Optishot or P3proswing

[skihippy]

Good morning all spyers,

 

Its christmas time and daddy has been a good boy. I bought the wife a new car and a new house for the family. So instead of the wife being nice to me she just decided to tell me that I could buy whatever I wanted for Christmas.

 

So here is my question, which is better for me to practice on to be able to help my game in the future?

 

Any and all experience's are welcome!!!!!

 

Thanks for your input

[hckymeyer]

I don't own either one, but have played on both. I actually helped build a simulator for my buddies dad two years ago and he put in the P3, so I do have experience with that one. I've also been looking at both units recently, but haven't pulled the trigger on one yet.

 

Here is what I've come up with so far. The Optishot is not as accurate, but much cheaper in the long run. It's more of a fun experience and a place to get a rough idea of how you're doing. Pretty fun and better than pounding balls into a net, but not necessarily the tool I would use to start correcting your swing.

 

The P3 is much more accurate, but also more expensive. I know it seems like it's only $200 bucks more, but that package doesn't include a lot of the software and courses. That's where they get you on the price. The P3 also requires you to tape some of your clubs. I had to tape my driver and woods for it to register properly. Most irons seems to be ok, but anything with a black or dark colored sole will need the tape.

 

The other thing to keep in mind with either unit, is that if you buy just the sensor that won't include a hitting mat, cage, or impact screen. Not to mention the computer and projector if you don't already have them.

 

The more you can "do-it-yourself" with the build the less it will cost, but even though the sensor units are $400 and $600, expect to be in the ballpark of a couple grand (without PC and projector) to actually have a working sim.

 

All that being said, I would go with the P3 if you actually want to work on your swing and figure out what's going on. If you just want something to play around with and get a rough idea of how your ball goes, then the Optishot should work out fine.

 

MGS also did a review of the Optishot

 

Optishot Review

 

Let us know which one you go with and don't forget to come back with a review!!

[Blade]

I've had an Optishot for a couple of years. It's good to play around with especially with my 8 yr old son. It's very limited though. You can totally whiff the ball and it won't know. Count on taping your clubs. For sure the driver. But I have player's clubs with reasonably reflective soles that "should" work. For some reason though, it reads them as coming through wide open. Like 20+ degrees sometimes! I can purposely hook the crap out of it with the face so closed the ball goes dead left into the net, and it will still say I sliced it. Now, I know it would stop doing that if I taped my irons. I really don't want to mess with that on my good set. I might tape an old set just to use through this winter on it. But then I don't like the idea of getting used to something that feels completely different than what I play either. So just plan on taping them one way or another and it will read them fairly well.

 

The other limiting factor it has is only having two rows of sensors. The sensors are 7 inches apart, which is too much, and the second is 4-1/2" past the ball position. That creates a problem for calculating swing path and speed.

 

For one thing, in a good swing, the club will come back to the inside right past the ball. (There is no point in the swing where the path turns into a straight line, especially to cross two sensors seven inches apart.) Optishot tends to read that as an out to in swing even when it's not, especially with the driver where you play it forward in your stance.

 

The second issue having only two sensors creates is the speed calc. There is a collision that happens between the two sensors that obviously slows the club head down compared to the same swing with no ball. They calculate that by entering the weight of the club head in whatever set you tell it you're playing. It does a reasonable job of overcoming that limitation. However they say you can use a real ball, the foam practice balls, or no ball. There is a setting to toggle between those choices at the bottom of the screen. You would think they would have taken the ball weight out of the calculation when you select "No Ball", but they didn't. So a swing that would read say, 105 mph with a ball reads 130 or more with no ball. Not a big deal, but that's what it does.

 

If they had two rows of sensors BEFORE the ball to read path and speed, those readings would be far more accurate. If I remember right, the P3 does this.

 

I posted some pictures of my setup you can check out. http://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/7531-indoor-golf-cage/

I built a platform to put me at the same level as the swing pad. I upgraded the mat that covers it so it's not so hard on your irons if you take a bit of a divot. It's still tough on them though. It can make you tend to sweep the ball to avoid that which isn't what you want when you play. I think you would have the same issue with either unit. Just something to have in the back of your mind so you don't put a bad habit in your swing from playing it.

