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Golfzon vs GC2 Comparison

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  • Golfzon vs GC2 Comparison

    Intro: I went to Golfzon and tested out some of the differences between Golfzon vs GC2. Since Golfzon was charging me $50/hr (located in southern California), I didn’t want to spend too much time there, so I just spent 1hr and would say this is rather a quick comparison than a thorough comparison. However, I felt one hour was pretty decent and I messed with pretty much most of the options there. My post is only about data comparison so please have that in mind.

    Comparison Model: The reason why I didn’t use Trackman for comparison was mainly because of the spin rate, which is calculated sometimes and do not fully represent the accurate data if you don’t have enough distance between ball and screen. GC2 ball spin is within 100rpm of Trackman when measured so I brought in GC2 to compare with Golfzon with confidence. However, GC2 has a hard time reading the right spin axis due to it being a little draw-biased depending on the player (like myself for example). I actually need to calibrate my GC2 again so once that is done I might visit Golfzon again to test it. But for now, I ignored the spin axis comparison at this point. In addition with Trackman, there was not enough space between the ball and Trackman to put Trackman (due to the place having a standing desk for beers and etc.) in this simulator setup, so I didn’t bother bringing Trackman to Golfzon. As I said, once my GC2 is re-calibrated correctly, GC2 will be more than enough for the comparison.

    Options: First of all, Golfzon has been in the business for quite some time now. Golfzon started its business in Korea and currently has a market share in Korea for more than 70% as I recall. They come with great options: moving plate for ground elevation, ball auto feeder, shot recording, online play as well as events. The model that was released in the US is Golfzon Global Version which has a separate server than Golfzon Korea which probably has more than 100,000+ users online. Golfzon also had been evolving with different versions, in now Korea has a newer version than the US version which is called Golfzon Two Vision (when you putt, you can actually see the putting hole on the ground rather than the screen if the distance is shorter). Golfzon also seemed to have a difficulty option (Beginner, Novice, Tour, and Pro). Beginner level seemed to give you some boost and forgiveness on the ball flight. However I tried on Novice as well as Pro but still did seem to feel some forgiveness by forcing the ball flight to go pretty straight, which made me feel like it was a bit artificial.

    Data Comparison: Golfzon has 11 data points (Ball Speed, Launch Angle, Launch Direction, Spin Axis, Side Distance, Carry, Total Distance, Club Head Speed and Face Angle) so I will describe them side by side vs GC2 that was comparable. And if you guys already recall my comparison between GC2 and Trackman, Ball Speed, Launch Angle, Launch Direction, Spin Rate are on par with Trackman. So you can confidently believe those parameters to be very accurate when comparing with Golfzon as per below.
    I used a driver and an 8iron (with a very high loft displayed at Golfzon) to test it. The ball was a Golfzon ball which seemed like a good ball to me.

    Ball speed: Both of the ball speeds on a driver and 8 iron were within tolerance, the maximum being 4mph difference. Average was about 0.3mph difference. So ball speed is pretty much acceptable.
    Launch Angle: They were much tighter on both clubs than Ball Speed, averaging 1 degree and maximum of 2 degrees. Launch Angle is highly accurate.
    Launch Direction: Pretty much the same as Launch Angle. Very accurate.
    Total Spin: This was where Golfzon really lacked a lot in. Despite being a camera system, the ball spin difference on average was about 3600RPM, of being as high as 4500RPM. I heard other competitors out there in Korea, such as T-Up and G-Swing actually measure ball spin by using a marked ball. I am traveling to Korea sometime soon next year so I will definitely test it out as well. And I was told that new Golfzon Two Vision measures ball spin too. But this US version obviously did not at all.
    Carry Distance: Another disappointment. GC2’s 2 main issues were a) Spin Axis being too draw-biased and b) Carrying too much distance in low spin driver shots that are less than 2000RPM. But Golfzon was even worse. Even on a Pro setting, the carry distance on an 8 iron was ok (avg 0.6 with 7~12yd difference), but driver carry difference was 15yds on average longer than GC2, as longer as 35yds which is totally unacceptable.
    Spin Axis: As I said, I didn’t compare it but when I did since I still had all the data, I noticed a few things on Golfzon: that Spin Axis came in 0 degree for more than 8 out of 20 times, meaning the ball spun exactly straight. It is extremely rare and hard to make the Spin Axis 0 but when GC2 said it went left Golfzon said it spun straight. This made me realize that there was definitely a forgiveness there. Whether it was because the camera didn’t read it, I do not know.
    Club Head Speed: Club Head Speed was pretty much all over the place. Although they were pretty much within the range that I hit on, it was very inconsistent in a sense that sometimes it would go up 20mph faster than I can ever hit. I don’t think they will ever be able to measure club head speed if the camera was overhead.

