Electric~Spin Golf Launchpad (07/21/2004)

Review: I'm a big fan of the idea of this product. But after about 500 shots this item is on it's last legs and simply not worth the money.

Pretty complex issues when it comes to getting the unit operational on an older PC. In my case I had to install USB device drivers. However setup on a MAC was easy and problem free.

Fairly annoying is the random shots you'll take and instead of actually getting the feedback from your hit of the golf ball, the mouse will move around the screen (PC only).

Extremely poor customer support. Though their website offers help it isn't enough. Phone calls and emails to request assistance were unanswered.

Overall I enjoy the device when it performs properly, but ultimately I regret this purchase due to the quick wear & tear and constant performance troubles with the PC version.

Review: when the launchpad as arrived, it didn't works, I tried several time to install it, in different pc, I bought usb adapeter but nothing,
then I send it to elettricspin (I paid for the delivery) and they send me a new one.

When I tried it, after a couple of shot I understod that is a pour system, It's not understand the hook, slice or whatever, but just
shoot on strait on the left or right, so the most popular faults of golf are lost.
If you see the launcpad graphic you can esasly understand it.

I tried to link it with ps3 and golf game, but the resoult is the same, not funny at all.

So, I decided to use it as a mat (quite expensive mat!), after same shoots I took just before the moquette, and the moquette start to go away,
i tryed to fix it with bostick for plastic, but the problem persist.

Last but not least, the ball: after several shoots, the pivot was consumato, and the ball fly away! It was realy dangerous..
so I contacted the customer care, and they know the problem! they sand me the new version of the pivot, in plastic, after two shoots, the ball
fly away again!! it has broken a picture and pass near a baby!

I was realy upset, I contacted the customer care becouse I wanted my money back, but they didn't do nothing..

Review: This is a review of the Golf Launchpad Flite purchased for $99 from costco.ca and hooked up to a Mac mini. I'm a mediocre golfer with a 14 handicap.

The package came with LPDR for PC/Mac and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 for PC. So at first, the only thing I could do is use the LPDR program. It looks like someone slapped it together in a weekend. It doesn't look like the PC version. It's basically a bunch of plain text labels and numbers in a program window. It gives you your club head speed, and club face angle at impact based on swing path and face angle. The other numbers are calculated. Launch angle and ball spin are fabricated based on what club I told the program I'm using. Distance and offset are also fabricated but use the head speed and face angle as well as club selection. If I want I can supposedly spend $20 to get a graph view of distance and offset (maybe not on the Mac though). Overall, I think the numbers are pretty accurate. The impact angle is a little sketchy though. If they made some improvements to this program, say make it like I'm at a driving range and put the numbers and graph around the edges, it would be great. To get just a graph view for $20, seems a little ridiculous to me.

So I thought, maybe EA could save this device by providing the lacking software? I got TW PGA Tour 08 and was extremely disappointed. I tried all difficulty settings, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert, but all seemed grossly inaccurate. Basically, I could hit either a straight shot or a duffed shot that went a few yards. I couldn't fade, slice, draw, or hook. They were just simulated as duffed shots. If I used the mouse, however, I was able to produce all the varieties of shots, so it wasn't the game or my character in the game. It means that the Golf Launchpad is not doing a good job at turning the swing data into a mouse motion that the game can turn back into a golf shot. Again, really disappointed. Maybe they could try to make a deal with EA so that the data from the launchpad can just be interpreted by the game. I don't know, but right now, it sucks. Not fun at all, if you're looking for an at home golf simulator.

Updated on Jan 29, 2010

I tried the launchpad at a friend's and we hooked it up to a PC. The results were still the same in TW PGA Tour 08, pretty much only straight shots and duffed shots. The LPDR program, on the other hand, is much better on PC. My friend decided he's going to keep the launchpad and just use the LPDR program. He feels there's enough value in just that part of it.

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Review: learn to use a computer read the directions and you can use it for practice fun what ever just dont blam the product for you not knowing how to use it and as far as quality stop hitting every thing but the ball and the net is there for one if it unhooks and just to slow it down lol people are funny

Review: Becareful not to use this as a training aid as the hype may induce you to buy for this purpose. This is OK as a toy. Inaccurate reading for all kinds of shots. The net serves no purpose, and is big nuisance since the little rubber tee gets entangled most of the time. Quality is poor, so be ready to return. Good luck.

