In this week's episode Paul interviews his good friend Justin Bryant from Rapsodo to discuss the launch of the new Rapsodo MLM2PRO Launch Monitor and Simulator.
Rapsodo is a sports analytics company that empowers athletes and coaches to analyze and improve their game, with affordable, portable, easy-to-use, data-driven sports technologies.
In 2010, their founder and Chief Executive Officer Batuhan Okur registered Rapsodo Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. Their journey began with the development of the first affordable personal golf launch monitor, distributed in the USA under SkyTrak. Since then we have continued to transform into a leading sports data and technology company with the vision to help athletes reach their full potential.
Their data-driven, performance measurement tools empower athletes to achieve their best regardless of what skill level they are at.
In this week's episode Paul interviews his good friend Justin Bryant from Rapsodo to discuss the launch of the new Rapsodo MLM2PRO Launch Monitor and Simulator.
Rapsodo is a sports analytics company that empowers athletes and coaches to analyze and improve their game, with affordable, portable, easy-to-use, data-driven sports technologies.
In 2010, their founder and Chief Executive Officer Batuhan Okur registered Rapsodo Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. Their journey began with the development of the first affordable personal golf launch monitor, distributed in the USA under SkyTrak. Since then we have continued to transform into a leading sports data and technology company with the vision to help athletes reach their full potential.
Their data-driven, performance measurement tools empower athletes to achieve their best regardless of what skill level they are at.
Today we play golf. Let me show you how we do it in the pros. Welcome to Behind the Golf Brand podcast. I never missed with the Seven Iron, a conversation with some of the most interesting innovators and entrepreneurs behind the biggest names in golf. My friends were the golf clubs. I lived on the golf course, I lived on the driving rein from Pro Talk . You should learn something from each and every single round. You play to fun from on and off the green. Why would you play golf if you don't play it for money? Just let me put the ball in a hole. This is Behind the Golf Brand podcast with Paul Libert tore .
Speaker 2:What's up guys? Welcome to the Behind the Golf Brand podcast. This week I have my good friend Justin Bryant from Rapsodo . If you guys don't know who Rapsodo is, then you probably are not playing golf because they make some of the best tech out there. They have the New MLM two Pro, which we're gonna be talking about today. They have the original Rapsodo , which I've done tons of content on, and then also they make the technology in the St plus, which we just learned when making those content videos. So it's really exciting to have Justin on the show to learn more about Justin and talk about the new Rapsodo MLM two Pro. So welcome to the show,
Speaker 3:Paul. Thanks for having me on. Excited to , excited to talk about some , uh, some golf, some Rapsodo and everything in between. No, I
Speaker 2:Appreciate it. I mean, so I'm gonna tell you guys a story. So like, so Rap Soto was like announced at the P g A show, right? And so like Justin had me, I was like the very first person on the list that morning. I like, 'cause he got me. He's like , I'll get you in Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Dude, I freaking ran over there. We shot a video in like, I don't know, like seven minutes probably. I made a bunch of B-roll. It's probably the worst video ever shot in my entire life. And he's explained how Rapsodo worked . Dude , that video blew up. Like that video blew up.
Speaker 3:And I knew at that point it was a busy day.
Speaker 2:It was a crazy week.
Speaker 3:It was, man, it was, no, I appreciate you being out there. And yeah , the excitement was awesome. And then , uh, glad we glad we could get you in , uh, as one of the first people to test it out. 'cause that was, yeah, that was news really . News had dropped. We had hinted at it. You , you know, you had known about it beforehand, but we had hinted at it to the public and, but no one really knew what was coming. And , uh, so yeah, it was an
Speaker 2:Exciting, it look like couple days . I mean, I guess, yeah, I mean, I guess Gulf Ity had dropped that YouTube video that morning or something. So I ki I , I remember seeing the vid , like the image, but that's all I knew about it. I knew it was coming. I was like, I can't wait to see this thing. This thing's gonna be exciting. Let , let's let the audience tell . Let's more, more about you first. Now you are a golf pro. I always ask that question. And dude, Justin really is a golf pro. Um , <laugh> , so retired golf pro . I know that Retired golf pro, but still, like, I always ask that question to my audience and then they're like, oh no, I suck. And I'm like, I know Justin's good. So, so tell me, so where did you grow up then?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I grew up in St. Louis, where , where , uh, our rep Soto US headquarters is actually located. So it's great for me, but grew up in St. Louis, went to Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Was lucky to play on the golf team there under , uh, coach , uh, Jerry Es and then graduated in 2012. And I wanted to , I wanted to be host hosting or hoisting the trophies on the P g A tour. So I chased that for a long time. Never made it to the p g a tour, but played, you know, Korn Ferry events, many tours up in Canada. I played in anything and everything I could find. Uh, just wanted to compete and get better. And then , um, was, I have , uh, I'm married, I have a couple kids and wanted to, you know, loved golf and was looking around in St. Louis to kind of see what the, the next opportunity was is , you know, the game. I wasn't playing well enough and , and being on the road was tough and , uh, got connected with art. Who was the GM or Cho everybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah , he doesn't Art art's man . He's so cool.
