A launch monitor that fits in your pocket? Try Rapsodo’s MLM

January 21, 2020
The setup for Rapsodo is rather simple and requires just your iPhone.

I am unhappily a member of the subset of golfers who really want to get better … and just can’t. It’s less about reaching my ceiling (I hope) and more about needing further investment. It’s the classic Golf in the Big City scenario: No car, no home club, no swing coach, limited funds and many other (and cheaper) hobbies.

So, where the hell do I invest? A personal launch monitor like Rapsodo might just be the answer.

Rapsodo has built on the 15+ years of groundbreaking work TrackMan has done to offer a legitimate launch monitor you can fit in your (largest) pocket. And the best part? It costs just $500.

Sold yet?

Like TrackMan, the system sits behind the golfer, on the ground and down the line from your swing, tracing the flight of every shot and recording it all using your smartphone camera. Suddenly, your range session is married to all the relevant data desired by those who want to break through their golfing ceiling. Swing speed, launch angle, clubhead speed. The more data, the better.

And the more technology, the better for golf, too. It’s healthy for companies of different scale to exist within the same product industry. TrackMan is great. If Rapsodo (or any other company) can manufacture a similar product for different consumers at a different price point, it bolsters the economics of golf as a sport.

To be fair, a lower price point often means something is lacking. Well, Rapsodo probably isn’t always going to be exactly as accurate as a fully-functioning TrackMan setup — which uses multiple radar systems. TrackMan will more scrupulously tell you if your 3-iron carry distance is 201 or 202 yards, but detail that precise isn’t always necessary for everyone.

What Rapsodo offers is plenty for me, and I presume a number of golfers like myself — people who want more data, more information and a healthier bank account. And who kinda want to do things on their terms and their time. I would love to bring my own launch monitor to, say, Trump Ferry Point, where you can spend all day practicing for just $55. Add the Rapsodo MLM and I’ll be spending my subway ride home analyzing swing videos and numbers to my heart’s content.

The simple mobility of the unit is impressive. It requires about as much space as your range finder, so bring it along on vacation when you’re banging balls in the Maldives. You can still send your coach back home the data-filled evidence. Bring it on the buddies trip and see who truly is the best ball-striker in the group. Perhaps it’s you and you just don’t know it yet.

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