By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS High levels of thyroid hormone may put older adults at risk for heart disease and death, new research shows. In the Dutch study, published Tuesday in Circulation Research, middle-age and older people with high or high-normal levels of a thyroid hormone called FT4 had double the […]
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By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS Adding some spice to food may make you more aware of the taste of salt, a new study suggests. The findings, published Tuesday in the journal Hypertension, indicates that eating spicy foods may help us consume less salt — and, ultimately, lower blood pressure. According […]
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It's been about 21 months since Vokey launched the SM6 wedge. Given the typical 2-year cycle and Titleist's penchant for teasing tour prototypes a few months ahead of release, it isn't the least bit surprising that the upcoming SM7 is entering the tour seeding/validation phase of development at this week's Shriners Open.
While Titleist isn't spilling the goods on exactly what's new, subtle refinements are a given, and there are rumors of a new grind as well. The most intriguing aspect of the release, however, is the growing speculation that it could coincide with a changing of the guard at Vokey. As you may recall, a recent offering from Vokey WedgeWorks - the AD Grind - was designed by Vokey Apprentice, Aaron Dill. The thinking is that Bob Vokey is inching closer to retirement. If that happens, Aaron Dill seems the most likely successor. In addition to the AD Grind release, Dill has been more prominently featured on Titleist social media, which suggests there may be an effort underway to raise his profile ahead of any formal transition.
This, of course, is highly speculative. If the pattern holds, we can expect product information to revealed at or near the 2018 PGA Show, and with it any details about the future of the Vokey franchise.
Financial freedom.
What does it mean to you?
Is it not having the burden of a loan and credit-card debt? Not trading your time for money? Or simply not having to worry about your finances in general?
To me, it’s all those things and much more. Financial freedom gives you options in your life. It buys you something more precious than money.
Time.
Time to spend on whatever you want to do. Whether it’s taking up that hobby, building your dream business, or giving back to the world in some way, money gives us the freedom to become masters of our own reality.
It also provides the perfect opportunity for you to launch and grow your own startup. A study by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor found that 73 percent of entrepreneurs fund their ventures through their own savings, an average of $15,000.
For some online businesses, the startup capital is actually a lot lower. Achieving a degree of financial freedom is an ideal springboard to launching and growing your startup.
It’s often achieved through creating passive income streams. This is when there is regular cash flow coming into your bank account without having to trade your time for it. Working a day job would be an example of an active income stream, on the other side, because you’re spending your time in exchange for cash.
This is a website that focuses on a specific topic and generates an income from referring visitors to related products and services. For example, Lucie’s List is an affiliate site that helps moms survive pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood in general.
The site offers personalized newsletters based on the mother’s stage of pregnancy by asking for the baby’s due date. They have a large blog where they provide insight and helpful tips for mothers bringing up their babies. Some of these posts are product reviews that link directly to Amazon where people can make a purchase.
This website generates passive income by referring mothers to relevant products and services that they will be buying anyway—things like strollers, diapers, and high chairs. Any time someone makes a purchase through a link on the Lucie’s List website or newsletter, they make a commission for the referral.
The site produces passive income because it ranks organically in Google for many popular buyer keywords. These are keywords like “best high chair” and “best double stroller” which have what is called “buyer intent.” People searching these terms are thinking about making a purchase. The site owners need to maintain it skillfully enough to make sure that it ranks for the right search terms, create new blog content, and generate newsletters, but beyond that, there isn’t much other effort going into making sales.
Investing in real estate is another type of a passive income stream that people can build. A classic example would be an investor that buys property to rent it out to tenants. The investor usually mortgages the property then either renovates it or rents it out straight away.
The investor makes passive income from the cash left over after all expenses have been paid. Typically this includes the mortgage, property taxes, and management costs (if the investor decides to hire a property management company).
Many real estate investors enjoy have complete financial freedom as they earn a tremendous amount of passive income from their properties. This approach does require enough capital to mortgage a property, so it’s a long game, as you’ll probably use the income the rental property generates to pay the mortgage for the length of your loan.