Speaker 3:He is the man and he's, he's been in the golf industry for a long time. Uh, used to be a Titleist and uh , was connecting with him and, you know, found out about Rep Soto and I wanted to be, wanted to be a part of it. So I've probably been at Rep Soto for about three years now. Uh, the first year was kind of just helping out with some product testing and things like that. Then moved into a full-time role with product development and testing and then moved over kind of to the marketing side, community management , uh, over the last , uh, year. So it's been a really exciting journey for me to be , uh, really involved in M L M two Pro and kind of its inception and us talking about it and listening to , uh, consumers, what they were wanting with M L M, how they were liking that and one they wanted to , other features they wanted to see , um, in it. And kind of how we crafted that into the new product. So it's been really cool , um, and an exciting project. And now that it's finally in user's hands, it's, it's been awesome to see the reception of it. Did
Speaker 2:You grow up? Like were you really good? I mean, when it's a , I mean, as a kid, would your dad was a dad pro or what'd you get str did you get lessons or what?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so my dad, that was kind of the thing we did together. So he loved golf. Um, he was the club champion out at , uh, Bel Rie Country Club one year, which has hosted a bunch of majors. It's a tough golf course. And so I grew up playing out there with him and , and competing with him. And so always loved the game, always loved sports. And kind of in high school , uh, is when I realized, you know, I'm not gonna make it to the N B A and and golf is, was something I love to do and I wanted to go, you know, full in on that. So that's when I started playing more, more events, but very different route than a lot of kids nowadays take with, you know, the A A G A and all these developmental tours and or programs and, you know, traveling the country. That's not something I really did as a junior. I played a lot locally and , and got better. And luckily locally we had a ton of really good players. Scott Langley was at my same age. He won the NCAAs, played on the p g a tour for a little bit Adam Long, I grew up playing with , uh, a ton. Uh, he went to Duke and then he's on the p g A tour now he's, he's one out there. Um, and a bunch of other guys that played D one Golf. So we had, we had a ton of good competition locally, which really benefited me coach how at Wake Forest took a chance on me. Definitely didn't have like the resume of a lot of good players, but , um, I had, you know, a decent resume. I had qualified for the Usam as an 18 year old and , um, won some, some local regional stuff , um, and just try to continue to get better. So , um, I wanted to go to Wake because I knew there were gonna be better players there. Um, we , Simpson was there when I was a , a freshman and um, obviously he's had an, an unreal career and I just wanted to surround myself with really good players. 'cause I thought that was my best opportunity to get better is to get pushed by by people like that. So yeah, they're teammates. Yeah, I wasn't, I was not like a standout junior or anything by that measure.
Speaker 2:How hard was it, like week ? Is it hard to like try to get on a tour in like your card ?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's, it's um, it's amazing because like once college, it's a little different now than when I graduated and I wouldn't have qualified for these. But you know, now they have like the P g a Tour U program I think. So there's like certain exemptions guys could get, but essentially it's like a clean slate, you know? Uh, golf's great in the fact that if you shoot the scores, you know, if you work hard, shoot the numbers. Like they can't stop you, you know, it's not like the N B A or the N F L where they're, you know, evaluating your size and how you throw the ball and things like that. Like you could have funky action, you know, with your swing, but if you go out there and shoot 66, like, no , nobody cares. You know, that's, that's all <crosstalk> don't
Speaker 2:Say anything. They're gonna be like, oh crap, they , that dude's good.
Speaker 3:It's getting the ball in the hole. So it , that's , that's like the beautiful thing about golf , um, is you , you, it's on you. You go do it and shoot the scores you can get in. Um, what's really difficult about Pro is like, it's a really fine line between making it and not. Um, and I think that's why you see guys, you know, you hear these stories every year. Like for instance, Eric Cole, I've played a ton of golf with him. He is on the P G A tour this year, got second at the Honda Classic, but like, I think he's around my age, but he was al always a really good player, but like took a couple years off was teaching and then, you know, kept, went back after it and now he is on the P G A tour and having a, a great season. So it's just a , you know, a fine line. I don't know if he would say his game got a whole lot better. I'm sure, I'm sure it did in those years, but it's like playing well at the right time and then when you, when you get that, it's capitalizing on those moments. So it's, it's tough man. There's so many good players out there and everyone's, there's only so many spots , um, to play for each week. You know, there's 140 guys playing each week, 200 some guys with the , with tour cards and uh , there's thousands and thousands of people that want to get out there and play. So , um, I miss the competing aspect of it. I don't miss the, the travel and, and the , the grind,
Speaker 2:Right? Yeah.
Speaker 3:I like part of the grind of it, but it's, it's , uh, it's tough, you know, playing like 30 weeks outta the year and you don't make any money until you get to the p g a tour. So, you know, you're, so how
Speaker 2:Do you do that? Like, if you, like you're not making any , did you have a side job or is that like, or do you have a sponsor or like how do you pay for all , all these entry fees to get in all these tournaments?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I had some side gigs and then you have people that kind of believe in you and, and , and help you out. Um, that, that , uh, that I was fortunate to have and did some fun , uh, fundraising to , to make it , make it happen. So, yeah. But it's, it's, it's a grind now , but now , yeah . You're only , now I'm an amateur, so I, I, you know, re reapplied to get my amateur status back and now, now I'm just trying to live the MidAm life. And
Speaker 2:You're probably like make , are you playing like anything on the weekends and stuff, or not really? 'cause you're so busy with your family and like with work. Yeah,
Speaker 3:It's been a , it's, you know, work work , um, has been awesome this year and we have a lot of exciting things going on. So that, and then I've, I have three boys and they love baseball. They do love golf and , uh, managing that. But I try to, you know, still compete when I can. I wanna play in the, you know, the MidAm, the U S a , uh, actually won , um, local qualifying for the US Open recently. So I'm onto , holy crap, I'm onto , uh, I'm know if Oh , that's cool . Sectionals or final stage , uh, June 5th. So I'm hoping I can , uh, put together 36 good holes , uh, and get and get through that. That's
Speaker 2:Awesome. I didn't know that. That's a big deal, dude.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm excited. It's all that work with him . You know, the M LM two Pro, I can see my, I got , I got the number .
Speaker 2:I mean , if you guys see how good , how much he's training, just watch the Rapsodo commercial. 'cause he is like in IT training <laugh> , right?
Speaker 3:That's right. I'm like , that's , that's coaching me up and yeah,
Speaker 2:I mean, you get the best, right? Then you're , you the best you have to perform.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 2:When, when did you come on at Rap Soto ? Like two years ago.
