Hello everyone and welcome to my Rapsodo MLM Launch Monitor review!
Thank you MGS of course for the testing opportunity and Rapsodo for providing a incredible product for myself and our other 3 lucky testers to put through its paces.
Introduction: August 2, 2021
To start off we will of course begin with a introduction. For those new the the site I am lucky enough to be the newest of the Mods on a fantastic team here at MGS. Before I managed to get my @golfspy tag I went by Apolloshowl and before that Danbrook . In previous reviews I would leave a link to a past one to give you an idea of me and my game, however that seems like a lifetime ago and with our new system it means time for a brand new introduction.
My name is Jamie, I am 33 and I live in a little town about a half hour from Zurich, Switzerland. August 1st not only represents the Swiss national holiday, but also our 1 year here in Switzerland... oh I should probably elaborate on the plural. When I made the decision to move here for work, my then girlfriend now wife (Allyssa) joined me on this great adventure. We were of course joined by our 3 dogs. Apollo, Fender and Oliver (or Ollie or Smalls or Smalliver). We absolutely love it here and are excited to welcome a new member to our family in the new year and are very fortunate to call Switzerland home.
As for the work that brought me here, well it is unique. I work as a Ice Technician for curling clubs and events. For me this normally means travelling a few months a year to different parts of the world making ice and maintaining my home club where we have ice 11 months a year and host many Olympic teams and training. It's work that has constant surprises and is always changing. I truly love what I do and can't imagine doing any other work... of course my work here as a mod not included.
That sums up life/work in a short way, which means we are now onto the fun part. Golf and MGS!
Before I get into my game here is a link (I'm doing it again) to what sums up my MGS career a little bit:
Now with that out of the way my golf game. I play to a 11, although sadly I really haven't got a chance to play nearly as much as I would like to this season with work, incoming baby and covid it has meant a lot less golf. However when I have played I still have a good feel for everything and have put up respectable scores. My biggest strength is my putting. That is also what I practice a fair bit at home so it is simply a comfort for me. My weakness is chipping and tee shots. My driver is less then consistent and after SuperSpeed testing last year it didn't hurt, but also didn't help. With a increase of speed and not as much practice it has meant some more big misses with the driver. My irons I love and am just really comfortable with, although arccos would tell me to club up on approach shots as I will very often come up short vs miss left or right.
If you want to check out a WITB for me it will be linked in the post about my MGS history above.
Finally now we get to the goods and the product in question for testing.
For starters I'll be using my ipad on it, as I have an Android phone (old iphone if I have to). Most of testing will be here at home (be ready for the unboxing post of all unboxing posts!) at the range and some on course use where possible (golfing in Switzerland is a little different and very go go go so less time to videoing and so on). I do promise to try and get some good backdrops where I can!
Why am I excited for Rapsodo and what this test means to me?
As eluded to above I don't get out to play nearly as much as I would like and Rapsodo will give me a great tool to practice and work on my game here at home both indoors and out. The coach feature is likely what I'm looking forward to most in I have not had a lesson in years and think this will be very beneficial as I can take the time to work on what is given to me before taking it to the course and get lots of reps in. It will also be great to get numbers and have a better idea of how far I am hitting all of my clubs since Superspeed training.
What will be tested and examined? For this test I will again test it both indoors and outside. I will also be going to our local shop and see how some of the numbers compare against GC Quad for those curious in that.
Last the coach feature. I truthfully am not exactly sure what to expect with this. I will be going in with a open mind and willing to try anything the coach recommends or suggests. I think I forgot to mention this, but I am also a lefty... so outside of suggesting I play right handed I'll be all ears!
There are lots of good solid reviews out there on the Rapsodo MLM so I will try and bring something fresh and new to the table with that, but I will also put a large focus on the Coach Feature and how it could benefit all of you.