While passive income and financial freedom offer a hands-off approach to generating income, it’s nothing like this at the start.
Any passive income stream requires a lot of work (and potentially an up front investment) to grow into something that makes money. But the beauty of it is that you can put the work in once and reap the benefits over the long-term. Tell me that doesn’t sound better than trading your time for money!
Maybe you are at the stage where you’re looking to start your first business that will eventually provide passive income, freedom, and flexibility. In this case, the fastest route to achieving your goals is to grow your startup capital fund and do plenty of research.
Thanks to the internet, we have access to dozens of passive income ideas. You must do your research to find something that suits you. And once you start something, stick with it until you’re generating an income from it.
It’s all too tempting to jump between different ideas when things get tough, but nothing worthwhile comes easy.
When it comes to achievement, my philosophy is to look to the people who’ve already landed what I want and reverse-engineer what they’ve done.
Your goals, ambitions, and dreams have probably already been achieved by someone else. And even if nobody has achieved your specific goal, the fundamental mindsets of success remain the same.
By listening, learning, and implementing advice from successful people, we put ourselves in the best position to achieve what we want.
There’s no big secret to financial freedom. It’s the result of self-education, consistency, and execution. If someone’s already done it there’s no reason why you can’t!
So, let’s get right into it.
Tony Robbins is an international speaker, author, and investor who has helped millions of people make a positive change in their life. Robbins is a well-recognized authority in the space of psychology, leadership, and business organization.
He’s the author of five international best-selling books and has empowered over 50 million people globally through his training programs.
Combining solid psychology with diligent thinking and powerful execution will put you on the path to success. Solid psychology involves a solid mental approach to the obstacles you will face in business. Diligent thinking involves applying conscious attention and persistence to what you’re doing, and powerful execution comes down to taking action consistently.
Overall, investing your money in a smart way as well as working on your financial education is crucial to achieving financial freedom.
This list wouldn’t be complete without one of the most successful investors of our time. Warren Buffett is an inspiration to investors; he’s the second wealthiest person in the United states and fourth in the entire world.
Buffett made his first stock purchase when he was just 11 years old. Interestingly enough, he gained over 99 percent of his current wealth when he was over 50.
Reading has the power to dramatically change your life. For example, if you’re looking to launch a small business, a great book would be “The Small Business Start-Up Workbook” By Cheryl D. Rickman. Overall, forming positive habits and staying on top of your game will help you master consistency and growth.
Known as the father of financial freedom, Robert Kiyosaki has educated, informed, and inspired millions of people around the world by empowering them with financial knowledge.
Kiyosaki is best known for his famous book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” which is one of the most popular personal finance books of all time. His perspectives on money often go against conventional wisdom and he’s known for being a passionate, straight-talking advocate for financial education.
Proper financial education is essential to making and managing your money effectively. Understanding how and where to invest your money will save you from the perils of inflation. Don’t be afraid to fall down. The most successful of us have gone through huge losses and made it through just fine.
One of my all-time favorite entrepreneurs, and a man who has had such a profound impact on our world, Elon Musk is a billionaire entrepreneur who has created fortunes in a variety of industries and verticals.
Musk kick-started his rise to entrepreneurial fame when he sold his digital media company, Zip2 to Compaq for $307 million back in 1999. He was only 27 at this point!
Shortly after this, he founded Paypal which ended up being sold to eBay for $1.5 billion dollars. He has now set his sights on the stars with his Space X program as well as co-founding the Tesla car company.
Hustle, hustle, hustle. If you want to get ahead, you need to outwork your competition. Create something so awesome, that people will celebrate it and don’t be afraid to jump into unfamiliar territory. The best of us knew nothing about our existing expertise at one time.
Bezos is the founding father of the almighty ecommerce giant that is Amazon. He has a net worth of over $82 billion and briefly topped the Forbes world’s richest list in July of 2017. Interestingly Bezos now only owns 17 percent of his Amazon company.
