Golf Simulator Forum wants your opinions about the SkyTrak to be heard!

[GSF_Admin]

Dear SkyTrak owner,

We would like to hear your honest opinion about the SkyTrak Launch Monitor (positive or negative) so new simulator owners can get the information they need to make smart buying choices.

You can use the following link to write your review: http://golfsimulatorforum.com/review/skytrak

Thank you!!

GSF

PS: You do not have to be a member of the forum to write a review.

[luv2golf]

I used to own a skytrak. Bang for the buck it's a nice unit is you get one that works properly. I had no issues with my skytrak. I'd still own it if they would of come out with Perfect Golf or TGC by now. But it's been 7 months of waiting and promises.

WGT is garbage (in my opinion) static images, distances are way off and the auto putt is still not fixed.

The range is good. The E6 Demo is good.

I would give it 6 out of 10.

[doublebogey]

GSF_Admin, can't post as keep giving me "Captcha is incorrect" error?

But prob don't need to post as scores are pretty much inline w what I would have posted except accuracy probably deserves more than a 7 (prob from people w driver distance issues), 8 seems a bit high for ease of use (given having to level and align unit just right, having to place ball all over/around dot, having to uninstall/reinstall app and/or reset unit all the time) and lastly support would prob be 1 if not for Seth.

[Sascha1818]

I'm with Double! Agree 100%. Love my unit just a little more Support and Information about future plans would be nessesary. Potential to be a 8 if that gets fixed

[Spudly]

I was the first person to receive a unit back over a year ago. I purchased it as a launch monitor, and to give me feedback visually as I hit in the garage and worked on fine tuning my shot shapes. As a launch monitor for these reasons it has performed exceptionally well, doing exactly what I need it to do. I had no intention of buying this with the idea that it would be a sim unit, having said that I too got caught up in the hype of TGC and E6, because they are really cool.

I was a little disappointed in the lack of feature upgrades to this point, I really would like to see targets on the range. I should not have to create a closest to the pin challenge just hit to a target or a green. This is an easy option to add in the driving range and here we are still without it 14 months later. The protective case was also a disappointment, $149.00 for a piece of plastic that material wise cost about $10, I expected a little more there.

Having said all that, I think that this is a great new direction in launch monitors, a lower price option that brings many more people into the fold. I know that many golf shops that could not afford the $10K prices have purchased these as teaching tools. I also hope that this forces some of the bigger companies like Foresight to be more competitive, we are already starting to see other competitors emerge such as Earnest Sports.

Unit Performance 8.5/10
Price 9.5/10 (would be 10 if not for the over priced protective case)
Support 6/10 (Skygolf has been less than helpful, most of my support has come form my contacts at Sport Trak who have been phenomenal)
Potential 10/10 (I am really looking forward to what is coming down the line)

All in all, very happy with my purchase and have recommended it to many of my friends.

[wbond]

Spudly, just curious, is your price rating based on unit price itself or are you including the recurring subscription charge?

[Spudly]

Just the price itself as compared to a GC2 or similar unit.

[Willymakit]

Pros:
1) Price point is great for a launch monitor
2). It is accurate when you do have one that works and reads properly
3) Seth from Skytrak was very helpful

Cons
1). Delay of 3 seconds after hitting the ball and waiting to show up on screen. Myself I could never get use to that.
2) wgt was 6 second delay and didn't like the feel of wgt.
3) customer support sucks
4) No simulator golf has of yet.
5) has to be level to get a correct reading
6) when your at the driving range make sure you bring a umbrella and a matt. Umbrella used for blocking the sun and the Mat for not taking any divots. Or you wouldn't get a read
8) did I mention delay. Oh yes I think that was number 1 on my list of not liking the Skytrak
9). Not having the numbers show directly on the Skytrak. Always having to walk back and forth looking on computer or iPad for your numbers
10). Terrible software for example the driving range. No green to hit to with your irons. Had to play ctp
11). And biggest and last turn off. Having to pay a subscription fee every year for a upgraded driving range.

