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Voice Caddie SC200 Portable Launch Monitor Review

SuperStroke
Hmmm, I have 3 wedges after my PW as well so that would be an issue for me

The only other alternative I can see would mean constantly having to change the lofts for the wedges that the machine allows but that isn't an ideal solution
 
TheDoctor said:
Hmmm, I have 3 wedges after my PW as well so that would be an issue for me

The only other alternative I can see would mean constantly having to change the lofts for the wedges that the machine allows but that isn't an ideal solution
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Yeah, but having done that (the loft change) it really isn't a big deal and takes little effort. I agree it could be streamlined, but the remote as is is a big step up from the SC 100. That makes me believe the next iteration will hopefully address those things and more.
 
I'd never had a lob wedge until I got my new wedge set a week ago. That was the first I realized my SC200 didn't include LW. Mine is 60* so I'm able to adjust to the correct loft on the SW selection but TBH I'm not getting accurate results when I do. Surprises me because I've recorded tens of thousands of shots with both the SC100 and SC200 and they've always been very accurate for me in every other setting and mode. Even when set up side by side with Trackman or Flightscope and recording the same shots.

I'm not sure why it's over reading my LW yardages? Maybe the ball is climbing so fast it's not within the vertical limits of the sensing 'window' long enough? I haven't experimented with tilting the unit back yet to extend the time it might remain in that 'window, but I did not experience any of this issue when I used to hit my old 56* SW. Fortunately the range I've been using to figure out the yardages of my new wedges has several lasered targets clustered together in the area I've been carrying full, 3/4, and 1/2 swing lob wedges so I know those numbers, just not getting good numbers from my 60* with my SC200. I do get solid accuracy from the SC200 with my new 54* though, whether I enter 54* into the SW or AW position. It's just not been accurate for the LW, (for me).

My hope/assumption is the LW issue is something VC will resolve in the next release.
 
Voice Caddie SC200 Portable Launch Monitor Review

Jman said:
Yeah, but having done that (the loft change) it really isn't a big deal and takes little effort. I agree it could be streamlined, but the remote as is is a big step up from the SC 100. That makes me believe the next iteration will hopefully address those things and more.
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I wonder if I should just set the SW setting at 56 (between my 54 & 58) and forget about it. I won’t be able to keep long term stats for each club but would be able to clear the previous session and have solid numbers for each. I think I will experiment with that when I take it to the range. See if there is any change in registering shots when the loft settings are a bit off.
 
I may have to get me one of those pouches.
 
Got a chance to take this to the range the other day. I won't go into too much detail just yet as this was more of a chance to familiarize myself with the SC200 (& swing a club for the first time in two weeks). I will say, there are some things this bad boy does better than others. I was really impressed with the information gleaned when using longer clubs and especially how fast it displayed the information. It was really cool to see that I've picked up 5-7 mph on my driver swing speed. I was less than impressed with the readings from my 54* & 58* wedges, but I am not ready to condemn it yet. The range I was using is hot garbage and the balls look like they've been in the sun for a century. I'm hoping to take it to a better local range where I can also play premium balls on a three hole short game course. Curious if that will make a difference. Initial reaction is that it is impressive, albeit a bit restricted. But again, before I dig too deep I want to test it in a different setting.
 
Any low ball hitters need to lower the loft than actual stated loft of the club on the unit to get more accurate readings ?

Reason I ask is for example the driver. I play a 13.5* often times lofted to 15.5* and average 230. A buddy of mine with a similar swing speed and distance usually plays a 9.5 and hits his driver higher than I do.
 
I don't know how this thing gets head speed. W3 setting consistently produces 5% higher head speed than W1, same club same swing (driver). Ballspeed remains stable.
 
A couple range sessions since my last update but still have to say I really like this device. Great feedback when you're trying to figure out how to hit a partial shot to a distance, or even if you're just working on a range that isn't marked that great. I still think the approach game is my favorite as I'm now ending my sessions trying to hit partial wedge shots to the random target distances. Adds a little bit of fun to it. I would like it if they had a mock 9 holes or something maybe it simulated working from tee to green, but I suppose I could do that myself with a distance and some imagination. lol

Either way, I think this is a solid addition for range work and will have it set up whenever I'm working on the range from now on.
 
Before I played a round yesterday, I had a chance to take this out to the range and put it through it's paces. These past few weeks the weather here has not been all that great with either rain, very cold or a combination of both so this is my fist test review with some more to come.

First off, I'm impressed with this unit. This is the first time that I have hit on a portable launch monitor and it does exactly what it says it will do. I also like the remote control unit because I can do all of the functions without having to move or reposition the unit and I can switch between the various different modes. I haven't tried all of the modes just the approach and practice mode. I kind of liked the approach mode the better because it random selects yardages that you have to hit. The practice mode gives you better information about your shots like ball speed, swing speed, and smash factor in addition to yardage. You can also measure the total carry of a shot but I didn't use this feature that much this time just because I didn't want to pause and press a button to get that information.

