Trackman 4 vs GC2 Indoor Result

[LEO MODE]

Test Environment:
*Indoor CCE Mat
*Ball 13ft from the screen, 9ft from TM to ball
*Titleist Pro V1X Practice Ball
*Trackman software normalized mode to have an equal field as GC2
*Tested 56 Wedge, 8 Iron, 4 Iron, Hybrid and a Driver
*Since oftentimes Trackman calculates Spin Rate for a driver, and sometimes doesn't output Spin Axis data, I compared both by a) data having measured ball spin, b) data having read spin axis. I also eliminated to compare when GC2 also didn't show data or showed enormously weird data (such as Land Angle being 180 degrees which happened a few times with a wedge shot).
*Advice from mthunt, I raised the unit by 7/8" using a book. And I calibrated again using the software.
*I Eliminated all the mishits, misreads, misshots or both data having too much of a discrepancy (e.g. 180 degree land angle). I tried matching the data as closely as possible.

Conclusion: Just like outside, the data are very very similar. However, same thing as outside, GC2 shows more draw biased by having more Spin Axis to the left about 13 degrees which can make a difference up to about 8yds (where Trackman recorded clearly a shot going to the right but GC2 recording as a hook). Also, oftentimes Trackman doesn't calculate Club Data as well as Spin Axis and Spin Rate data (Trackman says they'll rather not show data that they're not confident in). So I had to separate those two data to compare apples to apples (I also compared Trackman separately when the driver ball spin rate was measured or calculated). But as you can see per attached, other data are really negligible.

One more thing: I tested the club data this time too and they're very very similar. Just for the driver:
Club speed: 2mph
Smash Factor: 0.05
Attack Angle: 1.8
Club Path: 0.1
Face Angle: 0.3
Face to Path: 0.3
Lie: 0.6
Loft: 2.0

All within tolerances.

I have all data raw and live with recorded.

[Dax]

Great test, looks like a lot of effort! One question though, was the 13 feet the distance from impact to screen? Rather than TM to screen?

[LEO MODE]

You are right. I corrected it. Thanks. I wished I should’ve gone 15ft instead of 13ft because i was having like 80% of my driver shots in calculated spin (i avg 1500-2000 driver spin that’s why). Fortunately it really didn’t impact ball flight that much so i can safely say unless you want to know your spin every time, it won’t affect real result. GC2 always shows accurate ball spin though (98% of the time i would say since i did have some misreads as well, and I know it was a misread because a) Trackman had measured spin rate or b) the number on GC2 was ridiculous e.g. having a Land Angle of 180 degree. Mostly on a wedge shot).

[Dax]

Yes I always wish for another foot with my set up. In terms of spin do you mean spin axis or total spin? I assume you used the metallic sticker?

[LEO MODE]

Spin Axis meaning spin axis not total spin. Total spin is spin rate on TM. And yes i used a metallic sticker on the ball and they captured ball spin 95% of the time in all clubs except for a driver (driver only about 20%). But as you can see in my findings, calculated spin didn’t really affect ball flight that much so it’s safe to say calculating ball spin data is negligible.

[Dax]

Very interesting results then based on your spin observations. You must have a pretty big ball speed and low revolution for the TM to not be picking up your spin that often. I would say my driver results are the opposite with 12 feet from impact to screen with my driver. My spin rate is around 2000 (usually a bit higher with the odd one down to about 1800) and TM rarely misses the shot.

One one trick I learned while I was in my early months with a bad set-up was to put the metallic sticker pointing up when using my driver.

My bad set-up was that I was hitting into my net which had my metal garage door behind it and it caused a lot of interference for my TM. I tried to work with TM to fix the problem and they even sent me another unit to test side by side but in the end a tech that I was working with said that it was my garage door and while he figured he could work on a fix I ended up moving my sim to another spot in my house that had lower ceiling height, but was just an all round better place all along. Since moving my set-up I have had very few shots go unread and it happens most when the tee I use flies up in the air towards the screen (I think TM tracks both the ball and this and can’t differentiate and so provides no reading).

[LEO MODE]

My ball speed is about 140mph. Avg spin about 1000-1500. I had better luck using the dot facing the screen. I will test the driver with the dot facing up again.

And yes, with a simulator setup I had some bad auto-triggering shots and no reads which was super frustrating with Trackman 4. This happened more when a lot of people were in the room together. I was suspecting it was the heat wave. Because when I was by myself it didn’t happen a lot. Fortunately after the latest update, I haven’t noticed any of those recently at all but this really frustrates me and is a definitely negative compared to GC2 where GC2 never had this issue. As I said, if GC2 fixes this draw-biased I would use GC2 so much better than TM4 for indoor purposes. The setup is easier, you don’t need to connect to the program all the time because it has a screen you can read off to, and it always reads chip/putt very accurately and never had nonreads or auto-triggers.

[LEO MODE]

One update is that on my 3rd photo file, the Height for the driver shots didn't get translated into yards. It should've been yards but TM4 outputs in Feet. Overall they're very similar.

[Dax]

Leo

in terms of your comments regarding issues in the heat indoors with a bunch of people, did you have a fan running? A fan will interfere with the radar.

I discovered this when I set up my projector and had it lower than how I have it now. I was not getting TM to register shots and took me a while and when I heard the fan in my projector I said that Jas got to be it and sure enough problem was resolved by raising my projector about six inches. In terms of the TM set up have you tried connecting it to an iPad or your iPhone? The apps are great!

[LEO MODE]

Not a fan but it was an A/C. Nowadays no heater no fan but still happened. I don't have any fluorescent light either as TM support said that could be an issue too. I have all LEDs. My projector is on the ceiling like 5 ft away from my tee shot. I don't know if that's the issue but I don't think so since whenever I play by myself I rarely had no-reads or auto-trigger.

I do like iPad/iPhone app (not the recent one that got revamped which used to be a putting app, i think that's horrible), but the bad thing is you can't export those data over to PC software and vice versa. They work independently. At least there should be a way to export into Excel data but not available either. Plus, the shot trajectory is not as good as PC app. But all in all it is still very intuitive. I just wish they work in cross-platform.

[Dax]

Agree with your comments, but when you compare it to what is out there I still feel it is ahead of the game. At least they keep updating and inproving.

[LEO MODE]

I also agree. It is the most intuitive and easy to access software by far.