 

They make some great stance pads for Optishot and I imagine the P3 too. One lets you slip the unit underneath into a pocket pre-made for it with slots for the sensors. It makes a nice setup, but I think it costs more than the unit. What I built was far cheaper of course.

 

The one BIG thing I would recommend is to "BUILD" a custom set of clubs that matches your own. It has several that come with it, but you'll have better success creating one that matches your own. You enter not only the club numbers, but lie, loft, length and weight too if I remember right. That weight reading is what it has to have to be reasonably accurate in the speed reading. When you're playing, it will suggest a club based on the distances you put for each one. But if you decide to hit a different one, don't forget to change it on the screen first because it of course has no idea what the ball really does. It's all calculated.

 

For the money, it's hard to beat. Tape your clubs, be aware of the lighting and shadows in the room, and you'll get reasonable results and have fun with it. It has some value for practice. It will give you some idea of swing path and face angle compared to just hitting into a net, but with the limitations I mentioned. The other thing it has no idea of is angle of attack. So for launch angle it's relying on the loft of the club you tell it you're using. It won't know if you hit a punch shot or a high shot. Again you can tell it that's what you're doing for a particular shot, but it won't know if you pulled it off for real.

 

Oh, just remembered one more thing that bugs. It calculates the starting direction of the ball based on the path and the curve based on the face angle, which I think everyone realizes by now is not right. I sent them a support request asking if they would be changing that and they had nothing planned to correct it. They just came out with an update which I haven't installed or tried yet. It sounded like it added some nice features. I don't think they addressed that particular issue based on what they previously told me. But there were some nice improvements in the update it sounds like. I should mention their customer support has been good also.

[Matt Saternus]

I think these two guys hit the nail on the head: the Optishot is a lot of fun and it's very reasonably price, but it's not a tool for dialing in your swing. I have no experience with the P3, so I can't say anything about that. One other option might be getting the Optishot for fun, but getting a Swing Smart for more swing tuning. Obviously that jacks the price up, but I think the Swing Smart is a really nice device for the money and it delivers good feedback.

[Firstkart]

I have the optishot setup in the shed and is great for a bit of fun with my kids but is too inconsistent to be considered a true indication of your swing.

 

AJ

[skihippy]

See this is what I was afraid of I want something as real as it can be. I want to have fun but not at the cost of ruining my swing. I would like to improve not get worse.

[Blade]

See this is what I was afraid of I want something as real as it can be. I want to have fun but not at the cost of ruining my swing. I would like to improve not get worse.

I hear you. I would like "real as can be too", but I don't have $30-50k to spend on a "toy". For the money, Optishot is pretty good. But it is what it is. It's a lot better and more fun than playing golf on a Wi or something. But to use as a launch monitor to give you real data on your swing or to compare equipment? No way. I wouldn't go so far as to say it would ruin your swing though. Hitting off a mat of any kind, even at a practice range, requires adjustments with irons compared to hitting off the turf unless you're one who picks it clean without taking divots anyway.

[Par2Pro]

Hey All,

 

I have personally been using both systems for about 7 years and have been selling both systems for about 5 years.

 

The other posts here are great and pretty much the feedback that I get from my customers.

 

However, it comes down to expectations...

you generally get what you pay for in the simulator industry, so if you expect a system under $1,000 to be as accurate as the professional setups which cost anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000, then you will be disappointed.

 

That being said if you expect the system to be entertaining and allow you to swing indoors for the times when you can't outdoors, then the Optishot is a great system for the money.

 

If you want more accurate feedback on the club and be able to use all of your own clubs, then the P3ProSwing would be a better choice.

 

Neither system directly measures the ball (although there is a Launch angle option on the P3Pro), so the ball flight is calculated based on the club's readings and club selection in the software.

 

As far as the software is concerned, P3Pro's Premium Course software has the advantages of better graphics and more features; while the Optishot offers FREE core courses as they become available.

 

Hope that helps, you can also check out a quick compare and more details here:

http://www.par2pro.com/compare.php

 

 

Happy Golfing,

Cory