Sky Trak Excessive Side Spin - Especially Hooks

[billyb]

Hi,

I've recently bought a used Sky Trak. I feel all the data is correct and very close to my normal swing except the side spin.

I've never hit so many consecutive hooks of 12-30 yards before. I typically have a straight shot with a little baby draw. I've been playing for many years and hold an index of 7.9 and have been as low as 5.3.

Doesn't seem to matter if I level the unit and align myself perfectly. I can start to get some push fades but most of the time it ends up starting straight on and then some kind of a draw to massive hook.

I also just went to Golf town and tried some clubs. I hit many slight fades and some draws. It's very rare for me to hit fades and I think it's because I'm compensating from the Sky Trak so I can get a push draw.

Has anybody encountered this with their unit? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[jrz]

I feel your pain, and many others have also discussed this issue. The best we have been able to figure out is that the SkyTrak flight algorithm does not take spin decay into account. In real life, ball spin decreases about 4% each second it is in the air. Since this decrease isn't accounted for in the ST world draws and fades are exaggerated.

[LEO MODE]

I also did a testing outdoor with GC2 and Trackman. It looks like GC2 had the same draw biased tendency. Would this be the limitation in the camera system as you say this mechanically?

[billyb]

Hi

thank you for answering. Has anyone figured a chart out? I’d be happy calculating in my head if I knew the calculations to come to close to real life swings. If I hit a 10 yard lefty I would just calculate as a 2 yard draw for example.

[Clevited]

There won't be a chart as each Skytrak is a little different anyways. I seriously suggest that you bring your Skytrak to the range with you as soon as you can. If you read through the forums on this site you will see that the Skytrak is almoat unanimously considered extremely accurate. There are tons of variables that are more often than not, the real culprit. The real culprit is almost always ourselves.

I have been a member of this website for about a year now and i can't tell you jow many times people say things like this and become adamant that something is wrong with the Skytrak, only to come back and say "it was me".

This doesn't mean Skytrak doesn't need some tweaks here and there still, but really it captures reality very well, only in some instances will it get appreciably off compared to real life because of its own doings.

[billyb]

Another question in relation is why do many YouTube reviews seems fine while comparing in real-time. Their results seems accurate.

What are they doing different?

[Clevited]

Many of those youtubers are better golfers than we are, are hitting in a large bay, are using new clean golf balls, are used to hitting indoors etc.

Edit: and also hitting off better mats than we are.

[Clevited]

I always set my Skytrak up to show me spin axis, not side spin rpm. I find that more useful. If you are seeing spin axis above 10 degrees (left or right curving), you are imparting significant draw or fade with your swing. Yes Skytrak could slightly misrepresent just how much, but 9 times out of 10, we are indeed causing the problem.

The only thing you can do to verify it's not the Skytrak is to bring it with you to a range and hit balls. If they curve in real life and also on Skytrak, then you know. If they go straight at the range and Skytrak also shows straight shots, but at home you hit nothing but hooks, well that tells you that you swing differently at home. If you hit straight at the range ans Skytrak still shows big curvature then you might want to contact Skytrak for repair.

[skytrakali]

Here's my own personal experience FWIW. When I first got my ST and started using it in my cave my averages were WAY towards big hooks and also shots that started lots left. (BTW at the range I also normally hit a straight shot with a baby draw.) I keep data very carefully from ST sessions and my first 8 sessions (with various clubs) the average misses left in yards over 100s of shots were -16, -15, -23, -4, -28, -2, -36, -9. I was very puzzled and also wondered about ST accuracy. Next to the edge of my mat my ST sits on a wooden plank the same height as the mat. I square up the ST on the edge of the mat, and I added a long bit of dowel to the plank that extended almost to my hitting screen so I could align more accurately. I then found that my big misses left we caused by a combination of

(1) Standing a little open without realising it, so aiming slightly left
(2) Taking a slightly more flat and rounded "hooky" swing as at that time I was not sure deep inside me that I would not hit something with my club - "indoor swing"

Since I added the long dowel and carefully checked my alignment, my average left draws over about 2,500 shots are -2 yards. So my recommendation is that you stick with it but do some REALLY careful alignment tests. Indoor swing is really there you know but it fades as confidence increases in one's cave.

[billyb]

Thank you for the input. I'm taking the ST to an indoor golf room tonight to A/B the 2 of them since it's snowy here in Canada. I'm only concerned with the side spin because I feel all the other data is extremely close. I'll update after my session. I'm sure it's me as well because when I took the time to align properly I was hitting straighter for a bit. I might add a dowel as well or white marker for my hitting mat.

