It’s not just that elite golfers are more talented than we are, and it’s not even that they practice a lot more than we do. It’s that they are constantly monitoring and measuring their performance and practice to hone the way they improve. Average golfers could do the same thing if they had constant access to great coaching and launch monitors. It’s what we see every tournament week, coaches and launch monitors working in lockstep to pinpoint where a player stands against the standard.

Now, Rapsodo, maker of the affordable and pocket-sized Mobile Launch Monitor, is expanding how the device not only measures your shots on the range but compares you to an optimal standard. The latest feature on the Rapsodo app is called Combines, which is a 20-minute skill test that asks the player to hit a series of specific shots while measuring him or her against optimal standards. The Combines feature was developed by golf’s leading biomechanist Sasho Mackenzie, along with input from Golf Digest 50 Best teacher Mark Blackburn.

“We designed the MLM Combines to maximize the effectiveness of full swing practice time, while simultaneously providing key insights that provide immediate performance assessment as well as long-term tracking of a golfer’s skill,” said MacKenzie.

The test asks players to hit 24 shots in blocks of two swings, starting with the shortest target all the way to a driving target. The app will instruct users to hit two shots to a short approach target, followed by two shots to a longer approach target, and finally two shots to a driving target. Users run through the drill four times until eight shots have been hit to each target. The process repeats until eight shots are hit to each of the three targets. Proximity from the targets for each shot type are calculated for the golfer, leading to an overall performance score based on dispersion averages. At the end of the test, players will get the distance and direction dispersion numbers, and a score for each target based on a 100-point scale. The average score on the three targets yields the final score, as well as a handicap designation. According to the company, a score of 100 on the test would be the equivalent of a plus-16 handicap.

MLM Combines offers two versions of the test. The first uses artificial intelligence to provide approach distances a player might not normally practice, while the second option lets the player hone in on specific distances he or she sets in advance.

“Combines was created with the goal of changing the way golfers practice by maximizing their efforts on areas they may never have known needed improvement,” said Batuhan Okur, founder and CEO of Rapsodo.

The introduction of MLM Combines mirrors an influx of testing or grading technologies in the launch monitor space. That includes Trackman Combine, FlightScope Combines and Foresight Sports FSX Live. Even the Toptracer Range app, which can be used at driving ranges that feature Toptracer ballflight analytics technology, provides a myriad of virtual games based on distance and accuracy tests.

The new MLM Combines feature is a free add-on to the Rapsodo Premium subscription ($100 annually). The Premium subscription also includes the Coach Connect online lessons feature as well as enhanced video playback speeds and storage.