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3BaysGSA PUTT: Editor Review

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All golfers inherently understand that to score well, they need to putt well. We all know the cliché, but we don’t always listen to the voice in our head telling us to go to the practice green instead of the practice tee.

A repeatable, consistent stroke will always give a golfer the best chance to drain those putts to save par, drop a birdie or even make that bogey putt that keeps the round going. The best way to achieve a repeatable stroke is by understanding your current stroke and making improvements. The 3BaysGSA PUTT, a lightweight putting analyzer designed to deliver key feedback about your stroke, is one of the ways to help you achieve that consistent, reliable putting stroke.

The PUTT is available now for $199 and you can learn more on its website. Unlike other swing analyzers on the market, there are two different products: the GSA PUTT for Android and the GSA PUTT for iOS. You need to purchase the appropriate product for your device, which also includes the free companion smartphone app that can be downloaded from the iOS and Android app stores. 3Bays also has a swing analyzer designed for the full swing, but this review is focused only on the 3BaysGSA PUTT.

Pros

  • Accurate representation of the putting stroke.
  • Great collection of key data points.
  • In-app video integration.

Cons

  • Only analyzes the putting stroke (but does it well).
  • Requires separate hardware for iOS and Android.
  • Works on tablets, but not optimized for the larger screen.

The hardware

GSA PUTT Hardware

The PUTT packaging and hardware is very solid. When you first open the box, you get the feeling you’ve purchased a high-end product. It is one of the nicest presentations I’ve seen yet. The box includes a carrying case, a micro usb cord with a wall adapter for charging and a quick start guide. The PUTT fits securely in the top of your club instead of attaching to the shaft like other analyzers. It is extremely light, weighing just 9.8 grams and appears solid enough that if you accidentally drop it, it won’t instantly shatter. Since the sensor is at the top of the shaft, some golfers might find the sensor could be in the way depending on their grip and position. The only time I had any issues was when I was practicing at home with my watch on my wrist. At the range or the course, the sensor was not in the way.

The real magic is what is inside the case. Because 3Bays decided to focus on two separate devices — one designed for high-speed capture (GSA PRO) and one designed for low-speed motion capture (GSA PUTT) — the PUTT includes very delicate sensors that can detect even the most subtle movements during the swing.

Device setup, golfer and putter info

Setting up the PUTT was simple. You need to download the companion app first, then power up the device. You can expect the same process as pairing other Bluetooth devices and the smartphone app will guide you through the process. I didn’t have any issues pairing the first time and have not experienced any issues pairing or staying paired with the device. If you have any issues, there is a nice help section within the app.

Like most motion analyzers, PUTT will deliver more accurate results if you take the time to fill out your profile and putter information. For the golfer, you should at least enter your height, but you can enter your gender, weight, handicap and name.

The putter data is very important. You can select the head type from a variety of options including mallet, Anser-style, center-shafted, futuristic and others. Length, loft, lie and head weight are other data points you can modify. The more accurate you can be with this data the better, but don’t worry too much if you can’t find the specs on the lucky gamer you’ve had in your bag since you were a kid. You can also change the color of some of the elements and set the distance, speed and force units, which is a nice feature.

App and swing path animation

GSA Putt MainPUTT includes a free app available for iOS and Android. For iOS, you need to have a 3GS or newer running 5.1 or later, and for Android you need to be running 2.3 or later. For this review, I’m focusing on the iOS experience. One thing to note is that these apps will run on tablets such as the iPad, but they are not universal apps and are not designed specifically for tablets. That means instead of presenting the golfer with an interface that leverages the large screen, you’ll see a magnified iPhone app. 3Bays is considering tablet-optimized apps in the future, but is focusing resources on new products for now.

After you pair your PUTT, the app goes directly to the swing screen. Once you enter your basic specs, all you need to do is roll putts. To make sure it registers, line up your putt, pause for one second and then start your swing. The app will automatically analyze the data and present the swing path animation on the screen. You can keep putting, the app will continuously record your swings.

Once you are ready to review your swings, you’ll see that you have two views on the screen. The top view displays your attack angle. The bottom view displays your face angle. There are many other data points, but I like that 3Bays highlighted these two metrics because they are two of the most important pieces of data in the putting stroke. You can tap the play button to view an animation of your stroke. You can auto play the animation at full, 1/4 and 1/16th speed and you can zoom in close allowing you to see even the most subtle moves during the swing. If you turn your device to landscape, the view changes to show a bigger view of the animation.

