Skytrak as fitting/clubmaking tool

[G4zzel]

Anyone using Skytrak as the main launch monitor for fitting/clubmaking purposes? Any Pros and cons?

[Clevited]

I haven't fit myself exactly, but I have verfied my clubs that I have built for myself. Mainly drivers. I have sourced my own shafts, and heads and glue them together and even shortened one. I can easily verify that I am still achieving what I want with launch numbers with the Skytrak. It is a very nice tool to have, I don't have to wait until I can get on my local club's Trackman.

I really don't think there are any con's. I think Skytrak is plenty accurate/consistent to see differences in performance. I have compared drivers before and it is amazing how consistently different the two clubs where. One launched a lot higher and spun a lot more every swing. The other launched perfect and spun much less. If you want a con, that would be inability to check that you swung the same speed for each club test, but ball speed should be an indicator of that as long as you are hitting them in the middle.

[G4zzel]

I haven't fit myself exactly, but I have verfied my clubs that I have built for myself. Mainly drivers. I have sourced my own shafts, and heads and glue them together and even shortened one. I can easily verify that I am still achieving what I want with launch numbers with the Skytrak. It is a very nice tool to have, I don't have to wait until I can get on my local club's Trackman.

I really don't think there are any con's. I think Skytrak is plenty accurate/consistent to see differences in performance. I have compared drivers before and it is amazing how consistently different the two clubs where. One launched a lot higher and spun a lot more every swing. The other launched perfect and spun much less. If you want a con, that would be inability to check that you swung the same speed for each club test, but ball speed should be an indicator of that as long as you are hitting them in the middle.

Great!

I've just started looking into the whole clubmaking world and I need a great tool to get the data right. Today I've got the space, netting, projector etc. because I have the R-motion-simulator. I will probably buy a Skytrak this year but I also need to buy some other gadgets to get starting. My first tool was a swing-weight scale and im looking to buy a loft/lie bending tool and loft/lie gauge as well.

[Clevited]

Only thing I would warn you of, and you might already know this, but if fitting for irons, the mat you hit off of has a ton of influence. If you for instance hit a 7 iron off of a mat with 5000 spin, and 21 degree launch angle, and carry X distance, that might be 7000 spin, 16 launch angle and Y distance off of grass. So if you haven't already, find the best possible mat that matches the behavior of hitting off of grass as you can. For driver that doesn't really matter. Only thing there is hitting indoors can be hard for some people to swing the same as they do outdoors and that can skew numbers.

[G4zzel]

Your absolutely right. But that would be the same problems with whatever launch monitor i believe. If you as you say are aware of that then its not a problem. I hope that the Skytrak can give me consistent readings shot after shot so I can compare difference between the altered club and the old one in terms of consistency, feel and such.

[Clevited]

Oh sure, yeah comparing one club against another is no problem all things being equal, but if you a building a club to achieve a certain ball flight, the mat makes it tough (again only for clubs hit lff the ground)

[cmckelvmi]

I am sure you guys are aware of this little nugget I recently learned about, but I was blown away by the simplicity. I assumed the only accurate way to measure lie angle was to use a GC2 with HMT. A PGA teaching pro told me about how the lie board is called a lie board for two reasons, first it tells you the lie angle, and secondly it lies to you. He told me to use a dry erase marker and draw a line as perfect to vertical as you can on your ball. Then have that line aimed at your contact point, then after contact you will see the line on your club to determine if you're level, toe up, or toe down. Of course, don't do this if you're hitting into an impact screen.

[Clevited]

I am sure you guys are aware of this little nugget I recently learned about, but I was blown away by the simplicity. I assumed the only accurate way to measure lie angle was to use a GC2 with HMT. A PGA teaching pro told me about how the lie board is called a lie board for two reasons, first it tells you the lie angle, and secondly it lies to you. He told me to use a dry erase marker and draw a line as perfect to vertical as you can on your ball. Then have that line aimed at your contact point, then after contact you will see the line on your club to determine if you're level, toe up, or toe down. Of course, don't do this if you're hitting into an impact screen.

Yeah, I am aware of that, it is handy. I recently bought used clubs that were more upright based on that. They are much more comfortable to swing, now more catching toe at impact.