[Mike80]

Here's what I posted on the poll

PROS:
- Very Accurate
- Affordable
- Easy to setup
- Great alignment feature built in using two red lasers
- Works on PC and iPad for portability at range
- Very fun and great practice tool to work on your game!

CONS:
- WGT is very disappointing
- No great sim software yet
- SIM integration taking way too long
- Bugs: Ongoing Data Sync issues
- Bugs: Cannot play E6 demo with Lefty and Righty. Switches the lefty back to a right handed player during play. Very annoying!
- $99 annual fee to unlock basic features in driving range app.
- $199 annual fee to unlock basic range features and allow Simulation Play
- 3 to 5 second delay before seeing your shot
- Doesn't register very short chips (exp. 1 yard to 8 yard chip)
- Seems to over calculate side spin and a slice or hook shot seems to curve more than it would in real life.
- Has a very hard time reading low shots and then you get misreads.

[tlhammond5]

Very accurate? I guess you accuracy tolerance has a much wider gap than mine.

[lterryjr]

The price point is great. When I first got it I was allot more positive. I stricklty use it as a launch monitor.
I tried the wgt it is garbage.
Using Skytrak as a launch monitor it is very important to get correct numbers. At sea level they seem to be close but altitude is off by about 10 to 20 yards compared to GC2, trackman and the golf course. It looks like to me it might be in the club head speed it shy 5 to 1 mph.
The other issue I am having it has started not picking up every shot. It is very poor with the M1. If they can't fix I am thinking of going to one of the more expensive options.

[MrHogan]

I have no issues with my M1. I've experienced no reads before but that was when the ST was sat on the hitting mat and I guess suffered from vibration during the swing/impact.

[ghopper8]

Mike80 summed it up nicely, with my biggest issue

- $99 annual fee to unlock basic features in driving range app.
- $199 annual fee to unlock basic range features and allow WGT Simulation Play, what about real simulation software ?????

[solidzinc]

SkyTrak is a great unit, my issue is with support and constantly having to chase up my advanced package subscription. The software updates seem to be the problem.

[Ookie]

Mike80 summed it up nicely, with my biggest issue

- $99 annual fee to unlock basic features in driving range app.
- $199 annual fee to unlock basic range features and allow WGT Simulation Play, what about real simulation software ?????

These gentlemen have hit the nail on the head. The hardware is decent. Regrettably, the positives of the hardware are overshadowed by SkyGolf's unethical business practices.

They withheld information that there were annual fees involved for you to use your hardware for anything but the most basic driving range.

My receipt did not indicate that the game improvement package was an annual fee. Another item on that same receipt (Boxgroove) made it very clear that it was a one year term.

In addition to withholding the information about annual fees, they also charged everyone at the time of pre-order for the protective case, and delayed it by months. The Federal Trade Commission makes it very clear in a position paper that charging when items ship is the industry standard for pre-orders (and is policy at Amazon, Apple, etc).

While the financial amounts involved are not a big deal to me, I simply don't choose to support companies that have issues with business ethics.

I'm very happy to have sold mine recently. After seeing what the Ernest Sports ES16 has to offer, I will be going with either that, or GC2.

[BogeyMan]

I think this unit has potential but it has taken too long to just get where they are today and they still have a long way to go. Ball accuracy is a major frustration for me, distances are way off, not quit as bad on wedges but as you go up the ladder to driver the margin gets huge. 50 yards or better on driver.

It has taken way, way too long to get simulator integration. I am in the software business and half my job is managing projects that do software integration's to ERP business systems and the amount of code our teams has written in the time frame these guys have been mucking around would blow your mind. No reason for it unless they are a one pony show.

I am still on the fence about selling if this ES16 or something else comes out and they start off on a more solid foundation I will likely jump ship if its a similar price point as I think support for the product over all is seriously lacking. Only support we get is the guy, Seth I believe who chimes on here once in a while. I waited a year just to get PC integration as I am not an Apple user.

