P3 Proswing - Ball Spin and Launch Angle

[DeaconBlooze]

I just got room to setup my P3 Proswing for the first time in a few years. Being out of the loop for a couple of years, I was excited to see that P3 had made some advancements very recently. I was also sort of discouraged to see so many have moved on from their P3s.

Ball Spin - The 48 hour trial I had with the ball spin was mostly spent tweaking things to get the system operating somewhat properly. What do others think about this feature?

Launch Cam - I was pretty excited to get this working. I think 200 for P3's LA cam is pretty ridiculous.. I read a little, and opted for a PS3 eye. It arrived today, I got the drivers (from Codelaboratories), enabled the camera in P3, and was surprised that the window didn't show up in game. I enabled my built in laptop cam instead, and the window showed in game.

I opted for the PS3 cam because of the high FPS, and low price. Does anyone know why this may no longer work?

I'm starting to stack up the costs against what it would take to upgrade to a whole new unit. By the time I get ball spin and the new courses, I'm in for another 400. What made others decide to move on to more expensive units?

Thanks!

Dave

[bubba22]

I just got room to setup my P3 Proswing for the first time in a few years. Being out of the loop for a couple of years, I was excited to see that P3 had made some advancements very recently. I was also sort of discouraged to see so many have moved on from their P3s.

Ball Spin - The 48 hour trial I had with the ball spin was mostly spent tweaking things to get the system operating somewhat properly. What do others think about this feature?

Launch Cam - I was pretty excited to get this working. I think 200 for P3's LA cam is pretty ridiculous.. I read a little, and opted for a PS3 eye. It arrived today, I got the drivers (from Codelaboratories), enabled the camera in P3, and was surprised that the window didn't show up in game. I enabled my built in laptop cam instead, and the window showed in game.

I opted for the PS3 cam because of the high FPS, and low price. Does anyone know why this may no longer work?

I'm starting to stack up the costs against what it would take to upgrade to a whole new unit. By the time I get ball spin and the new courses, I'm in for another 400. What made others decide to move on to more expensive units?

Thanks!

Dave

Better accuracy!

[sdak]

Dave,

I am about where you are in the process. I posted yesterday on the Golf Achiever GA II and GA X. My question is why can't you get honest unbiased feedback on simulators other than ProTee or GC2? Some of the former P3Pro users cannot seem to get past 3 years ago. I am not willing to spend $6,000 to $20,000 for a ProTee, GC2 or Trackman. Does this mean I am not serious about my game? Absolutely not. Does this mean my only choice is the Optishot? No. P3Pro seems to be making a lot of the changes previously requested. So how about unbiased input on the P3Pro now and the direction the company is going. How about input on the GA II or GA X. Hardware, software, simulation, technology or the company. Basically, good honest information for those of us who want a good "Mid level" simulator. Thats why I came to this forum in the first place.

[Stonebattle]

sdak:
I've been a P3pro user for a long time and I know where bubba and the guys are coming from, and he is right about accuracy.

Still, What the team at P3pro is now doing is great. The changes they have made to the software has gone a long way towards improving the accuracy of the system, and they are still making it better. They are getting closer to a Protee or CG2, but they will never completely get there because they don't measure ball parameters, so they won't be as accurate.

Having said that, for a low cost swing analyzer/simulator, to me its the one to have right now. Others may be coming, but they are not here yet, and I'm beginning to wonder if they will at all.

[DeaconBlooze]

Stonebattle - do you have the spin feature enabled? I know this is calculated, so it won't be perfect, but I wonder how this really lends to the accuracy.

Anyone have any ideas why the PS3 eye camera isn't working for me? I would think that getting some sort of a launch angle measurement would also do nothing but help this unit become more accurate.

I find the software kind of clunky and not very intuitive, though it has come a long way. It took me a long time to get tweak the settings for tee height and edit the clubs to get close to the distances I see in real life (this is still ongoing).

Right now, I'm debating whether I should hang with this unit, or try to upgrade to something else. I don't have a good handle on what the marginal benefit is between this unit, something like the GAII or Trugolf, and then the higher end units like the Protee or GC2.