[StanMI]

Are you hitting off a tee or a mat ????? Off a tee, I never have any issue seeing the same kind of flight I get IRL. From my mat, which is a very short nap, if I hit even just a little bit fat it shows up on Skytark as a hook. I'm assuming since I'm contacting the mat first and not the ball I'm twisting the face of the club as it bounces of the mat.

[billyb]

Yes, I'm hitting from a mat. I have a good quality mat but I'll try a few teed up slightly.

I just finish testing the unit against an indoor simulator. Everything was very close. Straight shots and slight fades and draws were pretty good. What I did find in comparison to the "About Golf" simulator was the sidespin. If I hit a 10 yard draw on the AG sim the Sky Trak was exaggerated to 16 or even 20. Sometimes a 16 yard left or right shot ended up being up to 32 yards offline. Sometimes it was dead on.

The straighter a shot the more accurate the SK was in comparison. A 2-5 yard shot left or right down the middle registered pretty much identical on both units.

Thoughts about this. Any other SK users have similar results? Alignment to the unit I found to be key to getting better stats.

[Clevited]

The only thing I know regarding the About Golf sims is they require a well marked ball. If the balls were well marked, you might be seeing a combination of the difference between a 50k simulator and a 2k one, and the limits of sim vs real. I have brought my ST to the range to check ball flights and other than blatent misreads from direct sunshine, the amount of hook or fade looked very close. Really though, to get a real comparison to see what is going on, you need to compare against Trackman or Flightscope, outside and on a very calm day (don't use normalize in this case). ST needs to be set up perfectly in line with Trackman's line. You should be able to directly compare real to ST very accurately and see if it deviates as much as it did compared to the sim you tried.

Thanks for posting about your test though, interesting how much they differ.

[billyb]

Yeah. The balls were marked really well.

Im going for straight ball flight and then I should be fine. Can’t wait to test it out in the spring on the range but for now at least my initial test for straight shots are bang on and I can work towards that in confidence knowing that straight is fine.

By no way am I knocking the unit. I love it. I’m already hitting better shots. Can’t wait to dig into the game improvement from 125 yards and in. That’s what I really want to focus on.

[skytrakali]

Thanks billyb - very interesting test results. The possibility for ST alignment error is large, as just a few degrees either way can make a big difference to say a 180 yard shot. If you do the math it's amazing how accurate the pros are. How can they be so good ???!!!!

Anyway I agree absolutely that 125 yards in is big for ST - that's the area that I've spent most time on. Crashing driver after driver is fine, but (a) I get tired quickly and my quality decreases and (b) I reckon that dialing in those wedges from 125 yards or less is what will have the biggest effect on my score. That's where ST is really useful for me. I have done lots of mapping for 8I, 9I, PW, GW and SW for both 9 o/clock and 10.30 length swings and it can give you a real arsenal of short shots. Once you're confident you know how far it will carry with those 10 combinations it's just a case of executing on the course............

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Are you hitting off a tee or a mat ????? Off a tee, I never have any issue seeing the same kind of flight I get IRL. From my mat, which is a very short nap, if I hit even just a little bit fat it shows up on Skytark as a hook. I'm assuming since I'm contacting the mat first and not the ball I'm twisting the face of the club as it bounces of the mat.

Yep...This ^^

[jschalk]

I just got a different mat (homemade divot action) and don't hook the ball as much. I think the bounce of the mat is huge.

[Dan McWhirter]

Most telling off the mat....Your contact felt good, jeez!, that was pretty good! And the damn SkyTrak shows you hit it about two-thirds your normal distance but with your normal trajectory...Damn. Well fat is fat even if it felt good.

[jut111]

I definitely think there is something to the spin decay or lack thereof that causes larger then you'd expect curvature. However I also think alignment is a factor as well. Over time naturally on the course you adjust what looks "straight" to you based on your ballflight. In an indoor sterile environment with a nice square edge mat, you don't have that point of reference and actually align better - i.e. more straight.

Point of this ramble is what looks to you on the course like a 5 yard push draw, may in actuality be a 20 yard pull draw but your aimed right of target on the course to allow for it.

[billyb]

That makes perfect sense. I'm already hitting straighter shots and getting more square to the target. Can't wait for the spring.

Thank you everyone who has helped me in the forum.