Review Blast Motion Gen 3 Review

[Nilnats]

I tried it out for 6 months. Changing my full swing tempo wasn't working for me. Lead to more problems than improvement. I also question the data. Unfortunately, no trackman to do comparisons but i do have a sc300i. With an 11 degree driver, i intentionally hit up resulting in a 20 degree launch angle and this device says negstive AOA. Go figure. On putting, i have one of those gate putting trainers. I know when the ball path is left or right bc it hits a peg, 14 inches away. So i intentionally rotate close or open and just looking for some consistency but this device just disappoints.
I don't see how this feedback is use full to me. I will rate this 1star out of 5 crediting them for a clean and simple design that works well with apple only. Good luck.

 

[Raiderboost]

I went out and hit about 40 putts last night. I sat the phone on the ground next to the balls and was able to looks and see the results. You can also set it up to say the tempo too. It registered every putt and seemed to be vary consistent. I never had a putt that it didn’t pick up. I’m going to try it out more after our scramble this morning.

 

[V14_Heels]

I went out and hit about 40 putts last night. I sat the phone on the ground next to the balls and was able to looks and see the results. You can also set it up to say the tempo too. It registered every putt and seemed to be vary consistent. I never had a putt that it didn’t pick up. I’m going to try it out more after our scramble this morning.

Hmm weird. I don't get why mines not working for putting. Were all your putts beyond 10'? Or did you try some short ones with it?

 

[robd]

Hmm weird. I don't get why mines not working for putting. Were all your putts beyond 10'? Or did you try some short ones with it?

I didn’t have any issues with putting yesterday. I was just putting in a 36” metal ruler so they were short putts.

 

[ozzman]

I didn't have any issues with registering putts. On Android, it downloaded a firmware update to the sensor, did you do that?

 

[baylrballa]

No prompt to update sensor. Might put it on an apple product to see if I can reset it that way. But that's annoying.

 

[will]

I got my Blast Motion Golf package this week, but work and weather kept me off the range and course until today. Our course had a large tournament today, so I was only able to go to the range, but forgot the adapter for regular grips. Fortunately, I had already been playing around with the putter in the house and had that with me, so that's where I'm going to start with the Blast Motion Golf system.

Unboxing and Setup:

In the box you'll find the Blast Motion sensor, charger, and two grip attachments for the sensor. One is for standard grips and the other for putter grips. No instruction manual, as that is all done through the Blast Golf app on your phone. Setup is quick and easy. Download the app, create an account, charge the sensor, and then follow the instructions on your phone for pairing your sensor. I have an iPhone and it worked flawlessly. Honestly, it was set up and ready to go before I had a chance to read through all of the on-screen instructions. Once paired, simply put the sensor in the grip attachment and install on the club. You do have to line it up to make sure it's all squared up, but that wasn't difficult and you get an on-screen example as a guide.



Putting:

I was itching to test the sensor and see what information it provided. You can start a practice session and it will ask what distance you are practicing. Example 5-10 feet, 10-20, lag puts, etc.

With putting the app provides results for:
- Backstroke/forward stroke ratio
- Backstroke time
- Forward stroke time
- Backstroke length
- Impact Stroke Speed
- Loft change
- Total stroke time
- Face angle at impact
- Backstroke rotation
- Forward stroke rotation
- Lie change

I started in the 5-10 feet range and hit about 20 putts in the first session. I have the voice notifications turned on, so after each putt, it would "ding" and tell me the tempo ratio. The goal is 2:1 ratio for backstroke to forward stroke time. My average was 2.3:1, but ranged from 2.1:1 to 2.6:1. That falls into the green zone, but also shows some inconsistency in my putting stroke, even when hitting the same putt over and over. My results were basically the same when I moved to 10-20 feet. I was really curious about face angle at impact. When putting in the 5-10 feet range, I averaged 0.2 degrees closed, but the range was 2.9 degrees closed to 2.5 degrees open. This technically falls into the green zone, but shrinking that range is something that I'd like to work on. It's also something that really stood out when I moved to the 10-20 feet range. I ranged from 0.3 degrees open to 4.7 degrees open, which was well outside of the green zone. Obviously my misses were much worse here.









I also noticed that my total stroke time was slower than average. A lot of this seems to stem from a slower backstroke, which causes me to try to compensate with a faster, more jerky forward stroke. I've been saying since I started back playing golf that consistency was my biggest issue and this highlights the areas where I can improve. I haven't had a chance to look through the drills yet, but I'm planning to start checking those out and setting some goals to try to improve my putting stroke. There are a lot of drills on the app for putting, short game, bunker, and full swing, so I'm sure there's something there to help everyone.

