I have, it’s actually quite good.
Long story short, if you’re going to use it for the GPS features on the course, I think it’s a solid value. If you are just purchasing it as a launch monitor, I think you’re better off getting the SC300 or Rapsodo MLM at that price level.
Thanks Jon. So, a friend of a friend is selling their’s for $350…basically brand new. As I would use the G80 for the gps too, since my phone app kills my battery, I think I’ll go for it.
For tight spaces, consider optic systems. Radar units can require a considerable ball flight to accurately determine flight data.
The Mevo is highly accurate on the range where it sees unrestricted ball flight but struggles with very short flights into a net. Optical systems use only a few feet of ball flight to gather ball data and compute flight from there.
I wonder if the PRGR would measure your swing speed well, if you’re just hitting foam balls. I do plan to get that bundle Practical Golf is offering with Insider and PRGR if it’s still available next month. Would love to start back in spring with the advantage of knowing my stats.
Yes it definitely will - if you position the unit to the side (just slightly in front of where the golf ball is) it will read your swing speed, but not measure anything else. If you’re using foam balls a launch monitor wouldn’t be able to give you accurate ball flight data anyways.
A couple numbers from this morning. I love this thing. Although, I feel like I was trying to impress it. Hahaha. It wasn’t impressed. Pretty neat seeing some numbers though. Can’t wait to get my new clubs and get the distances dialed in. So amazing. Thanks again @jon
awesome, glad you’re enjoying it so far!
Has anyone here had any experience with the Japanese edition of the PRGR (the red edition)? From what I’m reading, it appears to be functionally the same, with the difference being that it reports speeds in m/s instead of mph. That would be annoying, for sure, but they’re plentiful on eBay and (for some reason) cheaper than the black edition.
I’m interested in getting one to use as a SuperSpeed radar, but I want to make sure I’m not overlooking any other differences.
they’re almost exactly the same, just the measurements being displayed
PRGR is as small and lightweight as advertised! Easy enough to use for swing speed with no ball. Further reports coming in the future. Let me know for any specific requests for reviews/tests!
Alright so finally got the PRGR outside on the range this afternoon.
I hit it pretty terribly so have to keep that in mind.
Wedges (52* and 58*): Was able to get some readings when putting it on top of an upright sleeve of balls. Wouldn’t pick up the ball on every shot (especially with the 58*), but was able to get some decent readings on 1/2 & 3/4 52* shots. I was hitting at a flag that was 75 away so I could see where they were landing and compare. It was pretty good when I got a reading in being long or short of the 75. Certainly wasn’t precise, but was within a reasonable range at that distance. The 58* wasn’t capturing the distance very well (generally reading out significantly less than it actually went).
Full PW - I was hitting at a flag that was 135 (my normal PW carry distance) and was actually hitting the PW well. Was reading out with carries of anywhere from 127 to 137 with the good ones being at the higher end.
Hard to say for the remainder of iron shots since the flags/shade made it hard to tell exactly where they were landing, but 7 irons were reading out in the 165-175 range which is about normal… however I wasn’t hitting them straight. Most of them were fades so definitely weren’t getting that distance (however they were flushed so likely had good ball speed off the club which it picked up).
5 iron is normally a 195-200 club for me and I was getting some readings of 210 carry which isn’t realistic, but did get most in a reasonable range.
Driver: swing speed seemed accurate in the 110-111 range (which is what I had on my last track man session). Really liked what it was showing for ball speed around 165 (1.5smash). I was hitting it solid… However… I wasn’t hitting anything straight. Mostly big flares/slices.
Initial takeaways from first time on the range:
driver swing speed was accurate and using the PRGR made me realize that I’m hitting 110-111mph without really going after it. I don’t need to “try” to swing harder (though see note below) as a stock swing will be at that speed.
I’m awful with the driver right now
It is likely reading out initial ball speed pretty accurately as I was flushing the driver. HOWEVER, it is not reading any sort of side spin. So if you’re hitting it well/straight, you’re going to be able to trust the carry (as much as possible considering it’s a simple device that’s calculating carry rather than following the ball). If you’re not hitting it well, then really it’s only going to be good for swing speed.
Can’t wait to get back out and hopefully be a day where I’m hitting it better for some more realistic results. Also would like to get on the course to hit some iron shots to really gauge distance.
I did try a few “bryson” swings for fun (most didn’t go so well), but I did catch one flush at 116mph club head which gave me 171(!!) ball speed and showed carry of 302 (and I hit that one straight)! I won’t be swinging for the fences all the time (or ever on a course), but it was fun to try. 116 felt like I was swinging out of my shoes compared to 110, but maybe it’ll become the new normal down the road.
@jon do you know how to turn off the beep every time you hit a button or when it registers a swing? I think some of the others on the range may have been getting annoyed with me (not that I cared)
So I’ve used the SC200 and the Rapsodo MLM and they have slight differences and neither is entirely accurate to playing with a good ball on the course. I would say that both are directionally accurate enough to dial in your distances and then add/subtract a few yards based on your device’s bias and that range balls aren’t the same as what one normally plays with during the round. I find that even more so with wedges that is you want to perfect a 60yd half lob wedge on the range with one of these devices, you may end up having perfected a 65 or 55yd wedge in reality.
I find the same is true with ball speed and CHS - they are directionally accurate and that’s good enough to tinker with your swing to see if you can get faster/longer.
Definitely need to get on course with real balls to play around with it, especially with wedges. I also only had one flag I could go at and know distance/see where it landed clearly to judge so can try more in the future.
Really like club head speed as think it’ll get me to not swing too hard.
As Jon said from the start (I think) - as long as you know what the specific monitor is and isn’t capable of, it can be a useful tool (mainly to be said about the reasonably priced portable ones, obviously the expensive ones are definitely more useful in a variety of ways)
Yeah, one insight i had was that my “easy” swing vs a “hard” swing was only 5mph or so faster. That being said if I concentrate on “faster” vs “harder”, I could get my clubhead speed much faster. That is to say that tensing your muscles doesn’t equate with a faster swing but trying to be quicker does. I know it’s all words and semantics, but I never would have known that without a device that was measuring CHS. The same kind of insights on extending my swing path, vertical ground force, etc. What you feel doesn’t necessarily make it real.
thanks for the feedback Will, I’ve found similar results in my testing. No launch monitor is perfect - I’ve had to make adjustments using trackman indoors (I think it overstates my distances). So once you get a feel for the device you’re using you can use it as a bechmark.
Unfortunately you can’t disable it, but I can’t imagine it would bother people that much. Thanks for your feedback on the PRGR. For $200 I think it’s a great value for its versatility and “relative” accuracy.
I’m working with a trusted resource on making some really great practice drills that can be used with these launch monitors, stay tuned!
Can’t wait!
Hope I can figure out how to hit it better to really utilize it! The swing speed expectation management factor is going to help me a lot.
Really appreciate your reviews, hoping you able to post one on Rapsodo Net soon, do you have any insight as to when earlier iPhones might be used with the net capability even with limited results?
You’re welcome! Right now I’m still waiting on the iPhone SE (the one I have) to be on the list, so I can test more thoroughly.
I had tried out the beta version and saw pretty good results, but I’m not sure how far back they’ll go in terms of the models.
Jon,
many thanks. I have just today accepted the offer of an upgrade on my current iPhone 6 to an 11 so now have less of a concern and should be able to utilise the net capability.
Regards
IanR