Some people may not know this, but Amazon actually started as a bookstore, operating on a business model similar to dropshipping. How? Amazon would only buy the book after the sale was made so they didn’t store any products at the beginning. Sales of these books reached $20,000 a week in just two months after launch, without any press coverage.
Jeff Bezos is an innovator—and his company, Amazon, is a fantastic example of a business that has remained ahead of the pack. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Always put the customer first, and think about the long-term opportunities for your business.
Some of the most valuable insights from looking to these successful entrepreneurs are:
One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned about success is how most of it is psychological. A strong entrepreneurial mindset is priceless. Most people end up sabotaging their businesses because they aren’t emotionally ready for the roller-coaster ride.
The bad news is that there’s no secret sauce to success, but the good news is that you can achieve almost anything if you’re willing to the work.
Ahmad Ben is a digital marketer, growth hacker, and personal development junkie. He is the owner of Bengu
Marketing, a website that is dedicated to showing people how they can build and grow their first online business from scratch. He regularly posts content relating to online business, entrepreneurship, and personal development on his blog.
By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS It’s hard to predict sudden cardiac arrest. For people whose heart unexpectedly stops beating, roughly half didn’t have any earlier symptoms. New guidelines issued Monday by the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology and Heart Rhythm Society may help doctors better identify people at […]
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By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS A pair of cholesterol-lowering drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors were controversial as soon as they hit the market in 2015. They cost an average $14,300 a year, and prescriptions require prior authorization by health insurance companies — which a new study shows isn’t a guarantee. Only […]
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This article is part of our “Business Startup Guide”—a curated list of our articles that will get you up and running in no time!
People often ask us for a list of steps they can use to start their own business. From business type to business model to physical location, there are so many variables!
However, there are things that every business needs to do to get off the ground. So, here are the eight key steps you need to take to start your own business. Just remember, be flexible. Every business is unique and you may need to refine this list as you go.
“Know yourself, and work in a job that caters to your strengths. This knowledge will make you happier.”
– Sabrina Parsons
Your answers to these types of questions will help you narrow your focus.
This step is not supposed to dissuade you from starting your own business. Rather, it’s here to get you thinking and planning. In order to start a successful business, passion alone isn’t enough.
You need to plan, set goals, and above all, know yourself. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? How will these affect day-to-day operations? You could conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself to figure this out.
As you get started, your business will likely dominate your life so make sure that what you’re doing is stimulating and challenging, but not completely outside of your expertise. You’re going to be in it for the long-haul. Use what you learn from the SWOT analysis to think through what you want your life to be like, not just what you want from your business.
Answering these questions (and many more) about yourself and your abilities isn’t necessarily going to ensure you’re successful, but it will get you thinking about your goals and about what motivates and inspires you. Use this time to make sure that you are matching the business you want to start to your personal aspirations.
Be sure to take our quiz to find out if you’re entrepreneur material, too.
“The more you know about your industry, the more advantage and protection you will have.”
– Tim Berry
Once you decide on a business that fits your goals and lifestyle, evaluate your idea. Who will buy your product or service? Who will your competitors be? At this stage, you also need to figure out how much money you will need to get started.
Your “personal evaluation” was as much a reality check as a prompt to get you thinking. The same thing applies when it comes to researching your business and the industry you’d like to go into.
There are a number of ways you can do this, including performing general Google searches, speaking to people already working in your target industry, reading books by people from your industry, researching key people, reading relevant news sites and industry magazines and taking a class or two (if this is possible).
If you don’t have time to perform the research or would like a second opinion, there are people you can go to for help, like government departments and your local SBDC.
Validate your business idea by creating a pitch page.
To determine how attractive your prospective market really is (your own desires aside for the moment), we suggest doing a market analysis.
If you like, you can even take things a step further and consider the consumer needs currently not being met by businesses in the industry. This is a good time to take a look at potential competitors. And remember, the presence of competitors is oftentimes a good sign! It means that the market for your product or service already exists, so you know that you have potential customers who are willing to spend money on your product or service.