Data and accuracy

GSA Putt DataI tested the PUTT outside on the putting green and inside on a putting mat with guide lines. I also leveraged video separate from the app, as well as other swing analyzers to help test the accuracy of the data. We all know a $200 analyzer is not going to be as accurate as the larger commercial systems, but PUTT does provide very accurate data that will be useful to the majority of golfers looking to improve. The sensors picked up my stock stroke exactly as I expected. When I tried to manipulate the stroke with subtle movements such as taking the club back outside or coming back into the ball inside, the app picked it up with really good accuracy. Downward angle of attack and upward angle of attack also registered accurately. The app presents eight data points including consistency, tempo, face angle, attack angle, downswing time, backswing time, impact speed and swing path distance. The one data point that really stands out as unique to other analyzers is the swing path distance. The app presents a colored graph showing the distance of your backswing and your follow through. You can also view historical charts showing your consistency over time.

In addition to using the PUTT to help improve my swing, I also used it to help me decide to switch putters. I’m not advocating using the PUTT instead of a proper putter fitting, but I did find it very interesting when I stacked two of my putters against each other, I found that my old putter actually allowed me to square up the putter face much more consistently than my current putter. While this type of comparison testing isn’t the No. 1 purpose of the product, it is a nice bonus.

PUTT packs a lot of great information, data and path animations into this app. For me, I’d like to see a redesign and a streamlining of the app to make it more intuitive. It is a solid app and there are some nice design features, such as super smooth swipe gestures to move between swings. However, I believe there is an opportunity to further enhance the experience especially as the company considers rolling out a version of the app that truly capitalizes on the screen real estate available on tablets.

Video

I love seeing companies squeeze every ounce of functionality out of our devices. Integrating video into the app is a no-brainer. It is one of the most common ways to understand, learn and improve your swing. 3Bays recently joined the list of swing analyzers to integrate in-app video with their most recent PUTT app update. From the main swing screen, you can tap on the camera icon which will pull up the video recording screen. You can choose to record continuously, or just one time. The video can be recorded in landscape or portrait mode, but I’ve found landscape provides me to be close-up but still see the full path of the putter back and through. The video is automatically in slow motion, and although limitations in the frame rate of smartphones won’t turn this into super slow motion, it is good enough to give you a sense of what is going on during your stroke. The video playback screen allows you to swipe through the video, draw annotations and also displays the attack angle and face angle at impact.

Help

3Bays spent time including quite a bit of help information within the PUTT app. You can tap the help icon in the navigation bar, which pulls up an overlay allowing you to see information about each element on the screen. They have a nice Connection Wizard to walk you through the pairing process and helpful tips on how to pair your PUTT.

There is a golf tips button in the app, which loads the 3Bays website. However, the tips are limited right now and are only covering the full swing and not putting. I like it when swing analyzers include tips, but it isn’t one of the top-10 features I’m looking for. There is a wealth of resources available these days to help us learn about the golf swing, and more importantly, many teaching pros out there who are able to give us personalized instruction. Leveraging the data and insights available through the PUTT app with your local pro really creates the best of both worlds.

Bottom Line

There are many ways to roll putts. But one thing is constant: we have to deliver the putter head square at impact to sink more putts and lower our scores. 3Bays understands that offering a product aimed at only one part of the game has its limitations. They are looking at alternatives, such as packaging both products together, but at the time of this post, do not have any official plans. That said, 3BaysGSA PUTT is a solid product that provides golfers of all skill levels a very accurate picture of their putting stroke and plenty of data to help understand what is going on, allowing you to make improvements and hopefully sink more putts.

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When he is not obsessing about his golf game, Kane heads up an innovation lab responsible for driving innovative digital product development for Fortune 500 companies. He is also the co-founder of RoundShout and creator of Ranger GPS, the free iOS GPS app for the driving range. On a quest to become a scratch golfer, Kane writes about his progress (for better or worse) at kanecochran.com and contributes golf technology-focused articles on GolfWRX.com.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. charlie

    Nov 14, 2013 at 1:07 pm

    would be nice to see a comparison to the iPing. for 200 bucks this thing better be head and shoulders better, and i’m not convinced it is.

  2. pablo

    Aug 6, 2013 at 10:40 pm

    Another ‘con’ – can’t use it with a belly putter.

    • Kane Cochran

      Aug 7, 2013 at 9:50 am

      Great point, Pablo. It would definitely mess with the anchor point and it would even turn off the device! Thanks for the comment.

  3. ed everett

    Aug 4, 2013 at 9:12 am

    a great web site for new products before the salesman stops by

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Accessory Reviews

Insider photos from Tiger Woods’ launch event for his new “Sun Day Red” apparel line

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On Monday evening, inside the swanky, second-story “Coach House” event center in the Palisades Village, just minutes down the road from the 2024 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, Tiger Woods and TaylorMade officially announced their new apparel/footwear/accessory line, called “Sun Day Red.”