Review: I have returned two golf launchpads. The first unit would register slices (but not hooks). Soft putts would send the ball screaming across the greens (even after adjusting the mouse sensitivity). The second unit would register hooks (but not slices). It had a tether that was too short so it was impossible to center the ball between the sensors. The astro-turf was mounted on a bit of an angle and this partly obstructed the sensors and I could hardly see the indicator light.

Review: Hooked it up to my PS2 and Tiger Woods 2005 and started swinging and it seemed to work great.

That was until I was taking my third shot to pitch onto the green. I got a messsage on screen telling me to ensure my controller was in port one. It was but I double checked the connections. Kept getting the message so I plugged out the launchpad and tried using just my controller and the game worked fine.

I also noticed that when I tried to use the controller to aim shots etc that it did not respond in the way it should have. From what I hear the PC version works better so I'll be returning mine.

Review: Sure wish I had found this site prior to spending $200. This is no more than a novelty. I am a decent golfer and I didn't expect this to a perfect adaptation of my swing. That being said it is impossible to hook or slice a ball even trying to. I hit the ball in a straight line almost every swing no matter what I try to do. Also I know how hard I swing my club for a 30yard pitch shot and in this simulator the ball goes about 10 yards. As for putting - just forget about it. Again neat idea, but not near perfect or worth $200, at best it is a neat novelty to have lying around the house. Don't buy it if you are a golfer looking for something to do on very hot or rainy days, you'll be dissapointed

Review: I was hesitating to buy this seeing some not so rave reviews on the net from users. But now I am very pleased with my decision.

The carry distance (excluding roll) is quite accurate. A fat hit on the pad with reduce in loss of distance just like in real life. However, due to the in-game environment created by the tiger woods game, even with the fairway condition and weather set to wet, you still get some roll out of the golf shot and hence resulting in slightly exaggerated rolling distance, and the resulting overall golf shot distance. With this settings, I would think the extra distance would be around 10-20%. The increment increases with settings at normal and fast fairway.

With the difficulty setting at intermediate level in Tiger woods, direction of a golf shot may be more straight than real life, but some push and slices can still be detected and translated into the game.

But if the difficulty setting is set to expert, it is very difficult to hit a golf shot straight unless your golf swing is correct. Your pulls and pushes, hooks and slices are all well reflected in the game - eg low running hook, and weak slice, depending how well your club head contacts the ball, and depending your swing path (outside in or inside out). These information can be displayed in the tiger woods game (ie club face contact with ball and the swing plane direction),

With links 2003, after getting some calibration tips from the help servcie of golf launchpad (which was responsive and helpful), the carry distance is quite accurate as well (and this is shown in the game), but again, due to the in-game environment, the rolling distance is slightly exaggerated.

However, for links 2003, the golf shot is more straight than real life. This is the case even if the game does detect off-centre hit.

For both games, the putting poses a bigger learning curve, but it does work. You just have to make sure less force is used in shorter putts. Off centre putts can be picked up right away in the game. For chipping, the golf launchpad tech team recommends the use of outer left button (as opposed the button for putting) for links 2003. I can chip without difficulty for both games - but I do find it easier to do so in the tiger woods game.

Another fun part is I can use a real ball to putt rather than the ball attached to the pivot. The path of the ball as shown on screnn exactly reflects path of the real ball.

The big advantage with Launchpad is that it does not require a driver/custom software to run with the Tiger Woods series or links 2003. All it needs is a mouse driver which every pc should be installed with. So I would much expect that with newever versions coming out, I can still use the unit.

The driving range software is free, and can be downloaded from the site. I have been told that a newer version is coming out. I find the data fairly accurate after again receiving some calibration tips (ie by reducing the mouse pointer speed in the control panel) from the technical service from Launchapd. But the graphical representation of the swing data (eg swing ball flight and swing speed) need improvements.

Another big plus of the unit is its design - real ball attached to the pivot and the big wide soft padding for hitting directly off the mat (which is good for your arms and shoulders). Alternatively to pivoted ball, you can also use a foam/real ball (depending if you have a golf net at home) - the direction of which can be used to gauge the accuracy of the golf shot as reflected in the ball - which is equally fun.