    Final Conclusion: When you go to Golfzon (current US version), you can pretty much trust Ball Speed, Launch Angle, Launch Direction and almost all of iron shots’ Carry distance. All other data are very not true of your representation especially with a driver Carry distance.

    Hope this helps.
    Last edited by LEO MODE; 05-18-2018, 05:18 AM.

  • #2
    Thanks for the write up.
    Do you think you could fool the gc2 by calibrating it at an angle to get better (more correct) spin axis measurement?

    Comment


    • LEO MODE
      LEO MODE commented
      Editing a comment
      In a normal setting, unfortunately no. The only thing you can fake GC2 and Trackman, and possibly all other launch monitors out there including Skytrak and Flightscope are Launch Direction, by tilting GC2 slightly to the left or right, or radars like Trackman to point the main target slightly left or right. Regardless of the placement, the machine will not lie its Ball Speed, Launch Angle, Spin Axis and Spin Rate.

  • #3
    Enjoy the art work :-)
    Click image for larger version  Name:	gc2.jpg Views:	1 Size:	18.7 KB ID:	156033

    If you placed the GC2 at an 3 degre angle (other way around from my drawing) and run the tilt calibration tool. Would you not trick it to believe that it was at an angle when placed on a flat surface and adjust readings accordingly?
    Obviously it would effect other readings but maybe within tolerance?

    It would be a fun experiment if you have another machine at hand and can compare.
    Last edited by Snaphook; 05-18-2018, 12:27 PM.

    Comment


    • #4
      This is the first review of Golfzon I have seen and it is good to know the results. Thanks for taking the time to complete such a good review.

      Comment


      • #5
        Originally posted by Snaphook View Post
        Enjoy the art work :-)
        Click image for larger version Name:	gc2.jpg Views:	1 Size:	18.7 KB ID:	156033

        If you placed the GC2 at an 3 degre angle (other way around from my drawing) and run the tilt calibration tool. Would you not trick it to believe that it was at an angle when placed on a flat surface and adjust readings accordingly?
        Obviously it would effect other readings but maybe within tolerance?

        It would be a fun experiment if you have another machine at hand and can compare.
        Let me try that and I will update you. I am just afraid if it’ll mess up other metrics. Because currently everything else is working fine just except Spin Axis. Plus I don’t know if that will help with the Tilt Angle because Spin Axis is more of a sidespin. Perhaps I can try tilting it right 10 degrees while calibrating?

        Comment


        • #6
          Yes tilting it could be a way. Interesting experiment for sure.
          Let us now what you find.

          Comment


          • #7
            I haven't got my unit back yet from Foresight, but I have another question now. If I tilt it left or right it definitely messed up Launch Direction (or Side Angle in Foresight term). If I til it upwards and downwards like you showed me, wouldn't it mess up Launch Angle? I'm not a scientist so I'm trying to find a way to calibrate Spin Axis (Tilt Angle) correctly. I will definitely give it a try but I want other people's opinion too.

            Because what I found out was that Foresight's Spin Axis tolerance is as high as 90 degrees, which in my opinion is totally unacceptable for a machine (I mean of course that is way up to the extreme but compared to other metrics, this is still too forgiving because other degree metrics is like within a degree or two).

            Comment


            • #8
              I agree that tilting it during calibration would mess up the other metrics. The way I think about it is having an imaginary line along the ball path for a perfectly straight shot. There is a vertical component and horizontal component, and for the straight shot horizontal is zero. Now if you tilt the GC2 10 degrees, the line when viewed from behind the ball will also tilt 10 degrees. That means there is now a horizontal component and the vertical will be reduced. I don't see a way to isolate spin axis without affecting the other metrics.

              where did you hear the tolerance is 90 degrees? Or is that just from observations relative to your trackman. That seems pretty extreme. In my opinion the spin axis gets worse for higher launching shots but I would have guessed it is off by more like 20 or 30 degrees on the worst ones. That is only a guess based on the fact that shots on the range that go fairly straight with a wedge can read up to 30 degrees of hook spin.

              Comment


              • LEO MODE
                LEO MODE commented
                Editing a comment
                Their tolerance posted on the website states 50rpm sidespin and 50rpm backspin. If you calculate that it goes out to up to 90 degress. And you are right that I haven’t seen any 90 degrees difference, which I said earlier is the worst extreme case ever. But I also saw up to 20 degrees on my testing. Especially for a driver, that’s way more than 20 yards difference sideways so it is a bit disturbing tolerance for me if they say that is perfectly within tolerance... On a wedge shot 30 degrees will still be less disturbing than a driver shot, but for me I noticed I saw more degrees difference in longer shots, thus it is not something I was pleased with. I would say in real life it is about 5-15 degree difference from the lower wedge to a driver, which is definitely not within tolerance.
                Last edited by LEO MODE; 05-29-2018, 06:42 PM.
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