How we doing y’all?! Welcome to B.Boston’s official Rapsodo MLM review! I am super excited about this one as I had literally commented to another member on instagram that if I had $1,000 to spend on golf equipment I would buy a personal launch monitor and get some lessons, then I saw that MGS was looking for testers for exactly that!
No review would be started correctly without thanking both Rapsodo and MGS for offering up this launch monitor for review. And thank you to the mods for selecting me. It is always a humbling experience to be chosen to do a review and I know we have high expectations of our reviewers here. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Who is this B.Boston guy anyway?
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk a little bit about me! My name is Bryan, and I am from Bellingham, MA. Based on my user name you might see that I identify with Boston as my “home” city. I grew up about 40 minutes outside the city, went to school just outside the city, and have lived within those 40 minutes for my entire life. If you don’t know me already, or heck even if you do based on my Cobra Connect posts last year you’d probably expect me to be your Dunkin’ and Sam Adams drinking cousin from Boston sports guy with a wicked accent and Tom Brady posters all over the place. While some of that is true… my accent is apparently disappointing.
Obligatory family photo from our recent vacation:
I’ve been golfing since as long as I can remember, getting my first set and going to the executive par 3 near me from when I was about 7 years old, but I got much more serious about it (read: tried to eliminate my slice) as I got into college. Now 34 years old and a happily married father of three I would say I am borderline obsessed with the game and I have an ultimate goal of reaching “scratch” status for my handicap. I am currently a 5.8 based on my Arccos stats. Strength of my game is putting and I’m really hopeful that I can dial in my approach and long game with the help of the Rapsodo MLM and Coaching.
State of my game:
Just for reference here is a current view of some Arccos data:
My gapping is pretty good and I really just need to work on consistency. My worst stats come from Approach and Short Game shots. I need to get better in my proximity to the hole on approaches, and get closer for an easy one putt if I don’t hit the green.
Here’s a recent swing clip. This should be useful representative of a starting point for me before any changes or developments from the coaching aspect of this review:
My signature shows my current WITB, but in case you’re reading this on mobile and can’t see I’m playing here are the details:
Driver: Callaway Epic Max LS
Fairway: Cobra Speedzone 5-wood
Hybrid: Titleist TSi3 20*
Irons: Cobra Forged Tec (5-GW)
Wedges: Cobra MIM Black (52, 56, 60)
Putter: Evnroll ER2B
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Tech: Precision Pro NX9 Slope, Arccos Caddie
I’m a tech nerd at heart so I’m always interested in ways to utilize technology to enhance my game. I have been loving Arccos and its strokes gained information as it has been insightful in many cases and damn eye opening in others. I’ll record my swing at the range and on the course to see if there’s anything I notice off on a particular day, and can not wait to pair it with a powerful tool in the Rapsodo MLM to get an even better understanding of my game.
What will I be looking at in this test, and what am I hoping to get out of it?
I will primarily be using this device outside at the driving range, and hopefully getting some actual on-course data as well. I know that from both last year’s forum testing and the most wanted articles that the Rapsodo MLM is top of its class and very comparable to professional grade units for good quality strikes. I know all of these units can suffer on strikes that are at opposite ends of the bell curve, so I don’t expect perfection, but I will do my best to test out the accuracy claims. I want to see what the Rapsodo shows as my carry gapping versus my Arccos stats total yardage. Also to see if I am getting good ball speed gaps, peak heights, etc. to make sure that everything is looking in line.
However, the thing I’m most excited to take part in is the coaching feature as I have only ever had one golf lesson and while I would love to have a coach and consistently see them, it’s difficult for me to know which day I’ll be able to shoot to the range on lunch and scheduling something after work is challenging, and if I’m booking time on the weekend for golf, I’d much rather it be time playing on the course and enjoying the game. I really feel that the coaching feature will help me maximize my range sessions by getting feedback and things to work on for the next bucket of balls.
I’m also going to try and have some fun, and highlight some of the cool features for you all. There will be a long drive contest and hopefully some other videos along the way.
Much more to come with the unboxing and review! Please sound off in the comment section with anything else you’re hoping to see from my review or any of the other testers. As much as this review is about my experience, I want to make sure the forums are learning everything they possibly want to about them to aid in future purchase decisions.
Make sure to give this thread a follow so you don’t miss out!
Initial Impressions! (September 10th Update):
I’ve had three range sessions in the books now with the Rapsodo MLM and have had an opportunity to try everything out except the coaching feature, so I’ll be adding more details about that later on.
