Optishot Orbit Initial Review

[Dennisavery]

I finally received the new Optishot "Orbit" this past Friday and spent some time on the simulator yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon. For those of you who are not familiar with the Optishot "Orbit", it was originally going to be an upgrade of the Optishot 2 technology with a lot of new bells and whistles. However, due to some difficulties, they opted to team with VoiceCaddie and are using their Orion Software with the VoiceCaddie SC4 and calling the combination the "Orbit".

I received the unit this past Friday and finally had time to test out the driving range and played 9 holes on the Austrian Course yesterday afternoon. I wanted to provide my initial thoughts on my experience.

First, a little background. Another user in a Reddit post indicated the Orion Software was reporting a difference of 20 yards on a 150 yard shot from the SC4 (SC4 = 150 vs 130 on Orion).

I am seeing differences between the SC4 and the Orion Software, but not to the extent he is. The Orion Software is reporting consistently shorter distances, but only by a few yards. On one occasion, it actually calculated the distance farther than the SC4 (with my 3 Wood), by about 15 yards. That is the only one I caught. Roughly 50% of the time, the distances were off only a few yards - but not enough for concern.

The Optishot 2 would calculate spin and would simulate my shot shape. Sometimes it was severe (i.e. I rarely draw and never hook the ball in real life but the Optishot 2 would calculate about 20% of my swings as severe hooks), but the majority of the time it looked fairly close to my normal shot.

Every shot on the Orion, however, is dead straight. The MEVO+ simulator at my club shows my shot shape fairly accurately, both fades and draws. I cannot get the Orion software to pick up a fade or a draw. It does pick up the original ball direction, but treats it as either a straight pull or block. I think I was expecting to get a higher level of accuracy from the "Orbit".

In all of my swings on both the practice range and the 9 holes I played, it only missed one swing. I was impressed with that, since the Optishot 2 would miss three or four swings every 9 holes.

As far as distances between the MEVO+ and the SC4/Orion (Orbit), the distances seem to track fairly close, so I can't complain there.

Finally, before I played the 9 holes on the first course, I thought I would try out the putting practice module. To my consternation, I could not get the SC4/Orbit to pick up my putts. Which begs the question, why offer a putting module if it does not work?

I am hoping that both VoiceCaddie and Optishot are committed to improving the Orbit experience. It should not take much of an effort to improve the accuracy of the SC4 and Orion software to the point that it provides the user with a more realistic experience. Both the SC4 and the Orion Software have the capability of offering software upgrades. I will keep everyone here up-to-date.

DAB