And yes that whole subscription thing pisses me off also but its initially the way their Sky Caddie products started until other companies came out with products just a good that gave you free lifetime updates. Its there way of getting into your pocket and securing a yearly guaranteed revenue stream. I get the sales/marketing concept its all about money and if you can get away with it more power to you.

I think the hardware is solid for the most part, jury is still out as to whether chips and putts as my only use use of this is with the E6 simulation and so far that is not working well and I am not sure if its the fault of the hardware or software for not registering shots consistently.

Anyone who asks me on the street my opinion on purchasing my general reply is it has potential but its not ready for prime time and based on their slow development up to this point I would wait and see and not purchase yet as there is rumor other competitive products are in the works.

I was in Hawaii last 2 weeks played a lot of golf when I was there it felt great to hit drives that I could see were in more norms in terms of distances as well as other clubs and not the crazy spin rates and neutered distances on the Skytrak.

Sorry don't mean to sound like I am putting this product down, but I think it was released to the public way too soon and they are not prepared to support it properly yet.

[Tekbud]

Sounds like you have a bum unit to me. Mine is very accurate throughout all longer clubs. My short irons are maybe 5 yards short of what I would expect but consistently so.

[GmanJeff]

I received my ST earlier this week, and have used it daily ever since. Overall, I am very pleased. It provides useful and entertaining feedback which is otherwise just unavailable when hitting into a net, and seems to generally work well. I do find it sometimes fails to register a shot, but that's a relatively minor hiccup which I hope may be addressed through software updates in the future. Some shot delay is present, but I don't find it bothersome. I considered a GC2, or waiting for ES16, but the ST value proposition seemed clearly superior. No regrets here so far!

[GmanJeff]

A month later, and I am still very pleased with my ST. It continues to be both fun and a very useful tool for helping me practice - I use it daily. That said, there are three things which I'd like to see improved and addressed for current owners in the interests of customer service:

1) The hard plastic protective case is too fragile for its intended purpose - I took a substantial chunk out of mine with a badly hit driver shot shortly after receiving it. As others have noted, it also does not protect the camera lens area at all.
2) The unit's alignment feature results in the device being angled slightly to the right when the dual lasers show correct alignment. As a result, it's not possible to be certain whether or not it is actually aligned and reading correctly, since the angling of the case would seem to call that into question.
3) Connecting the device to my laptop via USB is sometimes hit-or-miss. Sometimes it connects right away, sometimes it never connects, sometimes it connects if a different port is used, sometimes it connects if the device is unplugged and reconnected, or if ST is powered on and off. Connecting via wi-fi usually proceeds uneventfully. It would be helpful to have Windows-specific connection guidance; the instructions with the unit are still iOS-centric.

I'd buy mine again.

[John6577]

I have had the unit for three weeks now. I have tried all sorts of shot shapes and it picks them all up perfectly. Numbers may be off a few years here and there, but it simply comes down to getting what you pay for. If you want tons of stats, perfect readings, etc. then get out your wallet and pay $20k for a TM. Otherwise, for the money its been a solid unit. I use it mainly for fun and to keep my swing going and its perfect for that.

[keithpbz]

Even trackman get mis reads or no reads. Especially when hitting into a net.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Just make sure these great reviews actually make it to the Review section in the original post

[doublebogey]

I personally think these reviews are great and accurately depicts the pros and cons of the product, and w more reviews will help filter out scores at the extreme ends. It's useful for people potentially looking to buy a new LM but also excellent customer feedback which I hope SkyTrak will utilize to make their product even better going forward. The consistently repeating pros are accuracy and value; the consistently repeating cons are customer service (excluding Seth) and the subscription model - both of which the company have full control to change and/or improve upon giving the product a potentially extremely bright future if some of the cons can be addressed.

[KJZ78701]

Seth, if I were a potential buyer and wanted to know what owners thought, posts here are much more buyer friendly (easier to read). It might also serve you better since the remarks might be a bit less pithy here. My review will be posted here.

[tlhammond5]

And the negative!