So far so good. Nothing indicates that the unit or its components can break down easily. I really think for the money, this is extremely good simulator to play games with. But if you are looking for a very serious simulator with a driving range software to give you accurate swing data like swing speed, swing path, club face angle, you may have to look elsewhere.

With the golf launchpad, you just need more patience to calibrate its setting (by seeking assistance from the manufacturer)), and in game settings to create a more realistic golf simulation experience.

Review: I puchased my Golf Launchpad for the PS2 a few weeks ago on a hot and humid south Texas Saturday. I set it up in about ten minutes, called some friends over, and ordered the pizza.
I would like to say you are going to be dissapointed if you think the golf launchpad will get you out of practicing at the range. However, by adjusting the settings of your charicter in the game to better reflect your true abilities. Than while putting set the distance indicatore at 50 to 60ft. instead of all the way back to the back, you will get reasonably accurate reasults. Duffers everywhere should be grinning from ear to ear. By allowing the charicters abilities to remain maxed and setting your putts up by using the caddie tips and always putt with a fast stroke scores of 48 are acheavable.
I do recomend purchasing the stance mat if you dont already have one. The mat and unit fit perfectly together. I have played at least 10 full rounds with friends, and another dozen by myself. Everything is holding up great. I am very impressed by the quality an ruggedness of the Launchpad
All in all I love the Launchpad, Is it perfect? nope. Is it close? Yep. Is it fun? hell yes. Will it help your game? cant hurt it. Best of all it will only set you back the cost of a round at a good course.

Review: I was delighted when I tried the Golf Launchpad. It was far more realistic and accurate than any other golf simulator I tried. I especially like the swing analyzer that you can download for free. Great tool to improve your game. Would encourage golfers out there who want to improve their game or play in the winter.

Review: Save your money. I received this for the PS2 about 1 week ago and it is completely unaccurate. I think the character attributes on the Tiger Woods game takes away the true strokes of the launchpad. I had three hole in ones the first time I played this item. My wife that never played golf was driving the ball 280 yards. She had a eagle on a par 4 from 160 yards and never made contact with the ball because when the sensors below the ball detect clubhead speed it goes. Putting is a joke. I was hitting the ball as hard as I could from a foot away and it was barely going in. In reality the ball would have went about 50 yards. The game gives a hint to make putting more realistic but it dont work. My only advise is that if you dont believe me make sure you purchase from Wal-Mart.com so you can bring it back within 15 days. If you buy from Electric Spin they charge a 20% restocking fee and I guarantee you will be returning this. If this item was $50 or less I may have kept it for entertainment purposes but this makes for one expensive golf practice net.

Review: Really improved my golf game. Well worth the investment. Not only a training tool but great fun for parties with golf enthusiasts of all skill levels. Kudos to the developers!

Review: Great fun and learning tool. Used to be a hacker and Golf Launchpad has improved my game tremendously. The big plus is being able to play a few holes or even a round whenever I have the time. The realism and feel with the real ball is great -- great feedback to let you know how you're hitting.

Review: If you're looking for a toy to spice up your Tiger Woods video game, this unit is mediocre at best. If you're looking to use this device as a golf swing trainer to improve your game, look elsewhere. The downloadable driving range simulator is woefully inaccurate. The device doesn't measure face angle with any degree of accuracy. I hit a shot with the face wide open and the software showed that I hit a dead hook..impossible. Distance measurements were inconsistent as well. Stick with the driving range if you're looking to improve your game. I returned my unit after using for 45 minutes.

Review: Unable to hit the ball more than 60 yards in Tiger Woods 2004. Keep getting "too slow tempo" on gave and ball would not leave the ground. Having the same swing, it did work nicely with the free LPDR software that acts as a driving range and the distance seemed fairly accurate.

Review: If you're into golf, keep looking. This is a toy that allows you to kind of hit balls to play Tiger Woods and other games. The program doesn't accurately sense full swings, and it's pretty much impossible to hook or slice the ball. I wasn't expecting perfection for $169, but this isn't even fun.

Review: This would be a good product if it was more accurate I wouldn't mind spending more money if it was. If anything this will make you game worse

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