While you’ve got the time, learn as much as you can about your competitors, about what they provide to their customers, how they attract attention, and whether or not their customers are happy. If you can figure out what’s missing before you even get started, your job will be made that much easier when you do finally set up shop.
Realistically, registering your business is the first step toward making it real. However, as with the personal evaluation step, take your time to get to know the pros and cons of different business entities.
If at all possible, work with an attorney to iron out the details. This is not an area you want to get wrong. You will also need to get the proper business licenses and permits. Depending upon the business, there may be city, county, or state regulations as well. This is also the time to check into insurance and to find a good accountant.
Spend some time getting to know the pros and cons of each business formation. If you need help, we’ve got a full guide on Legal Entities, Licenses, and Permits.
While incorporating can be expensive, it’s well worth the money. A corporation becomes a separate entity that is legally responsible for the business. If something goes wrong, you are less likely to be held personally liable.
Other things you will need to do include deciding on a business name and researching availability for that name.
“Our goals can only be reached through the vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”
– Pablo Picasso
If you will be seeking outside financing, a business plan is a necessity. But, even if you are going to finance the venture yourself, a business plan will help you figure out how much money you will need to get started, what it will take to make your business profitable, what needs to get done when, and where you are headed.
In the simplest terms, a business plan is a roadmap—something you will use to help you chart your progress and that will outline the things you need to do in order to reach your goals. Rather than thinking of a business plan as a hefty document that you’ll only use once (perhaps to obtain a loan from a bank), think of it as tool to manage how your business grows and achieves its goals.
While you might use your business plan as part of your pitch to investors and banks, and to attract potential partners and board members, you will primarily use it to define your strategy, tactics, and specific activities for execution, including key milestones, deadlines and budgets, and cash flow.
In fact, the business plan does not have to be a formal document at all if you don’t need to present your plan to outsiders. Instead, your plan can follow a Lean Planning process that involves creating a pitch, forecasting your key business numbers, outlining key milestones you hope to achieve, and regular progress checks where you review and revise your plan.
If you aren’t presenting to investors, don’t think of this as a formal pitch presentation, but instead a high-level overview of who you are, the problem you are solving, your solution to the problem, your target market, and the key tactics you will use to achieve your goals.
Even if you do not think you need a formal business plan, you should go through the planning process anyway. The process will help to uncover any holes or areas you have not thought through well enough. If you do need to write a formal business plan document, you should follow the outline below.
If you would like detailed information on how to write a business plan to present to banks or funders, there are plenty of online resources, including our own comprehensive guide.
You will also find hundreds of sample plans for specific industries on this very website. Use them at your leisure but be prepared to adapt them to suit your precise needs. No two businesses are the same!
If you are simply creating a business plan in order to stimulate a discussion with potential partners and associates, you may want to consider opting for a “startup plan,” also known as a feasibility plan. As your business grows you can flesh out the sections as you see fit.
In contrast to the standard plan and the startup plan, is the operations or annual plan. This type of plan is used for internal purposes and primarily reflects the needs of the members of the company. This type of plan is not intended for banks and outside investors. You will use it either to plan your company’s growth or expansion or to set company-wide priorities.
If the latter is true and you are using the plan in order to direct your internal strategy, you are creating a strategic plan, a type of plan that will include a high-level strategy, tactical foundations of the strategy, specific responsibilities, activities, deadlines and budgets, and a financial plan.
Depending on the size and goals of your venture, you may need to seek financing from an “angel” investor or from a venture capital firm. But, most small businesses begin with a loan, financing from credit cards, help from friends and family, and so on.
For in-depth information on funding, see our complete guide on how to get your business funded, which includes detailed information on each of the above-mentioned options.
Note: A beautifully fleshed-out business plan does not guarantee you will get funded. In fact, according to Guy Kawasaki, the business plan is one of the least influential factors when it comes to raising money.
