averagegolfer

Cavity Back Wedge Review - Do They Help

Sat, 14 Mar 2020 20:51:07 GMT

Your Irons are Cavity Backs, Should Your Wedges Follow Be Too?

The current wedges I carry in my bag are old Top Flite Tour Wedges (50° & 54°). I've gone through several expensive Cleveland wedges and a Callaway Mack Daddy MD3 milled wedge . Somehow, the Top Flite wedges always find their way back into the bag.

Snooping through the golf section at my local Dick's Sporting Goods, I came across a Cleveland CBX 60° wedge on sale for $99. I've been struggling with green side chip shots (inside 15 yards), and I was chalking it up to the fact I only had a 54° wedge in my bag and I needed more loft for softer landings.... especially when the pin is within 10 ft. of the collar.

The wedge states on the packaging that it is designed for golfers that use cavity back irons (my Top Flite obviously are not) but my Nike irons are. The sales description on this club from the Dick's website hooked me in.

Weight distributed to the perimeter and sole to enable greater stability through impact
Dual-V Sole uses two different V shapes to maximize forgiveness
Front-to-back V-Shape lets you cut smoothly through the turf without loss of speed
Face Balancing Technology positions the Center of Gravity closer to the middle of the face
etc. - etc. - etc.

I hit a couple of soft chips on the indoor putting green in Dick's, and the worst thing in the world happened. I hit them all clean with good loft with a very small swing. This combined situation (60° wedge, good contact on an unreal surface, great sales pitch and on SALE), led me to the checkout counter.

It's a good looking club and does feel balanced through a soft swing. FULL DISCLOSURE: I have not hit this club on a course yet, I will update this article once I do. If you've read my article DIY Home Golf Simulator , then you will have an idea of the environment I tested this club in.

I really wanted to like this wedge right off the bat. That just did not happen. Part is due to the large bounce on this wedge and hitting off an artificial surface. However, that can easily translate to the course. The turf on a golf course will have more forgiveness than my hitting mat, but it will still be more challenging to get the club under the ball making clean contact.

Cleveland on left, Top Flite 54° on the right.

On the flip side, depending on your swing plane and angle, the wider bounce on the bottom of the wedge can be forgiving. I still need to test this on the course, but for my swing indoor on a mat, I make cleaner and more consistent contact with the smaller bounce. I ended up with a lot of blade and thin shots indoor with the Cleveland CBX. I also feel like the fat bounce on the Cleveland would make it difficult to open up the face in the event you have a really short shot and need immediate lift.

The other downside of the Cleveland cavity back wedge, which will be no surprise to anyone, is there is little feel. At 20 and 30 yards chip shots on my SkyTrak, the cavity back wedge was difficult at times to gauge. When I hit the Top Flite, the feedback is instant and if you've ever hit on a Skytrak... you know when you hit it and missed the shot before the simulation appears on the screen.

Conclusion:

I'm pessimistic this is going to work well for me on the course but hope to be wrong. A 54° wedge on short chip shots is not ideal in many greenside situations. If you are shanking over half-swing pitch shots, that could be because your swing angle is not steep, and the heel of the club is grabbing the ground and opening your clubface at impact. If that is happening, a club like the Cleveland CBX wedges are worth a shot. Stay tuned for an update to this article.

DIY Home Golf Simulator Screen - For Cheap

Sun, 16 Feb 2020 18:28:39 GMT

UPDATE MARCH 2020 - Update has been added to the end.

DIY Golf Simulator Enclosure

I’m not one for a bunch of introductory paragraphs to waste people’s time who are looking for information to solve a problem… so let’s just get into it.

My Problem: I wanted a compact golf simulator hitting area in my garage with a SkyTrak... and I’m cheap.

The first thing I needed was obviously a Skytrak , so I waited until they went on sale for $1,695.00 ($300 off normal price). This happens about 2-3 times a year, and around Christmas is one of those times you can count on.

The setup I had before the SkyTrak;

Pro Series hitting net from The Net Return Company

Pro Turf from The Net Return company

Both are very good products. Problem… you can only hit into a net for so long. I did my research, plenty of research, and here is what I did.

