Pros: Easy to use, easy to install and consistent results.
Cons: Price, I'd like to see it cheaper but you can make that argument about any product.
I was finally able to spend some time on the driving range with the ShotMaker. I worked w/the SM in both my driver (E flex) and my 3-wood (D flex). Conditions were ideal for this type of test. It was 84 degrees out and I was hitting directly into a 7-8mph headwind. The range that I went to has Callaway Tour i range balls so the it's a comparable ball to what I play on the course (TM Penta), or at least more comparable than your everyday range rock.
I have two drivers that are almost exact copies of one another so I installed the SM in one and left the other one alone. For this test, I used the weighted SM grip plug. I picked a small target about 250 yards down range with the goal of hitting the ball directly over it.
I started with my SM equipped driver and proceeded to drive ball after ball almost directly over the top of my target. I did have one that got away from me to the right (a big block exasperated by the wind) and another that I pulled hard left (not coincidentally this was the ball that I hit directly after the block). Once I settled back down, I started hitting balls directly over my target with a the tiny baby fade that I like to play off the tee. Trajectory was exactly what I've gotten used to with the SM, just a touch lower than without the insert. The feel was also very good but even with the weighted grip plug, the swingweight felt a touch heavier (even though it was virtually unchanged on the scale, without the weighted plug I saw an increase of 1.5 swingweight points). The feel was almost as if I had a SensiCore insert in my driver. On good swings, dispersion was very tight. Balls were practically landing in the same spot time after time. I even had one hit another as it was bouncing down range!
After hitting a number of balls with the insert I swapped to my other driver with the same goals in mind. Hitting into the wind was perfect for this test because if I'm going to lose a drive, I'm going to lose it when I'm hitting into the wind. The first thing that I noticed right off the bat was trajectory. The ball came off the tee about the same but rather than holding it's line it continued to climb and reached a higher apex than balls hit with the SM. It defiantly didn't balloon but you could tell that there was more spin. On that note, my favored "tiny baby fade" was more of a fade. Rather than moving just a few yards to the right, the ball kept drifting rightward as much as 10-15 yards. Certainly controllable and expected into the wind. I did lose a few balls with this driver as well. Every one that I lost was a block to the right which is my typical miss with the driver, I think that it's more a mental problem with my release than anything else but I digress. Anyway, these blocked shots ended up further right and not nearly as far down range as the block that I hit with the SM. This is consistent with what I experienced on the course as well (I hit a ball that I swore would be OB in a tournament last Sunday, instead I found it about 5 yards in bounds and 10 yards further than I expected it to be which setup a nice birdie). After hitting a number of drives with the SM, the feel without it was softer and more active, not quite as stable either.
Just to be sure, I started swapping back and forth between drivers and continued to experience the same results as the bucket of balls slowly dwindled.
The results with my 3-wood was exactly as I realized with my drivers. This test wasn't nearly as apples to apples though as my SM equipped 3-wood has 13' of loft and my other 3-wood has 15'. For that reason alone, I won't get into the, mainly subjective, details.
Personally I really like the SM thus far. Hitting driver into the wind has always been one of my more difficult shots since I'm a higher spin player. I have a tendency to lose the ball into the wind which just crushes my confidence off the tee which, as you'd expect, results in tentative swings and just exasperates the issue (blocks). The lower spin/trajectory that I get with the SM helps my ball flight but I think that it helps my confidence even more. I'm convinced that being more confident over the ball is the biggest difference for me and has given me the biggest performance gain with the SM.
Here are a few quick pictures that I took when my SM kit first arrived;
The full kit. Includes Shotmaker, installation tool, drill bit, documentation and caps. If you get the SM from a dealer all that you'll need is the SM itself since the dealer will do the install for you. This will save you about $50 at the end of the day.
The drill bit is more of a single round blade. It's pretty sharp and does the job with no problem. It has a guide in it that slides back and forth as seen in the pics (works great to remove the portion of the grip that gets drilled out).
Fixed caps, intended to be glued in place. My kit came with 5 of these.
The installation tool is a telescopic screw driver. The yellow handle is actually a torque wrench of sorts so that you're sure to use the correct torque when installing the Shotmaker. As you can see in the pictures, the wrench tip includes both a hex tip and threaded end. This allows for installation and removal of the Shotmaker as seen in the various videos provided by Harrison.
The Shotmaker itself comes in a hard plastic sleeve (which is a good thing based on the damage the box endured during shipping). The weighted/removable grip plug was included in the box.
