GC2 vs. ProTee VX

[Kevin M]

I recently upgraded from the GC2 to a ProTee VX. The GC2 was working fine, but my kids kept bumping the GC2, and I really liked the video of the shot that the ProTee VX gives you. When I got the ProTee VX, I took some shots with both of the launch monitors to compare, and I thought I'd share the data.

The data is in scatterplots, with the GC2 data on the x-axis, and the ProTee VX data on the y-axis. Each data point is how the GC2 and the ProTee VX read the same shot. In each plot, the vertical axis range is the same as the horizontal axis range. If both devices agreed perfectly, every data point would be on a line between the bottom left corner and the top right corner.

The data plots are here.

Overall, the agreement was excellent between the two. The ProTee VX was consistently about 3% slower speed. Launch angle is consistently within ~1°. I had one shot that showed a slightly negative launch angle for the ProTee VX, and I've had a handful of other shots (not shown) that are measured as negative launch angle that were not. The horizontal angle is off by ~+/- 2°. Given the geometry, that is probably the GC2 being off, as the ProTee VX should have a great view of the horizontal angle. Spin generally agreed within ~5-10%. Spin angle generally agreed with 5-10°.

Here is some more detailed information on the setup. The ProTee VX is mounted ~8'7" above the hitting mat--a bit lower than the recommended 9'. I used TP5 Pix balls. In order to get the GC2 to recognize a ball, I had to put up a chair to partially block the IR light from the ProTee VX. That didn't seem to affect anything, as the agreement between the two was great.

[Bubba22]

Thanks for posting Kevin. I did a similar test with the GC3 and the Eye Mini and found similar results. Protee is very accurate and compares to Foresight and Uneekor.

[damiang]

another thanks for that. interesting as there are some posts that suggest that vx isnt that accurate and provides a fake +-5 spin axis when it didnt read correctly which would appear not to be the case for you. maybe it's using a pix ball or maybe they were using a faulty unit or some other explanation.

[damiang]

hi - i am a VX owner and fan and am not the one claiming the fake spin axis on no reads - was just mentioning that that opinion is out there and it is good to see evidence that refutes it! fyi i have seen that opinion mainly on the protee channel on the sgt simulator golf tour discord in case you want to follow up on it. And I do report all apparent false reads as I want the system improved like everyone else!

[ProTee United]

We have no access to these channels, but thanks for letting us know!

[mthunt]

I tried and tried to replicate the "fake +- 5 spin" with both me and my kid hitting shots and couldn't. Kid is a plus 1 with 180 BS. People said put the ball like this or that. Tried it. Still couldn't. My findings are we got the odd bad spin report using white balls with no logo toward the camera and got great results using PIX balls. Using normal white balls with logo facing the camera also got good results. We never once got the 5 degree fake spin. Maybe it went away with an update. People said if the VX didn't detect the spin it reported 5 spin axis. Never once got that. Who knows?

[ProTee United]

Thanks for testing and posting the results Kevin M ! There is no golf simulator system out there which does not have the occasional misread. All simulator companies have there own physics model to produce ball flight, so there will always be slight differences in carry. The only "real" carry you will find outdoor

The great thing about the ProTee VX is that we show the full video of the club and ball in slow-motion AND we show the ball spin in slow-motion both in high quality, so you can verify the accuracy and see for yourself. For systems not showing video, you just have to believe its accurate.

Our dedicated team of developers is constantly working on improving the ProTee VX. Our dedicated team of support engineers will answer all your questions 24 hours/day, 5 days a week. We love to hear your feedback. Please report any strange readings using the bug reporting tool in ProTee Labs, so our team can use this to improve the system!

Happy Golfing!

[gobble]

TAll simulator companies have there own physics model to produce ball flight, so there will always be slight differences in carry. The only "real" carry you will find outdoor

Is there any truth to the comments that PIX balls are the best balls to use? I would think the cameras would struggle with seeing like 10 of the same markings on a ball instead of say just a Titleist logo, but interested to hear what balls you guys use.

