2020 Official Member Review: Exputt putting simulator

[Golfspy_CG2]

3 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

Great videos @cnosil! It looks like something you could get lost in and spends a LOT of time doing. How many different green setups does the Exputt come loaded with? 

P.S. With calves like that, I expect you to putt like Phil. 

I'm sure as we get into the challenge mode you'll get a great answer to your question.   But a cliff note answer is.  
Challenge Mode.  See my screen shot above with the score of 162.
 

You putt from 3 different locations on a each hole 1-9.   Anywhere from 10 feet to 40 plus feet.  You get 3 chances from each spot to either make the putt or have it conceded, inside 3 feet.  
 

Alot more to come on that mode.  I see jt potentially being the most used mode.  Although Play is very fun as well.  

[cnosil]

3 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Alot more to come on that mode.  I see jt potentially being the most used mode.  Although Play is very fun as well.  

I don't know,  I tried the play mode but I am loving practice mode.  Been working on 20 feet and in;  straight putt which works on distance control and face angle at impact.  Will probably replace my ruler and gates.  Switched TVs as well.  Went from my big screen to a 30 inch.   I wanted to watch some of the golf so I had to bring down another set to practice while I watch. 

 

[Golfspy_CG2]

1 minute ago, cnosil said:

I don't know,  I tried the play mode but I am loving practice mode.  Been working on 20 feet and in;  straight putt which works on distance control and face angle at impact.  Will probably replace my ruler and gates.  Switched TVs as well.  Went from my big screen to a 30 inch.   I wanted to watch some of the golf so I had to bring down another set to practice while I watch. 

 

Well playing with yourself is not as fun as playing with someone else

[Golfspy_CG2]

The great thing about EXPutt is it has many different aspects.  Unlike a driver where all we won't to know is does it hit it far and straight.  
 

So we won't to try to keep this review as easy as possible for you all to understand the different elements of it.   

So starting next week we'll be tackleing the three modes individually.  And focusing on them on at a time.  Now we may stray a time or two but will make sure each mode gets its own full review. 

In the meantime feel free to ask questions about the setup initial thoughts etc.  

 

 

 

[cksurfdude]

Fortunately between my wife's three kids there are extra large screen TVs sitting collecting dust in our basement, so I was able to carve out a putting area with its own monitor! .. ie. not shared in a family room .. so the 4ft supplied cord is plenty for my setup.

Possibly future versions of the cam hardware may incorporate WiFi and maybe Bluetooth?

[TBT]

This definitely looks like fun but I could see where you could go down a “rabbit hole” with all the data provided. I can’t wait to see if this device actually translates to fewer putts on the course.


Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

[cksurfdude]

1 hour ago, TBT said:

I can’t wait to see if this device actually translates to fewer putts on the course.

You and me both, bruthah!

[cnosil]

25 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

You and me both, bruthah!

I think we all are!

[cnosil]

As @Golfspy_CG2 indicated above,  there is a lot to this training aid and based on comments in the tester private messages we are all going in different directions so some level or organization was needed.   Were starting with initial setup and operation.   I posted a video a little back that showed how quickly this can be setup.  It is basically plug in the camera,  roll out the mat and turn it on.  You move the mat or adjust the camera height to sync the mat with the camera.     Here are a few photos to show a little but more about setup and the equipment.  

Connecting the Camera:  There are 2 cables to plug in.  An HDMI cable and a power cable.  

I am sure people are curious about the mat.  it is 40" x 12" so it doesn't require much space.   The mat is about 1/4" thick and a rubbery type material.  As you can see in the picture,  it does pick up cat hair.   You will need a fairly level surface;  my room slants a little and the ball does roll a bit.  The ball hits into a spongy type material which acts a silencer when the ball impacts.

Once you power on the system boots up (about 20-30 second) and then you are prompted to verify the that the mat has been recognized.  If you have lighting issues,  the system will display a message in the blue box on the right.  

From a settings perspective you can control background music (music and nature sounds),  automatic power off, size of the hole (2 sizes regulation and  5.9"),, distance (meter, yards, feet), and player dexterity.  

 

From out of the box to practicing your putt you are only looking at about 5 minutes.   

