HeathS16

Your shank effort is noted and appreciated! 
 
Have you had any trouble with the rapsodo missing errant shots? 

I just posted some of my initial thoughts after three range sessions with the Rapsodo MLM in main review section.

I've got an idea of things I still want to test and look into, mainly the coaching platform which will begin soon, but if anyone has questions now is the time to ask!  We're all in the thick of it now and we don't want to leave any questions unanswered if we can test them for you.
Next week will likely be a dual range session week so I'll have an opportunity to check something out then.  Also,  I did TRY the shanked wedge test... But I just couldn't do it.  I did hit some beautiful wedge shots that way though.  Sometimes the mind won't allow us to shank a wedge when we want to.... but put me about 40 yards from a tabletop green and it's got no problem at all blading one into the next county... go figure! 

Love the info yall! Keep it coming! I'm  still debating if I should spend the $500 or not.

First Impressions and unboxing! Sept 7th
To start off I have had my Rapsodo for about a week now and ran into a hiccup to start. Although my ipad is compatible on the range and course, it is NOT net compatible. It is a little disappointing as it isn't too old, but I understand and will be looking to update it at the end of the month as net practice at home is where a large focus of my review is going to be. With that I also got my new net and matt! Another hiccup is my driver decided to explode so I am waiting on my folks to come visit from Canada where they are bring my backup bag and a old driver. With baby on the way and some more things a new driver isn't quite in the cards at the moment. So here is the setup!

The net was pretty simple to setup even with budget ikea instructions. It also came with a nice bag about the size of a baseball bat bag which it will fold into. Construction is sturdy and its is 8" by 8" by 8" so plenty of space. I also like there is a middle net which helps stop or kill some of the momentum also making me feel a little more comfortable hitting it towards the wood wall which is my neighbours living room. The mat is nice, not a lot of padding but enough that it feels good to hit off of even on the outdoor tiles. 
To start I did some baseline numbers with PRGR and swing speed is up and solid so I have a good idea of what to expect going in. I'll do a lot of numbers compared to PRGR as at $200 there can be the question what does Rapsodo give you for the extra $300?
A few things to start with the Rapsodo unboxing- As other testers have mentioned there isn't a ton to it. The unit, usb c cable (this gets a big plus for me), case and the box with basic instructions. If I'm honest it is kinda nice, nothing you don't need, not a lot of extra waste. Also for me nice that doesn't include a extra wall block as it would have to be Swiss which wouldn't come so would just be tossed anyway. 
The setup of the unit is also straight forward, instructions lay things out as you would expect and walk you through step by step.

Pairing took all of 3 seconds, setup with GPS, calibration and placement not too much longer. Again impressed with the simplicity of it. I did note however I had to take the ipad case off as the device being used needs to be properly in the Rapsodo slot in order to get best outcome. I haven't taken that case off for over a year or so and now I remember why, it was tough! A great case, but don't want it to hinder any results. 

I love the size of the unit as well. Compact and sleek I would label it as. Again a theme of everything you need and not really anything you don't. For now that will wrap up my first impressions. I am looking forward to starting up the Coaching portion of the unit as it is what really interested me about this unit. I will be starting up a bit later then the toher testers with a work assignment over the next few weeks that takes me out of town, but will try and do some follow up as I get along and hopefully sneak out some range sessions with it over this week before I leave. 
For your viewing pleasure here is a video of some unedited swings from the other day, this was where I also noticed the ipad didn't function with the net and will need to update.  VID_20210904_121842.mp4 VID_20210904_121842.mp4
https://photos.app.goo.gl/hXzsY9QnNbR64BJG8
 

OOOOOOOOOOhhh, I love this as a testing op. Got a Sub70 5 wood this summer and I have loved it!  Happy with my TSi3 atm but I am super interested in hearing from the fellow spies on how this DTC driver stacks up! 

OOOOOOOOOOhhh, I love this as a testing op. Got a Sub70 5 wood this summer and I have loved it!  Happy with my TSi3 atm but I am super interested in hearing from the fellow spies on how this DTC driver stacks up! 

OOOOOOOOOOhhh, I love this as a testing op. Got a Sub70 5 wood this summer and I have loved it!  Happy with my TSi3 atm but I am super interested in hearing from the fellow spies on how this DTC driver stacks up! 

OOOOOOOOOOhhh, I love this as a testing op. Got a Sub70 5 wood this summer and I have loved it!  Happy with my TSi3 atm but I am super interested in hearing from the fellow spies on how this DTC driver stacks up! 

Work surprised us and let us out at 2 so I just played a quick 90 minute 9 hole that felt like 3 hours. My goal was to focus on the Tour. It was my main ball today. I occasionally dropped the Tour X to see how it matched. I played well and was impressed by the spin of the Tour. I honestly didn’t like it initially compared to the Tour X but I’m feeling more at ease with it. 
 
on the first photo I teed off both balls and while the Tour went further, it was hit better.
Picture two is the approach on hole 3 from about 150 that had some backspin (The closer ball was a chip)
picture 3 is actually the approach on hole 1
Picture 4 is the approach on hole 5 both from about 75 yards  the closer ball is the Tour
the last picture is from 200 into number 8 with a 4 iron. I was happy with the spin
 
i was happy with my score. Greens actually rolled even with the obvious holes or damage. 