To stand a realistic chance of getting hold of the funds you need to get started, you’d be better off first focusing on your “pitch.” Not only will it be easier to fix because it contains less, but you’ll also get feedback on it—most investors don’t bother reading the full business plan, though they may still expect you to have it.
It’s also much easier to turn a pitch into a business plan than it is to pare back your plan.
Your business plan has been laid out, the money is in the bank, and you’re ready to go. If your business is online and you won’t need a storefront, you’re probably looking at building your website and choosing a shopping cart solution. Maybe you’ll be able to work out of a home office or a co-working space instead of renting or buying office space. But if your business needs a dedicated brick and mortar location, there are many considerations.
Finding a location. Negotiating leases. Buying inventory. Getting the phones installed. Having stationery printed. Hiring staff. Setting your prices. Throwing a grand opening party.
Think through each of these steps carefully. Your business location will dictate the type of customer you attract, what types of promotions you can run, and how long it will take you to grow. While a great location won’t necessarily guarantee your success, a bad location can contribute to failure.
Your marketing will set the stage for the future of your store. It will set expectations, generate hype (if done well), bring business in from day one and ensure that people know where you are and what they can expect from you.
Your store’s layout, design and placement of your products will decide not only the overall atmosphere of the store but what products people see and buy. Consider the areas you want well lit; how you will display products (if necessary); what various colors will make people feel, and how people will move through your store.
There are reams of literature on why we buy what we do, all of it fascinating and much of it informative. Begin thinking about how you shop—this will get you to think more critically about your own store.
Consider: placing products low on shelves will mean that people are unlikely to see them and therefore unlikely to buy them, whereas placing them at eye-level will mean they’re seen first and are therefore probably more likely to be purchased.
Your choice of products and how you decide to price them will create a reputation. Rather than stock everything of a similar price range from one or two catalogs, consider only choosing those items that will create the feel you want to become known for.
If you’re a service business, build your services in a similar manner, considering your different clientele and the value they will get from the different options you have on offer. If a very affordable package will cheapen your brand, consider excluding it. If a pricier option will limit your clientele too drastically, maybe cut back on some of the services included.
Whether you’re starting your first or your third business, expect to make mistakes. This is natural and so long as you learn from them, also beneficial.
If you do not make mistakes, you do not learn what to do less of and what to emphasize. Be open-minded and creative, adapt, look for opportunities, and above all, have fun!
The great thing about owning your own business is that you get to decide what you want to do and where you’ll grow.
By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS The first house gives out a fun-size Snickers bar, a delicious little treat. You eat it in an instant, then walk to the next house, one mile away. Chances are your Halloween is calorie-neutral — so far. But the night is young. That’s the challenge of […]
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By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS BALTIMORE – The Baltimore Ravens are honoring the memory of Konrad Reuland, their former player who died in December of a ruptured brain aneurysm at age 29 – and whose selfless decision to donate his organs enabled Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew to receive […]
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One inch is a precise measurement, right? You would think, but no.
In the golf equipment industry, sometimes an inch isn't exactly an inch. For that matter, a degree isn't exactly a degree either. 19° of loft, that's fairly concrete, isn't it? Not so fast. In past years 19° could have meant anything from 17° to 21°. Units of measure that the rest of the world treats as absolutes, the golf equipment world often handles with all the precision of baseball's in the neighborhood play.
Spec sheets tell one story, but until you measure - consistently and accurately - it's hard to know exactly what you're swinging.
Late last year we announced a partnership with Golf Mechanix, the industry leader in equipment measuring tools and gauges.
With our new suite of tools which, for of this post, includes a Digital Swing Weight Scale, Lie & Loft Guage, and a USGA Standard Ruler, we can provide even more details about the clubs we test.
As we continue to expand our testing program, it becomes even more important to understand the correlation between stated specs, actual specs, and the impact they have on performance.
The following table contains the measurements taken for the hybrids included in our 2017 Most Wanted Hybrid Test. Where it makes sense to do so; we have provided both the manufacturer's stated specification alongside our actual measurements.
Before we get to the data, there are a few points that should be considered.