 

[Golfspy_CG2]

3 hours ago, cnosil said:

As @Golfspy_CG2 indicated above,  there is a lot to this training aid and based on comments in the tester private messages we are all going in different directions so some level or organization was needed.   Were starting with initial setup and operation.   I posted a video a little back that showed how quickly this can be setup.  It is basically plug in the camera,  roll out the mat and turn it on.  You move the mat or adjust the camera height to sync the mat with the camera.     Here are a few photos to show a little but more about setup and the equipment.  

Connecting the Camera:  There are 2 cables to plug in.  An HDMI cable and a power cable.  

I am sure people are curious about the mat.  it is 40" x 12" so it doesn't require much space.   The mat is about 1/4" thick and a rubbery type material.  As you can see in the picture,  it does pick up cat hair.   You will need a fairly level surface;  my room slants a little and the ball does roll a bit.  The ball hits into a spongy type material which acts a silencer when the ball impacts.

Once you power on the system boots up (about 20-30 second) and then you are prompted to verify the that the mat has been recognized.  If you have lighting issues,  the system will display a message in the blue box on the right.  

From a settings perspective you can control background music (music and nature sounds),  automatic power off, size of the hole (2 sizes regulation and  5.9"),, distance (meter, yards, feet), and player dexterity.  

 

From out of the box to practicing your putt you are only looking at about 5 minutes.   

 

Well I read the instructions pamphlet so it wasa total of about 20 minutes for me

Great job on the pics and setup process. 

[cnosil]

10 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Well I read the instructions pamphlet so it wasa total of about 20 minutes for me

Great job on the pics and setup process. 

I followed typical the stupid male model and just started plugging things in.  Instruction Manuals are a last resort....I have now entered instruction manual mode to learn more about how the product actually works.  

[cnosil]

This thing is way too addicting and informational......Doing some putter testing

 

 

[JohnSmalls]

On 7/16/2020 at 2:06 PM, cnosil said:

Uploaded a couple of videos to youtube to show time to setup and a putt to show what is captured.   Sorry for the quality and lack of editing;  I set it up really quickly during a break in a class I am taking

Setup

Putt Capture (at least I made the putt !)

 

 

 

Initial thoughts are  I really think it will help someone’s putting

My negatives at this point are:

• The micro HDMI cable. I have a ton of HMDI cables but if I need more distance it means I have to buy another cable or adapter.
• Lighting requirements. The room I will be using this in isn’t very bright but what I would consider adequate. Going to have to move in some additional lamps to use this in the evening. I had many putts where the path wasn’t displayed and at this point I am assuming that is a lighting issue.  We even saw this during my setup video.
• On my TV the edges of the screen are cut off and I am missing some of the data. I am going to try some more tv/monitors to see if I have the same problem or try and see if I can tweak some tv settings.  Here is a large picture that shows the slight loss of information on the left and right. 

• Wish there was last network capability so we could play against each other.

Other than potential lighting issues and the some of the screen being cutoff it seems like a great product.

Lots if thinks I want to experiment with but initial impression is that this will be something I use long term.

Thank you!  I’m afraid I’m going to like this system more than you guys by the time you finish the test .  
 

How easy is it to switch dexterity mid practice/game?

[cnosil]

26 minutes ago, JohnSmalls said:

How easy is it to switch dexterity mid practice/game?

To switch dexterity,   you have to go back to the settings menu which requires you to exit the mode you are playing.  When setting up for a game with multiple players it asks what each players dexterity.  

[Golfspy_CG2]

The guys have been a bit quiet in this thread the past couple days at my request. 

This product is unlike anything we have tested before and has several different modes.  I  want to make sure each one gets a full review and you  all get a clear understanding of everything it does without us jumping from mode to mode.

So to recap there are 3 modes:

• Practice
• Challenge
• Play 9

Starting tomorrow and through next week the testers will be focusing primarily on Practice mode. This is the mode that you guys who geek out on path/clubface/speed roatation etc will geek out on.

They will also be participating in a challnge against each other for the week.

Whichever tester has the most putts in one session,  will win a price.   We'll make it interactice for you all as well.  Guess which tesster wil have the most putts in one session and list him and the number of putts you think he will have.  One note, Gaviniski will be on a preplaneed trip so he may not have a chane to get in on this contest.  

 

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

7 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

The guys have been a bit quiet in this thread the past couple days at my request. 

This product is unlike anything we have tested before and has several different modes.  I  want to make sure each one gets a full review and you  all get a clear understanding of everything it does without us jumping from mode to mode.