Speaker 3:I think I've been full-time for two years, but , um, I've, I feel like I've been helping in some capacity with some of our projects now for about three years. So it was just
Speaker 2:Because you were working with Jake, weren't you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, Jake and part of our product team. So just, you know, we rigorously test our devices, you know, daily that a lot to pro . We do a lot of testing and refinement and we're always, you know, working on improvements for new things that are coming out. So, you know, people will see new things get released. Like we had our combines feature released last, last August, last September, yeah,
Speaker 2:Last I
Speaker 3:Remember that. And we were , we've been working on that for a while with , uh, Sasha McKenzie in terms of kind of how we wanted to structure it and the data, the scoring, you know, refining that. And um, so we have a lot of projects going on in the background that we're working on. Um, so features,
Speaker 2:I'm trying
Speaker 3:A part of
Speaker 2:Those, a lot of features for the, for the new unit, is that what you're talking about? Like just new that's gonna be coming out or what?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so features for the M L M or the MLM two Pro. So M l M, you know , even though we , we have a new product out, the MLM is still a product that we're passionate about, it's , uh, now it's 2 99 instead of 4 9 9. So , uh, insanely good deal. Uh, and we're gonna , you know ,
Speaker 2:A smoking deal
Speaker 3:Still
Speaker 2:Have , uh, you really can't get a unit for a better price right now for under 300 bucks. Like seriously, it , that's
Speaker 3:Pretty crazy with video and data can't , it's nothing out there. Can't
Speaker 2:Think there's nothing. And I think that's one of the problems I think fights go's having with the , um, Evo. It's like, it's still 500 bucks. It's like, dude, you know, the regular Evo , not the new Evo plus, but like, you know, it's like you're now $200 more than the rap soda . I mean, you're a five-year-old unit or a four year old unit, you should really be like, like there's no one competing at you in that price point. Really. I can think of $300
Speaker 3:They're, they're doing really, I mean it's always , it's been a product that, you know, the m l m we launched in 2019 and it's always had a , you know, a ton of , uh, interest and success and uh, that price point. You know, that's something as a company, you know, we wanna make affordable, you know, products for people that we, you know, really high quality products, but definitely more accessible. Um, that's how Rep Soto was , you know, started , um, was our founder, who's an engineer , um, was hitting balls and, you know, he wanted to track his data and saw anything that was out there was really, you know, unachievable for a lot of people to afford. So that's, that's really at the core of core of our company as well, is we wanna have really high quality products, but something that, you know, people can afford and they're not taking out a , a mortgage to get Yeah,
Speaker 2:A unit. Yeah. So right now Rapsodo has two main products, right? They have original Rapsodo and then the Rapsodo Emblem two Pro. So original Soto is 2 99. And then I guess like in case people don't understand like the difference between two units , uh, the original Rapsodo , how is it different than the new Rapsodo , the
Speaker 3:Original rep Soto ? Um , when you buy it, it's , it's a radar unit inside of it. So it, you know, it flips up, it uses the radar, but it takes also, you know, you put your phone or your iPad on top of the unit and we utilize the camera in that. So the original m l m has is radar and camera based , which is really unique for a launch monitor in general. Most are normally radar based or camera based , but we actually had both technologies incorporated , uh, into the original one. So it gives you a lot of metrics. You can see your swing automatically behind it , um, and you get the shot trace. But with that, there was other things that people really wanted that, that the M L M doesn't have. So a lot of people really wanted spin numbers. They really wanted the ability to add another camera , um, you know, a little higher angle. So we really took all of that feedback into the MLM two Pro. So that's why you kind of, when you see the MLM two Pro, the cameras are integrated into the unit itself, so that way you can kind of take your tablet Android , uh, that's a big differentiator is Android is MLM two Pro , um, iOS and Android is for M two Pro and the mlm original MLM is only iOS. Um, but you can remove your device, so it's not, you know, you need to connect , um, your tablet to the MLM two Pro, but you don't have to have it behind you. We do have cool notches in the tripod where you can sit it there if you'd like to, but yeah ,
Speaker 2:It's really cool feature. That's a cool, like , design feature,
Speaker 3:But you can have it, you know, your buddy can hold it, you can put it wherever you want. Um, so the flexibility to be able to, to put that where everyone's cool. Um, the unit itself's a little taller, so that's a really unique design. Uh , and that was done on purpose because we were trying to get that camera angle angle as high as we could. 'cause the m l M one , uh, yeah, was, it's just, you know, we didn't want to make it really tall, obviously, and kind of have it, you know, in the way we want. We want the MLM two Pro, like once you're down , uh, put it down and using it , um, you kind of almost forget it's behind you, you know, you're interacting with it and seeing your numbers and seeing your videos, but you almost like, kind of forget the units , uh, sitting there. Um , really sleek design. So with that, we have two cameras integrated and we're built , um, able to measure the spin and spin axis with those R P T balls. So , uh, that's been a really exciting thing, especially for people at home that have, you know, limited ball flight. We can give you the spin and spin axis , uh, really accurately measured. Uh, and then lastly, you have simulation. So we have a cool three D range that you can set up, see your, your numbers with your shot trace, but also the ability to play 30,000 courses so, you know, very high likelihood that you can play your home course or you know, your bucket list course right at your house. And all you really need is , uh, the M lmm two pro, you know, a club, a net and a mat. You can, you make it as nice as you want, you can buy that, you know, nice , uh, bay and have the projector, or you can just have , um, you know, a simple net and mat up , which is great. So
Speaker 2:I just realized I can like, pull up stuff on the podcast. Huh ? Show it , show . I should just show pictures. I was like, I should just really make this really fancy this, this livestream. So yeah, like , so this is the rap episode two pro , and it's like, first of all, I think ergonomically, it looks really select , like, I mean , it's cool , mean , it just looks,
Speaker 3:It's super cool. Nothing else is out out there that looks like it. So like when you see it, you're okay. That's the Rapsodo, you know, you're not like trying to figure out what's what. Yeah,
Speaker 2:I mean, it stands up probably what, like two, two foot and a half, two feet, maybe tops
Speaker 3:And a half . I should know the answer to that, but I don't remember, I don't remember how high it is . It's, it's essentially, it's, I would say like 18 inches maybe. Yeah,
Speaker 2:18 inches
Speaker 3:I would say too . So the tripod , uh, disconnects from the unit itself, so it's really, you know, portable, you could easily, I keep mine in my golf bag , um, and it's easy to <crosstalk> .
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's one thing I really like. It's like the tripod feature. I think it should be on the site . Like here's a ,
Speaker 3:It's really compact . There you go. So you can kind of see it and scale with a phone. So , um,
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, so like, it's cool, like here's those notch as he was talking about. So you can put your iPad, like right here, let's say, and it would still be there and it won't , but it won't get in the way of the camera or any of the other systems . Yeah . Which is really cool. So the
Speaker 3:Trip tripod on one and then pop this off. Yeah, you can pop it off you , the tripod on this one. So you can actually put it either way. So if there's one leg in front that's supposed to be the iPhone, or you can actually turn the tripod around and connect it that way so that you have the two legs in the front. And that's meant for the iPad.