To give a little bit more background - I'm about a 18 handicap right now. I know a lot of those strokes are due to lack of playing time. I think any unit will help to keep me swinging, but I want something with some solid feedback to help improve my game. I get bored hitting range shots for more than about 45 minutes. I'd like to have some real life courses to play around on, but I think I have realistic expectations in regards to their experience.

[Stonebattle]

DeaconBlooze:
I had the spin feature for a couple days only. To me it's not bad, but not quite there yet. P3pro is still working on the software to improve it though user input. Good for them and us users.

I don't know why a PS3 Eye does not work. I use HP and Philips webcams and they work great.

I also am still coming to grips with adjustments in the new software. I don't have it quite right yet, but they provide many useful adjustments and these adjustments are based on real club and ball parameters. So to me, it's good.

I have only tried GC2 and Protee. They are expensive in comparison to P3pro, but they are also very realistic in comparison. It you have the bucks to get one of these, I can't see how you would be disappointed.

[SFR]

I think also that the ball spin info will be used in the software for your shot shape no matter if you pay for that info side of it or not. I think they will just let you see that data once you pay for it. Being a calculated data for spin based on where the slider may be for spin settings for that club and how you hit up or down on your pad for that club, is still calculated. If you hit a perfect shot you might see numbers that are close but a skull or top and those numbers are not accurate. I am not sure even to what % they would say that the accuracy was.

Even my GC2 will show some wild spin reads the odd time due to how it seen the ball, but that is not often so the spin data is reliable and one could use for picking out clubs that work for you. I would not trust that with the P3pro spin numbers.

As for the changes in ball flight and what they offer for the price, it can and will improve your game just by the fact that you are playing more and do have results that are close.

I think the Beta might have been rushed a bit but I also see their point with needing to hit the market now when the sim golf takes over in the winter. They are still tweaking things so it should only get better.

I don't recall anyone testing a PS3 eye in the Beta but most regular web cams will work. I think the 30 fps rate is the max that P3pro will use so that may be a reason. I don't think better cams give better results.

[DeaconBlooze]

Thanks SFR and Stonebattle!

I've been emailing P3 about various questions. I'm sure they're tired of me, but some of these things just aren't clear, and there aren't a lot of users to lean on.

That's an interesting point on the webcam. I wonder if the FPS rate is the issue.. I bought a few of the PS3 eyes, hoping to use some for swing capture (confirmed that this is not available in the new software, currently). I guess I'll return one of them and get a cheap 30fps cam.

[SFR]

That has really gotten me confused...... Their whole new ball flight is based on ball spin, angle of attack and to not use that in ball flight does not make sense. Not sure how they are not using spin data to create a better ball flight then. I don't think they would want info out saying they are not using spin in the ball flight with the regular software.

I would hope Chuck would come on here and clear that up for everyone.

[DeaconBlooze]

I'd love to see someone jump in so we can get some clarification on this. I wonder how P3 sees themselves in the market. If they consider themselves a "value" company, I think they have the right pieces in place, but charging for additions such as ball spin start to creep them into a much more crowded market. If they could offer ball spin and courses for their entry price, I think they're much better positioned for sustainability. Only Optishot seems to offer competition on the low end, and I believe most agree that the P3 offers much better accuracy at a marginal cost.

[SFR]

It also does not make sense that if they are going to offer one setup without ball spin and one with, then have guys compete together on line, for prizes. I would hope that it was just an error in how they described the calculated spin option otherwise one would hit quite straight without spin.

[DeaconBlooze]

Removed

[Stonebattle]

I did not see any difference in ball flight path with the spin activated or not. Sounds like the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.

[SFR]

I can confirm that the use of the ball spin is still being used no matter what, if you pay for that add on to see the numbers, or not.

The info in the answer was not right as without that fee, you just won't see that data on the screen. It still is used to create the ball flight.

[DeaconBlooze]

Well that's good news. I don't need to see the readout, but I'd be disappointed if I was getting less accurate ball flight.

I'll edit my posts above to remove the erroneous information I've received. I don't really like revisionist history, but considering I was posting based on the information I received directly from P3, it could very well confuse others (as it did me).