Garmin Approach R10 Portable Golf Launch Monitor

[kiwihacker]

On 3/13/2024 at 6:06 AM, T626G said:

Went and used this for the first time and absolutely love it! So happy with the purchase 

Glad to hear it. I'm still using mine and still love it. It may not be as good as some of the newer devices coming out but it is still a great device and makes range sessions or hitting into a net way more fun and interesting. 

[T626G]

12 minutes ago, kiwihacker said:

Glad to hear it. I'm still using mine and still love it. It may not be as good as some of the newer devices coming out but it is still a great device and makes range sessions or hitting into a net way more fun and interesting. 

 

100% agreed. That day at the range was the most fun I've had on a range. Ended up purchasing a bigger net just to be safe on my wedges and have been anxiously waiting. I'll be out there every day after work weather permitted. Going to get my money's worth out of the r10! For my current needs I don't think there was anything better for the money.

[Frankensteins Monster]

Does the R10 save range sessions in the cloud or is it device specific and range sessions can only be viewed on device used for the session?

[jjschafe]

11 hours ago, Frankensteins Monster said:

Does the R10 save range sessions in the cloud or is it device specific and range sessions can only be viewed on device used for the session?

 

It saves it to the cloud, so it's viewable on any device you have the garmin golf app on and are logged into your account.  You can also export range data as a csv, or more importantly, I would highly recommend using Golf Shot Analytics on a PC if you really want to dive into your data.  

https://www.golfshotanalytics.com/ 

[cdnavalanche9312]

On 3/14/2024 at 5:20 PM, kiwihacker said:

Glad to hear it. I'm still using mine and still love it. It may not be as good as some of the newer devices coming out but it is still a great device and makes range sessions or hitting into a net way more fun and interesting. 

Which newer devices are you speaking of?  Do they have the club data that the R10 has and how accurate is the club data?

[T626G]

I'm just curious if anyone else is using the Titleist prov1x RCT balls? 

 

I bought some and that's all I've used, I'm wondering if it's necessary? 

[jjschafe]

9 hours ago, T626G said:

I'm just curious if anyone else is using the Titleist prov1x RCT balls? 

 

I bought some and that's all I've used, I'm wondering if it's necessary? 

 

Weird, I thought I had posted this earlier in the thread but can't seem to find it so maybe I didn't. 

 

For me, they were a HUGE improvement.  Something about the way I deliver the club and the launch conditions that I create convinced the Garmin that I had very low spin on my irons.  For example - it would consistently "calculate" around 3500rpm-4000rom spin on a 7i, resulting in 180yd carry knuckling missiles.  RCT balls measure more like ~5500rpm, resulting in my expected ~170yd carry.  That was a pretty consistent trend with all irons, for me.

 

For others that I have read about, and also seen on youtube, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference.  I've concluded that if your launch conditions hit the sweet spot of the Garmin algorithms, the RCT balls don't change much for you.  But, if you are like me and apparently are a little outside the norm in club delivery, RCT balls are awesome.

[T626G]

Gotcha. Ya i need to run some regular balls through it and see if I notice how much of a difference there is. I would think there would be.

[kiwihacker]

On 3/21/2024 at 7:56 AM, T626G said:

Gotcha. Ya i need to run some regular balls through it and see if I notice how much of a difference there is. I would think there would be.

The biggest difference I found was driver distance. With ordinary balls the Garmin calculated far too high spin numbers so my drives were really short. With the RCT balls I got much closer to numbers I would expect for a good drive. As others have mentioned the difference wasn't that noticeable with my wedges and irons. 

[kiwihacker]

On 3/20/2024 at 1:52 PM, cdnavalanche9312 said:

Which newer devices are you speaking of?  Do they have the club data that the R10 has and how accurate is the club data?

No I'm just talking about devices like the MLM2 which measures spin axis much more accurately i.e. if you're slicing or hooking it off the planet the Garmin will barely register a bit of a fade or draw whereas the newer devices will predict the ball flight more accurately. (All the various connection and other issues with the MLM2 notwithstanding 🙂). 

[Dufferonius]

On 3/19/2024 at 10:31 PM, T626G said:

I'm just curious if anyone else is using the Titleist prov1x RCT balls? 

 

Some people have experimented with just sticking a small "dot" of aluminum tape (e.g.: Aluminum duct tape) to a plain old ball and found it works well.

 

There's a YT video where a guy side-by-side A:B's the MLM2Pro and the R10 using an RPT ball for the MLM2Pro with a small dot of aluminum tape on it for the R10. He got mostly nearly identical numbers from the two LMs.