Speaker 2:That's right . Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's so cool. Yeah,
Speaker 2:You guys really thought what you were doing, you know, when you were designing this, like, not just like the outside of the technology, but just the way the unit sits because like that's , I mean , that's that , I think that's kind of one of the problems with a lot of the units that are out there right now. Like, you know , um, like the Mevo plus, it's like you always have to kind of get the angle right and like, you know, do all that. I know the new Mevo plus 2023 version doesn't have that issue, but like, you know , you have to make sure it's not like tilted or whatever. And here you just set it down and you just set up with your phone and then there's like a, I guess explain to the audience like how it works. There's really, there's two cameras on this new system, right?
Speaker 3:Exactly. Yeah. Just in terms of setup , I want to touch on real quick. So it's, it's really easy. You turn it on, you know, you connect it, you put it down, you turn it on, connect it to your phone or tablet, and when you start a practice session, we'll actually kind of show this alignment tool. So we'll show a line of your target line and a box of where the ball goes. So we try to make it , uh, as seamless as possible. But yeah, so these two cameras in here , um, we have one which is the shot vision camera that you see on the right. And that's where you get , uh, if you, you're familiar with the M L m, you'll kind of, you'll , it'll look familiar to you, is you see that, you know, down the line video with the shot tracer, just like you, you know, saw watching the P G A championship yesterday, you can see where your ball's going with the metrics. Uh, that's a two K camera. And then we have Impact Vision, which is really maybe my favorite feature of the whole unit. And I think it's been a lot of people's , uh, you know, favorite, one of their favorite features as well is because you can actually see what's going on with the ball and club. So, you know, we have this 240 frames per second, and you can really see if you're hitting it on the heel, on the toe, you know, if you're taking a big dipt divot , um, you can see exactly what's going on there. Um, so it's been a really, been a really cool feature.
Speaker 2:It was very exciting when the unit came out because this techno , like , no one's done this yet, right? Like the impact vision, like, no , that's all new, that's all new technology. No one's really shown it. Um, or even had that ability. You can see Justin right here, Eno , um, just break
Speaker 3:Down the swamp . What do you think?
Speaker 2:I think you're probably gonna win the US amateur. Um ,
Speaker 3:Let's go.
Speaker 2:There's not much my videos that'll be like <laugh> , you know , d ing to the right. I feel like the technology between the original Rapsodo and the Rapsodo MLM two Pro is like jumped a lot, right? I mean, just like in terms of the cameras, the dual cameras, the, the design and then the, you know, even the , the spin technology, which no one, let's talk about that for a second too. Before <CROSSTALK> stuff like this is a big deal, right? The spin. So can you talk to the audience about like kind of how this works, what the R P T ball is, that kind of thing?
Speaker 3:Exactly. Yeah. So SPIN was one something people had, you know, been asking about a ton is , I wanna see my spin metrics, you know, I want to , you know, see what my ball's doing. And inside it's always a challenge for people because, you know, you're , you're only hitting normally into a net about eight, 10 feet away. So that limited ball flight , um, that's where, you know, our camera and radar technology really helps. And with our camera here to see these , uh, balls, we can actually measure what's going on. So a lot of people are like, you know, what are the dots about? Well, that's, that's what the R P T T stands for. So that's Rep Soto Precision Technology, which has those really unique PA patterns on there. Um, and we chose , uh, Callaway for their precision and being able to print these, because, you know, our tolerance with those dots is about one millimeter, I believe. So , um, you know, really high tech printing , um, onto those balls. It's a premium ball, it's a cal , uh, Callaway Chrome soft X. Um, and with that, we're able to tr uh , capture the spin and spin axis. So when you kind of look in that video, the impact vision video, you know, you can see the ball rotate, and we're looking at the cameras and tracking , uh, how that ball's moving through space , uh, so that we can capture, you know, how much your ball is spinning and how much it's curving.
Speaker 2:These numbers are like dead accurate. I just wanna tell you guys, like, I've compared this to like a GC Quad and a GC three, and like then spin numbers are like super, super, super, super close, like super close, like off by like less than 50, right? Which is crazy if you think about it, because those are like, you know, GC three is what, six grand and the DC DC quad's like 15 and this is 7 6 99, right? Like, I mean, yeah , it's the , it's amazing how direct the spin rate is on this thing. It's nuts. Um , we,
Speaker 3:We have incredible, incredible engineers and we're, we're really excited about , uh, about the accuracy. So
Speaker 2:That's a big feature, right? That wasn't on the original rap photo . This is like they, when they came out, they came with full guns blazing, right? 'cause they came out the double camera, they came with their own special balls. And I guess kind of talk about the app too. Like can you explain like kind of the features of the app and then what it kind of provides and that kind of thing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so currently they're , um, our three play modes. So , uh, when you go to play, you can either practice, you can take a combine or you can go to simulation. So if you think of practice, that's kind of your, you know, hey, I'm gonna hit balls. I kinda wanna look at my numbers. I wanna see all my swing videos. So within practice, you'll automatically get , uh, a replay of your swing if you want. Um, you can always turn the replay off or kind of just see the metrics if you want that as well. Um , again, this is for phone or tablet , uh, iOS and Android. Um , I really prefer the , the tablet just because there's a little bit more real estate on the screen, so you can kind of see a little bit more. But I use the phone all the time as well. Um, and so in practice we have those 13 metrics, which is carry distance, total distance, side carry, club speed, ball speed , uh, smash factor , launch direction, launch angle, descent angle, which is a new metric for us. Uh, apex, we also shot type , so we label 'em. So, you know, if it's a fade versus a slice, you'll see that in there. Um , and then we'll get spin rate and spin access if you use the R p t ball . So most likely you're gonna only use the R P T balls , uh, inside, but you definitely can use it in our outdoor mode. Um , I, I've used them on the course a couple times to kind to get numbers when I'm out there playing. Really?
