Electricspin Launchpad

[Pa Jayhawk]

To give a brief review that I will update in time.
Here is the device.
http://www.electricspin.com/

I have used this for a couple rounds. To put it in perspective, this device is better IMO than the simulators I have played during the winter months at Sam Sneads. It plays just like a simulator. My natural draw reads as a push fade, just as it does on most simulators. At first my wife and I became very frustrated at the launchpad. Over time I found it is very similar to any simulator. To put it into perspective it would have a hard time reading and registering a swing. After toying around with it, I found that you need to put the mouse curser up by the players head and it would read it regular, and every club swing. Otherwise it would have a hard time specifically with chips and pitches. It would read club movements as mouse movements if the curser was around the ball. Once I figured it out and moved the curser up so it would know I was not adjusting the angle it worked fine. I think if you keep it around the ball, it thought you were still trying to adjust the direction.

Is the device accurate in reading your swing?? Not really. Is it a true judge in reading your swing path?? Probably not? Is it fun in being able to play a game during the winter months when the courses are otherwise covered with 10" of snow?? Definately!!!

If you have an otherwise straight swingpath, it will likely be on the money, just as I have found with a simulator

I would not recommend this as a training aid, but if you want to have fun in the winter it is well worth the cost IMO. In a sense it may help my swing because I have a serious Inside~out swing. It reads it as outside~in, yet gives me a good gauge on straightening out my swing. The more I open my stance and try to swing what I would feel to be a natural fade, the closer it comes to a straight swing. This may be just a matter of alignment with the device??

I really wish it would work better with Links 2003, but to get a better gauge on club path you really need to use the Tiger Woods game that came with it as part of the game. It comes with 2006, but I may pick up 2007 to see what it does.

In short, this is a game that allows you to play around during the winter months. It is like a simulator and not like a launch monitor. So my first opinion is that you can have alot of fun, but not really use it as a training aid. As is my opinion with any simulator.

Is it worth the money??? Well, we figure it is equal to Sam Sneads at $40 an hour, and we have already used it for about 5 hours. Do the math.

Again, the big key is if you pick this up, when you set up any shot whether it be a full shot, a chip, pitch, or putt. Put the curser up by the players head, otherwise you will become quite frustrated.

I will update this review, but my initial opinion is that it is well worth the money if you use the Tiger Woods game. If you choose to use Links 2003 it will read every club path as straight.

I mainly used a 6i, and later used a hybrid for all long shots. You need to specify a power sho t for drivers and woods, and for short irons you need to use a shorter club, or take a club less. Towards the end of my last round, I mainly used a 2i hybrid, a 7i for all irons, and my GW for pitching and chipping, then the putter is fairly accurate.

edit 1 - the ball that comes with it seems to work O.K. My wife uses it, I am still leary I will put it through a window, so I just swing at a point on the mat or use a foam ball. I also already remove the tee that comes with it as we do not use a driver and it would get in the way.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Any questions, let me know, I am more than happy to be the guinea pig.

edit 1 - BTW, I am using this on a laptop. It has an adaptor for a PS2, which I may pick up a cheap PS2 with a bigger screen should it make for a good party favorite with friends, but for the time being it is on a laptop with a 15+ inch screen.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Something I thought of this morning and will try out today, on bad shots, I have a tendency to hit the ball out by the toe on my irons as a result of not properly transferring my weight to my front foot. Thinking about the gauge on the game, it is saying I am hitting out by the toe alot. Maybe because I am not using the ball, I may be setting up further away than I should. Although I never really paid enough attention yet on the path as opposed to the toe shots, as the screen doesn't stay up a terribly long time. I will toy around with that later today and see what it says about my clubpath. Maybe it is only catching a couple sensors and having a hard time distinguishing path??? What made me think of this was while I was messing around with the putter it read correctly??? Will see this afternoon. I may need to download a couple other courses today as well. Kinda nice being able to play what you want when you want. On the simulator, you were stuck with what you originally chose. They also would charge an extra $15 an hour for Pebble Beach and St. Andrews for whatever reason. Already played Pebble Beach yesterday, may have to try St. Andrews today. Although I may see if I can find Carnoustie on the web instead, as I have always preferred it on TV.

[daddymack]

I posted some other version of a golf sim on this site. I guess I saw the title of your thread and it made me think of the one I saw in Target. You have the version that I need.

I'll be getting mine soon.

thanks for the review.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by daddymack

I posted some other version of a golf sim on this site. I guess I saw the title of your thread and it made me think of the one I saw in Target. You have the version that I need.

I'll be getting mine soon.

thanks for the review.

I looked at the Qmotions one when I bought mine, and decided I wanted less moving parts so I opted for this one with the sensors. Plus I either use a foam ball or no ball at all and it works fine. It has a couple kinks that I mentioned above, but all in all it makes for a great winter activity.

[Pa Jayhawk]

BTW, I installed Tiger Woods 2007, and it works just fine. I really do not see much of a difference between 2006 and 2007. The graphics are slightly better on 2007. You can download courses for either on this site. There are currently alot more courses for 2006, but you are supposed to be able to use all the prior ones on 2007. Although I have not yet figured how to load the courses from the 2006 over yet.
http://www.coursedownloads.net/coursesource/

BTW, limpalong, I downloaded Colbert Hills to get ready for the real thing next time I go to KS.

I played the front nine tonight in about 30 minutes.

edit 1 - I figured out if I just move my club forward on the sensors I get a more accurate reading, although as mentioned before, it is still not like a launch monitor just a simulator.