[damiang]

Is there any truth to the comments that PIX balls are the best balls to use? I would think the cameras would struggle with seeing like 10 of the same markings on a ball instead of say just a Titleist logo, but interested to hear what balls you guys use.

a large number of people, myself included, have seen pix work better than unmarked balls but i believe that is simply because there is no chance that a marking (VX doesnt read dimples as some others do) wont be visible in the captured flight. when using longer, low spin clubs, i think if you are willing to place an unmarked ball so the logo points towards the VX then it should read correctly as the marking will be visible. but you asked protee not me so best they answer!

[Kevin M]

OK, I also tried with a Titleist Pro V1 RCT ball I had for comparison. I tried both with the logo pointed toward the camera and a blank part of the ball pointed toward the camera. The data is at https://imgur.com/a/protee-vx-vs-gc2...-logos-KxjzqiX.

With the logo pointed away from the camera, the total spin was terrible and spin axis was pretty bad too. With the logo pointed toward the camera, the total spin and spin axis were better. But PIX balls were much better. Spin axis and total spin were great with PIX balls.

Looking back at other comparisons I did, my GC2 was consistently about 3% fast compared to a Mevo+, GCQuad, and ProTee VX. So, presumably, my GC2 is miscalibrated slightly, and the other three, including the ProTee VX, are measuring speed accurately within ~1%.

[ProTee United]

We do our comparisons with Trackman4 and Titleist RCT ProV1 balls. When you want to read total spin and spin axis from a golf ball you will need multiple images, so you can compare them.
Foresight products use high powered strobe flashing. Trackman is using radar and the metal pattern inside the RCT golfball. The GC2/3/4 strobe flashes will overexpose the images needed by the VX.

All golf simulators need reference points on a minimum of 2 images. This could be a logo, a dent, a scuff, a marking, a dimple pattern, etc. Overexposed images will wash out any pattern.

With slower shots, the cameras will be able to capture a lot of images so a couple of overexposed images can be ignored. With high speed driver shots, the cameras will have a lot less images. If some of them are also overexposed, the cameras will have a hard time analyzing the spin data. It might not even have 1 useful image. This will result in a mis-read.

PIX balls have a lot a reference points, so the chance the cameras take 2 good images with a reference point is pretty high.

[mthunt]

Is there any truth to the comments that PIX balls are the best balls to use? I would think the cameras would struggle with seeing like 10 of the same markings on a ball instead of say just a Titleist logo, but interested to hear what balls you guys use.

We tested a lot of balls and a miss spin read was rare for me carrying 8 iron with normal white balls 150 but it happened. My kid got more off spin readings but carries 8 190. With PIX neither of get off spin readings so we only use PIX.

[Bvretr]

Tell your kid to knock it off with the 190 8-iron carry.

[mthunt]

Try playing with him. It sucks.

[Mr. Wolfe]

So, is it a consensus that PIX balls would be the most ideal for the Protee VX?

Mr. Wolfe

[damiang]

yes, they help eliminate the occasional high speed shot spin misreads although if you are willing to place an unmarked ball with the logo facing the camera you get pretty similar results but imo pix work best and are reasonably priced and easily available so cant see a reason not to use them.

[gobble]

I just started using pix balls. TaylorMade has a great deal on their website for 2 dozen “practice” balls of random designs for $70. I can’t say I notice a difference. I’ve had no misreads though so that’s good.

[Mr. Wolfe]

I just started using pix balls. TaylorMade has a great deal on their website for 2 dozen “practice” balls of random designs for $70. I can’t say I notice a difference. I’ve had no misreads though so that’s good.

Just ordered some. I see there is free shipping ($12.99 for orders over $75). I couldn't find anything I needed so I added a TM driver wrench which cost $12.99 - so essentially, free. Thanks.

Mr. Wolfe

[gobble]

Just ordered some. I see there is free shipping ($12.99 for orders over $75). I couldn't find anything I needed so I added a TM driver wrench which cost $12.99 - so essentially, free. Thanks.

Mr. Wolfe

I had the same issue and ordered a glove to get over $75.