Speaker 2:Yeah. You use the R P T ball in the course, that's
Speaker 3:Cool. Oh yeah. I mean, it's definitely not, you know , how, how they were designed, but it's definitely something you can do. Um,
Speaker 2:Yeah, using outta the course, you're not using it out the range. Yeah . Yeah .
Speaker 3:It's , it's a , yeah, you're , you're not gonna, I don't envision you , uh, buying some and sending 'em out there, but do you
Speaker 2:Hear crazy? Do you ever something so crazy? I played this golf tournament like two weeks ago with True Links Square , and I was out in the desert looking for my ball and like, I literally found an R C T ball out in the desert. Like someone was playing an R C T ball at a golf course. Like I, I was
Speaker 3:Like , it's cold . They probably didn't <laugh> , they probably not, didn't know what it was or something.
Speaker 2:I was, so I was like, oh my God. I put, I'm like, I just want an R C T ball. Like, and you guys don't know, it's like Titleless Ball, which is like the com competitor ball to this for like, other units. Really? Yeah . It's like, who would do that? That that's like $75 a box. Like, it's so expensive for those balls. I'm like, that's that's a ballsy dude right there, man.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It's confidence. It's confidence, but it's
Speaker 2:Not me. I wouldn't do that. I'm like , I'm like a whole , I'm like trying to like, make sure I don't like lose him . I'm like, okay, I'll , I'll let you keep this ball, you know, if I go to someplace and drop a ball off . But when did the MLM two Pro launch?
Speaker 3:So the P G A show, which was what, February 1st, or end of end of January, we kind of announced it. Yeah . Uh, February 1st is when I went on pre-orders, and then we actually had to shut down, or not shut down, but we had to close pre-orders because the response was, you know, so overwhelming, positive , um, that , so how
Speaker 2:Fast did you, so you opened up pre-orders. How fast did you guys like sell out?
Speaker 3:I think it was a week week . We kind of were getting, we were getting so many units, we're like, all right , we're gonna, we're gonna have to close this down , uh, for a little bit that's pre-ordered. That's crazy. It was , it , you know, it was , it's been an awesome response. Um, and then , uh, you know, we've been really working hard to have the, you know, enough inventory. So , um, we've had one, we had one drop , uh, about a month ago since, and that's sold out in under a minute , um, which was also like mind blowing to us. Um, and , uh, yeah, we should have, in the next, next couple, next couple weeks, we'll have , uh, more inventory available. And we have a lot of , a lot of units coming. So , um, you know, this summer, if you're, if you're looking to get one, you're definitely gonna be , be able to,
Speaker 2:That's what I'm been telling people. Like if you're, if you find out about these launch monitors or simulators fricking pre-order it, because like it's , you're not gonna just get it, it's not gonna happen. Like, I mean, I just at this
Speaker 3:Price point too. Yeah, it's like, it's, it's a ton of technology in there. And for 6 99, I think a lot of people, you know, over the last couple years, I think you're gonna really see like the home, you know, simulator market where people building these, you know, setups at their house and being able to play whenever they want is gonna really grow. And so for something that's this affordable and has this much technology and this most accuracy, people are just, they're jumping on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I, I remember, 'cause I got mine, when did I get mine? Like a probably a week after a launch, like a real launch and like, 'cause Justin sent me mine and I was like, hell yeah dude, because nobody had it. There's only about probably three other people on YouTube that had it. Oh , my friend, my friend David in Australia had it before I did. I was like , did David get it? He's in freaking Australia. I remember I was like, I was like tin around with him one day about it. But , um, it was crazy. But I think like, there's been a ton of response to it, especially because that price point, I mean, your direct competitor is the Garmin R 10 , right? So I mean, and it's, it's kind of cool because now before no one had come out with a price, a similar price unit. Everything came under that price point. But now it's like, all right , similar price, more technology. And the question really is, is what Garment gonna do about it? Because I feel like, you know, you can make a cheaper unit, not saying garment, but anybody can make a cheaper unit under 500 bucks, let's call it. But then the next, like the tier system when it comes to launch monitors and Rain , you know, is like under 500. There's only, what, two between 500 and a thousand I would say you guys in Garmin. And then it's like the next tier up is, is over is 2000 plus, right? So it's like there's no, it's, I think people, what I try to do when I make my videos at least, 'cause I , you know, as they show people like, look, you can compare a 600 unit to a $4,000 unit, they're pretty much gonna give you the same numbers. So now it's about features, right? And what are these features? What do you want as a player? What can you afford and what do you want? And I think one thing, which is a big deal for the Rapsodo is, which they did have in the original unit, is now they're gonna have third party integration, right ? Yeah . And so let's talk about that a little bit too, because let's a big deal 'cause everybody kind of wants, so what, what's going on with that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so awesome golf , uh, integration's currently live. So that , that's a great platform. It looks great. Yeah. If anyone's, by the way , it's a great platform. If anyone's not familiar with it, definitely check it out. And then , uh, E six we're , we're , we're working on that. And that's gonna be here, be here soon. Um, so I'm , I, I can't, can't give you a specific date at this time, but it's soon . You don't coming soon . It's coming soon. When
Speaker 2:That happens, that's gonna be the , I think that's gonna be the floodgate right there, because then it's like you can go play all the E six courses. No ,
Speaker 3:Yeah,
Speaker 2:E six's expensive, don't get me wrong. Um, you get the free version
Speaker 3:It'll come with Yeah , for iOS users, it'll come with a few courses for free. Uh , if you kind wanna test that out
Speaker 2:And then yeah , like three or four or something and need range too . But I mean, I think like that's the thing too, because you guys came out with a sim, like the old rap , so didn't have the sim feature in it either, right? It just had like the, all the other, you know, practice features. But like now you have simulator, so like the new rep Soto has a sim built in sim , which is really cool. Um, because I mean, really you're thinking at that price point. You're getting straight outta the box. You're gonna have a sim you could use, you have a testing, you can practice your shots, you have combines. I guess let's talk about combines a little bit. So I, I was , I did that with my instructor the other couple weeks ago. That was a lot of fun. It was actually a lot of fun. Like we were doing it and I'm like, yeah , this is actually , I was hitting , he was hitting all the shots. 'cause I'm like, let me, I don't know , I'm wanting to make sure these are all good shots. So I was like, all right , let's do it. But, you know, it was a fun thing to do. And I think combines, I know you guys had that with the original Rap Soto , but I feel like combines makes practice fun, if that makes sense. Not just playing a game or something. But