Thanks Jason. I really don't know whats going on this season. I've been playing unconscious. I'm not even putting pressure on myself. It's just happening. Obviously I couldn't enter todays score because I did a two ball scramble on the back. I did shoot a 34 on the front that was legit. As of last week I officially made it down to a .6 handicap index 😀.  But I still believe the testing I've done for MGS has given me more drive and focus. 
Funny thing happened today. Tomorrow is a Pro Am at my club so there were lots of guys out practicing for tomorrow. I'm usually the first one off in the morning but today there were 2 groups out in front of me. So I cut over to hole 4 and started from there. Then when done played 1, 2, and 3. I wound up behind a foursome that was on the 1st green. Waited for them to finish and stuck one. Then the same on #2 my nemesis hole. 5 wood over the corner and a 9 iron into the green. I had confidence in the Maxfli's to try it. It worked! Then put one on the green about 10 feet for my last hole, a par three. The group waited for me by the green and asked if I was one of the Pros for tomorrow and if I wanted to play through. I was freaking embarrassed. Just told them I started on 4 and that was my last hole. But I thanked them for the offer to play through.
I'm waiting for the wheels to fall off my game. But I'm ok if it waits a little longer. 🤪

I just love these T300!  
Had them out for the 2nd round today and the results were even better than the first go round.  The only shot with the PW was a little bump and run of a total about 30 feet from about 8 feet off the green, which turned out nice.   Well, until I missed the 4 footer---See How Did You Play Thread.---or maybe I prefer you don't 🙂
But overall I hit 5 Greens which for me is pretty decent, but a few of the misses were quality shots that only missed by a few yards, One literally missed being perfect by about 2 feet but caught the top of a bunker lip.   
I'm getting a much straighter flight with these than I was with the RADSPEED OL's.   So a couple early misses were due to the fact I was aimed for the fade, and it didn't.   
Another great thing about them, I am able to play the 5 iron effectively.  I haven't hit a 5 iron in my last 2 or 3 sets at least.   But I'm very confident with this from about 155 to 160.  
I commented on the sound in my last post.  I noticed today the 8 and 9 irons have a very nice sound and feel to them.  They don't have the Max Impactor on the back like the 5-7 does.  I definitely noticed it on the 5 and 6 I hit a few times today, and only hit one 7 iron and can't recall it being as noticeable as it is on the 6.   But  regardless of the sound, it's doing what it is supposed to, as I hit a 6 iron approach from about 140 yards uphill to a flag and left it pin high abut 10 feet left.  Of course I missed the putt, but had a tap in par.   Next hole was the toughest par 4 on the course, and I had 155 yards uphill into a breeze.  I really wanted to see if the 5 iron would get that job done.   But decided to put ego aside and went with my 4 hybrid.  Which again was a good shot, but just slightly faded off into the right fringe. 
Can't wait to play our 27 hole tournament this Saturday. 

OOOOOOOOOOhhh, I love this as a testing op. Got a Sub70 5 wood this summer and I have loved it!  Happy with my TSi3 atm but I am super interested in hearing from the fellow spies on how this DTC driver stacks up! 

Snuck out on lunch again today and hit a bucket.  Today was more of filtered sun, and I was not in the covered bays.  The Rapsodo MLM only missed one shot, and I only got a funny result on two other swings.  So much better than last time.  I have to think that the high contrast of going from the shaded mat and quickly into the bright sun last time out was causing issues.
Oh, and one of those funny ones?
 

Now that’s the sort of speed and distance that would even make @Chip Strokes blush.  Sadly, I think the unit was so blown away by my calves that it messed this one up. 😉
Today I brought the iPad again and set it up on the ground.  It didn’t seem to bother the unit that it was a few inches below the level that I was hitting from.  I think I prefer this with the iPad.  There’s just more room for data and visualizations and it looks cooler (to me anyway).

I do really like the graphics on the summary of your session.  It’s great to see your trajectory on all shots and the spread.  So far I’ve been trying to basically hit everything to the same target line, although I did mess with a few shots purposely left or right.  I’ll try some more of that next time to see how the MLM fairs.


Highlight swing of the day naturally comes from the driver.  154 was my highest ball speed of the day, and 271 was the tops as well.
 
 
 

Finally got to play 9 holes today! Started out with the Tour and it didn't take long to realize the ball isn't for me. It's a very solid ball but the lower greenside spin and the softness isn't a great combo for me.