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Understanding the actual static differences between clubs and how those differences influence performance is important. Across the averages of an entire test pool, the differences between clubs can appear minimal, but on an individual basis, these static factors often lead to significant performance differences. Unfortunately, despite what's often suggested, there's no single right answer - no right length, right loft, and right swing weight that's perfect for everyone. We're all, to varying degrees, different. Your best results will come when you find the combination of variables that works for your swing profile. A golf lesson probably wouldn't hurt either.
To produce the measurements referenced in this article, we used the following tools from Golf Mechanix.
By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS After Indianapolis International Airport installed a Hands-Only CPR training kiosk in March 2016, Juan Muñoz, a police officer at the airport, made it a regular stop as he patrolled the terminals, trying it a couple times a week. The interactive program, which measures quality of […]
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The most hotly anticipated review in MyGolfSpy history; you might think we’re talking about a new Callaway driver or a set of Mizuno irons. In reality, there’s a case to be made that the title belongs to this review of the FlightScope Mevo personal launch monitor.
Any why is that?
If Mevo lives up to its billing, we’re talking about a literal pocket-sized and affordable Doppler radar-based ball tracking device produced by one of the leaders in launch monitor technology. I can already hear many of you screaming, “Take my money!”
We're going to cover a good amount here, so for those who just came here for the bottom line, feel free to skip ahead to the data or the conclusion.
Interest in budget-friendly consumer launch monitor space is inarguably on the rise. Enterprise-class launch monitors with head tracking technology (Foresight, Trackman, FlightScope X3) still cost nearly as much as a Honda Civic. No thanks.
Mid-tier offerings from Skytrak, Ernest Sports, and FlightScope (Xi) are beginning to drop in price, but you’re still looking at $2k minimum – affordable enough for some, but still quite a bit more than the average guy is going to spend.
$500 though? For many that’s enticing. Skip the Epic, spend your money on the launch monitor and maybe improve your game the old-fashioned way. You know… practice (full disclosure, this is an entirely hypocritical suggestion as I constantly look to new gear to mitigate my own lack of practice).
But how much can we expect for $500?
For FlightScope, entering the consumer space creates both opportunity and risk. Mevo needs to be accurate or at least consistent enough and provide enough data to be useful. At the same time, it can’t be so good that it undercuts the market for FlightScope’s mid-range offerings. It’s a delicate balance, and that makes it a relatively bold move for FlightScope in its position as first of the big guys to take the leap. I’m reasonably certain that both Trackman and Foresight will be watching closely. Intentionally or otherwise, Mevo has become the test case from which the other guys will learn while charting their courses in the consumer space.
Bottom line: While an enterprise-grade player in the consumer space is new and exciting, we must temper our expectations. For $500, is it reasonable to expect Mevo to offer the same precision and feature sets of units priced in the five to twenty-five-thousand dollar range?
Personally, I don’t think so.
Where data is concerned, Mevo gives you club speed, ball speed, smash factor, launch angle, spin, carry yards, peak height, and flight time. That’s it. For some, that’s plenty. For others – particularly those interested in advanced head data (like path, face to path, angle of attack, etc.) it won’t be nearly enough. For those focused on precision, the lack of an offline measurement may be a deal-breaker, while fitters will likely notice that descent angle is not included as well, but again, this is a $500 consumer unit and it is, in no way, intended for use in any professional capacity.
Again, we must manage our expectations to reasonable levels.
Mevo offers the ability to capture and analyze launch data, which is exactly what you’d expect from a launch monitor. That said, it notably lacks the game/skills modes of lower-priced units like Swing Caddie SC200. Frankly, I’m not too concerned about what is an admittedly limited competitive feature set. Mevo is in its infancy, and I expect that FlightScope will be rolling out enhancements to both the software (app) and the device itself (firmware) at a reasonably quick pace.