Other App Features:

Outside of the practice sessions and drill videos, there are a couple of other app features to note. The first, and most obvious, is that it tracks your trends in Speed Control and Direction. You can set for a specific day, week, month, or year. So you can get a really specific picture of your putting stroke for any of those time ranges, which is pretty cool. There's also a videos section, where I believe you can upload or record videos of your putting stroke or golf swing to analyze. I haven't had a chance to try this out, but most definitely will.



Initial Thoughts/Impressions:

Since I've only had a short session to try this out, it's hard to make any definitive statements, but I can already see several areas where my putting stroke may need some improvement. Seeing how much I'm opening the face on longer putts, as well as an inconsistent tempo on those same putts, it's no wonder I have so many 3 putts from anywhere outside of 20 feet. If this can help me improve there, I will be ecstatic! But I also think it has the potential to help across the board. I'm looking forward to testing putting some more and I'm REALLY looking forward to trying the full swing setting. This thing provides a lot of data and I love being able to take that info and analyze it and figure where and how to improve. This is going to be fun!

 

[V14_Heels]

Hmm...well I got some things to overcome with mine. I recently bought a new Evnroll putter that I was fit into by CC. I got it about 4 days ago, and the first time I tried the sensor with it, it had a standard size Winn grip, that didn't suit me at all. I've since had it regripped with a Super Stroke Pistol Grip 2.0, and there ain't no way I can get this Blast adapter to fit onto that grip, which is problem #1. But problem #2 is I use Arccos which makes this even more complicated, because even if it did fit I'd have to remove my Arccos everytime, this isn't as big of a deal on regular irons cause it just screws off and on quickly, but it's a different animal with a superstroke where I actually need an allen wrench and such.

I realize this is kind of a tough nut to crack for Blast, but it's also kind of large drawback for my setup, and even without the arccos I still need a bigger adapter. I'm going to see if I can't come up with something custom...


Edit: Went to the small adapter and this is quite snug on the actual arccos but I have no idea how bad this throws off metrics?

 

[Pops]

Hmm...well I got some things to overcome with mine. I recently bought a new Evnroll putter that I was fit into by CC. I got it about 4 days ago, and the first time I tried the sensor with it, it had a standard size Winn grip, that didn't suit me at all. I've since had it regripped with a Super Stroke Pistol Grip 2.0, and there ain't no way I can get this Blast adapter to fit onto that grip, which is problem #1. But problem #2 is I use Arccos which makes this even more complicated, because even if it did fit I'd have to remove my Arccos everytime, this isn't as big of a deal on regular irons cause it just screws off and on quickly, but it's a different animal with a superstroke where I actually need an allen wrench and such.

I realize this is kind of a tough nut to crack for Blast, but it's also kind of large drawback for my setup, and even without the arccos I still need a bigger adapter. I'm going to see if I can't come up with something custom...

View attachment 9052552
Edit: Went to the small adapter and this is quite snug on the actual arccos but I have no idea how bad this throws off metrics?

Would like to hear from blast also on this. I use it the same way on my wrist lock Super Stroke. Didn’t seem to cause any issues with data in comparison to other putters I used it on.

 

[Raiderboost]

Hmm weird. I don't get why mines not working for putting. Were all your putts beyond 10'? Or did you try some short ones with it?

I would say most were around 10 ft. Had a few from probably 5-6 and some more from 20-30 ft.

 

[Raiderboost]

I wanted to try it out Saturday after our MGA scramble but it was a cold and windy day. I was able to go to the range for just a little bit yesterday and hit a few ball with the PW, 7i and driver. I'll try to post some screen shots later this evening but wanted to get a little initial feedback.

First off, getting the sensor into the grip attachment is not the easiest. Getting the attachment on the grip is even harder though. It was hard to tell if I got it all the way on or not. I first used the smaller attachment on my Pw and the first time it came off after about 5-6 swings. I wasn't sure if I got it on all the way so I did it again and then tried to check it after every 2-3 swings. After the Pw I moved the sensor to the larger attachment to put onto the driver. I have a standard mid size grip and it was still hard to get on. With larger grips it would be a major pain. It seemed to stay on better this time but did notice the sensor rotated some. After that I went to the 7i and stuck with the larger attachment. It went on a little easier but was still fairly tight. I did have to check and adjust it some and then it did end up coming off on my last swing.

While the grip attachment is not too bulky it was noticeable for me as I felt the attachment on the bottom of my left palm and couldn't feel the end of the club to be comfortable with my grip location. As a non-flatbelly I also didn't like the extra length it adds to the putter as I could sometimes feel it graze my shirt. Overall the size isn't too bad but is noticeable.

Upon hitting balls the first thing I noticed it swing tempo can be subjective and I have a slow tempo. I have always been this way though as I take it back slow, maybe even have a short pause, and the fire. I was constantly in the red here and if I tried to work on the tempo then I either have to really increase my backswing speed or slow down my downswing. Increasing the backswing speed really threw off my tempo and time, not to mention it didn't feel good on my back, and caused my to usually come over a little and pull the ball. Slowing the downswing kept good contact but obviously loses swing speed and distance. I will add that I was hitting the ball well and most were nice high shots with with a little draw. I was hitting some pin seekers too.