After three holes, I decided to play both the Tour and the Tour X together. The Tour is surprisingly long for a softer ball, it was right there with the Tour X off the tee. The Tour has more rollout on both full irons/wedges and partial shots around the green. There are times where the Tour will have adequate spin and times where it doesnt. In the picture above I landed both fairly close to each other on a full PW from 142 out. The difference was the Tour X came back a bit and the Tour rolled forward to that point (the ball closer to me is the X). I'm accustomed to playing a ball with more spin and the Tour X checks that box.
On the last two holes, I switched out the Tour for a Snell MTB-X and decided to compare the two. I had a short par 3 and an average par 4 to finish the round. Honestly, there isn't a whole lot to say. I made the comment earlier in the test that if the balls were blank I would have a hard time telling the Tour X and the MTB-X apart (aside from the really tacky cover on the Maxfli), and that proved to be true today. The Snell was maybe three to four yards longer but the ball flight, feel, and spin were identical. I would imagine the Snell just produces a little more ball speed but I would have absolutely no problem playing the Tour X and I'm a huge Snell fan.
 

Couple more rounds under my belt with the Tour X. I've really enjoyed my time playing this model and can say with certainty I'd have no issues gaming it full time.
Unfortunately, the two I had left in my bag for this morning's round both were lost to the course. I finished my round with a ProV1x. Honestly, the performance of the two balls is so similar I don't think I can tell a difference!

Great stuff @B.Boston! Love the detail and feedback! 

Great stuff @B.Boston! Love the detail and feedback! 

Got a second practice session in at the range today and I ran into an issue but also got to try out some other features.  I used both my iPad and iPhone today and have to say the extra screen space is awesome with the iPad.  You get to see a a list of your recent shots and a 2d rendering of your ball flight.  It’s also less likely to get tripped on or knocked over than a small phone would be set up behind you, but I didn’t have to worry about that courtesy of the spare range mats behind me.

So first, I’ll get to the disappointment..  The MLM easily missed around 15 shots, and most of them were good hits.  I know that the ball and myself were in the right areas and even removed the tee while I was hitting irons but for some reason I missed a significant amount of shots.  Today I was hitting in a bay but I don’t think that should have any impact.  I even switched to my phone at one point when I wanted to do some Ventus vs Motore X testing and missed one or two shots out of that bunch as well.  Hopefully I’ll learn why and what I need to avoid to eliminate some of that.  I don’t recall missing more than maybe 2 swings from my first bucket, and that could have all been my not getting it into the strike area.
UPDATE:  I was reading through the FAQ section on the website and it looks like the MLM might leverage data from the camera as well as the radar unit, so I’m thinking the high change in contrast between being in the shade of the hitting bay and direct sunlight after impact may have caused the missed shots.
On the plus side, I got to try out one of the sponsored closest to the pin challenges! 

I did the Hyperice challenge.  So you set up basically the same and then instead of seeing your swing cam you get a generic screen letting you know the target yardage so you’re a little more “blind” after setup.  This one is a 130 yard challenge so I pulled up my PW and made a few comfortable swings…
      
I’m pretty happy with that grouping!  By my count I had 4 bullseyes and one 50pt shot for 450 total, which would have put me in first place for the challenge, but I only see 375 with my name (still good for second).  I sent an e-mail out because I think I got 375 on one of the 3 tries I had, but was pretty sure I got 450 the first round.  I’ll update if I ever hear anything back.  
That little bit of community and challenges could make this a lot more fun in the long run.  As well as being able to do closest to the pin and long drive with any friends you do take to the range with you.  
 

Yes.  The Shank will always exist.  You can thank my ancestors from Scotland who must have been the worst golfers on the planet when deciding a surname… they obviously hit many Shanks because they added an s at the end. Multiple Shanks.

If it didn’t pick it up…does the shank exist? 🤔 

If it didn’t pick it up…does the shank exist? 🤔 

If it didn’t pick it up…does the shank exist? 🤔 

Altho I am the last waiting to receive the Rapsodo I had another part of my review come in! Here is a sneak peak.
 

I was able to get out for a nine-hole scramble yesterday morning to compare the two models head-to-head. I cut together a full vlog with some comments about my course, my swing and, of course, the Maxfli Tour and Tour X.
I ended up shooting -3 playing two balls - one each of the Tour and Tour X. I continue to be impressed with both of the Maxfli offerings. Not too much new to report. The Tour is definitely the softer feeling and sounding of the pair, and yesterday it appeared to also be the longer of the two. Unlike earlier during testing, I did not have an issue stopping the Tour on approach shots. I'm not sure if I was swinging better or if the soggy greens were more receptive. 
All in all, both balls are very similar. I could probably game either. They have comparable distance both from the tee and with approaches.

Its quite possible that its just random inconsistencies in my swing at the times im playing the tour. I played in a constant 14mph wind the other day. I felt like i had a harder time hitting knock downs with the tour than the tour x. And the wind didnt seem to effect the tour x as much when i did kite it. So it may not necessarily be that it flights higher as i just couldnt keep it down when i wanted.
       I also know that today (mild wind) i played the tour on the front and hit a lot of front fringes with very steep descent angles. Didnt happen with the tour x, even into the wind. 
       For the record, im nit picking a bunch. They both perform well for me and pretty similar. Gonna keep playing these things for a while. May switch to Maxfli 🤯