2020 Official Member Review: Exputt putting simulator

[yungkory]

19 hours ago, PMookie said:

Here we go with info about aiming and using the remote.

 

I need this on the actual golf course. I don't think I would've ever aimed 8' to the right with a 20-something degree angle to the cup, that's crazy and it's no wonder I suck!

12 minutes ago, gavinski91 said:

Gavinski91's EXPUTT Review Introduction

Well I’m a full week behind the rest of the testers due to a vacation I had already planned with my wife, but I think getting away from the busyness of work and life and spending some time surfing and laying on the beach was the refresh I needed to attack this test with gusto!

Since I’m new to the forums I’ll take some time here to introduce myself! My name is Gavin, and I’m from the far northwest of Washington State (literally right on the border). And although I do ski, the nickname predates that! I definitely don’t have the same amount of experience that some of the other testers have (looking at their intros, some of them have been golfing regularly for longer than I’ve been alive!) but I think I have a background that might resonate with quite a few forum members.

I first swung a golf club in the late 90s, when my dad had the local golf shop cut down his old wood-headed driver and an old putter to a length that worked for an undersized 8-year-old and took me to the local driving range and mini-golf course. However, it wasn’t until 2016, when I had finished my undergrad and graduate degrees and had a full-time job, that I started getting serious about golf. Between those times my sports focus was mainly on baseball and ice hockey, which allowed me to develop swing mechanics and strength that, although perhaps not entirely traditional, translated well to golf.

I could go into detail about my handicap (20.7), swing tempo (high), etc., but to be completely honest I don’t think that information is relevant to a putting test. If we go back to my hockey roots, hitting a driver off the tee or an iron on an approach shot is like a slapshot or wrist shot in a game situation. Putting, however, is more like the fan during the intermission trying to score from center ice into a small slot in a barrier at the goal to win a new car – the mechanics are different, and strength and form don’t matter. The only relevant thing is being able to get the shot on the correct line with sufficient power.

When it comes to putting, my biggest strength has always been being able to read the correct line. My process is usually crouching back behind the ball and imagining the full path that the ball will need to take, starting at the cup and working back to where my ball is. This allows me to determine my starting line, and if I can hit that line I can be pretty confident about having a really good chance of holing the putt. The issue for me has always been consistently hitting the starting line for my putt path of choice and having the proper speed on the putt, which for me has been 90% about feel and maybe 10% about stroke/backswing length. I typically average 3.5 three-putts per round (median of 3), and over my last 5 rounds my putts/GIR is a half stroke worse than my putts/hole, so obviously lag putting is a weakness. This is where I think the EXPUTT has the biggest opportunity to help me improve.

Other testers have already gone into detail about the packaging and unboxing, so I’ll skip that. I will say that the branding is excellent, with a few smaller touches that are really nice, like having the camera and the shock absorber share some visual elements.

Disappointingly, some of the components right out of the box looked and felt cheap. The power adapter in particular looked like it was sourced from the cheapest provider available on AliBaba – the USB port was crooked, the entire unit was bulky and made of low-quality plastic, and nothing about it suggested that it belonged in the same box as a $400 putting simulator.

While the manufacturing and QC on the actual unit was significantly better than the power adapter, both the camera unit and the remote felt too light to be a high-quality piece of technology. While I’m aware that consumers wrongly equate heft with quality, and that many electronics manufacturers add internal metal weights to their products (such as headphones) to give the illusion of quality, it’s hard to get past the perception that a product that is very light must be made of thin, low-quality plastics. For comparison, the remote control from my Samsung soundbar weighs twice as much as the remote from the EXPUTT, even though they are the same size and utilize the same battery. 

Setup of the entire system was very easy for me, although for someone with less tech savvy it may be slightly more difficult, as you may have to navigate your TVs display settings to ensure that the entire display is visible on your screen. The time from when I cut the seal on the box with my pocketknife to my first putt in practice mode was 10 minutes. The menus are all straightforward and easy to navigate, although there are a few features which are named in a way that doesn’t make their purpose obvious. In order to replicate the experience of what I would imagine is most users, I plan to not look at the user manual until the very end of the test.

I’ll leave the more in-depth software critique to @cnosil who is experienced in software testing. I will say that the menus are all straightforward and easy to navigate, although there are a few features which are named in a way that doesn’t make their purpose obvious. The main menu definitely gives the unit a dated feel – it looks like something I would’ve expected 10 years ago. The in-game practice mode screen looks much more modern though, and does a good job of including lots of information without being too intrusive in my opinion.