Rapsodo claims that the MLM sets up in under 30 seconds and I have to agree. The iPhone and iPad apps are super responsive to start a practice or game session and just as slick in reviewing rounds once the session has been uploaded. Every time that I powered the unit on it connected quickly to my phone and I was able to get a session going without any issues. Even swapping to the iPad to test went smoothly. I had no issue going through my session after getting home, looking at swing videos, and viewing detailed data. I had even forgotten to switch clubs at one point and that was easy in the app too. I can’t stress enough how simple the app made it to get setup and start hitting shots. This is important to me because I don’t want to be thinking about the set up and capture of swings to get the data to the point that I’m not thinking you know… about my golf swing and hitting the shots I want to hit.
Here’s my typical range setup:
The iPad version of the app allows for more data to be shown and I think it looks cooler.
Side Note: On the first day I did have to improvise as the MLM needs to generally be level with the ground you are hitting on, so I used a flipped over small bucket as the ground behind the mat I was on sloped down and away. I have since used it slightly below the level of the ball (maybe 4 or 5 inches) and it seemed to work just fine. But it was still level, which I think is more important.
Rapsodo highlights several features when talking about the MLM:
Shot Tracer
GPS Shot Map
Video Playback
Club Gapping
Interactive Games/Sharing
Shot Library
NET(Indoor/Outdoor)
Smart Club Recognition
They also highlight that accuracy matters, and so far the MLM seems to have done really well on good/average strikes. Poor strikes have been less consistent, but yeah, it’s a poor strike and likely out of the focal range of the unit’s radar. I’m not going to fuss that the unit was unable to show my topped drive was 30 yards before it hit the ground instead of a 42 yard carry (I mean if I were to have had a shot like that…. Which I NEVER do!).
So far the clunkiest part of the app experience has been exporting swing videos to the camera roll. For such a smooth app for everything else it takes way too many clicks, and too much time to do.
So what does this accuracy get you? Here are the metrics the Rapsodo MLM captures:
Distance (Carry for irons, user selectable Carry or Carry + Roll for woods)
Ball Speed immediately after impact
Club Speed immediately prior to impact
Smash Factor for strike efficiency
Launch Angle
Launch Direction
So far, it seems to be a pretty accurate launch monitor, particularly with well struck balls. I’ve had a few data issues with pull-hooks, my guess is because the ball gets lost behind my club or body and the reading gets messed up. I can forgive that miss as I realize these are not perfect commercial sized radar units. It’s also disappointing that there is no spin, but I read a rumor that they are working on that, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. My club and ball speed numbers are right inline with what I saw earlier this year on a trackman and were well within my expectations.
(Very cool to have the visual satellite overlay view, but I’m not convinced the scaling is quite right. More research needed.)
Not too shabby for the asking price right? But wait, there’s more!
There are two main subscriptions offered with the MLM for golfers. Basic (AKA Free), and Premium ($99 annually).. There is also a Coach Connect subscription, but that is teaching professionals and is out of scope on this review. With the Basic subscription you only get cloud storage for your last 100 shots included. The premium subscription includes more:
Cloud storage for 10,000 shots
Slow motion swing replays at 4 speeds
Shot Apex data on your swings
Access to online golf lesions through the Coach Connect platform
I need some more time to think about it, but I don’t think we’re getting enough as consumers at the Free level. 100 shots isn’t even 10 good shots with each club in my bag, so the club gapping is much less appealing. Heck, that’s not even two full buckets at the range. I really think that something like 250 or 300 shots should be included, or I should be able to use my iPhone or iPad’s internal memory. It is super portable with the included carry case, so it really would be a shame to not be able to see more than 2 range sessions of history since I can see myself always having it there available to use.
As for the upgraded features you do get with the premium, I DO enjoy the peak height indicator on the shot replays. It’s not always easy to tell due to the angle of the camera and it is something that I do like to see. The ability to play your swings in several levels of slow motion is neat, but I think the app needs to use a higher FPS on the camera’s phone to really take advantage of it. Slow motion videos from the native iPhone app are much better. I need to do a comparison there on the downswing as well as some more testing to show what I mean.
I should be getting into the online golf lessons soon, and will update here after I get to try that out. Until then, it’s off to the range for some more hone my skills with the Rapsodo MLM in tow!
Final Scores! (November 23rd Update):
Looks & Feel (10 out of 10 points)
The Rapsodo MLM is very well built and feels like a tank. It feels very dense and solid, not hollow. I like that feeling as it feels more high quality even if a lighter unit may be just as good. It strikes a good balance with some softer feeling rubberized plastic. Also the buttons and flap that you open for the phone/tablet stand have a satisfying smooth feeling to them.
The case is a good standard feeling rangefinder style zip case. With that storage for between uses and the high quality feeling unit itself I have no doubts that unit will hold up long term.
