slick things turf cover

[rhart]

I just got on the slick things web site and there is no longer a place to order the turf tops. Is he no longer selling his turf tops?

[wbond]

search ebay for optishot covers there is another version from golfsimulatorsite or search optishot thick turf top in ebay. I've only used the slickthings one, but this looks comparable.

[HeMan]

Email him and ask.

[fletch944t]

I purchased the Optishot cover from golfsimulatorsite.com via ebay. It arrived today. The cover is approximately 3/4" thicker than the factory cover. So, if your Optishot is in a custom fit mat, it will require you to raise the mat 3/4". I'm in the process of doing that now. Will have it done sometime tomorrow and will provide a complete write-up on the cover and how I approached raising the mat. Not a big deal for me because custom fabrication is kind of a hobby of mine.

Fletch

[fletch944t]

My first impression of the Optishot cover from golfsimulatorsite is not favorable. With the new cover my drives have been consistently 50-75 yards less than with the thinner stock cover (i.e. 150 yards as opposed to 225 yards). This may in part be due to the fact that, with the rear sensors perfectly centered in the rear opening in the cover, the front sensors are at the very front edge of the front opening in the cover. Also, the front opening appears to be visible smaller in width than the rear opening. I tried to clean up both openings as much as possible to ensure that the grass on top would not interfere with the read from the sensors but, it did not help. I've contacted the folks at golfsimulatorsite.com to determine if I should remove some material from the front edge of the front sensor opening. I'll follow up this message as things progress.

Having said all that, I certainly don't know a lot about golf simulators yet but, in trying to noodle this out logically, it seems that the rear sensors would be primarily used for clubhead speed and face angle and as one input for swing path. And, that the front sensors would be used for a second input for swing path only. If that's correct, then any interference from the pad relative to the front sensors should only effect swing path and should therefore not effect distance. Another possibility that came to mind was that the extra distance from the sensors to the clubhead (3/4") due to the increased thickness of the pad might adversely effect the sensors reading the clubhead. Now, I did not have my clubheads taped so that may have some effect. I've taped my driver and will retest the pad this evening with the taped driver to see if there's any improvement. I'll also test with different levels of light to see if there is any effect.

[wbond]

Have you tried teeing the ball just behind the front sensor row vs in the middle of the two sensor rows? you will see a big difference in driver distance. At least that was my experience.

[fletch944t]

Okay folks, here's the update.

I contacted the folks Spectrum Golf. They're the ones that actually make the replacement sensor pad.They gave me a number of things to try. All of them, I had already done, so that was a bust. But, I'll list them anyway as they may help someone else down the road if they experience similar problems:

1) Trim the turf so that there's none hanging over the edge of the sensor opening. This is actually detailed in the instructions that come with the replacement pad. So, I had already done this before I installed the pad the first time.

2) Make sure the pad is pressed down on top of the sensor. I had already done that also.

3) A flat bottom metallic driver works best. The new ones with plates, screws, and odd shapes, can cause a miss read. My driver is a 2007 Taylormade Burner HT driver. Nothing odd about the shape. But, I had already taped the bottom of the driver as a precaution to see if it would fix the problem. It did not. Additionally, I had zero problems with the original (thinner) pad even when the driver was untaped.

4) You might have it teed up too high. Are the irons off the turf good? Is it just the driver? Not just the driver. And, it's actually teed lower relative to the turf because I anticipated this as a potential problem. I teed it up so that height relative to the sensors was the same with both pads. It did not fix or improve the results.

Now that I've bored you to tears, I'll describe the actual problem and the solution. The problem was, no matter how you placed the pad on the sensor bed, it was impossible to center both rows of sensors in their respective openings at the same time. With the tee holder centered in its respective opening in the pad, the rear sensor row was centered in its respective opening. However, the front sensor row was right at the front edge of the front opening. Also, the front sensor opening was visibly narrower than the rear sensor opening. It makes sense to me that there should be no difference in the width of the openings. Bottom line is, either the front sensor opening was cut in the wrong location (too far back) OR the front opening was cut to the incorrect width.

It was a very simple fix. All I did was use my jig saw to cut the front sensor opening to the same width as the rear opening by removing approximately 3/8" of material from the front side of the front sensor opening. When I did this and reinstalled the pad, both rows of sensors were perfectly centered in their respective openings in the pad. Since reinstalling the modified pad, I've experienced zero problems.

Despite my problem with the pad as delivered, I really like the feel of the thicker pad and love the fact that the way it installs brings the entire hitting area of the sensor unit to the same level as the rest of my hitting mat. It may seem silly but, IMHO it's more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. But, I've changed clubs before for the same reason.

As far as the setup, I mentioned in my earlier post that with the pad being approximately 3/4" thicker, it does require your hitting mat to be raised by 3/4" (around the sensor enclosure) so that your hitting mat and the pad surface will be at the same height. The simplest way to accomplish this is to obtain a 3/4" thick piece of plywood that you can cut to the dimensions of your hitting mat. Once you get the plywood cut to the correct dimensions of your mat, simply lay the mat on top of the plywood and trace the outline of the sensor unit opening in your mat onto the plywood. You'll also need to mark the location of the USB cable onto the plywood because you'll need to cut a channel out to the edge of the plywood for the cable. Then, drill holes in the four corners of the trace and one on the trace where the channel needs to be cut. Then use a jig saw to cut the opening in the plywood. I recommend cutting along the outside of the traced lines to ensure that the opening is large enough. Once you get the pad installed on the sensors, lay the sensor assembly in the opening of your platform, attach the USB cable, and lay your hitting mat on top of the platform and around the sensor assembly. I recommend securing your hitting mat to the platform with double sided tape.

I've included some pictures of the platform I made for the hitting mat with the opening for the Optishot sensor. You'll notice that mine is NOT made from plywood. As fate would have it, I had two 10' long, 1" x 10" boards (which most of you woodworkers realize has actual dimensions of 3/4" x 9.25") lying around. My hitting mat is 3' x 5'. So, I cut the two 10' boards in half and edge jointed them with pocket screws. I know it seems like a lot of work but, I already had the wood, it saved me a trip to the store, and if I'd bought a whole sheet of plywood, I would have ended up with a bunch of scrap plywood left over.