I’ve only had a few hours with the unit so far, but I will share a major revelation that I had in my first 30 minutes with it: if you can get your putter face to square up to your target line, it doesn’t matter what path the putter head takes to get there. In the below picture you can see that I took an exaggerated out-to-in path with my club, and tried my best to keep the face square. I managed to sink a 10-foot putt with an 11.5° out-to-in club path, and the resulting numbers show that the direction that your putt travels is 95% determined by the face angle at impact, and only 5% by the club path. As a result, I will be focusing my practice moving forward on squaring up the club face, and not worrying about club path – my early practice has shown me that as long as your face angle is less than 0.5° in either direction from the target line, you’ll sink every putt from 10 feet and in.

There will be lots more to come over the next few weeks of testing, so let me know what else you would like to hear from me!
 

Welcome back! Hope you had a nice vacation, now... BACK TO WORK, EXPUTT SLAVE!

[cnosil]

@PMookie you were getting too close so I figured I would throw a new number at you!

[cksurfdude]

7 hours ago, PMookie said:

What? “Master”? I’m only 6 points behind... Awe, “You done it now!”

”What am I, chopped liver?!”

Hah! Dude I love you man! (virtual hi five)

[cksurfdude]

7 hours ago, PMookie said:

From what I heard, the reason they didn’t include this is twofold: 

1. It makes it like a video game

2. Why give the line when there isn’t a line on a course?

The basic reason for Exputt is to help improve on-course performance. If they give the user the line, there really isn’t any skill development, and then it’s just back to rolling “straight putts” in essence. I understand how when we see on tv the “total possible” break accounted for that allows for more or less speed along the line, but with Exputt there is still some need for the user to establish the line properly, not just be given it. In that sense, it would be more like a video game, not a “simulator”....

 

I hear ya .. literally .. but give the user an option to display this overlay or not.

Either way -- you still have to make the putt!

[cksurfdude]

7 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

This is really important and answers a question I was going to ask - whether the simulated lag putt is accurate with on course performance.

For me - yes!! Especially on longer lag putts where I've always struggled.

And I haven't even used it all that much yet!

[cksurfdude]

6 hours ago, cnosil said:

As for on course evaluation I have been stepping off distances ...

Same here! Even tho people look at me funny when I do that .. I tell them I'm evaluating a putting training aid for an online form and then they're like 'whoa dude totally cool'

But seriously I'm trying to do the same calibration to match the putt length.

[cnosil]

12 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

Same here! Even tho people look at me funny when I do that .. I tell them I'm evaluating a putting training aid for an online form and then they're like 'whoa dude totally cool'

But seriously I'm trying to do the same calibration to match the putt length.

It is two fold for me.   I am doing it to help determine stroke length and my golf instructor wants to know first putt distances.  

[PMookie]

16 hours ago, cnosil said:

@PMookie you were getting too close so I figured I would throw a new number at you!

Hmm. That looks like an image that was submitted on Instagram. Hasn’t been validated, so it doesn’t count at this point! How did you do the settings to get all putts within 5 feet?????

 

[JohnSmalls]

On 7/29/2020 at 12:09 PM, PMookie said:

What? “Master”? I’m only 6 points behind... Awe, “You done it now!”

”What am I, chopped liver?!”

After that 282, I'd say you're chopped liver and now late for dinner. 

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, PMookie said:

Hmm. That looks like an image that was submitted on Instagram. Hasn’t been validated, so it doesn’t count at this point! How did you do the settings to get all putts within 5 feet?????

 

 It is all about speed control.    I tried FALL and it is definitely harder.  More slopes and longer putts;  if the speed is off a little the ball will not be close to the hole.  I've hit 230 but it is really tough. 

[cksurfdude]

OK, digging into Challenge mode and...

***

* EDIT: I deleted some text from earlier 'cuz I'm an idiot .. sorta .. your actual golf ball must be in the mat's "ready" zone and THEN the ability to move the on-screen grid .. ie. aim left or right of the hole .. and hints become available... 

***

There are two ways to aim your putt to play the simulated breaks - 1. turn your ball on the mat and putt at an angle .. vs straight ahead as in Practice mode; or 2. use the handheld remote, or your putterhead as a remote .. but only when this feature is active and available, to move what is the "straight ahead" putt to the left or the right of the cup.

Plus... thanks to @cnosil and his many questions to Mo at ExPutt we were sent an email attachment, as a PDF, of pretty useful info that is not a part of the user manual -- this aiming diagram...

[gavinski91]

I was doing some more "testing" (read: putting practice) last night and was really struggling to keep my face angle close to zero (my goal is to never have a face angle greater than 1° in either direction). So I'll have to see if I can figure out what the issue was there - was it a lighting issue with the system struggling to accurately read the face angle, or is my putting getting worse with too much practice time?

And since I'm never happy unless I can "fix" the problem, I'm going out now to buy a new putter grip. Maybe that will solve all my problems!

