Garmin Approach R10 Portable Golf Launch Monitor

[JCP22]

On 11/7/2021 at 6:13 PM, Davedd said:

Planning on using an iPad mini with E6 and a projector with r10. Any thoughts, pros and cons of screen size of latest iPad mini compared to an iPad 9th gen? Would the mini cut viewing landscape and would that cut down vision be the same on the projector screen?

Planning on the same thing. If you get any suggestions, I’d love to hear….

[Britboy]

I've had the R10 for about 3 months now - mainly use in an outside net and really like it. I've upgraded to 3.70 and reads seem further improved but it's very frustrating for me that they haven't properly fixed the 'waggle issue'. When I waggle pre-shot the red light comes on and it misses the read - surely this is an easy fix ? Any insights on the forum. THanks

[jjschafe]

I have an odd question... Does anyone know how this will perform with foam balls?  I know that the results will not be accurate to what the swing would have produced with a real ball, but, will the results be accurate to how the foam ball actually flew?

[elsie451]

Does anyone know if there is a way to make e6 easier to read/see on an ipad? The font size and ball size are too small to see unless i am literally holding the ipad in my hands.

[elsie451]

15 hours ago, jjschafe said:

I have an odd question... Does anyone know how this will perform with foam balls?  I know that the results will not be accurate to what the swing would have produced with a real ball, but, will the results be accurate to how the foam ball actually flew?

I don't think it will read foam balls at all. It would just be like a practice swing.

[Kirios]

It reads the "Almost Golf Balls" for me pretty well.  I use them for chipping and high wedge shots since at that distance it's basically identical to a normal golf ball (in terms of readings) and I don't run the risk of hitting a hole in my ceiling.

 

Anything above a...9 iron or so and the accuracy drops off quite a bit, but it does technically read a full driver swing with the Almost Golf Ball.  It just shows a 190 carry when I usually carry 245 or so.  If you really wanted to push it, you could tweak altitude settings in E6 to make it pretty close to 1:1, but I don't have a need to do that.

[Red4282]

Jeez… frustrating. I ordered mine august 13th with an expected ship date of late september. Got emailed yesterday saying no units will ship until at least january.

[jjschafe]

On 11/16/2021 at 7:51 AM, elsie451 said:

I don't think it will read foam balls at all. It would just be like a practice swing.

 

Not saying you're wrong, but why would this be?  It is just a radar looking for a swinging club and launching ball.  Why would it matter if the ball launches slowly off the club?  Again, not arguing or saying you're wrong, just looking for an explanation...

 

On 11/16/2021 at 11:40 PM, Kirios said:

It reads the "Almost Golf Balls" for me pretty well.  I use them for chipping and high wedge shots since at that distance it's basically identical to a normal golf ball (in terms of readings) and I don't run the risk of hitting a hole in my ceiling.

 

Anything above a...9 iron or so and the accuracy drops off quite a bit, but it does technically read a full driver swing with the Almost Golf Ball.  It just shows a 190 carry when I usually carry 245 or so.  If you really wanted to push it, you could tweak altitude settings in E6 to make it pretty close to 1:1, but I don't have a need to do that.

 

Thanks, this is more along the lines of what I was thinking.

[Simpsonia]

The explanation is that the R10 has likely has logic to determine what is or is not a golf ball so that it doesn't have a ton if misreads by thinking anything moving in the expected window at all is a golf ball. If it sees a clubhead speed of 80mph then it sees another moving object going 50mph (a standard foam golf ball), this probably wouldn't fit the expected launch characteristics of a golf ball being struck by a club at 80mph (which would be closer to 80*1.5 = 120mph), so the logic would consider it "not a golf ball" and not read it. If it's reading an Almost Golf Ball, then it's likely that due to them being harder than a standard foam ball, they retain enough initial launch speed to be considered a ball in flight. 

[elsie451]

Well, I have to offer a mea culpa for my previous statement that foam balls won't be read by the r10.  I found some old foam balls from about 10 years ago that I bought for my son when he was about 7 or 8 years old.  I don't think there is anything special about them other than they were probably the cheapest ones I could find at the time.

 

Anyway, i tried hitting a couple of them and the r10 did in fact pick them up. I hit some to the left and some to the right and it did pick them up and register the correct direction. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to any other values, but bottom line is the r10 can detect foam balls.

[jjschafe]

On 11/19/2021 at 3:44 PM, elsie451 said:

Well, I have to offer a mea culpa for my previous statement that foam balls won't be read by the r10.  I found some old foam balls from about 10 years ago that I bought for my son when he was about 7 or 8 years old.  I don't think there is anything special about them other than they were probably the cheapest ones I could find at the time.