Setup (13 out of 15 points)
As I touched on in my initial impressions, the Rapsodo MLM and Rapsodo app could not be easier to set up and get going. Turn it on, place it down, open the app, select practice or the mode you want, set location and heading, verify you’re in your box and the ball is in its box, and Go. Demos in the app are very good at showing you what to do step-by-step if it’s your first time setting it up.
The unit charges fast enough through standard USB connections and I don’t doubt I can get through 2 or more range sessions on a charge, but I usually just charge it after a practice session anyway.
Upon swinging the replay shows all your relevant data (more is shown on the iPad, and I prefer that view). The data is all useful information for your shots and can help track your progress. I find the ball speed to be the most useful (with driver at least) as a way of determining how solidly I’m hitting the ball.
While I won’t say any of it is useless, the least useful metric to me is the shot shape. I’ve had several shots that were over or under curved, likely due to the device not capturing spin. However, I don’t recall it being wildly off, but enough that I consider the tracer more of an estimate than a calculated or tracked overlay.
Accuracy (13 out of 15 points)
As far as accuracy is concerned I want to note that I used the Rapsodo MLM exclusively at the driving range outdoors.. I have no indoor or outdoor net experience so this is all based on Outdoor mode with range balls.
I think the unit overall does a really good job on well struck shots. Considering the condition of the range balls I was using I was expecting some variance, even if the data is normalized. One area I did see some strange results was on shots that started more left and maybe got part of the ball flight lost behind me while swinging. I also had several shots where the tracer did not start at the ball, and I am not sure if that means the numbers are good or not.
Here is a chart of my Arrcos Smart Distance versus Rapsodo Lifetime Stats (Driver and woods are set to Carry+Roll setting in the app):
So now, let's take a look at the story here by club grouping:
Wedges (52*, 56*, and 60*)
No surprise here. At the range I hit my 52, 56, and 60 to some specific targets and on-course I end up with many different length shots. The Rapsodo distances feel very accurate to the targets I am usually shooting at with them
Irons (including PW and GW)
These feel really accurate in aggregate as well. Considering I don’t get much roll through the 9 iron I am happy to see they match my Arccos on-course performance. It makes sense to me that I would see some gaps in the longer irons as Rapsodo does not account for roll on these shots. If anything, the quality of ball I’m hitting may start to impact carry figures for the 6 and 5 irons by 3-5 yards.
Hybrid
Ok so this is the only one that I really don’t agree with. It’s also one of the clubs I hit the least during practice, so it could be a sample size thing with a few bad shots pulling the numbers down. I think I only have a dozen or so shots with it in the Rapsodo data, but once again when we account for roll, this may only be 5-8 yards off on carry. Maybe it rolls a lot more for me than I’m thinking?
5-wood
This looks pretty good to me. At this point the range I practice at does back uphill, so it’s easier to gauge how close to the targets your landing and estimate total carry distance. Also I don’t tee this club up at the range and my Arccos data would include tee shots which in theory would allow for some additional distance.
Driver
This one is tough for me to gauge. I don’t like seeing a 20 yard gap here, but I have a hard time believing the range balls are not partially to blame here. The last few sessions out I could see the ball traveling shorter overall distances even though the Rapsodo unit was showing a lot of the same swing speeds. It also had my efficiency at about 1.42 so maybe with my gamer balls that number would be a little higher. Or maybe it is because I was practicing a lot with the Epic Max LS as it was the newest club in my bag, and I was trying different shafts, and had a bunch of poor shots in the data. I will note that I saw my biggest “Hmmmm” moments when looking at the Rapsodo readouts with the driver, particularly if my start line got pulled to the left at all. But, more on that later…
I’m docking a couple points here because the accuracy of the shot tracer and shot direction/path is just OK. With no ability to edit for the landing point it looks awkward if you’re not hitting on a flat surface and without spin measurements it’s only ever going to be a guess anyway, but overall the yardages seem solid in aggregate even if some individual shots are off. I actually had purposely not looked at the summary stats until writing this section so I was pleasantly surprised to see the figures matching up and making sense.
see here the tracer isn't starting at impact, or even within the range of the "hit zone" on this one. I had more than a few shots like this:
On-Course (25 out of 30 points)
At the range getting ready to play is pretty simple. Open the app, move the icon over the spot to where you’re hitting, and set your heading. Then all you have to do is line up your unit and make sure the hitting area is within the box on the screen. I can’t say that it interfered with my normal practice routine at all. I could make my swing, watch the flight, and then turn around in time to see the some/all of the replay and see the numbers. It worked out well because I could see if the MLM picked up the shot shape and get a gauge as to if I felt it was a good shot or not. I didn’t really get along well with the “Smart Club Recognition” but it was simple to select the right one, or even edit post practice if I forgot (I usually work through my bag with all even or odd clubs so it’s pretty clear when I changed based on the numbers.
