Indoor sim for practice on a budget

[elight]

I think I want to finally put together a basic indoor setup for practice in my garage. Primary use is practice, not sim play. Space is tight, as I do want to continue to park my car in the garage, so the front of my car needs to fit inside the net and park on top of the mat; the launch monitor would need to be set up in place each time, so being able to set it up and align it quickly is critical.

I'm thinking of a budget around $2,000, which would include the launch monitor (new or used), mat, net and a tablet (which I would wall-mount on a swing-arm). I think this means my options are the Garmin R10, Rapsodo MLM2Pro, and a used original Skytrak.

I'm worried about the radar-dependent R10 in a shortish indoor environment, following my prior experience with a Mevo+. The R10 does have club data, but I think I can live without it (I'm not at the point of dialing it in to where the specific numbers matter so much, and I'll know what my path and face generally are based on the shot trajectory). I do use a Garmin watch and it would be nice to integrate to the Garmin platform, but not critical.

The MLM2Pro checks off a lot of boxes, and the fact that it calculates spin using the cameras and not the radar gives me more confidence in its ability in this environment.

The Skytrak is the tried-and-true. The benefits of a fully camera-based system in an indoor environment are attractive to me, even if it is old and slow and doesn't have some of the software bells and whistles of the others.

Any thoughts or experiences, especially in a shortish indoor environment, would be greatly appreciated.

[G0al3d]

Seems like the Skytrak would be the best option on limited space since its primarily optical, however if your swing speed isn't crazy high and your aren't hitting driver the others should do fine in limited space. Usually the radar based systems fall apart in smaller spaces when it doesn't have time to pick up the ball with the longer clubs.  

[barney_bogey]

My setup is less than a week old. My biggest complaint is not being young enough to hit add many balls as I'm able these days. It takes a while to get comfortable swinging at full speed.

It helps you think more between shots, looking over the data. I went with the MLM. Don't want to have to mess with covering my refrigerator or not being able to use a fan.

Solid start. I think awesome golf will be a great addition. The software is meh at best.

Ball dots get here in the next week or two. I hope that helps with ball wear. These 3 RPT balls are taking a beating.

Best of luck on your build.

B

[elight]

Thank you. This is similar to what my setup would be, hitting toward the back of the garage. Only difference is I have a 2-door garage, so I have tracks down the middle in addition to the sides. But since they only come halfway back, I think I should be good, as I'm more concerned with the follow through (which will be past the tracks) than the backswing which is shallower. 

Any issues or general feedback on your MLM2Pro? It seems amazing for the price. How is the built-in range/practice software? 

[elight]

I pulled the trigger and ordered an MLM2Pro, a GoSports Elite net, a GoSports premium hitting mat, and an Android tablet. All in, about $1,400. Would be hard to do it for less. Can always add the optional GoSports impact screen and a projector later on if I want.

Got the MLM2Pro today (mat and tablet arriving tomorrow, net next week), and had to give it a go. Pulled out of old (very bad) hitting mat, and my old net that hangs from the garage door tracks. I've only ever used them to hit foam golf balls. Turns out the garage door really needs to be open when hitting real golf balls given the stopping distance. Oops. Thankfully no damage done. Just chipped a few to test it out, as I'm not comfortable making a full swing in that direction (new net will be on back wall and there will be fewer overhead obstacles).

Initial setup was pretty straightforward, although there is definitely a bug right now where it keeps generating new e-mail activation codes every time you switch between the app and your e-mail. Solved the problem by accessing e-mail from a different device. Had trouble with the local wi-fi connection which might be my own issue with the signal in the garage. The direct connection worked just fine.

Have to figure out if practice vs. range makes more sense for me right now. At the range, you can see a whole bunch of different metrics on the screen, whereas in practice mode, you are limited to three (four on a tablet). Really like the down-the-line video playback, as I know I need to video myself when practicing but am always too lazy to do it. Planning to set up tablet on wall in a position such that it can take the front-on view. Impact camera is also pretty cool. I'm concerned about the lighting in the garage, but I can always swap on the single light bulb in the ceiling for a more robust fixture.

Initial impression is that there are definitely some bugs to work out, or some seemingly easy feature requests that would greatly improve this. One thing I couldn't get working was the video export feature, got an error every time. Will wait to see if it's the same problem on a different device. Tomorrow, I'm going to take it and compare it to the Wiz-I launch monitor I have access to. I think that the Wiz-I is very accurate with ball speed, but I am guessing that the MLM2Pro is actually going to be more accurate with launch angle and spin. I also have a set of RPT ball dots on the way.