The Sun Day Red website officially launched on Monday night during the event, and the products are set to go on sale starting May 1.

The “Sun Day Red,” or “SDR” name will be self-explanatory for most golf fans, since he’s been wearing a victory-red shirt on Sunday’s for his entire professional career, but Woods explained the meaning of Sun Day Red at the launch event:

“It started with mom. Mom thought – being a Capricorn – that my power color was red, so I wore red as a junior golfer and I won some tournaments. Lo and behold, I go to a university that is red; Stanford is red. We wore red on the final day of every single tournament, and then every single tournament I’ve played as a professional I’ve worn red. It’s just become synonymous with me.”

The Sunday Red outfit has worked to perfection for his 82 PGA Tour victories, including 15 majors, so why not make an entire apparel line based on the career-long superstition?

As I learned at Monday’s launch event, the new Sun Day Red line includes much more than just clothing. To go along with a slew of different golf shirt designs and colorways, there were also windbreakers, hoodies, shoes, hats, headcovers, ball markers and gloves on display.

The upscale event was hosted by sports media personality Erin Andrews, with special guests David Abeles (CEO of TaylorMade) and Tiger Woods himself.

As explained by Abeles, the Sun Day Red brand is an independently-run business under the TaylorMade umbrella, and is based in San Clemente, California (rather than Carlsbad, where TaylorMade headquarters is located), and it’s run by a newly-formed, independent group. Brad Blackinship, formerly of Quiksilver and RVCA, is the appointed president of the new brand.

As for the logo itself, obviously, it’s made to look like a Tiger (the animal), and is comprised of 15 tiger stripes, which correspond with Woods’ 15 major championships. While the logo may need a 16th stripe if Woods adds a major trophy to his collection, it makes perfect sense for the time being.

The golf/lifestyle line is meant to combine premium precision and athletic comfort, while still having plenty of wearability and style off the course. Like Woods said on stage at the event, he wants to be able to go right from the course to dinner wearing Sun Day Red, and that was exactly the aesthetic on display at the event on Monday.

Following the official announcement from Woods and Abeles, they revealed multiple pieces of clothing, accessories and footwear for the event-goers to ogle (and photograph). Check out a selection of product/event photos below, or head over to our @GolfWRX Instagram page for video coverage…OR, head into our GolfWRX Forums for even more photos and member discussion.

Enjoy this exclusive look at Tiger Woods’ new Sun Day Red apparel lineup below.

See more photos from the Sun Day Red launch event here

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Accessory Reviews

GolfWRX Spotlight: Motocaddy M7 Remote and M5 GPS DHC electric cart review

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I have been thinking about electric golf push carts, or trollies, ever since I started playing in my league seven years ago.

Motocaddy has been making high-quality electric, and non-electric, carts since 2004 and has a couple of great options for the golfer who loves to walk. Motocaddy was nice enough to get their M7 Remote and M5 GPS DHC in my hands to try out on the course for a few weeks.

I have had a lot of people stop me to ask about the carts, and the one thing I keep telling them is that these carts are just flat out fun to use on the course.

Motocaddy M7 Remote

The M7 Remote was very easy to get set up right out of the box. All you have to do is charge the battery, install the wheels, and you are pretty much ready to go. The M7 folds up pretty small, just a little larger than the 3-wheel pushcart that I had been using for years. Getting it to the course should be no problem with just about any trunk space. Now, the one downside to an electric cart is the weight when moving it around, and both carts come in at around 35 pounds each. Even with that extra weight, I didn’t have much trouble lifting them in and out of the back of a pickup.

The M7 unfolds quickly with the flick of two levers and extends the front wheels automatically. Once unfolded, you drop in the battery, plug it in, and secure your bag. If you own a Motocaddy bag, they have developed a really nice system called EasiLock that involves two metal studs that fit into the bottom of the cart. This system also includes a molded base that prevents the bag from rotating at all, even on the roughest terrain. You can still use the M7 with almost any other golf bag as it includes elastic straps that wrap around the top and bottom of the bag.

As soon as you plug in the battery the LCD screen comes to life and you are ready to go. You can use the M7 without the remote by using the dial on the handle to control the starting, stopping, and speed. But the M7 has a remote that is activated by a simple press of the power button to get going. The remote is very simple with just five buttons to control where the M7 goes.