Compared to my old way of playing at the range I didn’t really change much. I normally will use my rangefinder to get the distances to flags or markers and go from there. One thing I did do differently with the MLM is set up in line with the middle of the range which has a 100 yard marker. Then I would try to hit all my balls over that flag to get the distance as I was warming up, which was great with the unit for tracking accuracy and distance, then get to my target practice in the second part of my practice.
However, I did run into some issues/limitations with the MLM while out on the range. The unit does not like high contrast situations. At one of my practice sessions it was hot and humid, and I was able to hit in a covered bay to keep myself, and the MLM a little cooler. However the MLM failed to capture probably close to 25-30% of swings that session as the ball was starting in the shade and jumping out into a bright clear sunny day. The unit was unable to track this so it must be using both its radar and your mobile phone to track and lost the ball from transition from shade to sun.
The unit also did not seem to like my Hybrid very much, missing a noticeable amount of shots with that club, including several that were just straight, medium trajectory, boring shots. I still can’t quite figure out why, but it was enough to notice the trend.
While I can’t say I play better or worse since including this in my practice, my range sessions or definitely more enjoyable. It’s also fun to use the long-drive feature as @Lacassem and I did. I recorded that with the intent of creating a video to share with everyone, but it was windy and the audio came out like absolute trash… and my competitor was trash that day too.
Miscellaneous (7 out of 10 points)
Speaking of the long drive/closest to the pin built in challenges…. They need to work on the UI for that a bit. So I’m deducting 2 points. First, the results are not saved in your shots or sessions. When Mark and I completed the long drive challenge we wouldn’t have been able to back and see the totals for each round had I not set up a screen record. It is not saved in your session, and you cannot review the swings after. On top of that, there is barely a final page or summary screen at the end. I’d love to see Longest from each round and longest overall or something with the averages… something more than just our names in first and second and then once the page clears it’s gone forever. Although that’s probably how Mark wanted it since it was a clean sweep for me. *Side note: maybe next time you show up for a long drive competition don’t be wearing work boots.*
Nothing really much to mention otherwise. Shipping was quick. We were all hoping to get to try out the coaching feature, but were not able to get access to coaches during the testing period (-2 points) despite our mod’s best efforts (thanks Jamie!). But we did get a full year of premium from Rapsodo (+1 point). I may investigate the coaching feature in the Spring, or maybe over the winter if I find some indoor practice time, but with the prices varying wildly from coach to coach I may be better off getting in front of an actual coach the old-fashioned way, face-to-face, so they can see my particular inconsistencies IRL and not just a selection of my best and worst swings.
Rapsodo INSIGHTS. This has some real potential and now that I’ve seen what it is I feel like I can’t un-see the gap that was there before. Insights in a new AI driven addition to the MLM app that gives you feedback (sort of like strokes-gained) on your practice sessions as a whole. It takes the MLM from being a “toy” to being a real “tool” that can be used for improvement in my opinion. Data like left/right misses and distance compared to other golfers of varying skill levels should help you focus your practice much like strokes gained analysis will point out your on-course weaknesses. I’m excited about this addition and look forward to seeing more added to it for even better practice sessions.
Here are some of the summary screens you get with Insights, it really does take the MLM to the next level:
Play it or Trade it? (15 out of 20 points)
This is a tough question for me to answer. So I’m going to break it down into a few parts for the unit and the subscription. I think that the unit is great, and see no reason to not continue using it. Despite a few challenges with the technology working great my numbers are pretty spot on in aggregate and I think it’s one of the best personal launch monitors out there for its cost.
When we factor in the annual subscription things get a little less clean for me. I think $99 per year is a bit much for cloud storage and some expanded analysis. I also feel that the base level does not include enough storage for the asking price of the unit.
Regarding coaching (which is not factored into the score here as I did not test it, but as an aside) the prices vary significantly from instructor to instructor, which you’d see just the same if you were looking at different coaches at a few places near you, but Rapsodo does a good job of having the coaches offer both standalone, lesson packs, or unlimited monthly offerings. It also looks to have limited slots for coaches which is good, because it gives me the sense that the coaches will have the correct amount of time to dedicate to each student.
The most natural competitor I can think of to the Rapsodo MLM and other personal launch monitors using this base plus subscription model would be Arccos’s shot tracking system or Shot Scope. I think both the PLM and On-Course data gathering are both means to the same end of improvement for golfers. If we take a look at this as a three year investment the MLM will cost you around $800, While 3 years of Arccos is going to run about half of that.
Now I know they are not the same tools, but if someone came to me asking which one they should get FIRST, my answer would be Arccos or Shotscope. I feel that the on-course data and strokes gained analysis is going to be money better spent for golfers. However, if you’re like me and already have on-course shot tracking, well, then the Rapsodo MLM is a powerful tool that can partner with your on-course data to help measure improvements during practice. I hope that in the next few years costs can come down, but the Rapsodo MLM is not high priced compared to some of the other units that it is competing against considering the accuracy of the results.