 

Anyway, i tried hitting a couple of them and the r10 did in fact pick them up. I hit some to the left and some to the right and it did pick them up and register the correct direction. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to any other values, but bottom line is the r10 can detect foam balls.

 

Awesome, appreciate you checking for me!

[jjschafe]

I've had my R10 for a month or so now, but "santa" is bringing it to our house so it's remained sealed.  I finally negotiated a range session with it today.  I was at the range to work on some other things, so I didn't scrutinize every data point or record anything, but my qualitative review is:

 

My range is a Top Tracer range, so I started in an indoor bay with Top Tracer display.  I did very little to align or level the device besides putting an alignment stick in front of it to eyeball it.  "Main" data points were spot on with Top Tracer (ball speed, carry distance, total distance).  Shot shape was pretty darn good.  I made a small adjustment after the first few balls, as I saw it biasing a bit right/fade, and it helped.  I'm sure spending 5 minutes at the beginning of a session to get it dialed is plenty.  

 

I then moved outside to grass tees because the main reason I was there was to work on some driver settings and I CANNOT hit a driver off of a rubber tee.  I threw the R10 behind me, again doing nothing more than throwing an alignment stick in front of it.  Once again numbers all seemed to make complete sense, and ball path was on point with actual ball flight.

 

Like I said, a pretty qualitative review, but darn this thing is cool.  I really bought it for hitting into an outdoor net in my backyard (data for me, sim capability for my 8 year old).  If it is 90% as good in that arrangement, I'll be more than pleased with the purchase.

[jagmanjoe]

As some of you may be aware, while not officially approved, some have been successfully using GSPro software with the R10.  Those that are using it are extremely happy with the way it works, the continuing increase in courses available and the regular enhancements and improvements being made to GSPro.  Another benefit is that the platform for it is via a PC computer for those not wanting to purchase or use an Apple, iOS based platform.

 

This has prompted me to send the following message to Garmin-Rob at the Garmin website via the Garmin website forums for the R10 and I suggest that others that are interested in seeing this become official do the same.

 

While the ability to use GSPro with the R10 has not been officially approved, there has been a workaround created to accomplish this.  Those that have utilized the workaround and are playing GSPro with it are overwhelmingly excited about it.  Some are even saying that the algorithms may in fact be improved as well with this.

 

In that this also has an advantage of being a very favorable link for using a PC computer in addition to the above, I truly believe it is time that Garmin stepped up and made it an officially acceptable option.  This would prove to be a true win - win for both those owning or looking to purchase a Garmin R10 and Garmin itself.

 

Kindly do what you can to include an official option for access to GSPro.  It will be an amazing software enhancement to the R10 simulator.

[Red4282]

On 11/18/2021 at 1:22 PM, Red4282 said:

Jeez… frustrating. I ordered mine august 13th with an expected ship date of late september. Got emailed yesterday saying no units will ship until at least january.

Ah, got email, mines coming friday…. FINALLY

[whumber]

Oh wow, as of the new FW3.80 the R10 now measures spin outdoors as long as it has at least 20m of ball flight.

Edited December 2, 2021 by whumber

[Therty]

On 12/2/2021 at 12:50 PM, whumber said:

Oh wow, as of the new FW3.80 the R10 now measures spin outdoors as long as it has at least 20m of ball flight.

Any other new features? Release notes posted somewhere?

[whumber]

Release note here.

 

Quote

Changes made from version 3.70 to 3.80:

• Support outdoor spin rate measurement. (More details can be found at Accuracy of Approach R10 Radar)
• Improved initial ball tracking outdoors.
• Fixed a bug the prevents R10 from re-pairing to smartphones.
• Tightened up unit pitch allowance. (Reduced the limits before the R10 will warn you that the unit is tilted)
• Various bug fixes to improve metric consistency.

 

[jacincm]

Best place to preorder? PlayBetter charges your card fully before the unit even ships.

[Red4282]

I know im late to the party but been a part of this thread since nearly the beginning. Finally got to play around with mine today. I took a square 1/2” thick board (12”x12”) to use as a platform in my backyard. Used a digital level, and leveled it in all directions. Used some old shafts to aid in alingment. 
 

Right away got very good results. Numbers and shot direction seemed spot on. Im not going to pay attention to spin rates or face to path stuff, but rather just ball speed, launch, and general shot type and direction. Very happy with my purchase.

[Simpsonia]

Woah, spin rate measurement is huge, wonder how they are getting around the various patents. Very interested to see how the spin measurement stacks up on the range to other launch monitors. Though, also going to be cognizant that this is the first firmware update with measurement, and will likely get more accurate. Hopefully there's an indicator to show whether the spin was measured or calculated in the shot results. 