The other thing I noticed was that it seemed like the swing speeds were all a little low. With the Pw it said I was in the 66-72 SS range, mid- 70's with the 7i and low to mid 90's with the driver. Last year when I got fit for my wedges at the Titleist Thursday's I was getting into the low to mid 90's with the 48* wedge. When I've hit in the bays at golf stores with my driver I'm usually in the 100-110 range.

I'll try to post some screenshots of the data this evening when I get home from work.

 

[V14_Heels]

I wanted to try it out Saturday after our MGA scramble but it was a cold and windy day. I was able to go to the range for just a little bit yesterday and hit a few ball with the PW, 7i and driver. I'll try to post some screen shots later this evening but wanted to get a little initial feedback.

First off, getting the sensor into the grip attachment is not the easiest. Getting the attachment on the grip is even harder though. It was hard to tell if I got it all the way on or not. I first used the smaller attachment on my Pw and the first time it came off after about 5-6 swings. I wasn't sure if I got it on all the way so I did it again and then tried to check it after every 2-3 swings. After the Pw I moved the sensor to the larger attachment to put onto the driver. I have a standard mid size grip and it was still hard to get on. With larger grips it would be a major pain. It seemed to stay on better this time but did notice the sensor rotated some. After that I went to the 7i and stuck with the larger attachment. It went on a little easier but was still fairly tight. I did have to check and adjust it some and then it did end up coming off on my last swing.

While the grip attachment is not too bulky it was noticeable for me as I felt the attachment on the bottom of my left palm and couldn't feel the end of the club to be comfortable with my grip location. As a non-flatbelly I also didn't like the extra length it adds to the putter as I could sometimes feel it graze my shirt. Overall the size isn't too bad but is noticeable.

Upon hitting balls the first thing I noticed it swing tempo can be subjective and I have a slow tempo. I have always been this way though as I take it back slow, maybe even have a short pause, and the fire. I was constantly in the red here and if I tried to work on the tempo then I either have to really increase my backswing speed or slow down my downswing. Increasing the backswing speed really threw off my tempo and time, not to mention it didn't feel good on my back, and caused my to usually come over a little and pull the ball. Slowing the downswing kept good contact but obviously loses swing speed and distance. I will add that I was hitting the ball well and most were nice high shots with with a little draw. I was hitting some pin seekers too.

The other thing I noticed was that it seemed like the swing speeds were all a little low. With the Pw it said I was in the 66-72 SS range, mid- 70's with the 7i and low to mid 90's with the driver. Last year when I got fit for my wedges at the Titleist Thursday's I was getting into the low to mid 90's with the 48* wedge. When I've hit in the bays at golf stores with my driver I'm usually in the 100-110 range.

I'll try to post some screenshots of the data this evening when I get home from work.

I think this is a very fair review. It kind of sums up where I'm at with it right now as well. I think there is alot of REALLY good data with this thing, but I just don't know how to really use it yet.

I will say @Raiderboost i think the key is to adjust the goals within the Tempo setting. So if you can determine your best ball striking for example happens at a 2:5-1, and you can figure out how fast that backswing and downswing need to be, then you can update your goals accordingly and practice for the repetition. Because I think your right in...tempo is a purely subjective thing. Some pros have to have a 3:1 vs. others at a 2:1. Heck Colin Morikawa might be darn near 4:1.

 

[Raiderboost]

I think this is a very fair review. It kind of sums up where I'm at with it right now as well. I think there is alot of REALLY good data with this thing, but I just don't know how to really use it yet.

I will say @Raiderboost i think the key is to adjust the goals within the Tempo setting. So if you can determine your best ball striking for example happens at a 2:5-1, and you can figure out how fast that backswing and downswing need to be, then you can update your goals accordingly and practice for the repetition. Because I think your right in...tempo is a purely subjective thing. Some pros have to have a 3:1 vs. others at a 2:1. Heck Colin Morikawa might be darn near 4:1.

Put me in the Morikawa range then haha. If I got faster than 3.5:1 then it felt rushed lol. I'll look at the range setting as I think you are right about adjusting it in the app. I didn't have much time so I was just trying to hit a few to get a feel for how it worked. I plan to read up a little more on the Full Swing and Putting info along with watching the videos to learn more about how to use the data now that I know what data you do get.

