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Hi all,
I've been keen to utilise a home practice / simulator setup for some time now and been putting a lot of thought into what I should do. I think I've come up with a solution that'll work for me and what I want and can afford but would be grateful for advice before I go any further.
First, a little background. I live on a relatively large property in south-west Scotland (some 2.5 acres or so) with two houses and several outbuildings, all of which have power and light and are dry / reasonably insulated. Unfortunately, all are also some 170 years old and none have ceiling heights greater than 8ft I bought Optishot2 some time ago but aside from the fact I can't swing any thing longer than a 5 iron comfortably inside I find that it just does not work very well at all in terms of accuracy and I don't have the patience for all the lighting tweaks and taping clubs etc.
What I want out of a simulator - I'm looking for something I can use to practice my swing that is relatively inexpensive and gives me a range of data that can at least be considered close to accurate. I don't need perfect or near-perfect data, just something that lets me know approximate carry distances and tells me about my shot shape to a degree that I can be fairly conident that it tolerably close to the truth.
What I'm proposing - Having thought about it extensively, I don't necessarily need to utilise the setup indoors at all times, I'm happy to wait for the appropriate times and practice outside. The weather here is generally mild. Based on that, I intend to get myself a 10ft x 10 ft x 10ft practice cage with net and baffling, a good quality practice mat and the R-Motion 14-clip kit adn TGC. I have a new, powerful PC to run the software and will use a laptop or maybe even my iPad outside as a second screen via WiFi (the practice area will be only 10 yards or so away from the room where the main PC is situated). On dry days and evenings I will then have a good area to practice using a system that I am led to believe gives reasonably reliable feedback and data. If we have a prolonged wet or extremely cold spell then I can use shorter clubs in the garage for some basic iron practice. It seems from the R-motion section here that developments may lie ahead which enhance its capabilities (e.g. more data provided and possibly an app for tablets). It also fits my present budget - tempting as Skytrak is, I'd have to wait for some time before being in a position to purchase and, in any case, I've read it is not the best for outside use.
I should add that my father and uncle have offered to help me build a bespoke hut with a 10 ft ceiling on an existing patch of concrete at the other side of the property and was all for doing this until I began to consider that it would take a great deal of effort to have it hooked up to a power supply, there would also be no prospect of it ever having internet access and would incur a good deal of expense. Having this hut on the 'civilized' part of the property is not possible due to plainning restrictions here in the UK (we shouldn't really be doing it in the other location either, it's just that no one would ever find out
).
So, long post I know but hopefully it explains what I'm thinking and why I've arrived at these thoughts. How do you feel it fits my needs? Am I making any mistakes or have I missed something? Could I do anything better? Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.
I've been keen to utilise a home practice / simulator setup for some time now and been putting a lot of thought into what I should do. I think I've come up with a solution that'll work for me and what I want and can afford but would be grateful for advice before I go any further.
First, a little background. I live on a relatively large property in south-west Scotland (some 2.5 acres or so) with two houses and several outbuildings, all of which have power and light and are dry / reasonably insulated. Unfortunately, all are also some 170 years old and none have ceiling heights greater than 8ft I bought Optishot2 some time ago but aside from the fact I can't swing any thing longer than a 5 iron comfortably inside I find that it just does not work very well at all in terms of accuracy and I don't have the patience for all the lighting tweaks and taping clubs etc.
What I want out of a simulator - I'm looking for something I can use to practice my swing that is relatively inexpensive and gives me a range of data that can at least be considered close to accurate. I don't need perfect or near-perfect data, just something that lets me know approximate carry distances and tells me about my shot shape to a degree that I can be fairly conident that it tolerably close to the truth.
What I'm proposing - Having thought about it extensively, I don't necessarily need to utilise the setup indoors at all times, I'm happy to wait for the appropriate times and practice outside. The weather here is generally mild. Based on that, I intend to get myself a 10ft x 10 ft x 10ft practice cage with net and baffling, a good quality practice mat and the R-Motion 14-clip kit adn TGC. I have a new, powerful PC to run the software and will use a laptop or maybe even my iPad outside as a second screen via WiFi (the practice area will be only 10 yards or so away from the room where the main PC is situated). On dry days and evenings I will then have a good area to practice using a system that I am led to believe gives reasonably reliable feedback and data. If we have a prolonged wet or extremely cold spell then I can use shorter clubs in the garage for some basic iron practice. It seems from the R-motion section here that developments may lie ahead which enhance its capabilities (e.g. more data provided and possibly an app for tablets). It also fits my present budget - tempting as Skytrak is, I'd have to wait for some time before being in a position to purchase and, in any case, I've read it is not the best for outside use.
I should add that my father and uncle have offered to help me build a bespoke hut with a 10 ft ceiling on an existing patch of concrete at the other side of the property and was all for doing this until I began to consider that it would take a great deal of effort to have it hooked up to a power supply, there would also be no prospect of it ever having internet access and would incur a good deal of expense. Having this hut on the 'civilized' part of the property is not possible due to plainning restrictions here in the UK (we shouldn't really be doing it in the other location either, it's just that no one would ever find out
).So, long post I know but hopefully it explains what I'm thinking and why I've arrived at these thoughts. How do you feel it fits my needs? Am I making any mistakes or have I missed something? Could I do anything better? Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.
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