First and foremost, the Mevo is incredibly small. Dimensions are 3.55 x 2.76 x 1.18 in. To put that in context, while it’s appreciably thicker than my iPhone 6 Plus, it’s also significantly shorter in both length and height. Oh, and it weighs less than half a pound. Portable is an understatement. Mevo will literally fit in your pocket.
I don’t want to waste too many words on what it takes to get Mevo up and running. The app is well-designed, and that means intuitive. Connecting via Bluetooth connection is seamless. In fact, for me, it’s been the easiest and most reliable of any consumer grade golf device I’ve used to date.
As with other small radar-based devices, you do need to specify the club being used for each shot. This is necessary because of the smaller doppler unit inside the Mevo. By way of simple explanation – think of radar as projecting a window through which it expects the ball will launch. Larger radar units (FlightScope X3) can project windows large enough to accommodate nearly any launch parameter and by extension, any club. With a smaller device, you get a smaller window, and so it becomes necessary to provide the device with an idea of how high you expect the ball to launch. This is accomplished by selecting the club you’re hitting from inside the Mevo app.
Currently, Mevo offers three modes – Indoor, Outdoor, and Chipping. The latter will be renamed Pitching in future releases of the app and applies to shots under 50 yards.
In all modes, FlightScope recommends you affix small metallic dots (stickers) to the ball, which enable Mevo to more accurately capture backspin. It goes without saying that there are practical reasons why using metal dots, particularly in an outdoor setting, isn’t ideal, which is why a good bit of our testing was dedicated to learning the degree to which they’re necessary.
Other settings allow you to adjust for distance to the tee (minimum four feet), and altitude. You can also select which data you want to be displayed on the screen. If you’d like, Mevo can audibly report a specific metric after each shot, so if you’re working on improving in a single area, you don’t need to continuously look at the phone.
If you choose to record your swing (video), Mevo will detect the beginning and end of the swing, making the experience almost entirely hands-free. Additionally, basic editing tools are available which allow you to mark key positions in your swing.
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The Mevo app supports FocusBand integration and automatically syncs your data with the myFlightScope.com cloud service so that you can review and compare later. CSV download functionality (which made my life easier) makes it easy to pull your data out of the cloud for use outside of the FlightScope universe.
All of your data, as well as any recorded swings, also remain in the app, should you choose to do all of your analysis from your mobile device.
With the background out of the way, and the setup and use covered, let’s get into the meat of the review, beginning with an overview of our Mevo testing process.
Be advised: we have several charts we’re going to show you.
For each shot, we’ll provide both Mevo and GC2 data as well as the calculated differences between each metric. Note that Mevo includes a total flight time measurement, which Foresight does not. For simplicity, we have excluded that measurement from our charts.
We observed consistently significant differences in the height value for the majority of shots recorded. Quite frankly, we don’t have any basis to argue which device is more apt to be right. I will note, however, that numbers reported by Mevo tend to be above PGA Tour averages, while the numbers from GC2 numbers tend to be below those averages.
Foresight reports data in yards while Mevo reports in feet. To allow for a simple and direct comparison, we converted GC2 data from yards to feet.
Before you dig into the data, please be advised of a couple of general consistencies within the data.
With that out of the way, let’s take a closer look.
For indoor testing, all shots were taken with metallic dots affixed to the ball. Our thinking is that in an indoor scenario, there’s no practical reason not to use the dots.
In addition to full swings, we also tested the Mevo in chipping mode. The data we collected strongly suggests that Mevo struggles with short shots. I’m not posting the data because I believe we have more testing to do in this mode before drawing any conclusions.
The issue could be as simple as our test shots (15-30 yard carry) being too short for Mevo to register. It’s also possible that selecting a lower lofted club setting to lower the expected launch window may provide better results. As I said, we have more testing to do.
First, we reinforced what everyone should understand: every launch monitor – and I’ve used them all - misses shots. Perfection is an unrealistic expectation.