 

This was with a 7i or so, IIRC. He said he was going to repeat the experiment with a driver, but I don't know if he ever did.

 

[big10blue]

Love my Garmin!

[ChronicSlicer]

How accurate is the shot direction feature?

[LeftDot]

20 hours ago, ChronicSlicer said:

How accurate is the shot direction feature?

 

Very accurate, but highly dependent on alignment.

[big10blue]

On 3/14/2024 at 7:52 PM, Frankensteins Monster said:

Does the R10 save range sessions in the cloud or is it device specific and range sessions can only be viewed on device used for the session?

Its cloud based

[Bmac1982]

So I’ve read through most of this thread and having a hard time deciding for myself. I’m looking for something I can take manly on the course for driver numbers and occasionally on the range for iron shots.  Leaning towards the R10 but definitely open to other opinions. 

[jjschafe]

On the range, it will definitely do well.  It measures spin directly if it can see more than 20m and the ball is going at least 90mph, so it will be very accurate (although the range balls will be a source of error compared to whatever you normally play).  On course, it will only do as well as it is set up (alignment and level).  It sometimes takes me a few shots and tweaks to get alignment just right, so a little tough when just setting it up to hit one drive them moving on.  With that said, I don't think any other unit is going to be much different in that regard.

[North Butte]

9 hours ago, Bmac1982 said:

So I’ve read through most of this thread and having a hard time deciding for myself. I’m looking for something I can take manly on the course for driver numbers and occasionally on the range for iron shots.  Leaning towards the R10 but definitely open to other opinions. 

I will speak from my experience with MEVO but I think this will apply to all of them. As @jjschafe says, if don't get the leveling and alignment just about 100% perfect in every axis you will get garbage numbers mixed in with the real ones. And no way to tell them apart.

 

The spot where you tee up the ball and the R10 will have to be within a couple inches of the same elevation. And the R10 needs to be level fore-aft (not pointing uphill  or downhill) and left-right (not on a sidehill). And the R10 has to aligned with the axis of the target line as well as aiming down the target line. 

 

I found to even get semi-believable results from MEVO, it was literally several minutes of setup time to find suitable firm and level turf, check the alignment with a laser, double and triple check all the leveling and then hit 2 or 3 shots. Then tear it all down and do it again for the next place you want to measure some shots. 

 

Plus you really want, in summer time, to keep the R10 and your phone (don't forget, all this applies to the phone as well) out of the direct sunlight while you're doing all the preparations. It's a heck of a hard day's work to do that over, say, nine holes. 

[kiwihacker]

As others have pointed out taking it on the course will be a bit of a crap shoot. If you have a stand leveling it will be straightforward enough but getting the right alignment is usually a bit of trial and error at the range/into a net to ensure that a straight shot is recorded as a straight shot. I've never attempted that but can attest that results on the range are brilliant once setup right. I go to two ranges. The one at my course has decent balls that go about the distance I would expect from each club. The other has crappy balls that go nowhere. e.g. let's say I know I hit a 7 iron approximately 140m but these balls only go about 120m. Very frustrating but I have found changing the altitude of the device can make up for this to the point where I get the approximate numbers I would expect. This is mainly for sim golf and I use either E6 for sim golf or Awesome Golf for range sessions. No sure the above would help much with getting reliable spin numbers etc

[DKgolfAZ]

Just setting up my r10 in the budget home sim I’m setting up. Figured it would be a good intermediate until I’m ready for a better system at home and it will eventually be in my bag as a portable outdoor device.

 

looking forward to using it!

[kiwihacker]

On 5/20/2024 at 6:49 AM, DKgolfAZ said:

Just setting up my r10 in the budget home sim I’m setting up. Figured it would be a good intermediate until I’m ready for a better system at home and it will eventually be in my bag as a portable outdoor device.

 

looking forward to using it!

Enjoy. I love mine I just don't have a high enough ceilings to setup a home sim. Love using it at the range and have also used into nets outdoors.  

[DKgolfAZ]

4 hours ago, kiwihacker said:

Enjoy. I love mine I just don't have a high enough ceilings to setup a home sim. Love using it at the range and have also used into nets outdoors.  

my garage is high enough for irons, but I threaten my woods and driver with the garage door motor with where I can put it.

 

Ive been contemplating moving my net under my pergola outside and setting up an outdoor sim… but it gets HOT in AZ. Can’t even run the iPad for much time at the range if it’s not shaded. 

