FlightScope Mevo - Portable Launch Monitor for the Everyday Golfer

[b101]

Right, practice plan for tomorrow set (@Lihu - see what you think). Trying to go with very specific times and focuses, with the Mevo helping for much of it. I may use it on the course and with the short game stuff as well, but we'll see...

Warm up: 5 mins
Standard swing work with camera: 20 mins
Driver launch: Using Mevo to target a launch angle of consistently 14 degrees or higher. (20 mins)
Partial wedges: technical work on yardages of 100, 80, 65, 50 (20 mins - 5 mins on each)
Partial wedges - challenge: Hit 10 balls to 10 random yardages. Using the Mevo for carry distance - score is the sum of the differences and aim is to be as low as possible. (5-10 mins)
Short game work: 10 mins on pitching technique and chipping technique. 10 mins on up-and-down games (if green is free enough for me to putt out. 10 mins on same shot, three ways (pitch, chip, putt) to build understanding of variety.
Putting: Pendulum motion and mat work. (15 mins)
Distance putts (25ft game). As detailed in LSW, put needle and thread 25ft away and putt three balls to it (15 mins)
9 holes: (1hr 30 mins). I may do this as a scramble test format, may just play for fun. We'll see!

Hopefully allows for a mixture of technical and then testing. I have a tee time booked for 10.36 and will aim to get to the course for 8am - should allow for a good amount of practice!

[Lihu]

21 minutes ago, b101 said:

Right, practice plan for tomorrow set (@Lihu - see what you think). Trying to go with very specific times and focuses, with the Mevo helping for much of it. I may use it on the course and with the short game stuff as well, but we'll see...

Warm up: 5 mins
Standard swing work with camera: 20 mins
Driver launch: Using Mevo to target a launch angle of consistently 14 degrees or higher. (20 mins)
Partial wedges: technical work on yardages of 100, 80, 65, 50 (20 mins - 5 mins on each)
Partial wedges - challenge: Hit 10 balls to 10 random yardages. Using the Mevo for carry distance - score is the sum of the differences and aim is to be as low as possible. (5-10 mins)
Short game work: 10 mins on pitching technique and chipping technique. 10 mins on up-and-down games (if green is free enough for me to putt out. 10 mins on same shot, three ways (pitch, chip, putt) to build understanding of variety.
Putting: Pendulum motion and mat work. (15 mins)
Distance putts (25ft game). As detailed in LSW, put needle and thread 25ft away and putt three balls to it (15 mins)
9 holes: (1hr 30 mins). I may do this as a scramble test format, may just play for fun. We'll see!

Hopefully allows for a mixture of technical and then testing. I have a tee time booked for 10.36 and will aim to get to the course for 8am - should allow for a good amount of practice!

Sounds like you are far more organized than me. I'll try to follow your plan as well, I see a lot of excellent stuff there! Thanks for posting.

[nevets88]

There's an update to the iOS Mevo app. Plus the iPad "version", it's just the iPhone app blown up I think, is available.

Plus the slow motion video delay slider works.

Not much in the description other than the above and updates to the FocusBand library.

If anyone notices anything else that's new, let us know!

[Lihu]

23 hours ago, b101 said:

Well, there's snow on the ground currently, so definitely below 50F! I'd put my swing speed at 105mph tops, so I think there's a combination of the Mevo over-reading the clubhead speed (and therefore miscalculating smash, which I've never really had below 1.43 on driver with fittings). A smash of 1.47 for most decent hits would put me back at about 103mph, so I think the ball speed is fine. My aim is to get my carry nearer 260, but I'll be happy with 250 consistently.

My son and I did some shots at a store with GC2 and asked how to adjust the thing so it doesn't show 400 yard carries.  Basically, we wanted neutral settings, then compared to Mevo set back 7' and down to 6'. There was about 35 to 40 feet for the ball to travel in the store.

The club head speed readings were all within 2 mph using the stickers. My son has a very high swing speed on both units. My readings were better than my last range session, but we alternated shots so I don't have averages.

We also used E7 balls so smash factor was also higher. I'd be willing to bet your low smash was due to the freezing range balls.

The readings were pretty accurate, so unless the freezing temperatures alter the readings, I'd say your readings are probably good. You should be able to easily eek out 260 carries or even higher.

[iacas]

10 minutes ago, Lihu said:

We also used E7 balls so smash factor was also higher. I'd be willing to bet your low smash was due to the freezing range balls.

I wouldn't be - he said he doesn't swing anywhere near 113 MPH.

[Lihu]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

I wouldn't be - he said he doesn't swing anywhere near 113 MPH.

It's also possible that launch monitors are a bit optimistic in general?

Edited December 29, 2017 by Lihu

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, Lihu said:

It's also possible that launch monitors are a bit optimistic in general?

No. The Mevo should report an accurate swing speed if used properly.

[Lihu]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

No. The Mevo should report an accurate swing speed if used properly.

