Protee VX putting vs GC3 putting

[Bubba22]

I have been very impressed with the Putting of the Protee VX. I decided to test the Protee VX putting against the GC3. I love putting and chipping on simulators like the GC3. Putting is such a big part of golf that by practicing on the sim I do think one can improve on the feel for putts and even the mechanical nature of your stroke. I know it’s a debate and there are folks that don’t like simulator putting however if you can get accuracy in speed and direction then it may be something worth doing. Plus its fun during rounds to actually putt the ball. Sim putting can be done either moving your virtual aim to the break and always taking your real putt straight or leaving the virtual aim to the cup and adjusting your real direction left or right. I prefer the later as it feels more like what we do in reality however its dealers choice. A lot of the choice depends on the accuracy of the sim in picking up the speed and that important horizontal azimuth. Some ground based units like the Skytrak struggle in picking up that accuracy. Radar units like the Mevo plus also struggle in this regard.

As most will say, putting is about speed and direction. Both are important. Speed will depend on the green stimp (and putter speed/COR etc) and that will obviously vary for everyone setup. You can obviously adjust the green speed in the software to match your setup. In this comparison I am testing the ball speed and direction of the Protee VX side by side with the GC3. I love the GC3 for its accuracy in putts. I was very careful to align the GC3 as close to being parallel to the hitting as with the VX. I used the alignment sticks and took many practice swings to get them as best ligned up as possible for full shots and putts. The alignment process is not perfect but consistency between any 2 units is what is important.

I used the raw speed (mph) and direction (degrees R -L)numbers on the VX Protee labs vs the GC3 numbers.
The first test was focusing on a 10 foot putt. I hit 5 straight putts, 5 putts to the right and 5 putts to the left comparing the speed (mph) to the direction (degrees R or L). I then did a series of straight shots focusing on 2 foot to 40 foot length shots giving the average speed and direction. The results as you can see were more than impressive between the 2 units. The Protee VX was very, very accurate for all putts compared to the GC3. This does confirm what I have been seeing with the VX in that it is extremely accurate in reading the speed and direction of putts probably because its easier for an overhead unit to measure horizontal azimuth vs launch angle. I would definitely recommend putting on this unit.

Straight Putts

Right Putts

Left Putts

Speed mph

Direction

Speed mph

Direction

Speed mph

Direction

VX

5.1

0.5L

5.7

7.6R

6.2

9.7L

GC3

4.8

0.3L

5.5

8.0R

6

9.8L

VX

5.2

0.5R

6.2

3.1R

5.9

6.4L

GC3

4.8

0.2R

5.9

2.4R

5.6

6.5L

VX

5.3

0.4L

6.3

20.4R

6.6

20.6L

GC3

5

0.2L

6.1

21R

6.4

20L

VX

5.4

0

6

6.6R

5.9

33.1L

GC3

5.1

0

5.8

6.0R

5.7

33L

VX

4.6

1.4L

5.8

23.6R

6

7.1L

GC3

4.3

0.9L

5.7

24.0R

5.9

6.8L

Average

Average

Average

VX

5.1

0.36L

6

12.26R

6.12

15.38L

GC3

4.8

0.24L

5.8

12.28R

5.9

15.22L

Putt length

2 Foot

5 Foot

10 Foot

15 Foot

20 Foot

30 Foot

40 Foot

Average

Speed mph

VX

2.9

4.3

6.4

8.3

10.1

12.8

14.8

8.51

GC3

2.2

3.8

6.2

8.3

10.1

12.6

14.7

8.27

Direction

VX

0.7R

0.8R

0.6L

0.8R

0.1R

0.9L

0.8L

0.01

GC3

0.2R

0.7R

0.4L

0.6R

0.3R

0.8L

0.6L

0

[mthunt]

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IALL1dY-EIW2TeQJHevAf__nsGR0PT2N/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

Bubba22 here is the video you asked us to upload. It's easier to upload video's on YT first, then just paste the link in the video icon of the editor

I love the video. When someone says "I didn't fade that" I say "the video says otherwise". LOL

[drsagacity]

That’s great info. Thanks.

i actually never liked putting and spent time looking for different tech solutions to practice putting. I think the Protee actually may be all I need. I am going to put a spot to putt from on my hitting mat and make it as close as possible to the putting green, then I add a hole in my putting green to show the exact straight putt. By doing that, I could use the Protee putting impact summary screen to validate putting stroke.

[Bubba22]

Great idea drsag.

[xanderoid]

You're a stud, thanks for doing this comparison and sharing! I'm trying to decide between GC3, ProTee or VTrack. I change my mind one day to another... Pros and cons to each. If I could afford it I'd buy 2, one overhead and the GC3, but I'm stretching it just to buy 1. Lol. Truth is I can't really go wrong I think.

[badfish57]

You're a stud, thanks for doing this comparison and sharing! I'm trying to decide between GC3, ProTee or VTrack. I change my mind one day to another... Pros and cons to each. If I could afford it I'd buy 2, one overhead and the GC3, but I'm stretching it just to buy 1. Lol. Truth is I can't really go wrong I think.

I looked at Vtrack vs Protee for 3 months. Both seem to be quite functional and users are generally very happy. Protee maybe subjectively has fewer people mentioning bugs which might be related to how new the Vtrack is and probably how responsive the dev team is on the VX.

I bought the Protee despite it being more expensive. Firstly, the focus from the development team on evolution and user engagement is awesome. I reached out to the Laon folks (Vtrack) and never got a reply. Secondly, its comes with both a very functional first party software solution in Protee Labs and supports 3rd party cameras without incremental cost. Vtrack might improve their software and might support cameras, but rumours are both may be costly and might be significantly so. I love camera integration and what Protee has is perfect - it was a bonus to get two free very usable camera's as well.

Since this is a putting thread, I'd thank OP for the neat comparison and would wonder if we some physics tuning you couldn't achieve parity at least on speed? L/R seems to suggest the VX reads offline a little stronger than GC3? I'd think so long as it's consistent, all good?