[LeftDot]

8 hours ago, DKgolfAZ said:

my garage is high enough for irons, but I threaten my woods and driver with the garage door motor with where I can put it.

 

Ive been contemplating moving my net under my pergola outside and setting up an outdoor sim… but it gets HOT in AZ. Can’t even run the iPad for much time at the range if it’s not shaded. 

 

 

The R10 can't even handle summers in CT without being shaded. For a little while I had been thinking about fabbing up some sort of easily packable sun shade for it.

 

[kiwihacker]

On 5/22/2024 at 3:54 PM, DKgolfAZ said:

my garage is high enough for irons, but I threaten my woods and driver with the garage door motor with where I can put it.

 

Ive been contemplating moving my net under my pergola outside and setting up an outdoor sim… but it gets HOT in AZ. Can’t even run the iPad for much time at the range if it’s not shaded. 

Yeah even here in NZ summer the iPad stops working plus it's hard to see in direct sunlight. You definitely either need a sheltered area or as I did I hit it into a net at my club in the evenings. 

[DocBrown3887]

On 9/11/2023 at 8:31 PM, AZstu324 said:

I really like the net. It was an Amazon brand called GaGalileo. Think I paid $150 for it. Worth every penny so far. 

 

The one thing to be careful about if it's right up against the garage door is that if you happen to top one, the bottom portion is somewhat loose. The ball doesn't come out or anything but I've had a few hit the garage with the extra slack at the bottom. I'm considering putting a fitted sheet around the back just for a little extra support. That said, if you bring the base of the net in 1-2 feet from the door you'll be fine. 

 

AZ Stu, what are your dimensions from ball to net and ball back to R10? Might just be the image but it looks pretty close and I could do w/ making my space tighter, mainly because the location of my garage motor is smack in the middle of everything and I have to be off to one side or the other.

[DocBrown3887]

I have been taking mine to the range lately and their balls must be decent because when I am aligned right and I average all my decent shots I am getting bang on my course numbers for carry and very nice to get all this data. 

 

Question for everyone: I have just been using the Garmin app, is Awesome Golf that much more accurate to justify taking my laptop out to the range with me? I am pretty sure my cell plan doesn't allow hotspots so I may be screwed anyhow unless the range has wifi. 

[AZstu324]

1 hour ago, DocBrown3887 said:

 

AZ Stu, what are your dimensions from ball to net and ball back to R10? Might just be the image but it looks pretty close and I could do w/ making my space tighter, mainly because the location of my garage motor is smack in the middle of everything and I have to be off to one side or the other.

So I actually flipped the position of my net so that when I'm hitting I can look directly up at the TV screen and it's actually added an extra 6" or so to my hitting area. From the ball to the net it's roughly 8' and from the ball to the R10 it's about 9'. I too had to set up on one side and after trial and error AND completely chain thrashing my hybrid by hitting the garage door chain, I found that hitting into the garage set up on the left side is the way to go. In this pic you can see the line in the cement directly below the garage chain line. 

 

 

[jjschafe]

14 hours ago, AZstu324 said:

So I actually flipped the position of my net so that when I'm hitting I can look directly up at the TV screen and it's actually added an extra 6" or so to my hitting area. From the ball to the net it's roughly 8' and from the ball to the R10 it's about 9'. I too had to set up on one side and after trial and error AND completely chain thrashing my hybrid by hitting the garage door chain, I found that hitting into the garage set up on the left side is the way to go. In this pic you can see the line in the cement directly below the garage chain line. 

 

 

 

My experience (and Garmin recommendation), I'd recommend reducing you're ball to R10 down to 7'. Adding a foot from ball to net would help too.  YMMV and if your setup is working well... Then maybe don't fix what's not broken 🙂 Just wanted to point out what a more "standard" setup is.

 

 

[JMathews]

On 3/25/2024 at 2:48 PM, kiwihacker said:

No I'm just talking about devices like the MLM2 which measures spin axis much more accurately i.e. if you're slicing or hooking it off the planet the Garmin will barely register a bit of a fade or draw whereas the newer devices will predict the ball flight more accurately. (All the various connection and other issues with the MLM2 notwithstanding 🙂). 

I'm curious about this.  If I'm going to use it hitting into a net, the spin axis is something I was hoping the device was good with.

[kiwihacker]

15 hours ago, JMathews said:

I'm curious about this.  If I'm going to use it hitting into a net, the spin axis is something I was hoping the device was good with.

It's good with backspin, especially if you are using the RCT ball it has proven to be as accurate as more expensive launch monitors. But it doesn't measure spin axis so doesn't accurately predict shot shape.