Was thinking the same thing. So, I was surprised that it could be off by 7mph or so that Ben reported?

I also tested one some time ago against my range finder, and it was pretty much dead on (as accurately as I could target things) for the few shots I took with it.

I'm very happy with it in general. Really good tool, and within a couple months I won't understand how anyone wanting to improve their game can get along without one.

[b101]

32 minutes ago, Lihu said:

The club head speed readings were all within 2 mph using the stickers. My son has a very high swing speed on both units. 

We also used E7 balls so smash factor was also higher. I'd be willing to bet your low smash was due to the freezing range balls.

The readings were pretty accurate, so unless the freezing temperatures alter the readings, I'd say your readings are probably good. You should be able to easily eek out 260 carries or even higher.

Good news on accuracy with the Mevo vs. GC2 accuracy . When I think it's right, it seems remarkably accurate - there are a few where it doesn't get it quite right, but with a bit of knowledge of your usual numbers, it's pretty easy to toss those ones out. 

22 minutes ago, iacas said:

I wouldn't be - he said he doesn't swing anywhere near 113 MPH.

@Lihu as well - regarding the swing speed, I'm definitely 103/105 top. This was my Trackman report from a couple of years back when I went at it about as much as I ever have (Side note, I then shortened my swing, went down to about 95mph and I'm probably now about 104mph again):

As you can see, the ball speed that the Mevo puts out is about right, but the smash is very different. Therefore, it must be registering my clubhead speed wrong... I know that I'm improving my launch characteristics (the issue with the above data was always my Angle of Attack, which is now much better). Data from today:

Doing my own calculations based on an average smash of 1.48 (from data set in Trackman) puts my clubhead speed at 102.9 mph, which sounds about right to me (even with the one mishit (#8), which was a bit high and toward the toe.

---

I'll post something more in a bit, but the above data really shows how the Mevo will help me. Strike definitely plays a part (shot #3), but this was a group of 10 shots where I was constantly working on feeling a higher launch and getting some feels that helped that - in this case it was hips through, feeling a really vertical release and the feel that my head stayed very high throughout. It's a work in progress, but it's great that I'm capable of shots like 4 and 6 in particular. Number three wasn't perfect from a launch point of view, but I did absolutely hammer it (at least, for me...). There were a couple more good ones that Mevo didn't pick up - I started to lose sync with my phone for a little while, which was frustrating. Loads more work to do to make some of these swings more consistent. but it's definitely helping!

To anyone still browsing this thread and on the fence, the one thing that I would say is a game-changer is that I would normally have looked at the 10 degree plus shots and thought that they were too high. Mevo gives me instant feedback and lets me know to what extent the things that I'm working on actually do change the picture.

[DeadMan]

113 mph swing speed is not going to happen for almost all of us on this site. There's no way @b101's swing speed is that high, or that his smash factor is that low. 113 mph swing speed is about the PGA Tour median, for comparison's sake. There aren't going to be many of us on this site with that amount of speed. Most likely, he needs to move the Mevo back to 7 feet to improve the data.

The weird thing about that whole 7 feet thing is that I haven't had that issue at all. Just looking at my last driver data, I had a club head speed of 103mph and smash factor of 1.46 on the Mevo. Those numbers are pretty much exactly what I get on all launch monitors. I didn't have it set to 7 feet. I still don't understand why I haven't had that issue.

Edit to add: I also agree with @b101 about how the Mevo will improve my driver distance as well. I have the exact same thing I'm working on with my driver. I want to get my launch angle up with my driver as well, and the Mevo will give me instant feedback on that.

Edited December 29, 2017 by DeadMan

[b101]

1 minute ago, DeadMan said:

There's no way @b101's swing speed is that high, or that his smash factor is that low. 

The weird thing about that whole 7 feet thing is that I haven't had that issue at all. 

Agreed (as above). Today I had it back at 7 feet and recalibrated the app to reflect that. Still consistently getting these numbers... It is a covered range, so maybe that's part of it. Good that you're seeing better figures than I am! Will test when I'm next capable of getting on the course. Damn snow...

Edited December 29, 2017 by b101

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Lihu said:

Was thinking the same thing. So, I was surprised that it could be off by 7mph or so that Ben reported?

It's been covered before. I mentioned it in my initial review. For me, moving back from 4' to 7' fixed the driver numbers. It apparently doesn't work for everyone.

34 minutes ago, b101 said:

Agreed (as above). Today I had it back at 7 feet and recalibrated the app to reflect that. Still consistently getting these numbers... It is a covered range, so maybe that's part of it. Good that you're seeing better figures than I am! Will test when I'm next capable of getting on the course. Damn snow...

Hit some other clubs that are long, like your 3W, or someone else's driver, and see if they also give weird numbers. Maybe the shape or material of the clubhead is causing some weird data to be reflected back. We had some issues with a weird (Piranha) iron that never really tracked properly, while other 6-irons would. And only when Dave swung it, IIRC. On a full FlightScope, that is.