It’s also inherently unfair for us to test against Foresight, just as it would be unfair to put Mevo against Trackman or any of FlightScope’s other launch monitors. Mevo isn’t enterprise-class, and FlightScope has never suggested otherwise. As I said some 2000 words ago, in grading Mevo’s performance, it’s important that we set reasonable expectations. It’s unreasonable to think – though wouldn’t it be something – that Mevo would match the enterprise-class for accuracy and consistency. Our goal in using Foresight was to establish a baseline for consistency and accuracy.
So, with that said, we’re impressed with Mevo’s ability to measure ball speed. Head speed measurements are generally acceptable, and when significant variances occur, it’s usually attributable to something like hitting the shot slightly fat or bouncing a driver leading into impact. We’re talking about the kind of things that would cause us to toss the shot anyway. We must also acknowledge that different systems measure clubhead speed differently, so even when the swing is closer to perfect, different systems will often report different values.
While carry distances were sometimes significant, I’m not overly concerned about it. Environmental variables likely played a role in the differences. Certainly, Mevo isn’t perfect, but I would expect that a user would learn his Mevo averages and use them as a baseline to determine the effectiveness of whatever he’s working on. Those same averages will also help you identify shots where Mevo doesn’t quite get it right.
The high launch angles reported by Mevo are a bit of a concern. There’s room for significant improvement here, and I expect FlightScope’s development team is already working on it. While it’s not ideal by the absolute numbers, as with carry distance, Mevo is consistent enough in its measurement that I believe working off an established Mevo average may suffice. I certainly wouldn’t rely on it as a clubfitting tool, but if you’re, for example, working on hitting the ball higher, Mevo should allow you to evaluate the degree to which you've been successful.
Flightscope's instructions state that the stickers should be used in all cases - even outdoors in a full-flight (you're not getting the ball back) scenario. While the quality of the spin data reported when the metallic dot is used exceeded my expectations, I'm not sure asking a user to sticker every range ball he hits is a reasonable request. The good news is that at $25 for 1000, FlightScope’s stickers are reasonably priced, so should you choose to mark every ball, it’s not entirely cost prohibitive.
Conversely, when dots aren't used, spin measurements are all over the map - sometimes higher and sometimes lower than our baseline, rendering them useless as a basis for comparison. The data leaves little doubt that to get the most accurate numbers possible you absolutely need to use the metallic dots.
It should also be noted that the spin problem isn’t unique to Mevo, we’ve seen this with doppler-based units in an indoor setting, along with the other small outdoor radar devices we’ve looked at in full flight scenarios. Without the use of metallic dots, none of these devices capture spin with any degree of confidence. Imperfect as they may be, the metallic dots offer a solution.
Is Mevo worth 500 bucks? I’m guessing that’s what you came here to answer. At the risk of being less than helpful, it depends.
In my estimation, there isn’t a better launch monitor on the market at the $500 price point, and no other device in its class offers the same level of Upside Potential. FlightScope has an opportunity to stake an early claim to the leadership position in the consumer launch monitor space. It would be foolish not to devote the resources necessary to take advantage, and I expect it will.
If you’re looking to use it for fitting or your primary launch monitor in a teaching environment, I think the answer is no.
If your use case demands absolute launch angle measurements, again, the answer is no.
If you require precise spin measurements and aren't willing to sticker every ball you hit, the answer is also no.
If, however, you’re looking for an affordable device that provides generally consistent (though perhaps not exact) measurements for several key metrics, then Mevo is absolutely worth considering. The device is far from perfect, but I keep coming back to the fact that this is brand new technology for FlightScope and while functional as is, I suspect we’ll see significant improvements in both the accuracy of the data and the application’s feature set – and I don’t think it’s going to take particularly long for either to happen.
Let me be clear - where we stand today (App version 1.1.1/Firmware version 1.8), Mevo has plenty of room for improvement, so there’s certainly a case to be made for taking a wait and see approach. But, if you feel like you need to buy now or you're simply willing to cross your fingers and hope your investment will mature and live up to its potential, Mevo's is the direction in which you should toss the dice, and I suspect it will be for the better part of the next few years.
For more information on Mevo, visit FlightScope.com.