So to recap there are 3 modes:

• Practice
• Challenge
• Play 9

Starting tomorrow and through next week the testers will be focusing primarily on Practice mode. This is the mode that you guys who geek out on path/clubface/speed roatation etc will geek out on.

They will also be participating in a challnge against each other for the week.

Whichever tester has the most putts in one session,  will win a price.   We'll make it interactice for you all as well.  Guess which tesster wil have the most putts in one session and list him and the number of putts you think he will have.  One note, Gaviniski will be on a preplaneed trip so he may not have a chane to get in on this contest.  

 

This will be great! Can’t wait to see some competition in this

[sirchunksalot]

18 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

The guys have been a bit quiet in this thread the past couple days at my request. 

This product is unlike anything we have tested before and has several different modes.  I  want to make sure each one gets a full review and you  all get a clear understanding of everything it does without us jumping from mode to mode.

So to recap there are 3 modes:

• Practice
• Challenge
• Play 9

Starting tomorrow and through next week the testers will be focusing primarily on Practice mode. This is the mode that you guys who geek out on path/clubface/speed roatation etc will geek out on.

They will also be participating in a challnge against each other for the week.

Whichever tester has the most putts in one session,  will win a price.   We'll make it interactice for you all as well.  Guess which tesster wil have the most putts in one session and list him and the number of putts you think he will have.  One note, Gaviniski will be on a preplaneed trip so he may not have a chane to get in on this contest.  

 

How many attempts will each tester get to try to make during this session? 

[gavinski91]

23 minutes ago, sirchunksalot said:

How many attempts will each tester get to try to make during this session? 

The challenge isn't for putts made, but putts attempted. So basically who is going to grind out the longest practice session attempting the exact same putt over and over 

[sirchunksalot]

6 minutes ago, gavinski91 said:

The challenge isn't for putts made, but putts attempted. So basically who is going to grind out the longest practice session attempting the exact same putt over and over 

Gotcha!

It's going to be a difficult decision on who to go with and decide who's going to be able to grind it out that long. 

[Golfspy_CG2]

1 hour ago, sirchunksalot said:

Gotcha!

It's going to be a difficult decision on who to go with and decide who's going to be able to grind it out that long. 

It wouldn't be any fun if it was easy now would it.  

[sirchunksalot]

1 minute ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

It wouldn't be any fun if it was easy now would it.  

True that, trying to figure out who to pick is going to take a lot of consideration. I like everyone here, so choosing is going to be hard. It should be fun to see who does it and how long they're willing to spend on the Exputt. 

[Golfspy_CG2]

Just now, sirchunksalot said:

True that, trying to figure out who to pick is going to take a lot of consideration. I like everyone here, so choosing is going to be hard. It should be fun to see who does it and how long they're willing to spend on the Exputt. 

Remember I'm a participant as well in this one. And it's going to be 100 degrees here Monday and Tuesday.  Just sayin

[cnosil]

43 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Remember I'm a participant as well in this one. And it's going to be 100 degrees here Monday and Tuesday.  Just sayin

Some of us have to work!

[Golfspy_CG2]

15 hours ago, cnosil said:

Some of us have to work!

So do I.  My work just happens to be a bit different than yours.  

If course I'm not participating for the prize.  Besides I'm sure a couple of you will easily out "work me" 

[cksurfdude]

So I was away over the weekend .. played 9 Saturday .. thinking about how I need to seriously dig into Practice mode with the ExPutt .. got back and took care of some things around the house .. and now just about to go down into the basement, and .... area-wide power outage......!

[fixyurdivot]

I just did a quick read on the thread trying to catch up... dayuuum we've got a lot of testing going on!!   My bad if this question has already been asked/answered, but how realistic is the mode that simulates contoured greens... and how does this work?  

Practice 2

You can choose one of the four 9-hole courses and practice putting towards a hole. In this mode, you are able to practice and refine your sense of distance as well as practice putting in a sloped green. Read the slope of the green using the movement of water drops moving through the grid. Comparing your target line and what the program recommends is also a good practice.

[fixyurdivot]

8 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

So I was away over the weekend .. played 9 Saturday .. thinking about how I need to seriously dig into Practice mode with the ExPutt .. got back and took care of some things around the house .. and now just about to go down into the basement, and .... area-wide power outage......!

Wait until the local power company figures out it was your ExPutt that took the system down .

[cksurfdude]

1 minute ago, fixyurdivot said:

Read the slope of the green using the movement of water drops moving through the grid.

