Foresight Performance Fitting App - ipad review

[Yongchai]

I haven't seen any reviews about the Foresight Performance Fitting App yet so i thought i'll give my own opinion.

Condensed version:
If you don't have a sim software, and already have an ipad. Get it for $50.

Longer version:
Just got my GC2 and decided to wait for the new FSX. (See on other forum pages that it'll be out 15 may). In the meantime, i decided to buy the ipad app for $50 to tide myself over.

The app has 3 tabs.

1) flight - showing you ball flight path
2) club - showing you club path (need hmt)
3) data - showing you data for all previous balls hit

With only the GC2 launch monitor, all you get are some numbers.

1) ball speed
2) launch angle
3) push/pull
4) side spin
5) back spin
6) carry

Some of the numbers are pretty easy to understand and visualize (1,2,6), but others not so much (3,4,5).

What the performance fitting app does is provide you a visualization of ball flight, so that you know a 3.7R degree side angle with a 1925L side spin is a baby draw that ends up left of target, but a 4.6R degree side angle and 1154L side is also a baby draw but ends up right of target. Without the app, you would have no idea where your ball is landing.

The flight graph is useful as it shows you all your shots that you made, it shows:

1) ball flight (launch trajectory/peak height/curve/descent)
2) carry distance
3) dispersion

but they could make some improvements.

I'm a right hander, so when i practice with the GC2, i set up with the ipad on a table in front of me. When hitting, the ball travels from right to left. However, the app shows ball flight from left to right. Its a minor quibble but affects immersion. It would be nice to see foresight makes changes so that simulated ball flight moves in same direction as actual ball flight, from right to left.

When out on the course, one of the magic of golf is to see your ball slowly rising and falling. The app shows you ball flight, but it takes away the magic by calculating ball flight and instantly showing you the whole ball flight. I would rather the app trace ball flight and simulate actual time taken for ball to launch and land. It might take longer to simulate and irritate those who just want numbers, but this will immensely help with immersion and reduce the thought at the back of your mind telling you that carry data is calculated, not measured...

Flight tab is also overly populated with All golf balls you have hit. Thankfully flight path is only shown for those of same club. But since they can remove flight path not of same same club, i wish foresight would do the same for balls on the ground as well.

I don't have a HMT so i won't talk about the club tab

As for the data tab, foresight did a good job. Basically you tell the app what club you are hitting and it will keep all the data for you and automatically calculate your averages. Deleting abnormal data is possible (and frequently used!)

What i really like is that lets say you hit 3 balls using a 7 iron, and then 3 balls with 8 iron, if you decide to go back to a 7 iron, the app will correctly consolidate the new 7 iron data with the old 7 iron data instead of creating a new data set. (I haven't tried to see if different days would create different data set - it should, but otherwise you can just create a new golfer for a new data set)

There is a tab on the left that you slide your finger to drag out, and this is where you add your golfers, change your clubs, delete your data. It also show basic information about your shots including

1) shot hit
2) ball speed
3) carry distance

They also show a picture of the club hit, either:

1) driver
2) fw wood
3) hybrid
4) iron
5) wedge

This picture i feel is wasted space as it does not convey enough information. I would rather they put in the detail of what club was actually hit. (Ie 7 iron or 8 iron instead of a generic picture of an iron)

Selecting clubs could be made easier without digging deep into the menu and have a vertical rotating wheel to select clubs instead of manually typing in club number.

An addition i would really like to have is total distance. I know distance is affected by where u land, hardness of ground, etc, but i would like if they could made simple assumptions about those ground variables and calculate roll distance based on ball speed/backspin/angle of descent. When i practice, i would like to practice to a total distance rather than carry distance.

Overall, the Performance fitting app is pretty good and i would highly recommend it to anyone who already has an ipad but no sim yet. They could really improve it with the suggestions above (2 main changes will be 1.change picture of club instead to show actual club hit at side bar and 2.calculate total distance), but perhaps they won't because otherwise it would be a real contender for a $2,000 sim package...

[golferinmd]

I like your summary of the "stats". I have been trying to find a good summary of what side spin, backspin, push/pull and trajectory should be for each club and to know if I am in good standings for the PW or 9 iron. Anyone know where I can see something like that?

[Yongchai]

For the stats:

1) ball speed
2) launch angle
3) push/pull
4) side spin
5) back spin
6) carry

I don't think there is optimal in general, only optimal in relation to what shot you are trying to hit. Or try to maximize/minimize certain numbers.

You'll probably want to maximize 1) ball speed and 6) carry distance.

And you would want to keep 3) push/pull and 4) side spin to a minimum if hitting straight. Unless you are playing an intentional fade or draw, then you'll just want to make sure that a higher push/pull degree has a corresponding side spin to make sure the ball comes back to center.

For 2) launch angle, you will probably want to keep it consistent to the club you are hitting. Ie. 10.5 degree driver at 10.5 (or perhaps higher because you supposed to be hitting up on it) and a 48 degree wedge at 48. Or if you hit the ball with a delofted club, make sure they are all delofted so you have a consistent yardage gap.

For 5) back spin, this is where things are in the grey area. This would depend on what ball speed you have, so there is no general optimal back spin. If too high for a driver, ball balloons, too low, it drop out from the sky. I think i have heard one of the pros say that they keep backspin equal to the club they are using. (Ie. 9 iron at 9000rpm, and 5 iron at 5000rpm).

However, when i practice, the only thing i look out for is carry distance and ball landing back at center. I think its more than enough.

[john8888]

I also email the session data. That way you can keep a big spread sheet of all your club data over time.

[Dax]

I think that the latest version of Trackman's TPS software has a club optimization feature that would give you the stats that you are looking for.

[Frans@france]

You'll probably want to maximize 1) ball speed and 6) carry distance.
.....
However, when i practice, the only thing i look out for is carry distance and ball landing back at center. I think its more than enough.

Irons\Hybrids: Assuming that clubhead speed is sufficient you want to make sure that the landing angle of the ball is correct. Try keeping it between 48D-50D. This angle will allow maximum distance control both on the fairways and greens. While keeping that value consistent you can then work you way back to increase the carry by manipulating the dynamic loft. Then you include the correct distance gap between the clubs.

Wedges : landing angle more vertical
Woods : depending on your overall length you either go for carry or total length
Driver L depending on the course you play you go for carry of total length

If you do it this way then the correct, optimal, maximum carry is established for each club in the bag.

[Yongchai]

Trackman also has an on-going series about some of these stats on youtube called Trackman Fundamentals

http://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=P...tp_T404RSXy-2H

No specific numbers but general ideas of what to look out for.

Also on another note, check out Creative golf demo. You can download it from the following link (obtained from par2pro.com website)

https://www.hightail.com/download/UW...U1AzMWx4Tk1UQw

If you have everything setup and you are just waiting for the new FSX software, the Creative golf demo is way more fun than the ipad app. (And its free!)