Conclusion (TL;DR):
Rapsodo has an absolute hit with the MLM unit and slick operating iPhone/iPad app. It works well in most conditions, and if you know where it doesn’t work well you can generally avoid setting it up that way. I’m not sure there is a more accurate unit available in its price bracket, and while I’d like to see either a reduced annual subscription fee, or more features for the base plan, I can see that Rapsodo is putting the money into R&D as the new INSIGHTS platform is a welcome addition to post-practice analysis.
Overall, I like it, but I don’t love it. However I think it will be a very useful tool for my future practice sessions and I’m excited to see if I can improve my game a little bit from the insights analysis and my on-course tracking during normal rounds. Insights is a massive release for analyzing your practice sessions and I also feel that many of my issues with it can be address via software updates. I am confident that the folks over at Rapsodo are working hard to stay ahead of the competition with constant improvement and updates.
Rapsodo MLM Launch Monitor
Posted
How we doing y’all?! Welcome to B.Boston’s official Rapsodo MLM review! I am super excited about this one as I had literally commented to another member on instagram that if I had $1,000 to spend on golf equipment I would buy a personal launch monitor and get some lessons, then I saw that MGS was looking for testers for exactly that!
No review would be started correctly without thanking both Rapsodo and MGS for offering up this launch monitor for review. And thank you to the mods for selecting me. It is always a humbling experience to be chosen to do a review and I know we have high expectations of our reviewers here. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Who is this B.Boston guy anyway?
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk a little bit about me! My name is Bryan, and I am from Bellingham, MA. Based on my user name you might see that I identify with Boston as my “home” city. I grew up about 40 minutes outside the city, went to school just outside the city, and have lived within those 40 minutes for my entire life. If you don’t know me already, or heck even if you do based on my Cobra Connect posts last year you’d probably expect me to be your Dunkin’ and Sam Adams drinking cousin from Boston sports guy with a wicked accent and Tom Brady posters all over the place. While some of that is true… my accent is apparently disappointing.
Obligatory family photo from our recent vacation:
I’ve been golfing since as long as I can remember, getting my first set and going to the executive par 3 near me from when I was about 7 years old, but I got much more serious about it (read: tried to eliminate my slice) as I got into college. Now 34 years old and a happily married father of three I would say I am borderline obsessed with the game and I have an ultimate goal of reaching “scratch” status for my handicap. I am currently a 5.8 based on my Arccos stats. Strength of my game is putting and I’m really hopeful that I can dial in my approach and long game with the help of the Rapsodo MLM and Coaching.
State of my game:
Just for reference here is a current view of some Arccos data:
My gapping is pretty good and I really just need to work on consistency. My worst stats come from Approach and Short Game shots. I need to get better in my proximity to the hole on approaches, and get closer for an easy one putt if I don’t hit the green.
Here’s a recent swing clip. This should be useful representative of a starting point for me before any changes or developments from the coaching aspect of this review:
My signature shows my current WITB, but in case you’re reading this on mobile and can’t see I’m playing here are the details:
I’m a tech nerd at heart so I’m always interested in ways to utilize technology to enhance my game. I have been loving Arccos and its strokes gained information as it has been insightful in many cases and damn eye opening in others. I’ll record my swing at the range and on the course to see if there’s anything I notice off on a particular day, and can not wait to pair it with a powerful tool in the Rapsodo MLM to get an even better understanding of my game.
What will I be looking at in this test, and what am I hoping to get out of it?
I will primarily be using this device outside at the driving range, and hopefully getting some actual on-course data as well. I know that from both last year’s forum testing and the most wanted articles that the Rapsodo MLM is top of its class and very comparable to professional grade units for good quality strikes. I know all of these units can suffer on strikes that are at opposite ends of the bell curve, so I don’t expect perfection, but I will do my best to test out the accuracy claims. I want to see what the Rapsodo shows as my carry gapping versus my Arccos stats total yardage. Also to see if I am getting good ball speed gaps, peak heights, etc. to make sure that everything is looking in line.
However, the thing I’m most excited to take part in is the coaching feature as I have only ever had one golf lesson and while I would love to have a coach and consistently see them, it’s difficult for me to know which day I’ll be able to shoot to the range on lunch and scheduling something after work is challenging, and if I’m booking time on the weekend for golf, I’d much rather it be time playing on the course and enjoying the game. I really feel that the coaching feature will help me maximize my range sessions by getting feedback and things to work on for the next bucket of balls.
I’m also going to try and have some fun, and highlight some of the cool features for you all. There will be a long drive contest and hopefully some other videos along the way.
