fourwaymiss

Look forward to reading our testers' feedback to understand beyond all the advertising hype!

Look forward to reading our testers' feedback to understand beyond all the advertising hype!

HackMotion 2.0 - Official MGS Forum Review by NotScratchYet
Introduction
About Me
Hello spies! Congrats testers.  I am a rapidly aging 47-year-old with an 8-ish handicap with continuing dreams and aspirations to reach scratch golf.  Married with three busy kids, golf is my passion.  Started the game in my late teens and took a step back from the game when my kids were babies.  I now practice daily thanks to my garage setup (amazing wife) which allows me to practice in between …well, life. 
I have been exercising regularly and just completed my first round with the stack speed system failing just short of my clubhead speed goal of 115mph at 114.6mph.  My game in order from best to worst is driving, ball striking, short game, and putting.  Maybe HackMotion 2.0 is the missing piece to scratch golf, and finally shoot a round in the 60s.
 

Location
I play golf in the SW portion of the Virginia mountains on most occasions.  Hilly terrain, tight tree-lined holes, with some courses in the area being long (7k +).   This past week we played at the Norman course in Barefoot Landing at Myrtle Beach.  Our goal is to get better over the next few years and bring home the championship golf bags from the Father-Son golf tournament in Myrtle but mostly have fun.

My son this week @ Barefoot Norman Golf Course.
Testing Goals
My testing aspirations for HackMotion 2.0 are high.  The goals I wish to accomplish are:
·         Value – Check and compare the 3 options available as the Core, Plus, and Pro
·         Differences between an experienced golfer's learning curve vs a new student of the game.  I plan to include two of my kids to see how it may benefit them.
·         See if it can fix my takeaway!  I tend to have an overly shut clubface, correcting this has been a goal.
·         Compare and contrast the haptic feedback vs the audible (check earbud compatibility for public range use).
·         Deep dive into the device. app, analytics, tracking, and training.
·         Putting improvement.  The Plus Version includes putting analysis along with the upgrade to Ulnar/Radial wrist angles.  This is the version I was looking into for personal purchase as the funds became available.  My putting is atrocious!
Play it or Trade it requirements
To earn a spot in my bag is very simple.  Shave a few strokes off my game.  This can be done by putting improvement, and consistency in my swing, but hopefully both.  I know my game well and if this device can correct me and my faults, I will be able to tell.
Questions from MGS members
If there are any requests, I will certainly dive in and respond with my findings.  As soon as I found out I was blessed with this opportunity I came up with this short list.  I will add more to this once the HackMotion 2.0 is in hand.
A big thank you for this opportunity!
 

The first Mid-Season Two Person Best Ball VCT Tournament is in the books!  Seventeen teams started and only four could be the flight winners.  As expected, the flight final matches were close.  All four matches were decided by a total of seven strokes and three of the four came down to the last few holes.  So, let’s start.
In Flight I we had @Preeway and @Javs taking on @Josh Parker and @Shifty.  Both won very tight matches to get into the finals:  Preeway/Javs winning by one stroke and Josh Parker/Shifty winning on the second tie breaker.  So, how about in the finals?  Again, a very tight match!  Josh Parker/Shifty started strong with a net birdie and eagle to go up by two strokes.  Preeway/Javs matched that eagle on the eighth hole and held a one stroke lead as they headed to the back nine.  Through 16 holes, Josh Parker/Shifty were up by one stroke.  However, Preeway/Javs finished really strong with a net eagle and birdie to take the match by three at -11 to -8. 

Congratulations Preeway and Javs on winning the Flight I and being crowned champions!
In Flight II, we had @tw1ns and @GolfSpy_BEN taking on @rkj427and @GolfSpy SAM.  If you remember last week, tw1ns/Golfspy_BEN kicked butt and won their week 1 match by seven strokes (I certainly do as I was part of the victims).  rkj427/GolfSpy SAM outpaced two other teams by four strokes to win Group B.  This championship match was closer…much closer!  By the turn, rkj427/GolfSPy SAM built a two-stroke lead with five birdies and their solid play continued on the back.  However, tw1ns/GolfSpy_BEN went -5 from holes 10-17 to get within one stroke which included a net eagle on their eleventh hole.  That left them one down with one to play.  GolfSpy_BEN said in his VCT Week 15 round summary “The birdie on 18 was a 25 foot putt from the fringe that was pretty cool.”  Yes, it was, and it proved to be the winner!  That tied the match at -9 and with that last birdie it gave rkj427/GolfSpy SAM one more team net birdies or better to win the tie breaker.  Full disclosure, tw1ns also had a net birdie on the 18th hole which would have given them the victory, but GolfSpy_BEN’s quote yielded a better story.  