[Lihu]

I'll have to test out the 7 feet versus 4 foot thing. After I read Erik's review, I just set it up at 7 feet.

Side note, I supposedly have the Doppler sensor modules flight scope uses and can build my own LM with it and can run comparisons to my archery velocity sensors.

would be interesting to see what the raw data looks like. If there's some need for sophisticated SW then I can see there being some error.

4 minutes ago, iacas said:

It's been covered before. I mentioned it in my initial review. For me, moving back from 4' to 7' fixed the driver numbers. It apparently doesn't work for everyone.

Hit some other clubs that are long, like your 3W, or someone else's driver, and see if they also give weird numbers. Maybe the shape or material of the clubhead is causing some weird data to be reflected back. We had some issues with a weird (Piranha) iron that never really tracked properly, while other 6-irons would. And only when Dave swung it, IIRC. On a full FlightScope, that is.

Good thoughts. I'll try these as well.

Tried my 3W and every iron and wedge getting reasonable numbers. Ball speed seems low with range balls as compared to E7 balls.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Lihu

[b101]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

It's been covered before. I mentioned it in my initial review. For me, moving back from 4' to 7' fixed the driver numbers. It apparently doesn't work for everyone.

Hit some other clubs that are long, like your 3W, or someone else's driver, and see if they also give weird numbers. Maybe the shape or material of the clubhead is causing some weird data to be reflected back. We had some issues with a weird (Piranha) iron that never really tracked properly, while other 6-irons would. And only when Dave swung it, IIRC. On a full FlightScope, that is.

Good call - see below and both seem accurate; first 3w strike was poor, second was good. I will try another driver when I can... 

Would you agree that it's just the relationship between club/ball speed that's off and the overall carry is ok? The carry and launch angle has been what I've been basing my 'improvements' on.

[Lihu]

7 minutes ago, b101 said:

Good call - see below and both seem accurate; first 3w strike was poor, second was good. I will try another driver when I can... 

Would you agree that it's just the relationship between club/ball speed that's off and the overall carry is ok? The carry and launch angle has been what I've been basing my 'improvements' on.

My 3W numbers are already posted and seem reasonable, but the carry yardages seem low as compared with my laser. And carry is based upon ball speed. Using flight optimizer the numbers check out perfectly, but my laser readings say the 150 sign post is 145 yards while Mevo reports 132 carry when my 9i shots land past it.

My feeling as an engineer is that more processing and "assumptions" are involved in calculating ball speed than club head speed. The ball is obscured by the club head at impact and not the other way around.

[b101]

For those who are interested, see below for some video of my driver work and the wedge game I came up with today. @iacas, if you have a chance, I'd be really grateful to see what you make of the shanked wedge... It's something that only ever happens when I try to work on partial wedges, particularly with short swings. No doubt it's something you'll have told me before...

 

[b101]

Some better club speed readings today from the course, although I still think they're a bit high. A few are still off though and it seems pretty random. My guess would be that I just need to be more careful when setting it up as I did rush the last couple. The work on launch angle is definitely improving things. 

For info, it was a very windy morning (20mph gusting 30mph), so Mevo will be a fair bit off in places. That said, on course, I was really impressed with it; it picks up everything and seems to be very accurate. Bear in mind, there's basically no run on any of these shots at the moment due to snow/rain over the last week.

For comparison with Game Golf (round here: http://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/1970157)

2nd hole (shot 1) - Mevo 264.5, Game Golf 242. Wind off the left which really affected it.
4th hole (shot 2) - Mevo 262.5, Game Golf 244. Again, wind off the left, but lower so slightly less affected.
5th hole (shot 3) - Mevo 264.9, Game Golf 284. Straight downwind.
6th hole (shot 4) - Mevo 265.9, Game Golf 271. Down and off right.
9th hole (shot 5) - Mevo 258.7, Game Golf 240. Slightly into and off the right

A couple of other shots of interest were hybrid (good strike) and knockdown 8 iron and 6 iron to a flag at 125 into the wind. I was trying to really take spin off them, so clearly can do a better job with that. Again, the Mevo is a great tool for that instant feedback.

Yeah, pretty much totally loving this thing

[Lihu]

On 12/19/2017 at 6:21 PM, iacas said:

1.37 is a pretty bad smash factor.

You sure it's measuring his swing speed correctly? Because, again, at 4' in my testing with the driver it over-stated clubhead speed, but at 7' it dropped and the smash factor, thus, went back up to what it was.

If his smash factor is correct, I could see him hitting it 300+ with a 1.48+ smash factor, but with a 155-ish to 160 MPH ball speed… no.

Just found out from the range people that they use somewhat limited flight balls now. There were complaints of people hitting over the fence to hole 8. They're not 30% limited flight, but more limited than a normal ball. They estimate between 8% and 10% with the newer balls.

So, all the readings we did were with these balls. SF is likely low because of that.