Much more to come with the unboxing and review! Please sound off in the comment section with anything else you’re hoping to see from my review or any of the other testers. As much as this review is about my experience, I want to make sure the forums are learning everything they possibly want to about them to aid in future purchase decisions.
Make sure to give this thread a follow so you don’t miss out!
Initial Impressions! (September 10th Update):
I’ve had three range sessions in the books now with the Rapsodo MLM and have had an opportunity to try everything out except the coaching feature, so I’ll be adding more details about that later on.
Rapsodo claims that the MLM sets up in under 30 seconds and I have to agree. The iPhone and iPad apps are super responsive to start a practice or game session and just as slick in reviewing rounds once the session has been uploaded. Every time that I powered the unit on it connected quickly to my phone and I was able to get a session going without any issues. Even swapping to the iPad to test went smoothly. I had no issue going through my session after getting home, looking at swing videos, and viewing detailed data. I had even forgotten to switch clubs at one point and that was easy in the app too. I can’t stress enough how simple the app made it to get setup and start hitting shots. This is important to me because I don’t want to be thinking about the set up and capture of swings to get the data to the point that I’m not thinking you know… about my golf swing and hitting the shots I want to hit.
Here’s my typical range setup:
The iPad version of the app allows for more data to be shown and I think it looks cooler.
Side Note: On the first day I did have to improvise as the MLM needs to generally be level with the ground you are hitting on, so I used a flipped over small bucket as the ground behind the mat I was on sloped down and away. I have since used it slightly below the level of the ball (maybe 4 or 5 inches) and it seemed to work just fine. But it was still level, which I think is more important.
Rapsodo highlights several features when talking about the MLM:
Shot Tracer
GPS Shot Map
Video Playback
Club Gapping
Interactive Games/Sharing
Shot Library
NET(Indoor/Outdoor)
Smart Club Recognition
They also highlight that accuracy matters, and so far the MLM seems to have done really well on good/average strikes. Poor strikes have been less consistent, but yeah, it’s a poor strike and likely out of the focal range of the unit’s radar. I’m not going to fuss that the unit was unable to show my topped drive was 30 yards before it hit the ground instead of a 42 yard carry (I mean if I were to have had a shot like that…. Which I NEVER do!).
So far the clunkiest part of the app experience has been exporting swing videos to the camera roll. For such a smooth app for everything else it takes way too many clicks, and too much time to do.
So what does this accuracy get you? Here are the metrics the Rapsodo MLM captures:
Distance (Carry for irons, user selectable Carry or Carry + Roll for woods)
Ball Speed immediately after impact
Club Speed immediately prior to impact
Smash Factor for strike efficiency
Launch Angle
Launch Direction
So far, it seems to be a pretty accurate launch monitor, particularly with well struck balls. I’ve had a few data issues with pull-hooks, my guess is because the ball gets lost behind my club or body and the reading gets messed up. I can forgive that miss as I realize these are not perfect commercial sized radar units. It’s also disappointing that there is no spin, but I read a rumor that they are working on that, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. My club and ball speed numbers are right inline with what I saw earlier this year on a trackman and were well within my expectations.
(Very cool to have the visual satellite overlay view, but I’m not convinced the scaling is quite right. More research needed.)
Not too shabby for the asking price right? But wait, there’s more!
There are two main subscriptions offered with the MLM for golfers. Basic (AKA Free), and Premium ($99 annually).. There is also a Coach Connect subscription, but that is teaching professionals and is out of scope on this review. With the Basic subscription you only get cloud storage for your last 100 shots included. The premium subscription includes more:
Cloud storage for 10,000 shots
Slow motion swing replays at 4 speeds
Shot Apex data on your swings
Access to online golf lesions through the Coach Connect platform
I need some more time to think about it, but I don’t think we’re getting enough as consumers at the Free level. 100 shots isn’t even 10 good shots with each club in my bag, so the club gapping is much less appealing. Heck, that’s not even two full buckets at the range. I really think that something like 250 or 300 shots should be included, or I should be able to use my iPhone or iPad’s internal memory. It is super portable with the included carry case, so it really would be a shame to not be able to see more than 2 range sessions of history since I can see myself always having it there available to use.
As for the upgraded features you do get with the premium, I DO enjoy the peak height indicator on the shot replays. It’s not always easy to tell due to the angle of the camera and it is something that I do like to see. The ability to play your swings in several levels of slow motion is neat, but I think the app needs to use a higher FPS on the camera’s phone to really take advantage of it. Slow motion videos from the native iPhone app are much better. I need to do a comparison there on the downswing as well as some more testing to show what I mean.
I should be getting into the online golf lessons soon, and will update here after I get to try that out. Until then, it’s off to the range for some more hone my skills with the Rapsodo MLM in tow!