Speaker 3:It does, I mean it's, it's, it's the feature that I probably use the most of the play settings. Um, and my kids who are very little, you know, my six year old loves to do it too. 'cause it's a game, you know, when you're out on the , on the range, like everyone loves hitting balls and you know, chasing the numbers and trying what they see. And then you kind of sometimes get to a point of like, okay, how am I gonna get better? You know, or I'm hitting it good today, like I wanna , you know, put it to the test. So combines as I kind of, as I said earlier, is something we developed with , uh, Sasha McKenzie , um, and he used over a thousand p g a tour shots, you know, 20 plus years of data he collected with people , uh, to put together this test , um, in collaboration with us. So it's a 24 shot test. It takes about 15 minutes to do. There are two approach targets and then a driving target so we can recommend distances for you. So over time, you know, the more shots that we gather, we'll find holes , um, you know, in your, in your yards that we don't see you hit. So, you know, Paul, if you're hitting a bunch of eight irons, 160 yards and then a bunch of seven irons, one 70, we'll say, okay, he , Paul's not hitting a lot of 1 65 year old shots, so we're gonna suggest you practice 1 65. So Oh,
Speaker 2:I know that , that's cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we'll, we'll we will recommend distances or if, you know, if you're like, Hey, I actually just wanna hit 120, you know, 180 as my two targets, you can enter those as well. So , uh, it has a nice cadence to it too. So you'll hit , um, two shots in a row to your first target, two shots in a row to your second target, and then you'll hit two driver targets and you'll go through that rotation four times. So you'll hit 24 shots each , uh, eight shots each target. Um, and at the end of that you'll get a score out of a hundred , um, as well as a handicap associated with that. So , um, it's a really good way to kind of see where your game stacks and also kind of like provide some context to how you're hitting it. So in the report after, you'll see, okay, Paul, your, you know, average proximity from 120 yards was, you know, 20 feet. Um, this is what your handicap level averages from that distance. And then this is what a pro average is . So you can kind of see how you stack up against your peers and how you stack up against your pros. And the example of I always use is , uh, shout out to Brian Dietrich , um, on our Rep Soto team. But every time he takes a combine, he hits , uh, his driver really, really well. So he is like a , you know, a one or two handicap with his driver, and then his irons are always about like a 25 or 30 handicap. So he has this huge disparity between his game, but it's really easy to see like, okay, if I wanna get better, I need to practice these distances. You know, clearly if I go hit a hundred more drivers, I'm not gonna, you know, shoot lower scores at this point. 'cause that's a strength of his . So it's a really good way to, you know, understand strengths and weaknesses, but again, like gamify your practice, make it more fun. 'cause you're gonna get a score at the end of that and then you're gonna want to go beat that score again. Uh, at least I do. So , um, it's, it's a really fun way to practice
Speaker 2:When we did it, it's very high paced , I guess you could say, where you're not just sitting there hitting the same shot over and over again. Right, right . And you're like, it's like changing. And I think the one thing Garrett said to my instructor, he was like, what's cool about it is that it , it almost simulates you're actually playing a game. Yeah . Like a game of golf, right? Like driver approach wedge. Right. Or that's what we were doing at least. Yeah. And it was like, you know , you do that three or four times, like you just played round of golf really. I mean we didn't put and all that other stuff. But still, it like gives you that feeling where it's like, and then I think the numbers that we were using off of were not like your common number, right. For your approach. Yeah , it was , it was like a hundred yards. It was like, you know, whatever it was one 12 or whatever. Yeah . Some random number. It's like, okay, I gotta really think about this shot. What club do I use? Right? How do I swing the club? And
Speaker 3:It's great for somebody that like, sorry to cut you off, but like, you know , somebody's like , I'm hitting a grade on the range and I'm not taking it to the course. And it's like, normally that kind of person when I'm like talking to my friends is, well like, what are you doing on the range? You know, are you actually making your practice, you know, put a little pressure on your practice? Are you picking specific targets? Are you're just trying to hit shots that feel good? 'cause when you get on the course, you gotta hit it, you know, between the two bunk, the bunker and the hazard. Or you gotta hit it on the green and, and you know, this really as you kind of show here, kind of puts , puts that pressure on you while you're practicing. So
Speaker 2:Yeah, so like, you know, it's like 50 yards and then it's like he , you know, you kind of dial it in. It's like, oh, what club do I use? Are you sandwich wedge ? Okay. Was it full swing half ? Like, I don't know , it kind of made it fun. I mean , that's our red line. We did it ourselves, but like you can see we kind of practice it. And what's kind of cool too is look like even the red line, we were drawing the line, you can see we are off center to the right. So it's like, it does show you where you land. And I think one of the tendencies that we kind of saw when we did it just with Garrett that day was like, some of the shots were going right. You know, just 'cause he was just was happening. Yeah . So he did , you have to adjust and you have to start, you know, and I think that's what makes it really fun because you're able to really like dial it in and then also , um, you get really excited when you hit the target. Yeah . Like , oh yeah, fine . Like it's, I don't know , it's, I'm being straight with you. Like, it was, it was a lot of fun. And like, usually it's practicing's boring. I mean, honestly, like you hit a bunch of shots, okay, what's your average carry? Okay, great. But like, is that gonna help you the next time you play? Like not really. Um, so I, I really think this is a cool feature that you guys are, have incorporated into the MLM two Pro. Yeah.
Speaker 3:But , so it's, it's in the MLM one for anyone out there , uh, it's an outdoor only mode with the MLM one , uh, but the MLM two, it's indoor and outdoor. So you can do this one with MLM two Pro in your garage or you can do it at the range.