Unboxing: September 23, 2021
Time for a photo dump. As I said in the post the Rapsodo comes with everything you want and need and nothing that you do not. This to me is great. Less waste and I don't need a bunch of things to open or fiddle around with. A power button, simple setup guide and instructions, usb C cord and thats about it.
That being said my ipad case does not work with it so that had to be taken off which is fine, but not a easy case to take off.
It is pretty small and compact which is also fantastic!
It also feels sturdy as a device, which I won't say is surprising but i feel the durability will be great for the long term with this device as well.
Then we have the home setup which is a big reason why I wanted to get in on this. With life changes and being in a new country I haven't got a chance to play nearly as much as I would have liked and with baby on the way this is going to get a lot of use and the Rapsodo will help me dial in numbers over the course the review a future.
First impressions are great so far and very happy with the quick setup and install and looking forward to the Coaching Feature and how I can improve my swing.
For now I am going to wrap this up and for future updates, unboxing, photos and reviews check back both on this post and the comments!
Final Review: November 25th, 2021
Looks & Feel (8 out of 10 points)
Describe the following for the device:
This is a big bonus for the Rapsodo device. It is small, compact and really simple. I’ve touched base on this throughout parts of the review process, but with how simple it is I really think this is a key feature to it being a good product in any golfers bag. The added carrying case, USB C charger are great to have with one protecting the device and the other being a basic standard for most chargers now aday (funnily enough not apple which is what you need to use to use for this… just now noticing the irony in that)
I used mind with a ipad in a net almost exclusively and although I didn’t get around to doing head to head with gc quard or trackman I was able to do some with the PRGR which if we are being more realistic is a more comparable device for those who may be looking at getting the Rapsodo MLM.
In comparison the Rapsodo is a slightly larger, but add in the ipad and it feels like a much more professional unit and one much more suited to someone looking to dive into the data.
As for the score of 8, it is a good unit and sleek there is no doubt about that, but there is also nothing really makes it stand out and say WOW so a score of 8 I think is justified.
Setup (10 out of 15 points)
Set up is stupid simple. Make sure its charged up, turn the power on. Have the app downloaded and account created within the Apple device and simply select pair. The app walks you through step by step and within a matter of minutes you are ready to hit golf balls. The app really does a stellar job and making sure you are given the proper knowledge going into it.
The battery on the device for me lasted several sessions and I never ran it down to dead, it was quick and easy enough to bring in and throw on charge for a couple hours and put it back on the bag.
Although I did not have any reason to contact customer care, I was happy to see that after one session that seemed to have missed more then a fair share of shots I got a email notification asking about the session and saying here are some tips and tricks if I was having trouble and gave the information for customer service. I did have another bad session where the ipad kept shutting down, I reset it and recharged it to full and didn’t have the issue again. HOWEVER I did make sure the ipad always had 80% or better charge from there on out. I don’t recommend using it with a lower charge as it may use too much and shut down. Also worthy to note that the ipad would not simply turn back on, but had to be plugged in to reboot.
Scoring reasoning of 10 I think is covered above, but even though initial setup and integration and app itself are really good. The bugs with the devices and needing to have a near full powered device is a downfall for me. Side note a feature which I would love to see, not sure if it was there or not but a power indicator on the unit itself would be great!
Accuracy (12 out of 15 points)
The accuracy of this device is exactly what you should expect for its price point. Some shots are missed, some are spot on and there is a variance in between. That being said if you are trying to dial in distances as a whole I think this is a great unit. I like how it displayed and showed the data on the ipad and really liked how you can go back and look at shots. I believe it accurately detected thin shots, fat shots and of course the odd perfect one that I hit. Distances were consistent with what I would expect on the course and there were very few that I looked at and said well thats a obvious misread. If anyting those misreads were simply just missed entirely. This happened for me I would say 5-7% of the time. Again this could be more because I was using a net almost exclusively and maybe the flight wasn’t far enough.
