Skytrak- Accuracy, any solutions?

[Snax]

I know there has been a bunch on the topic of not getting accurate results. I have had my skytrak now for a year and I love it, especially to dial in my wedges. But I have spent a fair amount of time this year with a trackman as well. I consistently see significantly better club speed and carry distances with the trackman, which are in line with my on course experience. I use my skytrak outside so there is no indoor paranoia at play here.

so my questions are these:
1) is the mat vibration causing some in accuracy issues with the results?
2) is there a way to recalibrate or adjust in order to get more accurate numbers?

just for clarity. My driver for example, my club head speed has been measured many times using multiple devices at around 115mph. My skytrak has never been higher than 109mph and will average around 105mph. This 10ish% difference seems to go right down to my 9 iron (carry distances are off 10% as well). After that it is difficult to see a difference.

any thoughts?

[jrz]

SkyTrak doesn't measure club head speed - it is calculated from a standard smash factor from your ball speed.

[Snax]

I realize this. But to clarify may carry distances are off by 10% as well. I used club head speed I guess because I am old school and it's the one a relate to most.

[Miura Mario]

Next time you jump on trackman play close attention to the ball speed numbers and bench mark your clubs - there might be a difference but in my experiences the difference is both linear and incremental (1-4mph ball speed) when comparing good swings... And the flight algorithm for carry is a tad different - flightscope optimizer shows a touch more carry - maybe a yard or two with certain numbers..

[DirtyGarry24]

The club head speed number shouldn't even be on the Skytrak read out. Useless. If anything, all it does is take away from the perception of accuracy.

[Miura Mario]

GC2 also shows predetermined smash factors in its #s

[FaultyClubs]

Actually the GC2 doesn't. Presumably you mean the fr1/fsx software.

[Miura Mario]

Thats what I was refering to as it does in the skytrak software

[Clevited]

Is it possible the mat you hit off for the Skytrak is causing clubhead slowdown? Thats a common concern. Also, I know for me, the Skytrak does not over estimate anything for me, I think for most people, its a little conservative on ball speed and carry distance which isn't a terrible thing.

[YonexMan]

I went through a club fitting yesterday for a new set of irons. Skytrak at home indicated that my swing speed using a B330RX ball was 85/86mph with a 8iron. I told that to the fitter. He said to get my 8 iron out and have a few warm up swings and then once warmed up - say so and he would start recording with the Trackman.

well, using the same B330RX balls - Trackman registered the same swing speed as my skytrak.

[tlhammond5]

I had the opposite results with the SkyTrak compared to TM. My TM showed less carry than the ST. They certainly weren't 10% off though. Carry distance was actually fairly close. My only issue was with no-reads and side dispersion. 10% difference in distance is a lot, and would be totally unacceptable. That's 25 - 30 yards on an average drive. I'd say your ST has some issues.

[Snax]

So I have reviewed the data from both and have posted some selective stats:
Ball speed. Launch angle. Spin. Carry. Iron. Unit
143. 11.8. 4390. 222. 3. Trackman
128. 13.4. 4705. 188. 6. Trackman
113. 19.4. 6789. 158. 8. Trackman

133. 11.7. 4240. 200. 3. Skytrak
123. 15.4. 6000. 176. 6. Skytrak
109. 21.4. 6498. 149. 8. Skytrak

note, these were not done at the same time. So it is not a perfect comparison. But what is factual though is that my ball speed with the skytrak is lower than on trackman. I am not intending on saying that trackman is better or that these numbers are perfect. But I am trying to figure out why my skytrak numbers are (ball speed) is lower and I am not getting the appropriate carry distances with my skytrak. I am pretty certain that skytrak does compute spin rates better than trackman and I think that can be seen in the 6 iron figures above.

i will have an opportunity shortly to put my skytrak side by side with the trackman. I will report back.

in the mean time any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

[keithpbz]

I've used my skytrak during a fitting at the same time with a trackman and all numbers were very similar. Ball speeds were always with 1 mph and carry distances were also within 1-2 yards. I'd first try hitting with skytrak on a different surface instead of on the mat your hitting on.

[Snax]

Thanks. I can't wait to put them side by side. To know once and for all if it's the skytrak or how I have it setup.

[Miura Mario]

Ill place a bet if your interested?

[Miura Mario]

Wrong thread

[James James]

I compared them at the same time recently and they were essentially identical. The one difficulty I encountered was alignment being almost impossible between the units. This lead to some differences in side spin and shot shape but ball speed, carry, launch, spin etc were incredibly close. I do think TrackMan is more generous on rollout with a driver, even on firm...

[goatbarn]

Horizontal alignment changes shot shape? That's confusing to me understanding how camera systems work...a pull draw might show as a push draw, but I'd expect shot shapes to have nothing to do with alignment.

[James James]

Yes, thinking about it (I dont have the data to hand) I think I mean the magnitude of shot shape. Trackman always showed straighter shots (less curvature) than ST, tending to show a push. ST was showing a push draw so I believe I had the trackman aimed right of where I was actually hitting and the ST left.

I am trying to get my head around this, whether this alignment pattern could lead to the observed spin axis being different between the units?

[Snax]

So I just did a session with both a trackman and my skytak indoors. I don't have all the data from the trackman yet, but the numbers were very similar. Ball speed was good, launch angle and spin were also good. We did notice a slight variation in carry distance as I got to longer clubs such as a 3 iron or driver, but overall within 5%. It is important to note that my skytrak numbers came up considerably compared to what I see on my home setup.

So I guess my home setup, either my mat is causing some accuracy issues or the sun is causing the inaccuracy as I hit outside mostly.

when I get the trackman data I will share with everyone.

i am very happy with the outcome of the side by side comparison. It's nice to confirm that the skytrak I have is calibrated well and will provide accurate results.

[goatbarn]

Were the indoor environments the same between the two? Or did you have more room to swing and/or were further from the screen when testing with the TM?

[goatbarn]

I think you're on to something with the plush-ness leading to high on face contact. I have many high contact mis-hits on my CCE mat, and it really kills the ball speed. I think it also leads to the heel being able to dig in a bit, giving a bias to a more leftward facing face due to the lie angle. Non of this I can verify though.

[James James]

goatbarn Definitely. I think the plushness really grabs the club and decimates club speed so consequently ball speed. Again I dont have data to prove it but thinning the ball is nowhere near as punishing (2-3mph I reckon) as the club catching the mat (10-15mph).

I dont recall a single instance of catching the ball high on the face at a driving range, but frequently do this at home. It feels like there should be a market for 'worn-in' range mats!

[goatbarn]

Unfortunately, it's most likely a problem with my strike vs type of mat. I'd rather have a mat that punishes even the slightest mishit vs a tight range mat as you can literally bounce your club off the mat at the range and still make decent contact. I'm more curious about the effects, if any, having little resistance through the strike has on the dynamic lie. I'm pretty sure my clubs (wedges especially) are too upright for my swing and lead me to hitting shots that start left, and turn more left, more left than my path should produce, but I'm looking into that.