Speaker 2:I mean, I would assume like when coming out with new units, like what was the feedback from people who got it? Like what was , what were they saying? Like was there anything that needed to be like improved or was there any issues or there have been update , I know there's been a lot of updates lately, so I wanna kind of talk about that real fast.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I mean, first I think, you know, people were just really excited. It was cool to see everyone's, you know, set up . I'm jealous of a lot of these people's, like backyard setups or indoor setups. Uh, I kind of just throw a net up in my backyard, but a lot of these people set ups . I'm like , uh, might have to, to screenshot these and show my wife step it up. Yeah, I need to step it up. I don't know if I can get that passed , but we can, we can try at least maybe.
Speaker 2:Um , I tried it didn't work <laugh>,
Speaker 3:But uh , the response has been been really cool. Um, and we're always at Rep , so working since to make improvements in terms of, you know, if there's a bug that somebody sees, fixing that as quickly as we can, but also having like new, new features. So , um, we came out with a new app last week and a new firmware, so , um,
Speaker 2:That's crazy. Like it's only been out for two months. Like there are , like, that's the one thing I wanna say is that like, rap so's on the ball. I know people might have some connectivity issues. A lot of people were saying that I didn't really have that too often. Um, but like Rap Soto's been on it. Like they're always updating, like they're on it, they're like acknowledging it. They're like, oh yeah, we're fixing that. Here's next update. You're update it . Like they , they didn't just make it and we're like, oh yeah, well it's great. See ya . You know? Yeah . No , I think it's very commendable. Like you guys are like taking accountability and like fixing it and like making it better and they like this thing's legit. This thing's , you guys are doing a really good job.
Speaker 3:I appreciate it , Paul . Yeah, so some of the things that people are curious, last week's release really improved , uh, connectivity and we've seen , uh, a huge improvement for, for the users that, you know, were having a couple problems with their , uh, connectivity , uh, that seems resolved. Uh, all of 'em . And then , uh, a lot of other like little features that people were like, you know, we're always listening to people and people write in, are you, we see 'em on social like, hey, can you, you know, one of 'em was for the iPhone or Android phone. Uh, our Rapsodo range was actually in portrait mode and you could only see three metrics. And people were like, you know, we want this in landscape so that we can see a little bit more metrics on phone . Oh yeah , I remember that . And if we wanted to use our phone to connect to a projector. So , uh, there's things like that , um, that, you know, are, are small things, but they make a big difference to a lot of people. So , uh, we incorporated landscape for Rep Soto Range. Um, and so now you can see, you know, three metrics on there . I do
Speaker 2:Remember that . 13 . Yeah, I do
Speaker 3:Remember that. So there's a lot of really cool stuff in there. And as I said, we're always listening , uh, to, to our, you know, the users and what they're, what they're wanting to see. So
Speaker 2:Do you guys deal with iPad too? Was it the same thing or just un
Speaker 3:Uh , so iPad. iPad always had rep soda range in landscape. Um, simulation currently is in simulations in portrait currently. That's
Speaker 2:What it was. That's the next thing . One's coming .
Speaker 3:Yeah. That that'll be in landscape. We're definitely working on that. Uh, if you're an Android user, there is a workaround. If you put it in uh , d e X mode , uh, it can go, it can go to landscape . You know ,
Speaker 2:We use the Android. Come on
Speaker 3:<laugh> , Android. I'm just kidding . There's there's a lot of Android people out there,
Speaker 2:Paul. I know there's a ton of Android people out there. I'm just teasing .
Speaker 3:Uh, no , I'm just messing too. Um, but yeah, so there they'll they'll be like , uh, you know, a lot of improvements. I don't wanna say improvements, but a lot of new things along the way, so Well
Speaker 2:No , you're fine tuning it. Like, people expect, like something comes straight outta the gates and they have like no bugs. Like everything has bugs. Like, you know, they give the best they possibly can, but until a million people start using it, you don't know. Right. Like how to make it better, how to refine it, how to, you know, I think like, you know, you guys have been on the ball though and like making those changes quickly. I mean, like I said, it's only been out for what, six weeks? Seven weeks? I think it was the beginning of April, right?
Speaker 3:So yeah , we up from the end of March. Yeah. So they've been about almost two months now, but yeah, six or seven
Speaker 2:Weeks . Yeah. So I mean, that's crazy. They like, they're already, I mean, no, no , not Disen garments. I like garment a lot, but like, there's still issues with the Garmin app that has not been fixed in a year. Right. So it's like, it's like rap . So has taking the time to really make this app really good. Um, and then also, you know, adding the new features like was, I don't think did awesome golf work out of the gate. I don't remember if it did or not. I don't think it did . Awesome.
Speaker 3:Golf . Yeah . Awesome. Golf was ready at launch. Um, I can remember E six , uh, is coming and coming . We have a , we have a lot of new , uh, new cool things in the background that , uh, that'll be released this year.
Speaker 2:Exciting. That's awesome.
Speaker 3:We got , we got a
Speaker 2:Lot, I think for that price point. I mean, if anybody's out there like trying to figure out what unit to buy, right? Like, let's see less than a thousand bucks to spend on your home unit. That includes buying a net. Like Theso is a perfect, perfect price, right? Because you have the sim feature rather gate you have. So the other thing about the subscription, because you gotta have a subscription model, however, the first year is already incorporated in the price. So like if people can make that choice, if they want to continue with the subscription or not , um, which
Speaker 3:Yeah, first year you get everything you get, you get everything,
Speaker 2:You get everything. Like there's no like, oh, you only get this now you gotta upgrade, you know, to some new feature. There's no, there's no , uh, upsell, right? It's just like you get it
Speaker 3:And it comes with the , the three RRP T balls. You get a sleeve of R p t balls included. So you get your spin out the gate, you get, you know , 3000
Speaker 2:Courses right to go ready to go.
Speaker 3:You get everything out the gate. Um, so, and one thing I , i kind of talked about earlier, but wanted to chime back in on is, as you said, like people that's setting up at , you know, their home setups is, what I love about ours is you can really make it whatever your budget is and whatever your spatial requirements are. So the unit sits six and a half feet behind you and you need, you know, eight feet of ball flights. So you need, you know, about 14 and a half feet of room there to kind of hit into a net for the unit to stand. But besides that, like, you know, you need a mat in a net is is all you need with your, your iPhone. You can just use that. Or like, if you want like, you know, a nicer setup , you can get a projector and you can get an impact screen and you can really customize, customize , uh, as much as you want. So , um, whatever your budget, <crosstalk> ,
Speaker 2:How long does the battery last on the Rapsodo ? I can't remember.
