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If you've scrolled through the FAQs on our launch monitor page, you've probably seen this one tucked at the bottom: "I just shanked my wedge and the reading was inaccurate β what's going on?"
And our answer doesn't dance around it. The Punters V1 Launch Monitor doesn't read shanks properly. That's it. That's the answer. No spin, no marketing-speak, no "due to advanced proprietary technology, results may vary." Just the truth.
We've had people ask why we'd ever write that down. Why put a limitation in writing where every potential customer can see it? Doesn't that hurt sales?
Fair question. Here's the honest answer.
The state of "spec sheets" in golf gear
Most launch monitor brands publish specs that read like a NASA brochure. Ball speed accuracy: Β±0.5 mph. Launch angle: Β±0.1Β°. Spin rate: industry-leading. Then you actually use the thing in your garage with a piece of foam stuck to the wall and the numbers are all over the place.
The trick the big brands play is simple: they quote you the lab numbers. In a perfectly controlled environment, with a tour-pro swing, with calibrated balls, with the device dialed in by a Foresight technician. Then they let you assume those numbers apply to your garage, on your mat, with your 90-mph swing speed, with the four-year-old Top Flites you found in the basement.
They don't. They never do. And every weekend golfer who's ever bought one of these things and felt let down already knows that.
Why the V1 doesn't read shanks (the technical bit)
When you shank a wedge β that horrible, off-the-hosel laser beam that goes 90 degrees right β the ball leaves the clubface at a wildly different angle than a normal shot. Most affordable launch monitors at our price point use Doppler radar to estimate ball flight from the start of the trajectory. The algorithm expects the ball to leave in a relatively predictable cone of angles.
A shank breaks that assumption completely. The ball squirts out sideways, often before the monitor has gathered enough data to produce a reliable reading. So the unit either:
- Shows a number that's way off (smash factor of 0.4, "carry distance" of 12 yards)
- Doesn't register the shot at all
- Throws a confused mid-range number that doesn't match what you saw
This isn't a flaw unique to us. It's a limitation of the entire affordable radar-based category. The difference is what we did about it.
The choice we made when we built the V1
When we started designing the V1, we hit a fork in the road. We could either:
Option A: Build a $1,200 launch monitor that handles shanks, low strikes, thin pulls, and every other miss-hit with tour-level accuracy. Make the price tag match the engineering. Then accept that 95% of weekend golfers will never buy it.
Option B: Build a $249 launch monitor that nails the metrics that matter most for the shots you actually want to track β clean strikes, your typical range session, your normal practice swings. Cut the cost. Tell people honestly what it can't do.
We went with B. Not because we couldn't have built A β but because A is already on the market, and we don't think it's what most golfers actually need.
What the V1 does read brilliantly
The V1 was built around the three metrics that actually move the needle for amateur and weekend golfers:
- Carry distance β How far the ball actually travels in the air, per club
- Ball speed β Real ball speed off the face, in KMH or MPH
- Smash factor β How efficiently you're transferring energy from club to ball
These are the three numbers that tell you whether you're getting better or worse. They're the numbers a coach will actually use during a lesson. And on clean strikes, the V1 reads them accurately, instantly, on a sunlight-readable display, with no phone, no app, no Bluetooth, no subscription, no pairing dance every time you turn it on.
Place it 3-5 feet behind you, power on, select your club, pick your unit, hit. That's it.
The bigger principle: honest gear, honest pricing
This is the same philosophy behind the V1 Launch Monitor and the V3 Rangefinder. We're not pretending to be Bushnell. We're not pretending to be Trackman. We're a small business making golf gear that does the important stuff really well, costs a fraction of what the big brands charge, and doesn't bury the trade-offs in fine print.
If you want a launch monitor that handles every conceivable miss-hit with surgical precision, there are great products out there. They just cost five to ten times what ours does, and most of them require a $400/year software subscription on top.
If you want a launch monitor that gives you accurate, reliable feedback on the shots that actually count, for $249, and you're okay with the fact that it doesn't read shanks β that's us. That's the trade we made on your behalf.
The V1 doesn't read shanks because we deliberately built it to nail carry, ball speed, and smash factor at an affordable price β not to engineer for every miss-hit at a luxury price. We tell you that upfront because hiding it would just lead to a return three weeks later. Honest gear, honest pricing.
The customer reaction (in case you're wondering)
Here's the funny thing. Since we started putting that line in our FAQ β the "our launch monitor doesn't read shanks properly" line β we've actually had fewer returns, not more. People who buy the V1 now know exactly what they're getting. They buy because of the honesty, not in spite of it.
We've gotten emails saying things like "I was about to pull the trigger on a Garmin R10 until I read your FAQ and realised you guys actually talk to me like a human." That's the kind of feedback that makes us know we made the right call.
So no, we don't read shanks. We don't have spin rate measurement. We don't have a fancy app with simulator courses. We're not trying to be everything to everyone.
We're trying to be the launch monitor that makes you a better golfer for a price that doesn't make you wince. That's the whole deal.