This brings me to the second point in this where distance is one thing, direction is another. I again believe in the distances it showed. The direction I’m not so sure of. I mean I would love my dispersion to be as tight as it was, but know that I’m not that accurate so I think into a net with a limited ball flight the direction has a bit of room for improvement, but is more then adequate. I didn’t shank any, but did hit some high toe shots that I could see go into the top left of the net and it would read them as being more straight.
Comparing to PRGR I was quite happy, swing speed seemed to be close to on point which is what PRGR is known for and ball speed I would say is pretty darn close to. Now with that information is that showing better things for Rapsodo or PRGR? I’ll let you know and determine that for yourself.
Scoring reason- lets be honest for the price this is at and the features it provides its great. A 12 given some of its grey areas are truly awesome.
Are the yardages accurate? (compare to another method if possible)
On-Course (20 out of 30 points)
I did get out for a round with it, as well as a few range sessions, but again I want to focus this more on net compatibility as we head into the off season and colder weather could this be something that is used a lot indoors for training and improvement?
Again setup is simple, the app is great and I think this could work really well for someone who wants to use this at home not as a simulator, but as a training device and to keep their swing in shape in the winter months and dial in some numbers as well as distances.
Obviously the ball flight features and such are great for on course and range, but something you do not get at home. Maybe one day there can be a simulated flight, but for these purposes it's not really needed.
The biggest draw back I found was outside of a 7 iron I could barely see my swing, almost my whole body was out of the video which I’m sure I could move the device further and further back, but driver I would need to have it so far back it would be way out of the parameters of working so I do think that is a area for improvement.
I feel like I am being a little harsh on Rapsodo with my gradings, but I think it is important to understand what you are getting and what you are wanting to achieve with this device. Outside of testing I’ll be honest I don’t think I’ll be bringing this onto the course with me again. Not that it was difficult, but I’m not sure I see the benefit for on course use. That being said range/net use I think is great as a base device to get you numbers, data sets and general swing thoughts for your golf game. Which I do believe is important, especially in todays number centric golfing world. It gives you a lot more then PRGR, but that also comes with a cost of $350 or more… which is about what I would expect.
I will also say that I used multiple sets of clubs to see if there were different launch angles and such and it did seem to pick those up. My Cobra Fly Z Pro set was shorter as expected then the i210s. Sadly driver was a tough one. I believe it was good and generally accurate, but I was using my old old driver as my Epic decided to crack on the crown so I can’t really accurately say driver numbers were spot on. I feel they were, but my 3 wood was about as far according to the numbers Rapsodo showed. This I also don’t doubt.
Miscellaneous (10 out of 10 points)
Okay there isn’t too much to put in here. However this is where I think Rapsodo does score perfect. It is clear they believe in their product. They have come out with several updates for the App along with new features. They have also expanded the use of the Rapsodo MLM to include a coaching feature which unfortunately we weren’t able to gain access to, however they did give us full access to the premium subscription which allows you to store more shots, see more videos and get some additional data sets. This is FREE for any Rapsodo user for the first month which is fantastic! A great trial before you decide to take the plunge, which I do believe is worth while.
It is great to see they are enhancing features around the same unit to give it more uses as well as data to use. This is great to see and Rapsodo themselves were very good to deal with when I had to email them about some of the features of us doing this review.
Play it or Trade it? (15 out of 20 points)
This will be more brief for me. I will play it and use it. With life changing and family growing my golf game will be more out of home focused which means this will get used more and be part of my more normal golf routine as well as help me keep my game in check and swing smooth. However if I was to be out on the course a lot more and able to play more I honestly am not sure how much I would use it? So in short yes and I am very happy with the unit itself along with its features for my golf game and where golf fits into my life now.
Conclusion
TLDR- The Rapsodo device is a great small, simple and compact device that gives you solid data points across the board and in terms of my testing was nice to see net compatibility function well. Rapsodo continues to work and improve not only the app, but features and uses of the MLM which only adds to its overall value
Rapsodo MLM Launch Monitor
Posted
Thank you MGS of course for the testing opportunity and Rapsodo for providing a incredible product for myself and our other 3 lucky testers to put through its paces.