 

[will]

Putter Session #2:

I was able to get in a little more time with the putter yesterday. I did several practice sessions of 8-10 putts each where I was set myself up at a specific spot and hit each shot from there. That way I was able to focus on repeating smooth, consistent putts. As mentioned by other reviewers, tempo isn't going to be identical for everyone, so finding the tempo that works best for you and updating your range would allow you to work on consistency in your stroke. For me, I noticed yesterday that 2.1:1-2.2:1 provided the best results. I was set up about 6 feet for one session and 8 feet for another and I made more putts when I was around 2.1:1 or 2.2:1. Everything was just smoother. I was also able to improve a bit with keeping the face square at impact this go round.




Now, when I moved back to about 18 feet, I had the same problem as before. My backstroke takes a bit too much time and I have more trouble keeping the face square. I think this is where I need to focus on tempo and face angle. I already knew I struggled with longer putts, but now I have some data to analyze and see where I can improve. I think I'll start looking into the drills and see if they are able to help.

I do have one minor complaint and I think this also led to a minor issue yesterday. When I start a practice session, I set my phone down on the putting green at the distance that I want and putt from there. I can look down and see the result of the putt instantly. The only problem is, the sensor seems to have a very short range. Anything beyond about 6 feet and it disconnects. So when I walk over to pick up the balls, it disconnects and reconnects when I get back next to the phone. At one point yesterday it disconnected from my phone and did not reconnect when I walked back to it. I wasn't paying attention and hit several putts that felt really good, but it didn't log those. The sensor can also track putts offline and then you download those, but it looks like it just missed those putts completely. Not a huge issue, since I noticed pretty quickly, but at that point I had to completely close the app to get it to reconnect. Other than that, it's worked very well so far.

 

[baylrballa]

No luck, just doesn't work. Acts like there's corrupted data on sensor. Will get some customer service review in right off the bat.

16 emails deep with the normal stock electronic trouble shooting suggestions. nothing different to this point. forwarding some pictures to the "back end guys"; I'm not convinced they would enjoy being called that.

 

[JB]

Going to be doing a little bit with this myself in the coming weeks.
My instructor thinks that for short game it is the best tool out there.

 

[mtbloco]

It the rain holds off, i'm planning to get out on the range and use this to drill my AOA with driver. I can't seem to learn to hit UP on the ball. Im hopeful that the instant feedback with help me learn the correct feels.

 

[ozzman]

I like the idea of using one handed putting to dial in face angle control.

Blast Golf on Instagram: "Nothing better than progress! Earlier this month, we shared how @carleeshoe decided to #MakeTheCommitment to her putting this off-season. Since then, she’s been using Blast to supplement drills that she can do in her own hom

200 likes, 2 comments - blast_golfDecember 13, 2021 on : "Nothing better than progress! Earlier this month, we shared how @carleeshoe decided to #MakeTheCommitment to her putting this off-season...."

www.instagram.com

 

[Raiderboost]

It the rain holds off, i'm planning to get out on the range and use this to drill my AOA with driver. I can't seem to learn to hit UP on the ball. Im hopeful that the instant feedback with help me learn the correct feels.

This is something I've been working on for the last few months as I was always negative. I hit about 15 drives on Sunday and it showed that they were all either level or up which I'm happy with.

 

[mtbloco]

This is something I've been working on for the last few months as I was always negative. I hit about 15 drives on Sunday and it showed that they were all either level or up which I'm happy with.

When I first tried this, I was level 8/10 swings. fortunately up the other two. When I played i'm driving ok...poking it out there 220-ish. No roll this time of year. Then all of a sudden I uncork a "monster" towering drive that Arccos logged as 264.....I think I hit UP on that one!

 

[V14_Heels]

Going to be doing a little bit with this myself in the coming weeks.
My instructor thinks that for short game it is the best tool out there.

I would love to understand what data your instructor finds most helpful and how to use it.

I think for me that is where I’m really struggling to find value right now.

I know spin, launch angle, distance, aoa, those metrics that we get from trackmans and gcs and I get how to use it and adjust to it a bit more. But a lot of this data is new and I’m not sure how to use it in the same way.

 

[JB]

I would love to understand what data your instructor finds most helpful and how to use it.

I think for me that is where I’m really struggling to find value right now.

I know spin, launch angle, distance, aoa, those metrics that we get from trackmans and gcs and I get how to use it and adjust to it a bit more. But a lot of this data is new and I’m not sure how to use it in the same way.

Those items are very different than these.
For him this is about consistency, something a launch monitor is not going to be able to tell you swing to swing generally speaking and certainly not for average golfers.
Im not sure if you have read the review linked in the first post, but it might be a good start and I am sure @ddec can expand on it.

 

[JonD]

Grabbed one of these to try on a whim. Most interested in putting and short game, so hoping to use it for practice over the offseason. Need to go get it charged up.

 

[DataDude]

Went out and swung a bit today to get baselines. I was just trying to do my swing. My swing is whack

I like that I do have hand speed. I need to work on my tempo and my release. Digging through the drills to see what I can find...

 

[Pops]

I need to spend some time watching videos to learn how to use blast the most effectively.