The removable grip plug is secured in the same manner as the Shotmaker itself. As you can see, by tightening the bolt the rubber ring will expand and lock the plug. Using this plug will drop the swingweight by roughly 1 point thus canceling out the affect of the SM (depending on how you feel about counterbalances that is).
The shotmaker itself.
[
I have two drivers that are almost exact copies of one another so I installed the SM in one and left the other one alone. For this test, I used the weighted SM grip plug. I picked a small target about 250 yards down range with the goal of hitting the ball directly over it.
I started with my SM equipped driver and proceeded to drive ball after ball almost directly over the top of my target. I did have one that got away from me to the right (a big block exasperated by the wind) and another that I pulled hard left (not coincidentally this was the ball that I hit directly after the block). Once I settled back down, I started hitting balls directly over my target with a the tiny baby fade that I like to play off the tee. Trajectory was exactly what I've gotten used to with the SM, just a touch lower than without the insert. The feel was also very good but even with the weighted grip plug, the swingweight felt a touch heavier (even though it was virtually unchanged on the scale, without the weighted plug I saw an increase of 1.5 swingweight points). The feel was almost as if I had a SensiCore insert in my driver. On good swings, dispersion was very tight. Balls were practically landing in the same spot time after time. I even had one hit another as it was bouncing down range!
After hitting a number of balls with the insert I swapped to my other driver with the same goals in mind. Hitting into the wind was perfect for this test because if I'm going to lose a drive, I'm going to lose it when I'm hitting into the wind. The first thing that I noticed right off the bat was trajectory. The ball came off the tee about the same but rather than holding it's line it continued to climb and reached a higher apex than balls hit with the SM. It defiantly didn't balloon but you could tell that there was more spin. On that note, my favored "tiny baby fade" was more of a fade. Rather than moving just a few yards to the right, the ball kept drifting rightward as much as 10-15 yards. Certainly controllable and expected into the wind. I did lose a few balls with this driver as well. Every one that I lost was a block to the right which is my typical miss with the driver, I think that it's more a mental problem with my release than anything else but I digress. Anyway, these blocked shots ended up further right and not nearly as far down range as the block that I hit with the SM. This is consistent with what I experienced on the course as well (I hit a ball that I swore would be OB in a tournament last Sunday, instead I found it about 5 yards in bounds and 10 yards further than I expected it to be which setup a nice birdie). After hitting a number of drives with the SM, the feel without it was softer and more active, not quite as stable either.
Just to be sure, I started swapping back and forth between drivers and continued to experience the same results as the bucket of balls slowly dwindled.
The results with my 3-wood was exactly as I realized with my drivers. This test wasn't nearly as apples to apples though as my SM equipped 3-wood has 13' of loft and my other 3-wood has 15'. For that reason alone, I won't get into the, mainly subjective, details.
Personally I really like the SM thus far. Hitting driver into the wind has always been one of my more difficult shots since I'm a higher spin player. I have a tendency to lose the ball into the wind which just crushes my confidence off the tee which, as you'd expect, results in tentative swings and just exasperates the issue (blocks). The lower spin/trajectory that I get with the SM helps my ball flight but I think that it helps my confidence even more. I'm convinced that being more confident over the ball is the biggest difference for me and has given me the biggest performance gain with the SM.
Here are a few quick pictures that I took when my SM kit first arrived;
The full kit. Includes Shotmaker, installation tool, drill bit, documentation and caps. If you get the SM from a dealer all that you'll need is the SM itself since the dealer will do the install for you. This will save you about $50 at the end of the day.
The drill bit is more of a single round blade. It's pretty sharp and does the job with no problem. It has a guide in it that slides back and forth as seen in the pics (works great to remove the portion of the grip that gets drilled out).
Fixed caps, intended to be glued in place. My kit came with 5 of these.
The installation tool is a telescopic screw driver. The yellow handle is actually a torque wrench of sorts so that you're sure to use the correct torque when installing the Shotmaker. As you can see in the pictures, the wrench tip includes both a hex tip and threaded end. This allows for installation and removal of the Shotmaker as seen in the various videos provided by Harrison.
The Shotmaker itself comes in a hard plastic sleeve (which is a good thing based on the damage the box endured during shipping). The weighted/removable grip plug was included in the box.
The removable grip plug is secured in the same manner as the Shotmaker itself. As you can see, by tightening the bolt the rubber ring will expand and lock the plug. Using this plug will drop the swingweight by roughly 1 point thus canceling out the affect of the SM (depending on how you feel about counterbalances that is).
The shotmaker itself.
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