Introduction: August 2, 2021
To start off we will of course begin with a introduction. For those new the the site I am lucky enough to be the newest of the Mods on a fantastic team here at MGS. Before I managed to get my @golfspy tag I went by Apolloshowl and before that Danbrook . In previous reviews I would leave a link to a past one to give you an idea of me and my game, however that seems like a lifetime ago and with our new system it means time for a brand new introduction.
My name is Jamie, I am 33 and I live in a little town about a half hour from Zurich, Switzerland. August 1st not only represents the Swiss national holiday, but also our 1 year here in Switzerland... oh I should probably elaborate on the plural. When I made the decision to move here for work, my then girlfriend now wife (Allyssa) joined me on this great adventure. We were of course joined by our 3 dogs. Apollo, Fender and Oliver (or Ollie or Smalls or Smalliver). We absolutely love it here and are excited to welcome a new member to our family in the new year and are very fortunate to call Switzerland home.
As for the work that brought me here, well it is unique. I work as a Ice Technician for curling clubs and events. For me this normally means travelling a few months a year to different parts of the world making ice and maintaining my home club where we have ice 11 months a year and host many Olympic teams and training. It's work that has constant surprises and is always changing. I truly love what I do and can't imagine doing any other work... of course my work here as a mod not included.
That sums up life/work in a short way, which means we are now onto the fun part. Golf and MGS!
Before I get into my game here is a link (I'm doing it again) to what sums up my MGS career a little bit:
Now with that out of the way my golf game. I play to a 11, although sadly I really haven't got a chance to play nearly as much as I would like to this season with work, incoming baby and covid it has meant a lot less golf. However when I have played I still have a good feel for everything and have put up respectable scores. My biggest strength is my putting. That is also what I practice a fair bit at home so it is simply a comfort for me. My weakness is chipping and tee shots. My driver is less then consistent and after SuperSpeed testing last year it didn't hurt, but also didn't help. With a increase of speed and not as much practice it has meant some more big misses with the driver. My irons I love and am just really comfortable with, although arccos would tell me to club up on approach shots as I will very often come up short vs miss left or right.
If you want to check out a WITB for me it will be linked in the post about my MGS history above.
Finally now we get to the goods and the product in question for testing.
For starters I'll be using my ipad on it, as I have an Android phone (old iphone if I have to). Most of testing will be here at home (be ready for the unboxing post of all unboxing posts!) at the range and some on course use where possible (golfing in Switzerland is a little different and very go go go so less time to videoing and so on). I do promise to try and get some good backdrops where I can!
Why am I excited for Rapsodo and what this test means to me?
As eluded to above I don't get out to play nearly as much as I would like and Rapsodo will give me a great tool to practice and work on my game here at home both indoors and out. The coach feature is likely what I'm looking forward to most in I have not had a lesson in years and think this will be very beneficial as I can take the time to work on what is given to me before taking it to the course and get lots of reps in. It will also be great to get numbers and have a better idea of how far I am hitting all of my clubs since Superspeed training.
What will be tested and examined?
For this test I will again test it both indoors and outside. I will also be going to our local shop and see how some of the numbers compare against GC Quad for those curious in that.
Last the coach feature. I truthfully am not exactly sure what to expect with this. I will be going in with a open mind and willing to try anything the coach recommends or suggests. I think I forgot to mention this, but I am also a lefty... so outside of suggesting I play right handed I'll be all ears!
There are lots of good solid reviews out there on the Rapsodo MLM so I will try and bring something fresh and new to the table with that, but I will also put a large focus on the Coach Feature and how it could benefit all of you.