Getting a feel for the M7 takes no time at all and by the time you drive it from your car to the 1st tee you will be in complete, and confident, control of the cart. You simply press the “+” button to start moving forward and the cart takes off gently without any rattling of your clubs, and you can press that same button again to increase the speed. The cart will go from a slow crawl, for bumpy or tight areas, too, as fast as I could run with just a few presses of the button. The big red “stop” button in the center stops the cart immediately, and when stopped it is locked in place, even on steep hills. You don’t have to worry about remembering to set the brakes or anything because it is done automatically.

Steering is just as easy: simply press the right or left button to turn the cart. Small, quick presses will just slightly adjust the cart as it moves down the fairway while a long hold of the button can make it turn on a dime to the right or left.

Almost everyone asked me how stable the cart was and if it would tip over. I can proudly say that it has stayed upright even on some unseen bumps at maximum speed. Side hills, ruts, and even curbs are handled with ease with the help of the small rear wheel.

I really enjoy strolling down the fairway with nothing but the M7’s remote in my hand — it just makes golfing more fun!

Motocaddy M5 GPS DHC

After using the M7 and its fancy remote, I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t like not having it. But to be honest the M5 was just as fun to use, but for a different reason.

As the name suggests, the M5 has a built-in GPS with 40,000 courses preloaded into it. The screen is a good size, pretty responsive to the touch, and easy to read in direct sunlight. Having the GPS directly on the cart is great, you drive up to your ball and immediately have yardage to the front, back, and center of the green as well as bunkers and hazards. You can easily toggle between screens on the GPS and it offers a couple of different views to help navigate the hole. The M5 can also keep score and let you know shot distances right on the screen. Motocaddy even includes nice little touches like a screen protecter kit to ensure durability.

Driving the M5 is just as easy as the M7 with using the dial on the handle. And speaking of the handle, the grips have a great tacky rubber that grips well even in hot and humid conditions. To start the M5 you just press the dial down and the cart will gently start down the fairway. You can turn the dial to increase or decrease the speed — I found between 5-6 to be the most comfortable for me. But the speed can go up to a very fast pace if you are looking to set a record for fastest round of the day.

As you walk down the fairway, or rough, stopping the cart is as simple as pressing he dial again. When stopped the M5 engages a parking brake automatically so you don’t have to worry about it running down a hill without your approval. The M5 has tons of power to go up just about any hill and the Down Hill Control (DHC) keeps the speed consistent even when going down a steep decent.

Since the M5 has so much power, and it is a little heavy, I thought steering would be a little bit of a challenge. It wasn’t, at all. Guiding the M5 took very little effort and slight adjustments going down the fairway were very easy. Really tight turns took a slight bit more effort as the torque can want to go forward a little more than turn. Again, once you get the M5 from the car to the first tee, you will be a master at driving it.

Overall, Motocaddy has created two great carts that provide additional enjoyment to walking your favorite 9 or 18. Having the ability to walk without carrying or pushing your bag, clubs, and whatever else goes with you. I like them so much that it is going to be hard to get the M7’s remote out of my hands when I go play!

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Accessory Reviews

GolfWRX Spotlight: Crossrope weighted jump rope & app

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An 18-hole round of golf averages out to just under five miles of walking, which on its own is a good workout. Once you throw in some potential uphill trekking you get some serious cardio too, but if you all looking for a quick workout between rounds of golf look no further than Crossrope.

Crossrope – The details

Crossrope is a system of the weighted jump rope that allows you to quickly switch the weight of the ropes you are using to boost your workout—they range from 1/4 lbs all the way up to 2 lbs depending on the kit you start out with. There is an accompanying app that helps you go through multiple workout routines and is available free, or you can upgrade to the entire library of workout routines along with more workout tracking options.

This is NOT your middle school jump rope

The handles are heavy duty and feature precision bearings to allow the rope to move smoothly around as you go through a routine. They are also ergonomic and fit into your hand naturally, which making gripping easy, something that is really nice when you’re swinging a 2 lbs coated steel cable around. The handles also come with a fast clip system to make changing cables depending on your selected workout easier too.

The ropes themselves are made from braided steel and are almost impossible to tangle, allowing them to be easily transported and stored when not in use. All in you are getting a premium piece of workout equipment that is effective and easy to store—hard to same the same thing about a treadmill.

When it comes to a workout, skipping rope is one of the most effective cardio workouts you can do, and with Crossrope, you can get both cardio and low impact weight training when using the heaviest ropes, and follow along with the guided workouts.

As someone that hadn’t used a jump rope in over a decade, starting out lighter was a nice way to ease in before moving up, and I was pleasantly surprised how easy and fun some of the workouts in the app were. If you are looking for a fun way to add something to your workouts, or you just want to try something new to get you into golf course walking shape, this could be right up your alley. To learn more check out crossrope.com

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