Have you ever gotten paired with the annoying high-handicapper on the first tee who has plenty of tips to fix your game, but somehow can’t seem to fix his own? Comments like, “I can see your hips sliding” or “You’re cutting across it” ping off the back of your hat as you try not to hurl your driver at their head. Well fear not because I have found the product to give you an extra set of eyes for your game without having to listen to unsolicited observations from a stranger.
Introducing the Live View Pro, a pocket-sized camera that gives you an outside view into your game.
Getting Started
To get this camera working you will need to download the app from the Apple or Google Play store. The title is “Live View Sports.” There is a single button to turn on the camera, and a nice blue light that flashes to let you know it’s ready to pair. You connect to the camera using a unique wifi signal that it provides and away you go. I found the setup to be simple – it took me about 45 seconds.
I would spend some time clicking through the app to learn navigation, but it is very easy to figure out. After getting the camera attached to the Live Pod 2 stand and connecting my phone I configured a couple settings to get started. You can customize a lot of settings including length of recording, playback speed and ball detection level. I chose to have the video record for 4 seconds before a ball strike and 2 seconds after. That seemed to be enough time to capture my entire swing motion. I set the ball strike level at a low volume so as not to pick up other noises around me, and finally I chose a slowed down playback speed on my instant replay.
First Swings
To start capturing your first swings you can either hit the record button (which will continually capture your swing) or choose “Ball strike,” which listens for the noise of the ball being hit to start and stop the recording. I like having the ball strike on and it worked flawlessly every time, providing me short little clips of my swing to review. The slowed playback I configured was nice as I could then really focus on key points of my swing to see what was happening.
Live Pod 2 Stand
Live View offers a stand that can hold the Live View camera or your phone. I found this stand to be nice and compact yet surprisingly sturdy. I think it is worth the investment to get with the camera as you will want it on the range. I especially thought the stand was useful when it came to putting and getting an overhead view.
It should be noted that the camera does have a notch on the back that will allow it to attach to an alignment stick. This worked ok for me but I often found it unsteady in the wind so ended up using the Live Pod, instead.
Remote
There is a remote that is available to purchase for the Live View Pro. This connects to your phone with Bluetooth and can be used to start and stop a recording as well as manage playback. I found that I didn’t use the remote much and opted again for the sound of the ball strike to manage capturing my footage.
Using the Drawing Tools
One of the benefits of this system is the on-screen drawing tools. With the Live View app you are able to add lines, angles and markups to your screen in order to help you visualize training aids. I found this to be awesome simply for the fact that I didn’t have to set up anything to know whether I kept my hands low or my shoulders square. I was simply able to review the video in comparison to the lines I had drawn. You are able to save your line templates, too, which is really nice for when you want to come back and practice at another time and don’t want to have to re-think your swing guides.
Dual View
A new feature that Live View is offering is dual view. This allows you to use a second device such as your phone to act as a static camera providing another angle of your shot. In order to make this work you will need to have two devices. One that can be used as the second camera and one to review the videos on.
I used an iPad for my video review screen and my phone as the second camera. The setup of this does require you to register for an account, which can be done right in the app and involves signing up for a subscription service. There is a free 180-day trial so I would recommend giving it a shot and seeing what you think.
Once registered, the onscreen instructions were easy and I was set up in about 1 minute. I tried setting up two camera angles because I wanted to see my foot position at impact and whether I was sliding. This was really a cool feature to have instant replay on both angles simultaneously. I will be using this a lot at the range.
Putting
I am really excited about how this tool can be used to help my putting. I set up the camera directly above my ball so I could get instant feedback on whether I was pushing or pulling putts. The fact that I could draw static lines in the app and review them on the video was amazing. I will be using this for putting a lot this winter inside.
One thing that I did have to configure was changing the sensitivity on the ball strike to pick up a much quieter noise to trigger the video. That can be done right on the side menu bar and I just lowered it from 8 to 3 and had no issue.
Why do I like this?
I am not a huge data guy when it comes to golf. I find that if I can look at my swing and learn visually then I can usually correct what I’m doing wrong. I have tried setting up my phone to record my swing, along with all manner of apps in the past, but Live View has created a product here that takes the hassle out of all that.
The Live View Pro was so easy to use, fast to set up and provided instant feedback that I could review and adjust in real time. If you are looking to invest in something to help you practice and you want something that is simple then this is the product for you. I will definitely be keeping this in my bag for the range and think it will get plenty of use during the season.
You can purchase your own Live View Pro by clicking here
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