Golf Simulator Reviews

Indoor Golf Simulator Reviews: Optishot2

Posted by bret richards on March 11, 2016 0 Comments

Released in 2015, OptiShot2 is a significant upgrade to the original Optishot indoor and home golf simulator. Featuring enhanced software, Optishot2 is aiming to be a budget-friendly alternative to the more expensive golf simulators on the market. With the original model released more than five years ago, an eternity when it comes to software, an update was due.

It’s important to begin this review by highlighting that Optishot2 employs club-tracking technology, as opposed to ball-tracking technology, or a combination of both. It’s simplified, and less expensive, club-tracking hardware relies on two rows of 48MHz infrared sensors, 16 sensors in total, that fire at 10,000 pulses per second. As a result, you receive important information about your swing, including swing path, club-head speed, face impact angle, shot shape, swing tempo, distance and face area contact.

OptiShot2 does not claim to match the level of accuracy of much more expensive golf launch monitors, like those that employ sophisticated camera and Doppler radar technology. But at a price point of under $500, this should not be much of a surprise.

What You Get

The product comes with the infrared optical swing pad, two foam balls, two plastic tees, a 10-foot USB cord, and the all-important software. You’ll also need a PC or Mac to run the software, preferably one with an up-to-date graphics card. A display device, like a television or projection screen, and an indoor area large enough to allow for a full golf swing, are also required. The manufacturer recommends at least 8 ½ feet ceilings, but you would probably be more comfortable if you can place the unit in a room with a ceiling height of between 9 ½ to 10 feet.

Probably the very first thing you will notice about the Optishot2 is its construction. The unit is heavy, and incredibly well constructed. I suspect that it will stand up to the test of time, but if you have any concerns, they should be put to rest since the unit comes with a 180-day warranty.

Optishot2 comes with a solid selection of 15 courses to play, including The Golf Club Scottsdale (TPC Scottsdale), Long Island Black (Bethpage Black), Torrey White (Torrey Pines North) and Torrey Black (Torrey Pines South). Additional “platinum” replica courses can be purchased for around $30. On line play is also available. To make each round of golf different, you can select from a range of game formats, including: match play, better ball, stroke play, best ball, stableford, skins and alternate shots.

Powerful Customization

One of the most powerful features we found in with Optishot2’s software is the extent of customization.

You can adjust weather settings, like how hard the wind is blowing and from which direction. You can pretend to be mother nature and chose brilliant clear skies, or chose to play in more challenging cloudy or foggy conditions. In addition, you can alter the trajectory of your shot with five different settings – high, medium high, medium, medium low, and low.

Another handy feature, for those of you for those who want to squeeze a quick round or don’t have the ceiling height required to swing a driver, is transforming any course to a par 3. Additional setting that can be customized include tee boxes, right or left handed players, green and fairway speeds, and rough difficulty. And since simulating the putting experience is not a strength of the OptiShot2, more on that in a minute, the ability to pick your distance for an automatic gimmie is a particularly handy feature.

Fun, But Not A Fix For Your Short Game

The Optishot2 is one of the best home golf simulators, and will likely help you focus on, and improve your golf game and many elements of your swing. But it’s not a fix if you short game is a mess. The OptiShot2 wont help with your putting or chipping – two disciplines that demand practice on a real green.

The short game requires lots of different shots and techniques, including raising or lowing the balls trajectory by opening or closing the clubface. From our experience, it did not seem like the OptiShot2 was able to determine whether your clubface was set up for a lob, or the difference between a pitch or chip.

Putting is also not a strength of the Optishot 2. Thankfully the ability to adjust the game’s settings to allow for gimmies from any range eliminates the need to go through multiple putts on every hole.

In Conclusion

Optishot2 is an ideal product from those who have limited time to practice or who have limited indoor golf simulator budgets. The graphics are good, but not great, and the system provides enough realism and data to make you care about every shot you take. It should help you iron out some of the kinks in your swing. But it won’t do much for your chipping and putting.

Many point to the low cost as one of the strongest attractions of Optishot2. However, the purchase price of just under $500 is really just the starting point if you want to create an ideal indoor golfing environment. You will probably want to purchase a practice net as well as a turf-hitting mat to keep your feet level with the device. At the end of the day, you will likely end up spending closer to $1,000 to create your indoor golfing experience.

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