Independent of who got the winning birdie, congratulations tw1ns and GolfSpy_Ben for a great two weeks of golf and winning Flight II!
Flight III/IV featured @Rico_de_Gallo and @frazzman80 against @fozcycle and @dback.  Both had convincing wins in week one.  This week, fozcycle/dback built a two stroke lead at the turn even with Rico_de_Gallo/frazzman80 having a net eagle.  Both teams added another net eagle on the back and played well.  In the end, fozcycle/dback were able to fend off Rico_de_Gallo/frazzman80’s shooting -6 on the last seven holes and a net birdie-birdie finish to take Flight III/IV by one stroke in another extremely close match.

Congratulations fozcycle/dback on your Flight III/IV championship!
Flight V/VI featured two teams with solid week 1 performances.  @Mr. Mushball and @Placasse61had a strong five stroke win while @Wolfstrum and @MGoBlue100 pulled out a one stroke win.  In the Flight V/VI championship martch, Mr. Mushball/Placasse61 started out strong and built a three-stroke lead after nine holes.   That even included a rare team net double bogey too!  Mr. Mushball/Placasse61 added another net eagle while Wolfstrum/MGoBlue100 had a sting of three net bogies.   Wolfstrum/MGoBlue100 rallied and finished really strong shooting -5 on the last six holes.  However, it wasn’t enough.  Mr. Mushball/Placasse61 built a big lead and held on for the win.

There you have it.   Another MyGolfSpy tournament in the books!  Thank you all for participating and congratulations to all the winners.  I hope everyone had fun and look forward to this Fall’s season ending VCT tournament.

Date 08/01/2024 Course Name Forest City - Classic Gross Score 85 Course Rating 71.5 Course Slope 135 Gross Strokes over/under par 13 Birdies or better 8 Longest Drive 238 71.5/135
Driver was completely misbehaving today as we took on the blue tees this week (last week we played whites). Playing almost 500m longer, not having a reliable driver made the course a lot harder. But luckily the irons and wedges saved the day, giving me a chance to scramble and save par.
5 fairways hit and 5 GIRs. 3 doubles. Grateful again that the misses today were reasonably manageable, and the irons and wedges really saved today, for what is my lowest handicap differential recorded ever!
Onwards and downwards!

Date 08/01/2024 Course Name Forest City - Classic Gross Score 85 Course Rating 71.5 Course Slope 135 Gross Strokes over/under par 13 Birdies or better 8 Longest Drive 238 71.5/135
Driver was completely misbehaving today as we took on the blue tees this week (last week we played whites). Playing almost 500m longer, not having a reliable driver made the course a lot harder. But luckily the irons and wedges saved the day, giving me a chance to scramble and save par.
5 fairways hit and 5 GIRs. 3 doubles. Grateful again that the misses today were reasonably manageable, and the irons and wedges really saved today, for what is my lowest handicap differential recorded ever!
Onwards and downwards!

I mean, I WAS very impressed with their delivery times for the testing balls 😅
But looking at the picture of the box I have in my unboxing review, it looks like Volvik is focusing on the core and cover as their newest tech,  not necessarily the matte finish. So if they've fixed the oxidising issue, they're not openly discussing it. 

It would be awesome if Volvik has figured out how to get rid of this issue of the outer layer "oxidising" to a point where it's all sticky and gross. I've generally found these matte vivid balls to be easier to spot in the bright tropical sun here on the equator. Or maybe I just need to buy and use immediately, rather than buy and store for another day. 😂

It would be awesome if Volvik has figured out how to get rid of this issue of the outer layer "oxidising" to a point where it's all sticky and gross. I've generally found these matte vivid balls to be easier to spot in the bright tropical sun here on the equator. Or maybe I just need to buy and use immediately, rather than buy and store for another day. 😂

That's really crazy to think that they would melt like that from being inside a closet! I know some closets can get pretty warm, but to the point where the balls exterior would melt is not something I would ever expect. I'll potentially play around with ways to test this out and see if I get any results during the testing period.

