Skytrak alignment and misreads - BIG problem!! need help as close to giving up on it.

[David Williams 'Chips']

Those Shots make much more sense with the unit being so far closed. That’s no good at all having it so far closed. You’ve got to take the unit onto a range and compare the real ball flight! We’re just going round in circles otherwise!

IMO, the most likely thing is that the SkyTrak is accurate, and one of, or a combination of, the following is giving you poor results:
1) on the course you aim way right, but with a matt or other alignment aid, you aim square resulting in a shot way left (this is very common with amateurs).
2) ‘indoor swing’ effect is causing you to make bad swings.
3) the matt is catching the heel and turning the club over.

You said earlier that you tested the side angle by noting where the ball hit the impact screen. You didn’t say that you had the unit so far closed to carry out the test! Side angle and side spin are affected by face angle, so square the unit up, and test the actual side angle with SkyTrak’s side angle. Make sure you hit the ball slightly to the right. A hook is much more likely when you pull the ball too.

But really, compare it to real life ball flight outside! And don’t come back until you’ve done that. 😉

Dan

I hear you DannyMRICS , I hear you

[David Williams 'Chips']

For myself, I have a bit of a pull draw. When I bought the Skytrak, i though my shots were way off. I took it out to the range, not because of the draw, which i thought was way too much, but generally just to see how accurate it was. I was very pleasantly surprised. Using a laser for distance, I found that carry distance was pretty accurate. I also found that my ball flight was pretty accurate as well. Seeing it IRL, allowed me to make some corrections, which carried back to home use.

I made 3 changes.
1) Changed mats. I was using a Country Club Elite insert which I changed to what the range used. Fiberbuilt. Never looked back. Easier on the elbows too.
2) Secured the mat system I made, so that it didn't move when I hit.
3) Center everything on the screen using the skytrak app, then hit short straight chips at the center line, till I was happy that the unit was aligned.

That did it for me. Not saying that your unit is perfect. You may have a problem unit. But you will not know until you actually see the ball flight for real, while the unit is giving you readings.

I did post a long.....ok, a very long comment on my days at the range. If it's not too boring you might find it interesting.

One thing I will say for sure. If you get it to the point where its working for you, along with a sim (TGC for me), the enjoyment factor is enormous.

Excellent Whiskeyjack , i will read your posts 100%, it's all very interesting to me. I'm just starting my journey and I'm looking forward to good times ahead. I had a quick 15 minutes with the unit after my round and focused on getting my ball path out to the right and swung a bit easier and immediately I saw an improvement in my numbers. By swinging a bit easier, got more ball, less mat, less spin, straighter, longer shots. Cowabunga!!!! I downloaded the free 30 days E6 Trugolf trial as I can't afford The Golf Club Game yet but it seems my laptop is not good enough to run the software unfortunately.

[Whiskeyjack]

For myself, I have a bit of a pull draw. When I bought the Skytrak, i though my shots were way off. I took it out to the range, not because of the draw, which i thought was way too much, but generally just to see how accurate it was. I was very pleasantly surprised. Using a laser for distance, I found that carry distance was pretty accurate. I also found that my ball flight was pretty accurate as well. Seeing it IRL, allowed me to make some corrections, which carried back to home use.

I made 3 changes.
1) Changed mats. I was using a Country Club Elite insert which I changed to what the range used. Fiberbuilt. Never looked back. Easier on the elbows too.
2) Secured the mat system I made, so that it didn't move when I hit.
3) Center everything on the screen using the skytrak app, then hit short straight chips at the center line, till I was happy that the unit was aligned.

That did it for me. Not saying that your unit is perfect. You may have a problem unit. But you will not know until you actually see the ball flight for real, while the unit is giving you readings.

I did post a long.....ok, a very long comment on my days at the range. If it's not too boring you might find it interesting.

One thing I will say for sure. If you get it to the point where its working for you, along with a sim (TGC for me), the enjoyment factor is enormous.

[DannyMRICS]

Those Shots make much more sense with the unit being so far closed. That’s no good at all having it so far closed. You’ve got to take the unit onto a range and compare the real ball flight! We’re just going round in circles otherwise!

