Ernest ES B1 Launch Monitor First Impressions

[ChrisW]

Has anyone used this indoors?  Looking for a launch monitor I can use in my garage using a hitting net.

[mgoblue83]

1 hour ago, ChrisW said:

Has anyone used this indoors?  Looking for a launch monitor I can use in my garage using a hitting net.

 

If you have enough space, use metallic stickers, and remove any interference it should work fine.

[Exactice808]

2 hours ago, ChrisW said:

Has anyone used this indoors?  Looking for a launch monitor I can use in my garage using a hitting net.

 

I have the ES14 older model,

 

I dont have metallic dots,  I am about 6ft from the net and works great.  Swing speed is a little off but the ball speed is great.

 

the ESB1 is step up behind, so to me way more efficient, compared to the ES14 just right and forward of the ball.

 

 

I used indoor basically exclusively. And works great! 

 

[lvgolfer962]

On 2/24/2021 at 3:05 PM, Exactice808 said:

 

I have the ES14 older model,

 

I dont have metallic dots,  I am about 6ft from the net and works great.  Swing speed is a little off but the ball speed is great.

 

the ESB1 is step up behind, so to me way more efficient, compared to the ES14 just right and forward of the ball.

 

 

I used indoor basically exclusively. And works great! 

 

Do you have the garage door open or closed?

 

im looking for something like this, but I want to keep the door closed. 
 

does it matter if the lights are led? 
 

 

[Exactice808]

10 minutes ago, lvgolfer962 said:

Do you have the garage door open or closed?

 

im looking for something like this, but I want to keep the door closed. 
 

does it matter if the lights are led? 
 

 

I have it setup inside my house, In my old living room.  Its vaulted ceilings,  and a crappy fan light, with 2 windows for outside ambient lighting. Nothing Special

 

for me it doesn't seem to be affected to much by lighting other then trying to hit in darkness, but at that point thats dumb and dangerous LOL. I know some have had issues,   (Optishot)  But not sure how LED's would affect dopplers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lvgolfer962]

2 hours ago, Exactice808 said:

I have it setup inside my house, In my old living room.  Its vaulted ceilings,  and a crappy fan light, with 2 windows for outside ambient lighting. Nothing Special

 

for me it doesn't seem to be affected to much by lighting other then trying to hit in darkness, but at that point thats dumb and dangerous LOL. I know some have had issues,   (Optishot)  But not sure how LED's would affect dopplers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haha 

no good can come from hitting balls in the dark

 

 

Edited February 27, 2021 by lvgolfer962

[Olof]

[EDIT, data typos corrected]

 

I just found a (brief) comparison of Flightscope to the ESB1 on youtube. It's a German video and the auto-translation is horrible (I understand German). As a new owner of the ESB1 I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's fairly accurate as compared to Flightscope. It looks like the Flightscope (of course) is more sensitive. Some of the numbers on the ESB1 from shot 1 to shot 2 did not change, while the same kpi's did change on the Flightscope.

 

The numbers that are mentioned in that video are below:

 

club used: 7-iron

Outdoor

Shot 1 comparison. First value is ESB1, second value is Flightscope

• Distance: 153 vs 151.6  (meters)
• Ball speed: 186 vs 182.8 (km/hour)
• Club head speed: 138 vs 136.9 (km/hour)
• Spin: 5887 vs ...not shown...
• Smash factor: 1.34 vs 1.34
• Launch angle: 18.2 vs ...not shown...

Shot 2:

• Distance: 154 vs 150.9  (meters)
• Ball speed: 186 vs 184.1 (km/hour)
• Club head speed: 138 vs 133.8 (km/hour)
• Spin: 5887 vs ...not shown...
• Smash factor: 1.34 vs 1.38
• Launch angle: 18.2 vs ...not shown...

 

Shot 3:

• Distance: 147 vs 147.9  (meters)
• Ball speed: 180 vs 180.1 (km/hour)
• Club head speed: 129 vs 131.4 (km/hour)
• Spin: 5360 vs ...not shown...
• Smash factor: 1.39 vs 1.37
• Launch angle: 16.7 vs ...not shown...

the video: the comparison with Flightscope starts at 5:05

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT83pszTOsc

Edited March 6, 2021 by Olof

[Olof]

As a follow-up to my post (see above) I did some accuracy calculations of the ESB1 as compared to the Flightscope. On a very, very limited test of 3 shots with only one iron...

 

Distance: average of 1.2% inaccurate as compared to the Flightscope

Ball speed: avg 0,9%

Club head speed: avg 1,8%

Smash factor: avg 1,8%

 

Note: Spin and launch angle I could not do any calculations as the Flightscope data was not shown in that video.

 

So my conclusion so far: such limited inaccuracy I can live with as a simple amateur 🙂

 

[Olof]

Found another video where the ESB1 is compared to Trackman. The first part the person is comparing while hitting into a net which I ignored for comparison. The second half is on the range with full ball flights.