So, how did it work. While I didn't have my range finder to compare the distance of a shot, I thought it was really close just by eyeing it. The approach mode is my go to mode. Since wedges are a strong point of my game, this mode will give me the best information about my shots from 100 yards in. Since it only has 3 wedge settings I have to modify the loft on the SC200 to accommodate my actual club lofts which is kind of a pain, but it's a minor inconvenience. One things that stands out is the speed in which you get your information. As soon as finished my swing, all of the information came up along with the audio of my distance. I didn't try my driver out but that will be done next time out. I'll be interested to see how accurate the distance and carry will be with it.

So far, I have nothing to complain about. It's compact, bright enough to see in the daylight, loud enough to be heard by anyone around, very customizable, and most important it gives you all of the information in a split second after you swing. I might be easily impresses but so far I'm liking it a lot. I'll try and get this out again this week and try it with the driver and see how that works out.
 
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After a week away on vacation I am back home and able to practice. With the wife shopping today I spent some time on the range with my C300 irons, looking to figure out a few things.

I love how quick and easy this thing sets up. Now that I have entered all my lofts they are all remembered and I like that. The remote goes in my pocket and its small enough I dont notice it during my swing. Today I was just looking at raw distance and for the most part the unit was accurate. The range I was on today has 6 poles at various distances so I was using those as a visual guide, they hitting them with my laser to ensure what the SC200 was giving me was on. For the most part it was right, but as I stated before the unit does seem to struggle with shots hit lower and higher then normal. Some of my lofted lob wedge shots didnt register at all and my lower irons gave some wonky distances. This is something I have noted in previous posts but I can assume it's no longer an anomaly. Its not unexpected for a device at this price point so no worries and 90% of the time its on.

I didnt spend much time on approach mode even though I love it. Next time.
 
Happy to see this one continue on. Always fun to catch up on what others are seeing.
 
Spent some more time with the SC200 today and honestly, I am bit concerned.

I went back to my range with the pole markers and was hitting specifically at these to verify distances. While many of the shots were spot on, there were some variables in the +/- 10 yard range and honestly, to me 60' is a pretty damn wide gap to be inconsistent on. I was hitting specifically to a 144 yard pole, then a 198 yard pole and eyeballing these shots there were quite a few off.

Where things got weird was in approach mode. I hade a target at 50 yards, 72 and 90 yards I lasered and then used them to gauge the SC200. In approach mode using a 54* wedge it was consistently recording yardages about 12-12 yards longer then actually I was hitting them.

I am going to call it an anomaly today, but today was a bit disconcerting.
 
Were you hitting them at different trajectories by chance? I wonder if that’s wigging it out
 
MWard said:
Were you hitting them at different trajectories by chance? I wonder if that’s wigging it out
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No, just standard swings. Its why I avoided using my 60*. Next time I will try using Approach mode with my GW.
 
fupresti said:
No, just standard swings. Its why I avoided using my 60*. Next time I will try using Approach mode with my GW.
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Welp, there goes my thought that flighting caused issues
 
fupresti said:
After a week away on vacation I am back home and able to practice. With the wife shopping today I spent some time on the range with my C300 irons, looking to figure out a few things.

I love how quick and easy this thing sets up. Now that I have entered all my lofts they are all remembered and I like that. The remote goes in my pocket and its small enough I dont notice it during my swing. Today I was just looking at raw distance and for the most part the unit was accurate. The range I was on today has 6 poles at various distances so I was using those as a visual guide, they hitting them with my laser to ensure what the SC200 was giving me was on. For the most part it was right, but as I stated before the unit does seem to struggle with shots hit lower and higher then normal. Some of my lofted lob wedge shots didnt register at all and my lower irons gave some wonky distances. This is something I have noted in previous posts but I can assume it's no longer an anomaly. Its not unexpected for a device at this price point so no worries and 90% of the time its on.

I didnt spend much time on approach mode even though I love it. Next time.
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I saw similar results . Going to give it a workout tomorrow morning.

I truly am sorry how spotty I have been with my reviewing. I was all set to go on Sunday and woke up with a slight cold. Between that and getting used to my one month old's schedule, I apologize for my slacking. Like I said, I plan to get out tomorrow morning on a good range. I'm looking forward to trying it out with better range balls and also premium balls on the short game course.
 
Anyone use this consistently with a net? Biggest worry is getting shots to register with this when primary use is a net


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I took out the SC200 out this morning and even though it was a little cool (50*) I thought I would see how this thing does in cool weather. I was a cloudless day with tons of sunshine which was good for me but questionable for the SC200. I used the practice mode exclusively this time.

