My GC2 Review - also compare range balls, pro-v1x, and Almost Golf balls

[walb0034]

So my GC2 came last week and I've had an opportunity to hit about 800 balls with it now, and wanted to post a review on spin and the simulator experience.

Before I get to the spin part, a note on accuracy of ball flight. When my GC2 first came, the first thing I wanted to do was see this "verifiable accuracy" so I grabbed my laptop, and took a trip to the driving range. Just on the practice mode, I hit about 100 range balls at the range, and then compared the real ball flight with what the GC2 showed. It's pretty amazing seeing every shot perfectly rendered on the computer. You would have thought we were using a trackman for how accurate it is, honestly in those 100 balls, it didn't miss a since one for shot shape. My buddy can't play SIM golf because he hits a low ballooning pull fade that always finds the fairway, and the Full Swing Sim by us ALWAYS shows this as a pull hook. GC2 nailed that one too, perfectly.

Obviously range balls are low spin rocks. However, I still wanted to play some virtual golf with my new toy so the next day I played 18 at congressional and cog hill. I was getting crazy roll with these balls. Nothing was sticking to the green. I could hit a sand wedge, and it would roll for 15 yards after it landed. Forget about landing a 6 or 7 iron on the green, it just wasn't happening. It would just run off. Even though I was going to shoot 100 with these balls, I had to smile because that's EXACTLY what would have happened if I played a real course with these balls.

Yesterday, my net came. As a side note, I bought this net (http://www.sportnetting.com/product....&productId=107) from sportnetting.com for only $89. It came prefinished all the way around, and had grommets already installed for hanging. It also came with a lead line to weight the bottom down. I would have been happy spending $150 on this thing, amazing value for the money, highly recommended. After abusing it with 160mph ball speeds off the driver all night, it still looks perfect.

So anyways, my net came and I wanted to hit the balls I actually play, the Pro-V1x. I couldn't wait to see how the approach shots would work with a real ball. So I dropped a ball 170 yards out and hit a few 5 irons. Ball would only roll 7-8 feet after hitting. Played some 7 irons from 150 out. Ball would roll less than 2 feet. Played a 9 iron, ball would hop forward and then stop dead about a foot from the ball mark. Hit my sand wedge, ball came back about 8 feet. This is EXACTLY what my irons do when I'm playing golf. I'd say within 6" of real behavior on the greens accurate. I have to say, the spin calculation they use in the software is absolutely perfect.

After experiencing this last night, I am so happy I spent the extra money on this unit. I'm also happy they are not $20,000, considering it's smaller, more portable, and easier to use than a trackman, and just as good. When the ball flies and lands, that's my normal ball flight and landing. If I want to work on pulling back my wedges vs. stopping them short, I can. If I want to work on greenside chipping with a wedge vs 8 iron and get accurate roll, I can. If I want to compare golf balls to see how they will behave on the course, I can. I guess what I'm saying is that without spin, I don't know how happy I would be. I know I sit my 9 iron down within 12 inches of the ball mark. If I was using a sim that wasn't doing that, it wouldn't be real to me and I'd be disappointed (played on full swing two weeks ago at lifetime, and my 7 irons were pulling back about 10 feet. Totally unrealistic, I have never done that in my life).

And the Almost golf balls, well they just don't work. I had a few laying around from when I had my p3proswing so I hit them to see what kind of measurements I got. Ball speed was lower, so distance was short. In addition to the distance being shortened because of the low ball speed, the spin was about 1/2 what a real ball would have been. So even though you can bump the software to increase distance, you can't do anything about the low (like a range ball) spin. Because this unit uses spin as much as ball speed, it didn't work at all with the almost golf balls.

[psace]

I'm jealous, Walb but happy for you. If they would add clubhead data it would be 110% awesome!

[noobie]

Great review. Thanks.

[NE14Golf]

Walb, thanks for the great review. I'm a newbie in the golf simulator market and having read many of these threads, I'm leaning toward the GC2.I like its reported accuracy, its ease of setup, and the fact that it can travel with me to the driving range. Although I don't believe it's been explicitly stated, I'm under the impression that the GC2 will not work with E6 simulator software. So, I was wondering what simulator software options are available for the GC2? I've seen references to Redchain, but I've not been able to access their website and have a look at their products.

[walb0034]

It's the rechain software. If you want to see it in action, just download the demo from ProTee's website. It's the same system essentially.

[NE14Golf]

Thanks for the info. I was to locate a brief software demo on the foresight site. But the demo on ProTee was much better. How long did it take between placing your GC2 order and it's arrival?

[bubba22]

Awesome walb, thanks for the review. That is just what I thought the sim would do with the limited flight balls. Do you have any other low flight balls to test such as the BrushT ball etc? What was the spin data like with the almost balls? Thanks again for the review.

[walb0034]

I don't have other balls handy, but I'll pick some up for the good of the community .

I was getting spin rates of about 4500 rpm on the almost golf balls with a 7-iron, where I get about 7500 normally.

One work around would be to uncheck the "use spin data" in the software. Then it simply measures everything except spin, and estimates spin based off launch angle and ball speed. However, I feel this is removing the best feature of the device, but it WOULD work.

NE14Golf it took about 14 days from the time my order processed until it was in my hands. For $65 shipping you would think it would be overnighted, but they ship ground out of San Diego.

[bubba22]

Thanks walb. I would be intertested to actually know the spin difference for the limited flight balls including the Jef World of golf as well as the Brush T ball. Did you notice much spin difference with the range balls vs the ProV? Or was the main difference the ball speed?

[syhlif32]

walb: Could you tell us the difference in LA between the Almost Balls and the Pro Vx?
Is there a patten or does it depend on the club?

