting on a rainy day with crappy flourescent green range balls. 

 

It started missing shots at 25 yards. Obviously for game play (indoor), they will need to address chipping. 

 

As far as use goes, it is super easy to use, super easy to set up and gives you all 16 data points pretty quickly. For range work, I think it lives up to the hype - no doubt. I'm going to spend some time with it this week prepping for a quick 3 day golf a palooza in the desert this weekend.

 

We will see what happens when the indoor updates come out. This to me is the most important piece of the puzzle.

 

 

[Dan13]

Sounds good so far. Figure someone is going to do a comparison video btw FSK and GC3/Q soon. Before Garmin R10 and Mevo + pro package the "big" news w/FSK was the club data (and full tracking) at $4k. The accuracy of the club data and how sensitive the FSK is to set up (ball / unit distances and elevation differences) would be interesting to hear about. Mevo + can be sensitive to set up so I use a digital ruler and level in any new environment to try and input accurate set up information.

[pdxhak]

So far from everything I have read here and online, the FSK looks awesome. I need to see how the indoor updates are implemented before pulling the trigger.

[whumber]

5 hours ago, pdxhak said:

So far from everything I have read here and online, the FSK looks awesome. I need to see how the indoor updates are implemented before pulling the trigger.

Yeah, really exciting to hear such positive reports; especially after that incredibly negative "first impression" from Scott Hogan. Based on the patent filing the FSK should be, at least theoretically, capable of directly measuring spin axis indoors; if they can actually make that work in practice it would be amazing.

[Dan13]

13 minutes ago, whumber said:

Yeah, really exciting to hear such positive reports; especially after that incredibly negative "first impression" from Scott Hogan. Based on the patent filing the FSK should be, at least theoretically, capable of directly measuring spin axis indoors; if they can actually make that work in practice it would be amazing.

Directly measuring spin axis indoors with 10’ of flight would be a first for a radar unit correct? Not even Trackman does that - it looks at path and face data and then attempts to factor in impact location to account for any gear effect. Direct measurement of spin axis would be amazing (groundbreaking). 

[whumber]

2 hours ago, Dan13 said:

Directly measuring spin axis indoors with 10’ of flight would be a first for a radar unit correct? Not even Trackman does that - it looks at path and face data and then attempts to factor in impact location to account for any gear effect. Direct measurement of spin axis would be amazing (groundbreaking). 

If you want to nitpick Trackman never measures spin axis indoors or out. Outdoors they use the measured total spin magnitude, wind vector, and  flight path to fit a flight model that tells them the spin axis. I wouldn't call it technically measured but with outdoor flight there's so much measured data going into it that it might as well be measured. What the FSK is doing, or at least what the patent proposes they are doing, is an extension of what Trackman/Flightscope do when they measure spin harmonics where they're measuring the spin harmonics with two different receiver arrays at different orientations. The difference in the harmonic content distribution as seen by each receiver array is supposed to give them the spin axis directly. Whether or not they can actually make it working consistently and accurately with only <1ms worth of data to analyze is an entirely different question and remains to be seen. I'm also skeptical they're the first ones to do this, the range radar guys who work with mutiple receivers that are often located hundreds of feet apart and in completely different orientations would likely have figured this out long ago if it works.

Edited November 30, 2021 by whumber

[Google]

For those interested in the UK I've been told the expected release will be Q1 2022 with a price of £3500 exc VAT

Edited November 30, 2021 by Google