In the morning at this range you are facing right into the sun and the unit sometimes didn't register at all even though a swing was made. I also brought along my V4 so I could laser the marks and most fell into a reasonable range. I was at first disappointed at the yardages displayed but then I realized that this is not a laser rangefinder but a portable launch monitor, emphasis portable. I also had my share of people around me when I was using it just because no one uses these things at this range. A few tried it out and thought it was it was cool especially when the voice spelled out the distance. I don't know why but I still haven't changed the default lofts to my iron lofts. Maybe one word, lazy I guess but that will be a must in my next review.

So how did the unit perform? With the sunshine directly in the face, I didn't get all of my swings registered but the ones that I did we OK at best meaning about 10% off the laser distance. I turned the SC200 about 10* or so from the direct sunlight and did get everything registered with a little better accuracy from the unit. My biggest issue was my swing. It seems like I turned my 15 handicap swing into a 90 handicap swing. A lot of low hits and even a hosel rocket. In other words I was very cognizant that the VS200 was measuring my distance. Knowing that my irons weren't producing good numbers I went back to my of wedge game and it was a lot better.

I have a tendency to hit some very high wedges and the VS did measure my swing speed but my distance was way off by about 15 yards. I generally hit my 56 about 85 yards and fairly high and it cam up short by about 13 yards. I picked up a 52* wedge opened up my stance and pitched it almost the same distance but with a lower flight and it also cam up short but only by about 5-8 yards. I repeated different shots and in general they were all within acceptable range with an occasional blip. Still this unit impresses me. I guess if I was a touring pro having a 10% variance in distances might be an issue, but at the end of the day, I'm still a 15 cap. so a 10% variance is not a deal breaker for me at least. I realize at the price point and the fact that it's portable unit there are a few sacrifices to be made. I'm still sort of confused about smash factor and how it relates to my swing though.

I did not do any drivers, fairway or hybrid shots. I will do those for my next review. Bottom line, still a great unit for practicing and getting information about your swing and fairly good distances on your shots.
 
I've seen similar results directly into a bright sun BW. I've have quite a bit of experience with both the SC100 and SC200 over the past several years. Neither works nearly as well directly into the sun like that, especially if the sun is a lower in the sky like it is during the winter. This time of year, if I'm planning a practice session reliant on SC200, I'll choose my range, and/or time of day if it's real sunny.
 
I think I figured out the lob wedge issue. Just hit 20+ without a single blank reading and all seemed very consistent and accurate. Full write up to follow!
 
So I finally made it to my preferred range yesterday. I got a chance to run the SC200 through its paces and I wanted to see if there was something I could do about the whole issue of wedges not registering or giving whacky numbers. I was starting to question the usefulness of the unit, especially since short irons and wedges are used more with the various settings.

I lasered a few flags and set about mixing up clubs and was feeling good about the results. The range has better quality limited flight Srixon balls and the SC200 was doing well. I decided to go to the wedges and see what I could do. There were three changes to previous sessions... 1. Different range balls 2. I moved the unit closer and was only about 3 feet behind the ball & 3. Changed the loft to its highest(60*) setting.

Whatever the reasoning, this combination worked! I hit more than 20 shots and they all registered. The distances seemed spot on except for a couple flubbed shots. Pleasantly surprised and excited to have the unit working like a champ.
 
So after getting about 8" of snow about 10 days ago and battling near zero wind chills, so today it hit 65 degrees and since I haven't hit a golf ball in at least 3 weeks, I thought this would a perfect time to re-test my SC200. Our greens will be uncovered tomorrow but I went out to the range to hit a dozen balls. I didn't take my range finder with me but just eyeing my shots, the SC200 was fairly accurate. The range was very sloppy and there were no mats just very wet ground with no grass however the purpose of this was to test the SC200's performance. I just stayed in the practice mode and got repeated results of my swing. This thing measured my swing speed, ball speed and smash factor as well as distance with an immediate voice output. You can input your club selection as well as customize your loft angle of that club and it will store the information so you can review it later. It also has a remote so you can program it without having to touch or bend down. While this is not your fancy GC quad or anything like that, it does an extremely good job of providing you with pertinent information about your swing without going to a store or renting a launch monitor. For someone like me who goes out to a range with a bucket of balls and hits at a certain mark or target without "really" knowing how far it actually is this unit is terrific. It also forces me to concentrate on hitting shots with a purpose instead of just going through a bucket of balls. My results today considering the conditions was as expected. Next I'll try some different modes as see how they turn out but so far, the SC200 has been great.
 
This unit is on my wish list. Plenty of useful info to work with to know if you are gain or losing when making swing changes.
 
I just bought one of these off Ebay. At first i was getting wild readings from it... as much as 33% off, usually high. I tried setting it at a 45* angle from the ball and target line (instead of directly behind the ball on the target line) and VOILA now I’m getting consistent and accurate feedback!


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