Final Scores! (November 23rd Update):
Looks & Feel (10 out of 10 points)
The Rapsodo MLM is very well built and feels like a tank. It feels very dense and solid, not hollow. I like that feeling as it feels more high quality even if a lighter unit may be just as good. It strikes a good balance with some softer feeling rubberized plastic. Also the buttons and flap that you open for the phone/tablet stand have a satisfying smooth feeling to them.
The case is a good standard feeling rangefinder style zip case. With that storage for between uses and the high quality feeling unit itself I have no doubts that unit will hold up long term.
Setup (13 out of 15 points)
As I touched on in my initial impressions, the Rapsodo MLM and Rapsodo app could not be easier to set up and get going. Turn it on, place it down, open the app, select practice or the mode you want, set location and heading, verify you’re in your box and the ball is in its box, and Go. Demos in the app are very good at showing you what to do step-by-step if it’s your first time setting it up.
The unit charges fast enough through standard USB connections and I don’t doubt I can get through 2 or more range sessions on a charge, but I usually just charge it after a practice session anyway.
Upon swinging the replay shows all your relevant data (more is shown on the iPad, and I prefer that view). The data is all useful information for your shots and can help track your progress. I find the ball speed to be the most useful (with driver at least) as a way of determining how solidly I’m hitting the ball.
While I won’t say any of it is useless, the least useful metric to me is the shot shape. I’ve had several shots that were over or under curved, likely due to the device not capturing spin. However, I don’t recall it being wildly off, but enough that I consider the tracer more of an estimate than a calculated or tracked overlay.
Accuracy (13 out of 15 points)
As far as accuracy is concerned I want to note that I used the Rapsodo MLM exclusively at the driving range outdoors.. I have no indoor or outdoor net experience so this is all based on Outdoor mode with range balls.
I think the unit overall does a really good job on well struck shots. Considering the condition of the range balls I was using I was expecting some variance, even if the data is normalized. One area I did see some strange results was on shots that started more left and maybe got part of the ball flight lost behind me while swinging. I also had several shots where the tracer did not start at the ball, and I am not sure if that means the numbers are good or not.
Here is a chart of my Arrcos Smart Distance versus Rapsodo Lifetime Stats (Driver and woods are set to Carry+Roll setting in the app):
So now, let's take a look at the story here by club grouping:
I’m docking a couple points here because the accuracy of the shot tracer and shot direction/path is just OK. With no ability to edit for the landing point it looks awkward if you’re not hitting on a flat surface and without spin measurements it’s only ever going to be a guess anyway, but overall the yardages seem solid in aggregate even if some individual shots are off. I actually had purposely not looked at the summary stats until writing this section so I was pleasantly surprised to see the figures matching up and making sense.
see here the tracer isn't starting at impact, or even within the range of the "hit zone" on this one. I had more than a few shots like this:
On-Course (25 out of 30 points)
At the range getting ready to play is pretty simple. Open the app, move the icon over the spot to where you’re hitting, and set your heading. Then all you have to do is line up your unit and make sure the hitting area is within the box on the screen. I can’t say that it interfered with my normal practice routine at all. I could make my swing, watch the flight, and then turn around in time to see the some/all of the replay and see the numbers. It worked out well because I could see if the MLM picked up the shot shape and get a gauge as to if I felt it was a good shot or not. I didn’t really get along well with the “Smart Club Recognition” but it was simple to select the right one, or even edit post practice if I forgot (I usually work through my bag with all even or odd clubs so it’s pretty clear when I changed based on the numbers.
Compared to my old way of playing at the range I didn’t really change much. I normally will use my rangefinder to get the distances to flags or markers and go from there. One thing I did do differently with the MLM is set up in line with the middle of the range which has a 100 yard marker. Then I would try to hit all my balls over that flag to get the distance as I was warming up, which was great with the unit for tracking accuracy and distance, then get to my target practice in the second part of my practice.
However, I did run into some issues/limitations with the MLM while out on the range. The unit does not like high contrast situations. At one of my practice sessions it was hot and humid, and I was able to hit in a covered bay to keep myself, and the MLM a little cooler. However the MLM failed to capture probably close to 25-30% of swings that session as the ball was starting in the shade and jumping out into a bright clear sunny day. The unit was unable to track this so it must be using both its radar and your mobile phone to track and lost the ball from transition from shade to sun.
The unit also did not seem to like my Hybrid very much, missing a noticeable amount of shots with that club, including several that were just straight, medium trajectory, boring shots. I still can’t quite figure out why, but it was enough to notice the trend.