Similar to the Flightscope, I'm impressed with the numbers, the inaccuracy is imho virtually negligible.

 

club used: Pitching wedge

Outdoor

Shot 1 comparison. First value is ESB1, second value is Trackman

• Distance: 125 vs 127  (yards)
• Ball speed: 97 vs 96 (mph/hour)
• Club speed: 79 vs 81 (mph/hour)
• Smash factor: 1.22 vs 1.18

Shot 2:

• Distance: 121 vs 126  (yards)
• Ball speed: 97 vs 96 (mph/hour)
• Club speed: 79 vs 81 (mph/hour)
• Smash factor: 1.17 vs 1.14

Shot 3 (probably another iron, unknown which one):

• Distance: 163 vs 158  (yards)
• Ball speed: 117 vs 112 (mph/hour)
• Club speed: 94 vs 85 (mph/hour)

Shot 4:

• Distance: 173 vs 173  (yards)
• Ball speed: 117 vs 112 (mph/hour)
• Club speed: 94 vs 85 (mph/hour)

Shot 5:

• Distance: 171 vs 174  (yards)
• Ball speed: 115 vs 113 (mph/hour)
• Club speed: 90 vs 86 (mph/hour)

Shot 6: DRIVER

• Distance: 283 vs 279  (yards)
• Ball speed: ..not shown..
• Club speed: 106 vs 104 (mph/hour)
• Spin: 2200 vs 2000
• Smash factor: 1.49 vs 1.48

I got the numbers from this video:

 

 

[Brian P]

Would be great to take this to the range but my main interest is in hitting into the net in my backyard. Will this unit give me feedback on which way the ball is going? Fade? Draw? Push? Pull? Can you make a reasonable determination of what your ball is doing with info like spin rate and smash factor?

[wfrogge1]

On 3/7/2021 at 3:43 PM, Brian P said:

Would be great to take this to the range but my main interest is in hitting into the net in my backyard. Will this unit give me feedback on which way the ball is going? Fade? Draw? Push? Pull? Can you make a reasonable determination of what your ball is doing with info like spin rate and smash factor?

No.  From what I understand spin rate is "calculated" and not a real independent measurement.  I have seen others say that the abitly for short tracking/tracing like you are looking for is coming with a future update. I don't think you are going to get what you are looking for with any of the 500 dollar launch monitors IMO

[cuprogolf]

Does anyone happen to know how to delete averages? Because as I see it, the average of all strokes is listed there, which is pretty pointless.

[cuprogolf]

No one?

[dekez]

Any thoughts on how much space is required in front / behind of the ball when using indoors?  My usage will be 90% wedge practice.  The ES14 may be good enough.

[namcneilly]

On 4/24/2021 at 3:54 PM, cuprogolf said:

Does anyone happen to know how to delete averages? Because as I see it, the average of all strokes is listed there, which is pretty pointless.

I see the averages in the app but it hasnt served a purpose for me.  In settings you can set it to either "Overall" or "Per Session" but no matter which option I select, it lists the same value (even when I have an active session).

 

Instead, I email the session data to myself and add the results to an Excel pivot table to get the associated averages.

 

With family members and friends also using the device, I cant use the "Overall" option for anything meaningful. 

[namcneilly]

13 hours ago, dekez said:

Any thoughts on how much space is required in front / behind of the ball when using indoors?  My usage will be 90% wedge practice.  The ES14 may be good enough.

For the ESB1 you need 4-6 ft behind the ball and a minimum of 8 feet from ball to net/impact screen.  For wedges the device will still read at 3ft behind the ball but being so close can be distracting for some.  Ideally, you want as much ball flight as you can spare.  If you have limited space, then ES14 is more suited for purpose.

[wfrogge1]

So an update for the app (well, a new ES app at least) that now shows direction.  Didn't have a chance to hit many balls today after I got the update but it now at least tells you if the shot is straight, fade, draw, etc.  It will also work with your phone camera and shot trace as well but I didn't have time to test that.

[ctonylee65]

Very cool. I haven't updated yet. You have a photo? Does it show height?

[Exactice808]

*Edit* nevermind,  there is 3apps....the ESB1 is with shot tracing is just for the ESB1,

 

the ES Range can use all 3

 

the ES14 dedicated app is still better for mine unit.....ughhhh give me shot trace too LOL! 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Exactice808

[Nihonsei75]

Anybody on Android yet?

[ryanofin]

Does anyone know...can this be set for altitude?  I'm in Denver so distances are of course longer than at sea level...Thank you!

 

[namcneilly]

On 5/23/2021 at 1:22 PM, ryanofin said:

Does anyone know...can this be set for altitude?  I'm in Denver so distances are of course longer than at sea level...Thank you!

 

Yes, you need to hit the "Program" button in between the up/down arrows and go to the "ALT" setting.  It can be set to multiples of 1000 ft and it is 1000 ft by default.