I often use 2 shots of Tequila before the 1st nine and 2 shots again before the 2nd nine to sort out my back....(sometimes an additional 2 shots in between)......😁

Date 07/27/2024 Course Name Rustenburg GC (South Africa) Gross Score 90 Course Rating 129 Course Slope 71 Gross Strokes over/under par 18 Birdies or better 1 Longest Drive 310 Yep, golf is a game not for the faint hearted.  That is actually a load of BS.....it is all in the mind.   Well, I must have left my mind and my heart at home. 
Played a Better Ball Medal with my wife as my partner and came in with a 62, which was about 8 off the pace.  Not a good day for us. Had one or two good holes but the rest was disappointing.  Proof of the day is shown on hole 2 and 6 as examples. Hole 8 was OK, but 3 puts from 10 feet spoiled it.
But as usual, after a few "shots" on Hole 19, I felt a lot better about my golf.

Date 07/28/2024 Course Name Stone Creek Golf Club Gross Score 122 Course Rating 69.1 Course Slope 127 Gross Strokes over/under par 50 Birdies or better 4 Longest Drive 228 Was hopeful to improve on my earlier round this week, but wasn't in the cards.  

Stone Creek is a beautiful course with two distinct 9s.  It's a bit longer and more challenging than my home course, but the course can't be blamed for my poor performance.  The greens are a bit more true and unforgiving than most of the greens in the area, but it is a well maintained course.

The green of #2.  That's my ball just off the green on the left. Up and down for par.

Hole 7.  My tee shot went 203 yards into that right side bunker.  Got out with a 9 iron and close, but still wound up with tripple bogie.  Short game was not strong today.

The bumpy ripply fairway of #8,  480yd par 5.  Got out ok on this one and only had double bogie.  I get three pips on this hole, so birdie for me!

Andy's tee shot from #11 over water.  Decent enough launch, but he pushed it a bit and it ended up on the right side of the fir.  Myself, I hit it just past the yellow tee markers on the left of the cart path, then hit my hybrid just inside and ahead of his for a look past the same tree trunk.  Actually kept it between the lines after the first shot, as is evidenced by the next picture. 

This is actually my flubbed 4th shot, which should have been a 7-iron into the green, but mishit and rolled it just short. This is a longish double dogleg over water with fir trees on both sides.  Right and back of the green is a creek, going past the bunker and about 120 yards up the fairway on the right.  This is where everyone else ended up.

And a top down view.  Those mishits can really ruin your day.

Finally, Jesse hitting to the green on par 3 hole 14.  This is basically an island green as the area between the tees and the green are wetlands.  First shot had the distance, but pulled it into the small cedar on the left of the green.  I always forget about the DZ on this hole, so hit a second from the tee.  It landed just short and rolled a bit down the hill, but stayed mostly out of trouble.  I found it hovering on a few blades of grass over the edge of the retaining rocks.  I popped it up on a good line and missed the hole by half a foot, but it rolled to far to secure a one putt.  Jesse had the only green hit.

Good day out.  Almost bettered my score since the first time I played here.  Next week I'll play somewhere in Ottawa, course yet undetermined.


BTW, the 13 score on #4 was due to getting in to the front greenside bunker in 6 after a dropped ball.  It had a 6' face that I was so determined to get over that I took six swings at it before finally catching it clean and clearing the green into deep fescue.  Decided to pick up after that and keep play moving.  Why I didn't just knock it out to a side after two misses is something I'll have to correct.

Date 07/28/2024 Course Name Majestic Springs Gross Score 70 Course Rating 70.9 Course Slope 129 Gross Strokes over/under par -1 Birdies or better 3 Longest Drive 318 With apologies to @Golf2Much and @William P this was a solid round. 


I was cruising along, making pars and 2 over until I got to the par 3 14th. It is only 125, so I played a pw and hit it to 3 feet. 

The par 5 15th saw my best drive of the day

along with a 9 iron to set up a 60 yard 3rd shot that I pitched to 9 feet and another birdie. 

 A good drive on 16 left me 75 yards out, so a nice 58 wedge in to 7 feet produced the third birdie on the bounce.

a par save at 17 left me going into 18 with a chance to break 70. On in 2, with 15 feet to go, and I guess the moment caught up to me, because I left that putt 2 feet short and brushed in the par putt to finish -1 70. 
 
I put a new (to me) set of Ping Blueprint S  irons into play today and now I’m wondering why I waited so long to get them. They were flat out awesome.

Date 07/28/2024 Course Name Lago Vista Golf Course Gross Score 73 Course Rating 70.3 Course Slope 132 Gross Strokes over/under par 1 Birdies or better 5 Longest Drive 295 After an 80 yesterday, I had a great round today. I left 4 birdie putts online 4-8in short. I scrambled a little on the back 9 with hitting just off the green but was able to putt or chip.  It could have been one heck of a day and I will take it after yesterday. 
Hopefully it helps my partner out!  