While I can’t say I play better or worse since including this in my practice, my range sessions or definitely more enjoyable. It’s also fun to use the long-drive feature as @Lacassem and I did. I recorded that with the intent of creating a video to share with everyone, but it was windy and the audio came out like absolute trash… and my competitor was trash that day too.
Miscellaneous (7 out of 10 points)
Speaking of the long drive/closest to the pin built in challenges…. They need to work on the UI for that a bit. So I’m deducting 2 points. First, the results are not saved in your shots or sessions. When Mark and I completed the long drive challenge we wouldn’t have been able to back and see the totals for each round had I not set up a screen record. It is not saved in your session, and you cannot review the swings after. On top of that, there is barely a final page or summary screen at the end. I’d love to see Longest from each round and longest overall or something with the averages… something more than just our names in first and second and then once the page clears it’s gone forever. Although that’s probably how Mark wanted it since it was a clean sweep for me. *Side note: maybe next time you show up for a long drive competition don’t be wearing work boots.*
Nothing really much to mention otherwise. Shipping was quick. We were all hoping to get to try out the coaching feature, but were not able to get access to coaches during the testing period (-2 points) despite our mod’s best efforts (thanks Jamie!). But we did get a full year of premium from Rapsodo (+1 point). I may investigate the coaching feature in the Spring, or maybe over the winter if I find some indoor practice time, but with the prices varying wildly from coach to coach I may be better off getting in front of an actual coach the old-fashioned way, face-to-face, so they can see my particular inconsistencies IRL and not just a selection of my best and worst swings.
Rapsodo INSIGHTS. This has some real potential and now that I’ve seen what it is I feel like I can’t un-see the gap that was there before. Insights in a new AI driven addition to the MLM app that gives you feedback (sort of like strokes-gained) on your practice sessions as a whole. It takes the MLM from being a “toy” to being a real “tool” that can be used for improvement in my opinion. Data like left/right misses and distance compared to other golfers of varying skill levels should help you focus your practice much like strokes gained analysis will point out your on-course weaknesses. I’m excited about this addition and look forward to seeing more added to it for even better practice sessions.
Here are some of the summary screens you get with Insights, it really does take the MLM to the next level:
Play it or Trade it? (15 out of 20 points)
This is a tough question for me to answer. So I’m going to break it down into a few parts for the unit and the subscription. I think that the unit is great, and see no reason to not continue using it. Despite a few challenges with the technology working great my numbers are pretty spot on in aggregate and I think it’s one of the best personal launch monitors out there for its cost.
When we factor in the annual subscription things get a little less clean for me. I think $99 per year is a bit much for cloud storage and some expanded analysis. I also feel that the base level does not include enough storage for the asking price of the unit.
Regarding coaching (which is not factored into the score here as I did not test it, but as an aside) the prices vary significantly from instructor to instructor, which you’d see just the same if you were looking at different coaches at a few places near you, but Rapsodo does a good job of having the coaches offer both standalone, lesson packs, or unlimited monthly offerings. It also looks to have limited slots for coaches which is good, because it gives me the sense that the coaches will have the correct amount of time to dedicate to each student.
The most natural competitor I can think of to the Rapsodo MLM and other personal launch monitors using this base plus subscription model would be Arccos’s shot tracking system or Shot Scope. I think both the PLM and On-Course data gathering are both means to the same end of improvement for golfers. If we take a look at this as a three year investment the MLM will cost you around $800, While 3 years of Arccos is going to run about half of that.
Now I know they are not the same tools, but if someone came to me asking which one they should get FIRST, my answer would be Arccos or Shotscope. I feel that the on-course data and strokes gained analysis is going to be money better spent for golfers. However, if you’re like me and already have on-course shot tracking, well, then the Rapsodo MLM is a powerful tool that can partner with your on-course data to help measure improvements during practice. I hope that in the next few years costs can come down, but the Rapsodo MLM is not high priced compared to some of the other units that it is competing against considering the accuracy of the results.
Conclusion (TL;DR):
Rapsodo has an absolute hit with the MLM unit and slick operating iPhone/iPad app. It works well in most conditions, and if you know where it doesn’t work well you can generally avoid setting it up that way. I’m not sure there is a more accurate unit available in its price bracket, and while I’d like to see either a reduced annual subscription fee, or more features for the base plan, I can see that Rapsodo is putting the money into R&D as the new INSIGHTS platform is a welcome addition to post-practice analysis.
Overall, I like it, but I don’t love it. However I think it will be a very useful tool for my future practice sessions and I’m excited to see if I can improve my game a little bit from the insights analysis and my on-course tracking during normal rounds. Insights is a massive release for analyzing your practice sessions and I also feel that many of my issues with it can be address via software updates. I am confident that the folks over at Rapsodo are working hard to stay ahead of the competition with constant improvement and updates.
B. Boston’s Final Score: 83!