First consideration: DIY Golf Simulator Enclosure Kit from Carl’s Place

As I mentioned before, I’m cheap and couldn’t pony up the $800 some bucks for an 8” x 10.5” DIY kit. So I made my own with the following pieces.

Grand Total = 3,479.43 (includes SkyTrak, taxes not included)

DIY SIM Enclosure = $715.72 ( only includes pieces to make the enclosure, taxes not included)

*items not mentioned because I got tired of typing: moving blankets ($20), canopy blankets ($40), grommet kit ($6), extra turf for sides ($30), zip-ties ($8),

The Construction

After I added this all up, I was surprised how expensive this project had become. Building the frame enclosure for the screen is by far the most time consuming. Here is some images of the project.

DO's & Don'ts

Don't go any less than 3000 lumens projector and make sure it's a short throw. Great website to calculate your distances: Projector Throw Calculator . The dimmer the image the further back your projector is.
Don't use bungee cords. They create extra spring that shoots the ball back at you. Suspend the screen with zip ties or rope.
Don't use moving blankets. You need more weight behind the ball. I went to Menards and purchased large 8oz. canvas drop cloths.
Don't try and build the enclosure... see below.

The more I continued to put together this article, the more I would advise you to purchase an enclosure. I constructed mine to be low-profile up against the wall to take up less space in my garage. However, I now have a net to right, and netting above, which explains why Carl's Golf enclosure comes 5ft towards you.

The reality is, you or one of your buddies is going to shank a shot right. Secondly, I don't know if its my construction, and I've tinkered with the configuration dozens of times, a full swing with a wedge shoots up off the screen. Without the added netting above, the ball hits the ceiling or comes back at you.

I have a iPad I connect to the SkyTrak through Wifi, and an Apple TV mounted on my projector, which is mounted to the ceiling. I use Airplay to feed the iPad image to the projector. You don't have to have Wifi to connect your iPad to your SkyTrak, but you will need Wifi to get the iPad to the Apple TV. I have a mesh Wifi network and had to add a node to extend my reach to the other end of the garage. I did set it up with an older iPad, and it lagged bigtime. Quick way to get a buzz as I had time to take a drink after I hit, and waited for it to show on the screen.

Setup:

SkyTrak
Optoma GT1080Darbee Short Throw Projector - 3000 Lumens
Apple TV (3rd Generation)
iPad Air 2 (running 13.3 software)
Pro Turf 6x10 hitting mat
Carl's Place Preferred Impact Screen (8.5ft x 11ft)
And a bunch of misc. items

Conclusion:

My buddy has a Carl's Place screen, and he doesn't have the bounce back I get. His screen is smaller and the setup is different. If I had it to do over again, I would purchase the Golf Simulator Enclosure Kit from Carl’s Place (8.5 x 10 x 5). I can't recommend it as I have never assembled or used one. I may, and I mean may, have saved some money with the DIY enclosure. However, the time to construct it and tinker with the setup has been the biggest negative.

I have my setup in a good place now. Full gap and sand wedges are still a little dicey. I probably would pony up a little more money for more lumens on the projector. Short throw is a must on the projector... and don't go cheap. I tried a noname projector from Amazon that boasted 6500 lumens and had to return it. With garage doors open in the middle of the day, it's a challenge to see the screen.

Be interested to hear about other people's home golf simulators. The reason I wrote this article is because I couldn't find one when I was researching it. I'm not a writer, this was not intended to be a masterpiece of writing. This is a diary of what I learned, and hopefully someone else finds this helpful.

--- UPDATED MARCH 2020 ---

Since this article was published, the screen has broken in quite nicely, and shots are not deflecting back or up into the ceiling. I lowered the screen from where I started, so the bottom just barely rests on the ground. This DIY setup is working great right now, and I'm happy I stuck with it. The slim profile of this screen system takes up minimal space in my garage compared to pre-built systems.

SkyTrak vs. Voice Caddie vs. Zepp Golf 2.0

Sun, 11 Aug 2019 22:06:53 GMT

Comparing Very Different Golf Training Aids

All three devices measure swing speed. The data below is the raw data when hitting with a 4 iron. The Zepp attaches to your hand and it's data shows pretty steady constiancy from the perspective of your hands. The downside with the Zepp is it doesn't know how well you connected with the ball, or if you chucked the ground. That is a similar problem with the Voice Caddie since it's using radar technology.