Either way, the EXPUTT system will give me an easy way to determine if the new grip gives me any improvement. More updates to come!

[cksurfdude]

Challenge mode is definitely a .. ha ha .. challenge! First pass thru I did not use the on-screen "Hint ?" and was generally waaaay under-reading most breaks...

So my initial score was like HALF that of the ExPutt Masters!

 

Briefly... As a player, it is an engaging and dare I say satisfying practice experience; but .. as a tester, I'll have lots to say about what I think can be done a little differently with the on-screen presentation (more on all that later).

 

Next pass thru I'm gonna start with setting the aim as per the "Hint ?" and then focus on speed to what I think is the apex of the putt. Fingers crossed

[PMookie]

Boom!!! Beat THAT!!! 331!

 

[gavinski91]

Need to do some more testing over the weekend to confirm, but I think I discovered a possible issue with the system (technically a user error, but the user would never know).

Since the mat is made of a slightly stretchy, neoprene-type material, it is possible to set up the mat so it is curved, which would confuse the software. I had a few shots last night that according to the markings on the mat were hit just right of the target, but the simulator measured as going left of the cup. I'm going to do some testing with the mat intentionally curved in one direction, then the other, then with it aligned with a straight-edge, to see how much of an impact that has.

[cnosil]

47 minutes ago, gavinski91 said:

Need to do some more testing over the weekend to confirm, but I think I discovered a possible issue with the system (technically a user error, but the user would never know).

Since the mat is made of a slightly stretchy, neoprene-type material, it is possible to set up the mat so it is curved, which would confuse the software. I had a few shots last night that according to the markings on the mat were hit just right of the target, but the simulator measured as going left of the cup. I'm going to do some testing with the mat intentionally curved in one direction, then the other, then with it aligned with a straight-edge, to see how much of an impact that has.

Interesting.  After I read this post,  I tried to do the same thing and from my perspective it seems like the system is responding correctly.  I really wasn't able to get an unnoticable bend in the mat either;  it would pop up at the bend location if I get too far.   I have also experimented with angling the mat and that didn't have an impact.  If I turned it too far,  the system prompted to resync the mat.  

[cksurfdude]

1 hour ago, gavinski91 said:

Need to do some more testing over the weekend to confirm, but I think I discovered a possible issue with the system (technically a user error, but the user would never know).

Since the mat is made of a slightly stretchy, neoprene-type material, it is possible to set up the mat so it is curved, which would confuse the software. I had a few shots last night that according to the markings on the mat were hit just right of the target, but the simulator measured as going left of the cup. I'm going to do some testing with the mat intentionally curved in one direction, then the other, then with it aligned with a straight-edge, to see how much of an impact that has.

 

16 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Interesting.  After I read this post,  I tried to do the same thing and from my perspective it seems like the system is responding correctly.  I really wasn't able to get an unnoticable bend in the mat either;  it would pop up at the bend location if I get too far.   I have also experimented with angling the mat and that didn't have an impact.  If I turned it too far,  the system prompted to resync the mat.  

 

Good points about the mat. I'd, ummm, assumed as soon as the mat gets out of position that the cam/system would display a message prompting the user to fix it. There does seem to be some small amount of tolerance in the system.

As I've been putting I've noticed a very slight movement of the mat due to the putterhead brushing along it .. .. and mine is on a berber carpet, not a hardwood floor.

The question about aim vs mat angle is probably worth investigating a bit!

[PMookie]

2 hours ago, cnosil said:

Interesting.  After I read this post,  I tried to do the same thing and from my perspective it seems like the system is responding correctly.  I really wasn't able to get an unnoticable bend in the mat either;  it would pop up at the bend location if I get too far.   I have also experimented with angling the mat and that didn't have an impact.  If I turned it too far,  the system prompted to resync the mat.  

In talking with Mo, the mat doesn’t have to be straight-on from the camera. He said it can be at an angle. I haven’t tried it yet, though. I have had the ball take-off when doing a practice stroke, and when my daughter walked by. 

[cksurfdude]

Just an FYI about incidence of 3-putts on the PGA Tour ...

Saw this in a Golf mag newsletter; Scott Fawcett many of you know from his DECADE system and Lou Stagner collects and analyzes PGA Tour stats (from Shot Link, I think)...

One interesting thing is how quickly the Make % drops after TWO feet!!

[cnosil]

26 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

Just an FYI about incidence of 3-putts on the PGA Tour ...

Saw this in a Golf mag newsletter; Scott Fawcett many of you know from his DECADE system and Lou Stagner collects and analyzes PGA Tour stats (from Shot Link, I think)...

One interesting thing is how quickly the Make % drops after TWO feet!!