[Kball]

Walb: What kind of side spin numbers are you seeing with short irons - wedge, SW, etc.? I am asking because I am seeing what I would consider to be fairly high hook spin 500 to 1500 - which is not something that I would have inspected. My miss with a short iron is typically a pull hook, but I am really struggling to get the side spin down below say 300 on a regular basis - even if I feel like I am opening the face.

Any thoughts?

[walb0034]

I ordered a bunch of different limited flight balls on amazon guys, I'll put up a comparison when I get it. Kball, I'll go play with it today and let you know. It was 60 degrees yesterday in new York so I played 18 holes Friday and 45 holes yesterday. I don't know if I can hold a club right now, my hands are about ready to bleed!

[Kball]

Good for you! Not often it is 60 plus degrees in NY in November. I hit more balls yesterday and got the same results. With a SW, 500 hook spin with a straight path is not too far offline. I am getting a number of shots with hook spin in the 1000 to 1500 range. My hook spin is reduced with mid irons. Like I indicated, I am just surprised I am getting so much side spin on a SW.

[bubba22]

walb that would be great. kball are you seeing a dramatic hook and more than expected draw on the sim ball flight? Or is it just that the numbers seem high?

[Kball]

I would say more than expected draw with short irons. I am even getting hook spin even if I lay the face open and hit a flop shot - very strange. I have ensured that the GC2 is perpendicular to my target line.

[bubba22]

So all other shots behave well but the short irons? Long irons and woods spin well? What happens if you open the wedge and hit outside in to try and slice?

[Kball]

I will try with a wedge to hit a cut and get back to you. I can do it with a 7 or 8 iron and the ball flight looks good. I am sure it must be my swing! I am getting excessive side spin even on short pitch shots - it is making me think something is wrong with my GC2.

[bubba22]

Seems weird that it would do well with the long irons and woods and not with the wedges. Do try hitting a cut with the face open and let us know.

[Kball]

Ok - just got done trying all kinds of shots. I am afraid something is defintely wrong. I can get a cut, but I have to open the face a lot and really cut across the ball and even then it is fairly minimal. On the other hand - even a short pitch shot is has a significant hook spin. I am also seeing decreased distance with every club. I tried more flop shots - shots that I know must have cut Spinoni them and I am still getting a hook spin.

Any troubleshooting ideas?

[bubba22]

Weird? Probably have tried these but try a) shutting machine on and off or reset if there is such a thing b) try different balls to see if there is a difference c) try hitting a cut with long irons and woods d) Are the numbers the same on the Redchain software as they are on the GC2? In other words hit on the GC2 without hooking onto RedChain to see if there is a difference

Any other GC2 users have some ideas?

[Kball]

I noticed that my flash is red - assume this is correct. I just never noticed it being red. I have an extra flash and think I will try changing it.

[bubba22]

Let us know if it helps.

[Kball]

Changed the flash - really did not change anything. Distance seems about 10%+ short - although I have always thought the distance was short. I attributed it to hitting off a mat. I use a laser when I play so have a good idea of how far I hit the ball. Guess I will call Foresight on Monday.

[bubba22]

Something off for sure. Let us know what happens.

[js1010]

IR Flash is red although Foresight used to have "white" or regular flash as well. Supposed to work the same.

When flash goes you can get some wacky shots or I have seen it start not recognizing shots . This happened after 6-8K of shots on my unit. I had to order a new flash.

As far as hooks go - not sure 1500 side spin is way out of wack for a wedge. Not a soft draw but I think is easily doable.

I just hit a few wedges that went about a 100 yards both drew maybe a yard or two at most visually and what I would expect outdoors . I had readings of 662 and 860 for side spin. I think side spin is usually higher with wedges because the high backspin of a wedge negates the side spin so ball goes straigher. I also tried to really hook a wedge and generated 3200 side spin with 9600 backspin. Ball ended up 12 yards offline.

I also hit a 6 iron that had about 700 side spin carried 176 and drew about 7 yards off line.

I also used the shot simulator app to play around with a driver at 700 side spin. I put in 150 ball speed , 11 launch angle, 2500 backspin, and 700 side spin and ball went 42 yards offline.

[Kball]

js1010,

Thanks for the feedback. What kind of path are you hitting - slightly right with a slight draw? What is the shot simulator app that you mentioned? I will hit some balls and post the results.

[js1010]

Shot Simulator - it should have been installed. Pretty neat - you can input all kinds of launch data and send that data to the software to render the shot. Make sure to select "Send Spin Data" check box - enter in the launch data - use the bottom box for side and back spin and hit send shot.

I am lefty so my shots usually start a bit left and draw back. All in all not sure I would focus on the side spin number itself - its all about the resulting shot on screen and if it matches what you think you hit.

Not sure what to tell you on distances 10% shorter - I definitely don't find this to be the case. I think in certain cases its a bit long in carry distance with longer clubs. I think very low spin shots go a bit too far.

Do you play outdoors in high elevation areas? You have to realize that any sim that is calculating carry is using some sort of base temperature, elevation, humidity, and probably even a certain ball type to create an algorithmic for carry distance.

[walb0034]

I agree that low spin shots go too far. My range balls say I hit a wedge 150 yards. This is definitely not the case. When I used a real ball, not a low spin ball, it was the correct 120 yards. However when I hit a wood with low spin (normal spin) I find the distances to be perfect.

[js1010]

Yeah - I have hit some low spin drivers that have carried further than I believe I can hit it. This might not show up for someone who hits down on all their clubs. Once in a while I will pick a long iron or hybrid even that also generates lower backspin and the ball seems to carry farther than I would expect.

I have told Foresight about it - hopefully they continue to tweak/improve their algorithm for these type of shots.

[Kball]

I captured some data, but I am not sure how to attach a file...