When looking at shots 1, 6 and 10, the ground made contact with the turf which was picked up by the both the SkyTrak and Voice Caddie on the carry distance. However, the Voice Caddie did not pick that up on swing speed. Oddly enough, the Voice Caddie carry distance was the closest to the SkyTrak on those slower swing speeds. At higher swing speeds, the Voice Caddie accuracy seems to suffer slightly.

If you look at shots 7 and 8, the swing speed on the Voice Caddie has a difference of +3, and the SkyTrak a difference of +7. On the carry distance, the difference on the Voice Caddie was +20 yards, and the SkyTrak only +10 yards.

Ball speed is where both devices tend to agree on as the data as real close. However, that shoots another dart at the Voice Caddie's Carry Distance... particularly on shots 7 and 8 again.

Link to all hitting data.

Swing Speed

Carry Distance

Ball Speed

Analysis

Zepp 2.0 - $149 on Amazon

Voice Caddie SC200 - $289 on Amazon

SkyTrak - $1,995 on Amazon

Overall, it comes down to a financial decision. All three of these devices can help your your game if used correctly. Here is a breakdown of each device.

Zepp 2.0

PROS:

Corrects your swing plane. If you are a consistent slicer, it's because you have an outside to inside swing plane. The Zepp 2.0 will not only identify this flaw in your swing, but it offers training videos on how you can work on correcting it.
Finding the right swing tempo. The Zepp 2.0 can identify a too fast, or too slow swing tempo. Having a steady and consistent swing tempo can quickly knock strokes off your rounds. Again, it not only identify the flaws, but provides training videos to help correct it.
Club speed and backswing which equals more distance. Its difficult to gain swing speed without a full backswing. The Zepp 2.0 will help identify where you can gain more power with your backswing. However, as we all know, more power doesn't equate to fewer strokes per round.
Allows you to video your swing from a phone or tablet that syncs to your metrics.

CONS:

It cannot calculate carry distance, launch angle, ball speed, etc.
It doesn't know if you made clean contact with the ball.

In summary, this device is great for correcting your swing. If you are struggling with accuracy, and unsure on what drills you can do to perfect it, the Zepp 2.0 is worth the money. Get the Zepp 2.0 on Amazon >>

Voice Caddie SC200

PROS:

Fairly accurate to track carry distance. If you are trying to dial in your irons to certain distances, this product will assist you with that.
Calculates carry distance, swing speed, ball speed and smash factor.
Has a couple games/challenges to help make practicing a little more interesting.

CONS:

The data didn't feel all that accurate when trying to hit distances less than 80 yards, and over 200 yards.
It doesn't know how well you struck the golf ball, or the flight path of the ball.

For the price, currently $289 at Amazon , it's not a bad deal. However, when comparing to the SkyTrak, it felt a little inconsistent. In addition, it doesn't adjust for mishits all that well. Data is decent when you make good contact, which is helpful feedback. After using the Voice Caddie multiple times, the repetition starts to become boring.

SkyTrak

PROS:

This provides almost all the data you will need in a golf shot. Previous testing data on the internet has shown this product is comparable to launch monitors that are $5,000 - $10,000.
It's a launch monitor so it can calculate total distance not just carry distance.
It calculates ball spin.
Tons of game improvement options that keep it interesting. It's difficult to get bored when practicing with this device.
Flexibility to use with a iPad, TV, or hit into a projector screen.

CONS:

Price is $ 1,965 .

several times a year, this product will be marked down $300 to $1,695.

The SkyTrack is by far the best device that was tested. If you can't drop the $2,000, the other devices are good alternatives. The Zepp 2.0 will help you identify flaws in your swing, and training videos of drills you can work on how to correct them. The Voice Caddie SC200 will help you dial in your clubs' distances. It's not the most accurate, but gives you a good place to start when you're on the course. I found all three of these devices to be worthy tools. The Zepp and Voice Caddie get a little boring. The SkyTrak may be more money, but it also has more lasting value.

*Also tested was an OptiShot2 and it's not worth writing about. Not only is the approach view of the device awkward, the data of the one we were testing was all over the place compared to the SkyTrak and Voice Caddie. Shop for Skytrak on Amazon >>