 

Date 07/23/2024 Course Name Forest City - Classic Course Gross Score 86 Course Rating 69 Course Slope 131 Gross Strokes over/under par 14 Birdies or better 8 Longest Drive 288 69.0/131
Played the other 18-hole at Forest City Golf Resort up in Malaysia this week. Haven't played this 18 in over two years, so it was refreshing to jump on it again. Driver and putter were generally cooperating, but I still found myself out of sorts with my approach, only hitting 3 GIRs 🤦‍♂️.
Generally happy with how my game is trending. Still can't quite control the blow ups (4 double bogeys this round!), but now, even WITH the blow ups, the scores are reasonable.
(That longest drive was downhill, downwind and likely multiple hops on the cart path! 🤣 )

That's a gorgeous course! But looks damned intimidating! 🙈

That's a gorgeous course! But looks damned intimidating! 🙈

That's a gorgeous course! But looks damned intimidating! 🙈

Date 07/24/2024 Course Name Rose City Gross Score 110 Course Rating 68.6 Course Slope 116 Gross Strokes over/under par 38 Birdies or better 9 Longest Drive 203 The first of two submissions this week.  Hopefully this won't be the tournament submission, though did well for myself for this course.  I'd like to find more than two pars per round as at my handicap those count as net eagles!
No warmup led to a rough start.  Started to get ahold of it a bit towards the middle of the first half, but still felt like I stunk it up a bunch.  Seeing that I pulled the back 9 in a bit and hit a PB for the course but felt gameplay was terrible means that greater things are ahead.  #15 was a near birdie miss for an easy par.  Putting was significantly better on the back due to improved short game play, was really having a tough time chipping and getting the green speed down on the front.  
Looking forward to another swipe at a gold star round this Sunday where we play Stone Creek.
 

Date 07/24/2024 Course Name Goodyear Gross Score 105 Course Rating 69.9 Course Slope 131 Gross Strokes over/under par 34 Birdies or better 0 Longest Drive 304 Started out awful with some shanks then got in a groove but did not putt well. Hit tee shots well, approach shots were rough but did manage to get 4 GIR. 38 putts with to many 3 putts. Some added strokes for using a bad club in the wrong areas just because it was cart path only. We were also rushing to beat a storm which always sucked but we have gotten rained out the last 2 times out and just wanted to finish a round.

Date 07/23/2024 Course Name Forest City - Classic Course Gross Score 86 Course Rating 69 Course Slope 131 Gross Strokes over/under par 14 Birdies or better 8 Longest Drive 288 69.0/131
Played the other 18-hole at Forest City Golf Resort up in Malaysia this week. Haven't played this 18 in over two years, so it was refreshing to jump on it again. Driver and putter were generally cooperating, but I still found myself out of sorts with my approach, only hitting 3 GIRs 🤦‍♂️.
Generally happy with how my game is trending. Still can't quite control the blow ups (4 double bogeys this round!), but now, even WITH the blow ups, the scores are reasonable.
(That longest drive was downhill, downwind and likely multiple hops on the cart path! 🤣 )

Date 07/23/2024 Course Name Forest City - Classic Course Gross Score 86 Course Rating 69 Course Slope 131 Gross Strokes over/under par 14 Birdies or better 8 Longest Drive 288 69.0/131
Played the other 18-hole at Forest City Golf Resort up in Malaysia this week. Haven't played this 18 in over two years, so it was refreshing to jump on it again. Driver and putter were generally cooperating, but I still found myself out of sorts with my approach, only hitting 3 GIRs 🤦‍♂️.
Generally happy with how my game is trending. Still can't quite control the blow ups (4 double bogeys this round!), but now, even WITH the blow ups, the scores are reasonable.
(That longest drive was downhill, downwind and likely multiple hops on the cart path! 🤣 )

Living in MN, we get very humid summers, so I can plan to leave some in my garage to see if there's any impact.

I stored them in a closet that has no airflow, but also is completely internal (no adjacent external walls), so any temperature fluctuations would have been minimal. They stayed in their original packaging (3 balls to a sleeve, 4 sleeves in the box), and the box had the normal cut-outs, so the balls were "exposed" to the air and weren't inside shrink-wrap or anything like that. However, I'm a bulk buyer, and I don't remember how it was sitting amongst all my other boxes of balls.
When I finally pulled them out to bring to the course with me, I opened one sleeve to check the condition of the ball, only to find nothing wanted to roll out. It was stuck to the other ball, as well as to the cardboard sides of the sleeve. It was not a pleasant feeling/experience. 😆