Launch monitors have revolutionized golf in myriad ways, but they've predominantly been high-priced technological marvels only teaching pros, pro golfers or rich people can afford to own. In the last couple of years, however, we've seen a proliferation of smaller, cheaper devices delivering less data than the big-dollar products but that were good enough for most retail golfers.
Then, last year Bridgestone Golf introduced an app which offered some functions of a launch monitor in a ball-fitting app. It had people talking.
Now, Blast Motion, the company behind sport-specific sensors to track movement and performance, has come out with an app which delivers basic launch monitor-style functions for a $10, one-time fee.
The app is called Blast Vision, and it covers golf, baseball and softball. (They're all similar sports in terms of the action.) The app can tell a golfer, in particular, their launch angle, ball speed and an estimated carry distance for your shot, and then provide that in real-time with voice information. This data can be laid over video capture of your swing so you can see a replay with data to help you analyze what's happening. The app charts all of your shots on a virtual range so you can see what's happening in a broader view, too.
If you already own a Blast sensor for golf, then you can effective put together the pre-swing metrics from the sensor with some of the launch monitor results and get a better picture of what's going on with your full swing. (Nothing really on the putting front of use, yet.)
The app is only currently available for iOS, and you need an iPhone 6S or greater or an iPad Pro or newer to use the functions. You get a two-week trial when you download the app, then you have to pay the $10 for the permanent use of it.