Speaker 3:It's about four hours. Um, I've used it a little longer, but a full charger will last you four hours of use. Um, if you're inside you can, you know, plug it in while you play and, and keep that battery. Uh , it's
Speaker 2:Another big feature like , you know, a flight, like with the Ebo plus, you couldn't do that. Like you couldn't plug it in and play it.
Speaker 3:Oh really?
Speaker 2:You know , that like , you could do the workaround, you can plug it into a battery, a portable battery unit and then plug the battery into the wall, which like, I dunno , I think you guys like pre-thought this ahead, like the guy who doesn't wanna spend a ton of money, wants good data, wants to have fun, wants to have third party functionality, wants to play as a sim. Like it's all within the same price point. Like you don't have to, I'm saying like, this is, I feel like you guys hit the sweet spot with this because I think like, I mean I've tested tons of units now and I mean the numbers are, they're accurate as hell. So I mean,
Speaker 3:That's first
Speaker 2:The
Speaker 3:First, you know , issue if
Speaker 2:You want . Yeah ,
Speaker 3:It's gotta be accurate. Uh, you know, it's , it's gotta be accurate. We , we , you know, we care a ton about our accuracy. So otherwise what's, you know, the other, the other use cases don't matter as much if you don't trust what you're hitting . So we have the accuracy there. The spin, the simulation we touched about, and then there's one other video aspect I didn't touch about. So there's actually three ways to view your video. So we have the shot vision camera, which is integrated in there. So the down the line with the shot tracer, we have the impact vision. So you can see what's happening, you know, the , the moment of truth and impact. Um , but there's also the ability to turn on the front facing camera of your , uh, tablet or phone. So you can actually put it, you know, wherever you want to get a third camera view. So most use cases are people putting that, you know, right in front of 'em so they can see the face on swing. Um , but that way you can see the face on and , and down the line , um, post-session and really, you know, critique what's going on with your swing or , and see the good shots, the bad shots, what's happening. So , uh, it's a really, really cool feature that people are also really excited about, is just be able to see multiple angles of their swing with the data.
Speaker 2:You guys need to put my video on , uh, your website. I see , uh, I see
Speaker 3:<crosstalk> . Let's get , let's get it up there.
Speaker 2:There's like 15 you could choose from . I'm kidding. <laugh> . I did a video, I did a video. It was like the five, right? So after the p g A show, I did another video called like, the Five Reasons Why You Should Buy The Rapsodo . And I just like took the , there was like right after the show, it's got recap, like everything you needed that blew up too. So there's been a lot of excitement about this and I think that it has a lot to do with the technology. I think it has to do with your reputation. I think it has to do with the price point. Yeah . Like , because I think like it's not a huge swing for somebody, you know what I mean? Like, it's like you have this, it's gonna last you a couple years, not longer, and you don't have to break the bank to get good numbers. I don't know . One thing I do like about it too is you can take it to the range and not worry about it. You know what I'm saying? Like, you can put it behind you and somebody knocks it over. You're not like all freaking out, like you're scared. Like they're gonna break it. It's like, it's , it's ,
Speaker 3:It's , it's, it's , it's a sturdy well will mid unit . And for the people that don't know about Rev Soto , because I , you know, there are some people that, that haven't heard of us, and I think the MLM two Pro is new . You know, it's, we're , we've been around , uh, for a long time. Um, and we've, you know, this isn't our, our first unit into the market. Uh, we make a , uh, baseball products as well. So all three huge
Speaker 2:In baseball,
Speaker 3:Huge in baseball, all 30. Uh , m l B teams use our products, you know, I think three or 400 m l b players have their own , uh, units that they use in the off season and practice with. And then, you know, thousands of universities for baseball and softball. So , um, we , we , uh, we've been around in the, in the data data business for a while .
Speaker 2:And you also make the data, you make the system for the Sky Track , right? What's the deal with that? You guys make the technology somewhere in it, the cameras or something? What?
Speaker 3:So the Sky Track and Sky Track plus, yeah. The , the hardware of the unit , um, are , are powered by Rep Soto . It's crazy. And then , uh, yeah, sky Trek , uh, has, has great software as well with their , uh, uh, their own flight model. That's a great , it's , it's been a great partnership and that's been a popular product as well.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm excited to have you on the show. I mean , we've , we've been , I'm known for at least couple years and we've been talking a lot and you know, like I said, the rap episode two Pro is a real deal. Like it really is, if you guys are looking for like an affordable launch monitor that you all can also use as a simulator and then at least have like more functionality, like all things we just talked about today, like that's a really good, it's a great product to get. So , um, where can people find the Rap Soto ? Like where's the best place to get it at?
Speaker 3:Best place to go is rep soto.com . That's , uh, you can sign up right now to be notified, notified of one more inventory will come up. Make sure to follow our socials to also kind be in the know of what's happening in new features. Um, but they , uh, will be available, you know, wherever you also buy other golf products at your local retailers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because they're like sold out you guys, like, for real. It's like you need to, like, I , and , and that just shows you that people want the unit. So it's like if you're gonna, if you're thinking about getting it now, like here it is. May right, end of May. Like if you're thinking about getting a unit this golf season, like either I would pre-order it now so that at least on the waiting list to know when it comes out. Because even with third party retailers, they get very limited supply, right? Like I'd get it from the manufacturer if like there's me. But , um, well thank you for being on the show today. Um, you guys, Rapsodo is a real deal. I've done probably 25 videos on Rapsodo products over the last couple years, so , um, I would highly recommend for you guys definitely check out the Rapsodo EMM two Pro and I appreciate you being on the show today, Justin. Thanks
Speaker 3:Paul, it was fun talking to you .
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to another episode of Behind the Golf Brand podcast. You're gonna beat me and golf stay connected on and off the show by visiting golfers authority.com. Don't forget to like, subscribe and leave a comment. Golf is always more fun when you win. Stay out of the beach and see you on the green .