I'll give a quick response without digging into too much detail - the water droplet visualization is also used in two other game sims I've seen; it's meant to mimic on-screen water flowing from high to low on the green.

Yes, looking at the screen it does appear "busy" but, yes, combined with the heat map of green topography it does offer you a read.

Note the relative speed of the droplets corresponds to more/less slope on that part of the green.

[cnosil]

7 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

I just did a quick read on the thread trying to catch up... dayuuum we've got a lot of testing going on!!   My bad if this question has already been asked/answered, but how realistic is the mode that simulates contoured greens... and how does this work?  

Practice 2

You can choose one of the four 9-hole courses and practice putting towards a hole. In this mode, you are able to practice and refine your sense of distance as well as practice putting in a sloped green. Read the slope of the green using the movement of water drops moving through the grid. Comparing your target line and what the program recommends is also a good practice.

I think how realistic it is will depend on the person using the system.   You really haven't missed anything on this mode (also called Challenge) as we haven't started providing feedback.  A decision was made; due to the fact that there are lots of modes of functionality, to step through the system.   Next week is practice 1 and the week after is Challenge mode. 

[cksurfdude]

OK - got through all the setup where I believe I have claim to the Most Time Spent Award  as I...

..read through the whole user manual,
..checked the level of the floor where I was gonna position the mat (have a very slight tilt to the left as you look towards the "hole" - TBD if that affects the roll of the putt...?), 
..checked the total length of the practice area and moved things around,
..tried a few positions of the camera relative to the mat to try to get the clearest view of it when looking from behind the camera,
..put the tv screen on a box to raise it for better viewing,
..measured the camera height off the floor and set the mat at the appropriate distance away as per the user manual,
..turned the camera and tv on to get the system's setup screen and fine-tuned the camera pan and tilt until the all of the mat appeared lined up straight in front of the camera, 
..saw a green rectangular box flash on top of the mat indicating the system components are aligned and arranged within the right height and distance (but did not have to click an "OK" button as indicated in the user manual - system setup screen automatically disappeared), 
..taped down the base of the camera to the stand it's sitting atop and put a marker stick on the floor and taped it to the front foot of the mat to secure this same camera / mat setup for all subsequent practice sessions (ExPutt is in a now-dedicated area in the basement),
..scavenged a reading lamp from another room (and a stand fan, too!),
..stickered up my putter as per the user manual, and .. finally .. got out a new white golf ball.

-- --
Here's a quick pictorial overview of my setup...

..the screenshot with the (non-zero) stats is the first made putt - Lucky #13
-- --

FIRST FEEDBACK COMMENT FOR EXPUTT:
Strongly recommend reading through the user manual first (before unpacking anything); and in fact, there should be a boldly colored, large print flyer visible on top when you open the box with something to the effect of "READ ME FIRST!"

There is a lot of good info within the manual, although another minor comment is that info could be better organized - for example: collect *ALL* of the physical setup parameters and requirements .. including screen rez and where it says to use a white ball .. into a single concise section at the beginning - and (sorry, but..) the English translation could be edited a bit better for the US audience.

Next Step -- program "Setup"...
The remote is pretty simple and the on-screen response to clicks are quick. You can leave the defaults, of course, or - of course as a tester - try out some options:

1. "BGM" - sounds technical but it actually refers to "Back Ground Music" so...
Second feedback comment: just label this "Sound".
.. you may want to turn this Off (random bird / nature noises; control the volume through your tv)

2. Hole Cup Diameter - two options are offered .. 4.25" (regulation) and 5.90" (which is approx +1/3 rd larger)
Third feedback comment: why no smaller hole size option, eg. 2.6" (approx -1/3rd smaller or even a 2" option)?

3. Auto Power On/Off - you can select either, obviously, but ... it does not tell you on-screen what the time parameter is .. that's inside the user manual...
Another Feedback comment: change the "On" option label to say "30 Minutes" (user does not really need to be able to adjust the amount of time).

4. Distance Unit - default is already "Feet" (presumably for US shipments; can select meters or yards)

5. Dexterity - default is Right-handed (which I am)

Then...
Final step: adjust the tv pic mode and size to get the best screen rez / view.

Whew....... OK .. ready to practice!!!

PS:
Some of the info in this post, and in others to follow, will also be incorporated into the final full review (which will go into the "Placeholder" at the beginning of this thread.