I thought this one was interesting as well.  Make percentage by inch.   

[cnosil]

2 hours ago, PMookie said:

In talking with Mo, the mat doesn’t have to be straight-on from the camera. He said it can be at an angle. I haven’t tried it yet, though. I have had the ball take-off when doing a practice stroke, and when my daughter walked by. 

I registered some putts when my foot went across the mat.  

[Xfactor]

I recently acquired an EXPUTT and really enjoying it so far.

Have you had any misreads in your testing, as in you take a practice stroke next to the ball, without touching the ball and EXPUTT records it as put? 

This happened to me a half dozen times tonight.  It doesn't happen every time with a practice stroke but it happens.  I assumed EXPUTT recorded head and ball data independently, but it appears the head data has an effect on the ball data?  Any thoughts?

 

[cnosil]

32 minutes ago, Xfactor said:

I recently acquired an EXPUTT and really enjoying it so far.

Have you had any misreads in your testing, as in you take a practice stroke next to the ball, without touching the ball and EXPUTT records it as put? 

This happened to me a half dozen times tonight.  It doesn't happen every time with a practice stroke but it happens.  I assumed EXPUTT recorded head and ball data independently, but it appears the head data has an effect on the ball data?  Any thoughts?

 

I don't take a practice swing but I will do some experimenting.  What putter are you using?     

Can you explain what you mean by recording head data and ball data independently and that the head data has an effect on ball data???     When there isn't enough light on the mat,  I often only get ball data and no club data.   They could be measured independently and confirmed against each other.  Not really sure what you are asking. 

[cnosil]

The other seasons are definitely tougher.  They require more precise line and speed control because the pin positions are near slopes so if it is a little fast or a little slow the ball ends up way short or way long.    FALL is the same level that ExPutt used for their IG contest that was won with a score of 255; the 231 was really a tough score to achieve;  most of my FALL sessions are in the 215-230 range with a few "FAILS"

Been using the tougher levels to evaluate if you can use the ExPutt to work on green reading skills.   Full report on Challenge mode coming in the next day or so.  

[PMookie]

Tried again tonight and came up short of my best score so far. I actually holed more putts, overall, but fewer one-putts were “conceded”. I had about 8 holes in-a-row over 30’ with significant slopes! They threw some tough ones at me tonight! Jeez!!! I actually had a 12’ break at one point, downhill! Crazy.

 

[PMookie]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

The other seasons are definitely tougher.  They require more precise line and speed control because the pin positions are near slopes so if it is a little fast or a little slow the ball ends up way short or way long.    FALL is the same level that ExPutt used for their IG contest that was won with a score of 255; the 231 was really a tough score to achieve;  most of my FALL sessions are in the 215-230 range with a few "FAILS"

Been using the tougher levels to evaluate if you can use the ExPutt to work on green reading skills.   Full report on Challenge mode coming in the next day or so.  

I tried winter for 2 holes, and after every putt was up a ridge, down a ridge, along the side of a ridge, and putts came back 9-10 feet, I shut it off. Crazy.

[cksurfdude]

12 hours ago, Xfactor said:

Have you had any misreads in your testing, as in you take a practice stroke next to the ball, without touching the ball and EXPUTT records it as put?

Hmmm. I haven't, but then I've made it a point to be careful after I set the ball on the ready zone .. any practice strokes are off the mat.

A misread obviously will skew your total putting data (and there's no delete last shot function).

[PMookie]

I had taken my putting mat out of the closet and laid down my SeeMore SPi putting mirror on it last night and hit about 75 putts, working on just the takeaway along the “natural arc” line that’s on the mirror. I decided to try that on the Exputt tonight in Practice mode. It worked for distance, but it didn’t give any face or path angle numbers. It was still beneficial for distance, and my putts were scattered like normal, so it did read speed of the head coming through the ball. I had to push the mirror back a bit so it wasn’t covering the white lines on the mat. Here’s a pic.

 

[cksurfdude]

Running thru another Challenge; past few days got a bit busy so this is only the second time using it for me, but doing much better than the first attempt!

 

[cnosil]

On 7/31/2020 at 9:43 PM, Xfactor said:

I recently acquired an EXPUTT and really enjoying it so far.

Have you had any misreads in your testing, as in you take a practice stroke next to the ball, without touching the ball and EXPUTT records it as put? 

This happened to me a half dozen times tonight.  It doesn't happen every time with a practice stroke but it happens.  I assumed EXPUTT recorded head and ball data independently, but it appears the head data has an effect on the ball data?  Any thoughts?

 

Experimented with this today.   As long as the putter is swung outside the ball zone I didn't have an issue with the system recording a stroke.  When the putter got about 1/4 to 1/2 way into the zone it would pick it up.