Unboxing: September 23, 2021
Time for a photo dump. As I said in the post the Rapsodo comes with everything you want and need and nothing that you do not. This to me is great. Less waste and I don't need a bunch of things to open or fiddle around with. A power button, simple setup guide and instructions, usb C cord and thats about it.
That being said my ipad case does not work with it so that had to be taken off which is fine, but not a easy case to take off.
It is pretty small and compact which is also fantastic!
It also feels sturdy as a device, which I won't say is surprising but i feel the durability will be great for the long term with this device as well.
Then we have the home setup which is a big reason why I wanted to get in on this. With life changes and being in a new country I haven't got a chance to play nearly as much as I would have liked and with baby on the way this is going to get a lot of use and the Rapsodo will help me dial in numbers over the course the review a future.
First impressions are great so far and very happy with the quick setup and install and looking forward to the Coaching Feature and how I can improve my swing.
For now I am going to wrap this up and for future updates, unboxing, photos and reviews check back both on this post and the comments!
Final Review: November 25th, 2021
Looks & Feel (8 out of 10 points)
Describe the following for the device:
This is a big bonus for the Rapsodo device. It is small, compact and really simple. I’ve touched base on this throughout parts of the review process, but with how simple it is I really think this is a key feature to it being a good product in any golfers bag. The added carrying case, USB C charger are great to have with one protecting the device and the other being a basic standard for most chargers now aday (funnily enough not apple which is what you need to use to use for this… just now noticing the irony in that)
I used mind with a ipad in a net almost exclusively and although I didn’t get around to doing head to head with gc quard or trackman I was able to do some with the PRGR which if we are being more realistic is a more comparable device for those who may be looking at getting the Rapsodo MLM.
In comparison the Rapsodo is a slightly larger, but add in the ipad and it feels like a much more professional unit and one much more suited to someone looking to dive into the data.
As for the score of 8, it is a good unit and sleek there is no doubt about that, but there is also nothing really makes it stand out and say WOW so a score of 8 I think is justified.
Setup (10 out of 15 points)
Set up is stupid simple. Make sure its charged up, turn the power on. Have the app downloaded and account created within the Apple device and simply select pair. The app walks you through step by step and within a matter of minutes you are ready to hit golf balls. The app really does a stellar job and making sure you are given the proper knowledge going into it.
The battery on the device for me lasted several sessions and I never ran it down to dead, it was quick and easy enough to bring in and throw on charge for a couple hours and put it back on the bag.
Although I did not have any reason to contact customer care, I was happy to see that after one session that seemed to have missed more then a fair share of shots I got a email notification asking about the session and saying here are some tips and tricks if I was having trouble and gave the information for customer service. I did have another bad session where the ipad kept shutting down, I reset it and recharged it to full and didn’t have the issue again. HOWEVER I did make sure the ipad always had 80% or better charge from there on out. I don’t recommend using it with a lower charge as it may use too much and shut down. Also worthy to note that the ipad would not simply turn back on, but had to be plugged in to reboot.
Scoring reasoning of 10 I think is covered above, but even though initial setup and integration and app itself are really good. The bugs with the devices and needing to have a near full powered device is a downfall for me. Side note a feature which I would love to see, not sure if it was there or not but a power indicator on the unit itself would be great!
Accuracy (12 out of 15 points)
The accuracy of this device is exactly what you should expect for its price point. Some shots are missed, some are spot on and there is a variance in between. That being said if you are trying to dial in distances as a whole I think this is a great unit. I like how it displayed and showed the data on the ipad and really liked how you can go back and look at shots. I believe it accurately detected thin shots, fat shots and of course the odd perfect one that I hit. Distances were consistent with what I would expect on the course and there were very few that I looked at and said well thats a obvious misread. If anyting those misreads were simply just missed entirely. This happened for me I would say 5-7% of the time. Again this could be more because I was using a net almost exclusively and maybe the flight wasn’t far enough.
