I recently purchased a Mevo personal launch monitor from Flightscope. I chose the Mevo for three reasons: First, it can help inform my own practice by giving me essential feedback about ball speed, quality of strike and carry distance. Second, I can use the data (including spin rate and launch angle) in my reviews of clubs posted on my YouTube channel (Fit2YouGolf). And finally, I can use the device in segments of fitting (such as gapping club lofts) conveniently at the range, where I can observe ball flight.
As you can see from the image below, the Mevo comes in a small package. It does not require much distance from the ball (min. 4 feet) to acquire data, but does need to remain precisely that distance from the ball to be accurate. So bring a tape measure to the range with you!
After downloading the app (available for both Android and Apple devices) and charging the device, a quick Bluetooth pairing is all that is required to get up and running. The user selects which club they are using in order to give the Mevo a defined window of where to look for the ball in flight. Foil stickers can be stuck to the ball (and aimed at the target) to allow the Mevo to collect accurate spin numbers. However, I found that if the ball flight is long enough (such as an indoor range vs hitting into a net) the Mevo does a pretty good job of generating spin numbers. But use the foil stickers if you want to be sure the data you collect is accurate.
The Mevo generates eight data points: Club speed, ball speed, smash factor, carry distance, spin, vertical launch angle, ball height and airtime. You can choose how many of these data points are displayed on your screen in the app. You can also have the device "say" your numbers through talk to text, which is set up easily the first time you use the Mevo.
An image of a driver swing captured from the Myflightscore.com site, where swing data is stored.
All swing data is stored on the Myflightscope.com website. Data for each swing is displayed, and averages for each club are generated for quick assessment. By clicking on an individual swing you can see the data in the format displayed above. This is incredibly useful for both practice and fitting purposes. For example, the data above tells me that I need to work on my angle of attack, or experiment with more loft and perhaps a more tip soft shaft to maximize my carry (and working on hitting the center of the face wouldn't hurt, either!).
The only downside is that side spin is not measured. This makes seeing the ball flight important when practicing. Using the Mevo outdoors would be ideal, or at an indoor facility where some portion of the flight can be seen. I'd be hesitant to exclusively use the device when hitting into a net at close range.
Overall, I am impressed with the Mevo. At the $500 price point it delivers a lot of useful data in an easy to use package!