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PRECISION PRO R1: The Deep Data Driven MYSLOPE Algorithm
Bryson may want to spend his round doing math, but most of us would rather not. Admittedly, since golf is a game is based upon numbers, there is no way to completely avoid all the computations. However, when it comes to calculating yardages, the new Precision Pro R1 rangefinder with MYSLOPE technology could possibly become golf’s TI-89.
At its core, the Pro R1 is a laser rangefinder. Once you pair it with your phone, it becomes much more powerful than a simple laser. The new app and MYSLOPE technology could allow Precision Pro to make industry leaders like Bushnell a bit nervous. The MYSLOPE feature in the R1 is potentially industry-changing.
If you don’t care about the rangefinder marketplace, what if MYSLOPE could save you a couple of strokes a round? Now I have your attention.
WHAT IS THE PRECISION PRO MYSLOPE?
The R1 is a rangefinder on steroids. It gives you yardages adjusted for slope, wind, and temperature. It also gives GPS readings. Most importantly, MYSLOPE takes care of all of the data crunching for you.
MYSLOPE is an algorithm that provides the adjusted shot yardages by taking into account weather conditions, slope, and your own personal ball flight data. Why is that important? Think of the many factors you consider before you hit a shot. Where is the wind coming from? How warm is it? Am I uphill or downhill? What club to hit? The list goes on. The reality of this is that you’re essentially guessing everything and then hoping that your guesses and estimations work out. In contrast, MYSLOPE uses real data to make these calculations, relying on real science rather than guesses.
You just shoot the target and read the raw number on the display. From there the app performs the MYSLOPE calculations. You can then check the adjusted yardage in the app, but why bother since the MYSLOPE value is transmitted via Bluetooth to your rangefinder view screen. The display within the rangefinder also features front/middle/back of green yardages based upon GPS measurements. So, in the display, you have the raw yardage you shot with the laser, the MYSLOPE-adjusted value, and the three GPS distances. At that point, if you don’t hit the green, it’s not because you didn’t have a good number.
HOW DOES MYSLOPE WORK?
Spoiler alert, it involves math.
It begins with a person named Brayden, a 24-year-old with a successful history of baseball data analytics (think Money Ball). Brayden is the person the Precision Pro team commissioned to bring MYSLOPE to life.
Calculation of the MYSLOPE value involves multiple factors, including weather. According to Brayden, Precision Pro’s data analytics wunderkind, “we hit a weather API every 15 minutes that gives us certain metrics including altitude, humidity, air pressure to create adjusted real-life metrics for the golfer on every shot.” This isn’t just in the United States, this is across the world so it’s safe to say you don’t need to guess anymore.
But where does all the MYSLOPE data come from, and can we trust it?
My initial assumption about MYSLOPE was that an individual would need a launch monitor to collect accurate data based on his or her game. This individual data is part of the story, but only part. The other data set has already been collected via trackman from the golfing population’s myriad of swing types. The MYSLOPE algorithm integrates your swing data into this larger data set to produce the best number for you. Entering your own personal data within the app lets the algorithm automatically adjust to fit your numbers. Even those of you with “unique” swings can find a number with MYSLOPE.
When you enter your swing data, you are also feeding the beast. Every day the MYSLOPE feature is improving and becoming more and more accurate thanks to golfers inputting their own data. The only drawback is that the database is based on full shots. So those golfers who like to flight shots into greens and hit knockdown shots will have to still use their expert judgment for the time being.
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SEE MY RESULTSPRECISION PRO MYSLOPE IS SMART
How are you with particle physics? How do you feel about calculating the change in aerodynamics of a particle in three-dimensional space based upon variations in surface textures? I’m going to pass on that big math problem as well. Thankfully, folk with mathematical superpowers included exactly this kind of complex mathematics and particle physics in the MYSLOPE design. Specifically, the MYSLOPE calculation needed to account for a spherical particle covered in dimples.
Brayden and Precision Pro explored how the dimples on the ball will affect aerodynamics and ball flight. They even studied what happens if you play a ball that has 332 dimples compared to a ball with 421. I think at this point that we can all agree that the ball we play affects our game. MYSLOPE is building a ball database by recording the average weight and dimple pattern of a 3 piece ball and relating that to launch characteristics. Ultimately, they will figure out how each ball will change the flight for the individual golfer.
The takeaway from all of this is that there is a huge amount of data processing happening under the surface of MYSLOPE. The best thing is that you are not required to do even one of the calculations to reap the MYSLOPE results.
WHY IS IT BENEFICIAL TO YOU?
Do you toss grass in the air to check the wind? Have you paced off a pitch shot to make sure your distance is correct? Have you rubbed a green to feel the grain? If you live for that kind of analysis ritual before you take a shot, then maybe MYSLOPE is not for you.
Some of us want things to be easy. Well, at least I do. I just want to know the adjusted yardage and what club to hit. I’m happy to let MYSLOPE figure out where the wind is, how many yards up or downhill the shot is. I don’t want to do calculus. I just want to hit the right shot. So in my mind, the R1 rangefinder with MYSLOPE allows me to narrow my focus to the shot at hand without sparing a synapse for masticating mathematical miasma.
The Precision Pro MYSLOPE algorithm crunches large amounts of data. This may sound like information overload, but it need not be. You can just take the provided number and play golf. If deep data diving is your thing, the Precision Pro R1 can give you lots of data and should check all your swing metric boxes. It’s a device that covers the spectrum of usage.
Hell, the R1 even has a “find my Precision Pro” feature to locate where you last left it if you’re a guy like me.
Remember, the MYSLOPE feature is all built into the R1 rangefinder and app. Most Wanted Testing has shown us that the R1 at its core is a solid laser rangefinder. But a rangefinder that just tells yardages may be a tool sliding toward obsolescence. Future golfers will seek out accurate, integrated data to help shoot lower scores.
WHERE CAN I GET ONE?
One of the market separators for Precision Pro is their ability to deliver a high-quality laser rangefinder at a price below the competition. The Precision Pro lasers always score well in the MyGolfSpy Buyer’s Guides while costing much less than other units. That theme continues with the R1. At $319.99, it will become the most expensive rangefinder in the Precision Pro line. However, that price is well below similar units from competitors. The Bushnell Hybrid laser/GPS unit runs $399.99 and the Bushnell XE costs $550. Neither one of those units integrates all of the data that the R1 does.
The R1 will also come with Precision Pro’s standard 90-day money-back guarantee and lifetime free battery replacement.
R1 Smart Rangefinder
$319.99
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