[bearcatnut]

Apologies for the seemingly noobish question. Just got my R10. Followed the quick set up, which was super basic. Took a few swings in my backyard and the device is not measuring/reading anything. I’m guessing the problem is that I’m hitting a wiffleball, but wondering if I missed a step. R10 is flashing green when it’s set up, so it seems like it should be good to go.   

[kdwingolf]

Never tried a wiffle ball, but most radar's require a real golf ball for accurate readings, some other simulators, will semi-work with almost golf balls, but I've never seen anyone try with a wiffle golf ball.  i wouldn't trust the numbers even if it gave you a readout.

[Simpsonia]

57 minutes ago, bearcatnut said:

Apologies for the seemingly noobish question. Just got my R10. Followed the quick set up, which was super basic. Took a few swings in my backyard and the device is not measuring/reading anything. I’m guessing the problem is that I’m hitting a wiffleball, but wondering if I missed a step. R10 is flashing green when it’s set up, so it seems like it should be good to go.   

Yep, it's the whiffle ball. R10 needs to detect something roughly in the ball speed range of an actual golf ball for it to measure it. Some people have reported success with heavier practice balls like the Almost Golf balls though if you can't use a real ball for whatever reason. 

[PoeKingShankspeare]

Ordered Mine in Sept. 14 and it will arrive today USPS. 

Quick Question: Updating.... do I need to download the EXPress on my Macbook or will the unit update the software just through the APP.

 

THanks

[jjschafe]

35 minutes ago, PoeKingShankspeare said:

Ordered Mine in Sept. 14 and it will arrive today USPS. 

Quick Question: Updating.... do I need to download the EXPress on my Macbook or will the unit update the software just through the APP.

 

THanks

 

You have to update through Garmin Express (USB'd to a macbook or PC).  

[PoeKingShankspeare]

49 minutes ago, jjschafe said:

 

You have to update through Garmin Express (USB'd to a macbook or PC).  

thank you

[hammersia]

I've just had a lesson with a pro using a GCQuad and I am currently "zeroed out" on path, the specific improvement was getting my iron angle of attack to 5 degrees - 

 

The Garmin does have the angle of attack metric, for those using it, how reliable / repeatable has this reading been? Are you able to trust those specific numbers to work on 5 degrees down with irons, 5 degrees up with driver etc.?

[PoeKingShankspeare]

Got my unit yesterday, updated it, and it doesn't track any of my shots in the garage. I did everything I could to troubleshoot the problem from adjusting distance, height, deleting device and app and reinstalling them, placing a towel on the concrete floor which can affect the radar from my research, etc...... Likewise, It's not the first time a Garmin Approach R10 was used in my garage in the same set up, a friend owns one and we used his without issues. I have enough room from ball to net and ball to unit - 8 ft in both directions and the unit doesn't track any shots. Lastly, the unit goes into standby mode between shots.

 

I called Garmin support and I will take it to the range tomorrow to see if it works and go from there.

 

I waited 3 months lol and out of the box it doesn't work. This experience is making me wonder if the unit I got is refurbished, or if the chip was made elsewhere (poor quality) - reason I heard for the delay. The "chip" was made overseas...... that's what I was told. 

 

Anyway, I will update in the next few days.....

[JCP22]

57 minutes ago, PoeKingShankspeare said:

Got my unit yesterday, updated it, and it doesn't track any of my shots in the garage. I did everything I could to troubleshoot the problem from adjusting distance, height, deleting device and app and reinstalling them, placing a towel on the concrete floor which can affect the radar from my research, etc...... Likewise, It's not the first time a Garmin Approach R10 was used in my garage in the same set up, a friend owns one and we used his without issues. I have enough room from ball to net and ball to unit - 8 ft in both directions and the unit doesn't track any shots. Lastly, the unit goes into standby mode between shots.

 

I called Garmin support and I will take it to the range tomorrow to see if it works and go from there.

 

I waited 3 months lol and out of the box it doesn't work. This experience is making me wonder if the unit I got is refurbished, or if the chip was made elsewhere (poor quality) - reason I heard for the delay. The "chip" was made overseas...... that's what I was told. 

 

Anyway, I will update in the next few days.....

Did you update it?

[PoeKingShankspeare]

33 minutes ago, JCP22 said:

Did you update it?

Yeah that's the first thing I did before using it. 

 

I would bet money that if my friend brought back his unit (GAR10) to be used in my garage, it'll be working mirrored to my TV like it did when we last played. And, The unit I have wouldn't.  I have this feeling I have a bad unit on hand. 

Edited December 10, 2021 by PoeKingShankspeare