Equipment Review - Rokform Case and Golf Shooter Lite
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The current era of golf instruction centers on ever deeper and complex ways to harness data; analyse in micro detail; and give feedback on the minutia of swing movements, all in the hope of providing better corrective actions. Guys like Sean Foley have made the use of Trackman a necessity in a golfer’s quest for improvement. But what happens in a teaching environment, can often be very different to what happens on the golf course. How do you really know that you lay the club off at the top of the backswing when you get out there? In other words, are you performing what you practiced? Short of having your instructor playing alongside you, the only way to get an idea of what you are really doing, is to record yourself. Now, I’ve seen countless people assemble tripods, stands, and all manner of homemade devices to enable them to record themselves. Apart from looking rather stupid, most such devices are cumbersome and time consuming – imagine being stuck behind a fellow golfer while they set up enough equipment to make James Cameron look like an amateur.
So when Rokform invited me to test and play around with the Rokform Golf Shooter Lite, it was time to see if this system could save time and make recording and analysis easier for amateur golfers like me.
Design
The system, as one might call it, is made of two parts: the Rokform Case, for a variety of smartphones, and the Golf Shooter Lite, which is the mounting stand. Let’s look at the case first…
You know when you have a Rokform in your hands, that you have all of our experience and passion behind it…
Rokform
First off, the Rokform Case is an award winning smartphone case that Rokform themselves boast of being indestructible – bold claims indeed. I had the pleasure of testing a Rokform Case for the iPhone 5C. This isn’t a tech blog, but from a subjective perspective, the polycarbonate Rokform Case is pretty solid, with minimal weight and an overall nice simple design, something that perhaps comes from it’s ‘Made in the USA’ credentials – our Atlantic cousins know how to make great looking products, just ask Bob Bettinardi!
The second part of the system, is the Golf Shooter Lite, which is basically an alignment stick with a mount on the end for the Rokform Case. It’s an eye-catching design, with bright orange contrasted against black. By re-purposing an existing product in the form of an alignment stick, the Golf Shooter Lite easily found a home in my golf bag.
Ease of Use
I said earlier that one of the frustrations with DIY video recording on the golf course is the set-up. With the Golf Shooter Lite, it’s simply a case of picking your spot then pushing the stick in the ground and mounting the case. With one turn-and-click, my iPhone 5C was securely locked onto the Shooter Lite and ready to record me in action…
Performance
So far things look extremely positive for the Rokform Case and Golf Shooter Lite. On the course it’s a simple set-up, and I tested the Golf Shooter Lite on my local course with ease and was very impressed by how addictive it became to quickly record myself on every shot – mind you, I was testing it on quiet Sunday afternoons, where I could spend 5 mins recording, analysing, then retaking every shot! Nevertheless, if I’m being honest, the main criticism of the Golf Shooter Lite, is it’s inability to stand up to the wind. Never was this more true than when I went on a long weekend to St Andrews and had the pleasure of playing the Torrance Course at the Fairmont St Andrews Hotel. With winds of 30+mph, the Golf Shooter Lite fell flat on it’s face every time I tried to use it. Even back home, if there was a short gust of wind, the case would flail wildly.
Why Buy It?
The Rokform Case and Golf Shooter Lite combo is a product that I believe does fill an important gap in the market for golfers wishing to record, analyse and improve their game. And providing it’s used on a relatively calm day, it’s a worthwhile purchase. I can see many people using the Golf Shooter Lite on the course or at the driving range. For instructors and golf professionals, the Golf Shooter Lite is a nice addition to the equipment bag. Indeed, Rokform have already established relationships with the TP Tour and the Eagle Tour, and European Tour players such as Robert Rock.
At £58.99 for the Rokform Case and Golf Shooter Lite combo pack from Rokform UK, it’s relatively good value considering it comes with a top quality smartphone case, which you would probably pay £20 for anyway. And get this, Rokform UK have offered Sticks & Greens readers an exclusive 15% discount code for all Rokform golfing purchases until the end of April 2014. Not a bad deal, if I say so myself. Just enter the code below at the checkout.
15% Discount Code: S&GPROMO2014
www.RokformUK.com
Sticks Rating Score (SRS)
So overall, if the Golf Shooter Lite was more robust in the wind, then it would have set the benchmark for other on-course recording set-ups. But it’s still a category leader with a great combination of technology and functionality. In today’s game, the opportunity to analyse and improve your swing with a product like the Rokform Golf Shooter Lite is welcomed.
*15% Discount Code valid until 30th April 2014 at www.rokformuk.com only.
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Equipment Review – Rokform Case and Golf Shooter Lite was originally published on Sticks & Greens