This brings me to the second point in this where distance is one thing, direction is another. I again believe in the distances it showed. The direction I’m not so sure of. I mean I would love my dispersion to be as tight as it was, but know that I’m not that accurate so I think into a net with a limited ball flight the direction has a bit of room for improvement, but is more then adequate. I didn’t shank any, but did hit some high toe shots that I could see go into the top left of the net and it would read them as being more straight.
Comparing to PRGR I was quite happy, swing speed seemed to be close to on point which is what PRGR is known for and ball speed I would say is pretty darn close to. Now with that information is that showing better things for Rapsodo or PRGR? I’ll let you know and determine that for yourself.
Scoring reason- lets be honest for the price this is at and the features it provides its great. A 12 given some of its grey areas are truly awesome.
Are the yardages accurate? (compare to another method if possible)
On-Course (20 out of 30 points)
I did get out for a round with it, as well as a few range sessions, but again I want to focus this more on net compatibility as we head into the off season and colder weather could this be something that is used a lot indoors for training and improvement?
Again setup is simple, the app is great and I think this could work really well for someone who wants to use this at home not as a simulator, but as a training device and to keep their swing in shape in the winter months and dial in some numbers as well as distances.
Obviously the ball flight features and such are great for on course and range, but something you do not get at home. Maybe one day there can be a simulated flight, but for these purposes it's not really needed.
The biggest draw back I found was outside of a 7 iron I could barely see my swing, almost my whole body was out of the video which I’m sure I could move the device further and further back, but driver I would need to have it so far back it would be way out of the parameters of working so I do think that is a area for improvement.
I feel like I am being a little harsh on Rapsodo with my gradings, but I think it is important to understand what you are getting and what you are wanting to achieve with this device. Outside of testing I’ll be honest I don’t think I’ll be bringing this onto the course with me again. Not that it was difficult, but I’m not sure I see the benefit for on course use. That being said range/net use I think is great as a base device to get you numbers, data sets and general swing thoughts for your golf game. Which I do believe is important, especially in todays number centric golfing world. It gives you a lot more then PRGR, but that also comes with a cost of $350 or more… which is about what I would expect.
I will also say that I used multiple sets of clubs to see if there were different launch angles and such and it did seem to pick those up. My Cobra Fly Z Pro set was shorter as expected then the i210s. Sadly driver was a tough one. I believe it was good and generally accurate, but I was using my old old driver as my Epic decided to crack on the crown so I can’t really accurately say driver numbers were spot on. I feel they were, but my 3 wood was about as far according to the numbers Rapsodo showed. This I also don’t doubt.
Miscellaneous (10 out of 10 points)
Okay there isn’t too much to put in here. However this is where I think Rapsodo does score perfect. It is clear they believe in their product. They have come out with several updates for the App along with new features. They have also expanded the use of the Rapsodo MLM to include a coaching feature which unfortunately we weren’t able to gain access to, however they did give us full access to the premium subscription which allows you to store more shots, see more videos and get some additional data sets. This is FREE for any Rapsodo user for the first month which is fantastic! A great trial before you decide to take the plunge, which I do believe is worth while.
It is great to see they are enhancing features around the same unit to give it more uses as well as data to use. This is great to see and Rapsodo themselves were very good to deal with when I had to email them about some of the features of us doing this review.
Play it or Trade it? (15 out of 20 points)
This will be more brief for me. I will play it and use it. With life changing and family growing my golf game will be more out of home focused which means this will get used more and be part of my more normal golf routine as well as help me keep my game in check and swing smooth. However if I was to be out on the course a lot more and able to play more I honestly am not sure how much I would use it? So in short yes and I am very happy with the unit itself along with its features for my golf game and where golf fits into my life now.
Conclusion
TLDR- The Rapsodo device is a great small, simple and compact device that gives you solid data points across the board and in terms of my testing was nice to see net compatibility function well. Rapsodo continues to work and improve not only the app, but features and uses of the MLM which only adds to its overall value
Final Score: 75/100