IMO, the most likely thing is that the SkyTrak is accurate, and one of, or a combination of, the following is giving you poor results:
1) on the course you aim way right, but with a matt or other alignment aid, you aim square resulting in a shot way left (this is very common with amateurs).
2) ‘indoor swing’ effect is causing you to make bad swings.
3) the matt is catching the heel and turning the club over.

You said earlier that you tested the side angle by noting where the ball hit the impact screen. You didn’t say that you had the unit so far closed to carry out the test! Side angle and side spin are affected by face angle, so square the unit up, and test the actual side angle with SkyTrak’s side angle. Make sure you hit the ball slightly to the right. A hook is much more likely when you pull the ball too.

But really, compare it to real life ball flight outside! And don’t come back until you’ve done that. 😉

Dan

[maine skytrak]

If I put the unit square to target, it ends up 80+ yards left unfortunately. It will start well left of centre and then the spin sends it further left but with the unit in this position, at least I can get it starting right of centre.

No doubt with it turned that far to the left it would have to start right of center, still seems crazy to me... but if the unit checked out and is ok I guess that's all ya can do.

[David Williams 'Chips']

That's where I'm a little confused, with your machine that far close I thought your "target" line would be dead left? Have you tried turning the unit to the right or square? I recently had a issue with alignment and noticed a large smear mark on the black protective plastic for the cameras and I used windex to remove it and the crazy readings stopped, but mine still is "open" 2 degrees to right if I turned it as far right as you have it left all "straight" shot would show up on the screen as left.

If I put the unit square to target, it ends up 80+ yards left unfortunately. It will start well left of centre and then the spin sends it further left but with the unit in this position, at least I can get it starting right of centre.

[maine skytrak]

I 2nd that bs531 , the guys who have helped on here have been fantastic fair play, I was ready to sell the unit and put it down to a bad experience but I believe I can get a lot of enjoyment out of it as I'd originally hoped. Morini and Gresh12, big thanks to you especially for your time and helpful advice. I played 18 earlier on my local course and I was shocked to see that hitting on a sim as much as I have recently has changed my swing. Today, I was actually hitting hooks just like on the sim (not quite as bad but close) so I've taken my sim swing to the course. Mixed feelings on it, pleased that the sim numbers were not as ridiculous as I thought but not so good that I've started bending the ball off to the left so much. maine skytrak , I agree, the unit shouldn't have to be closed this much to get it starting on a straight (ish) line and the left spin numbers do appear excessive. There does seem to be a problem with my unit from that perspective. But like I said in my very first post, I sent it away to be looked at and apparently there's nothing wrong with it but I think I've seen enough to suggest otherwise. What do you reccomend SkyTrak_Seth ? Also, does anyone know how I can adjust the settings in the range so that I can start the ball out right and see it bend back into my target as opposed to constantly missing it left? I can't really aim right because my setup is already very right biased. I know this can be done on a GC2 unit but not sure it's doable on the ST? I know that I can change the offset to the right but the ball will start on the centre line and not start 30 yards right for example. Cheers Dave

That's where I'm a little confused, with your machine that far close I thought your "target" line would be dead left? Have you tried turning the unit to the right or square? I recently had a issue with alignment and noticed a large smear mark on the black protective plastic for the cameras and I used windex to remove it and the crazy readings stopped, but mine still is "open" 2 degrees to right if I turned it as far right as you have it left all "straight" shot would show up on the screen as left.

[Gresh12]

You can’t “aim right” in the Skytrak range software like you can in TGC. I’ve asked for this in the past as my setup also has the issue I can’t aim right physically and I naturally play a draw which means I struggle a bit with skills assessment etc as I miss left more than I would on course (the plus is it’s got me focusing on hitting a smaller draw and making it a bit of a push draw to hit the centre).

[David Williams 'Chips']

I 2nd that bs531 , the guys who have helped on here have been fantastic fair play, I was ready to sell the unit and put it down to a bad experience but I believe I can get a lot of enjoyment out of it as I'd originally hoped. Morini and Gresh12, big thanks to you especially for your time and helpful advice. I played 18 earlier on my local course and I was shocked to see that hitting on a sim as much as I have recently has changed my swing. Today, I was actually hitting hooks just like on the sim (not quite as bad but close) so I've taken my sim swing to the course. Mixed feelings on it, pleased that the sim numbers were not as ridiculous as I thought but not so good that I've started bending the ball off to the left so much. maine skytrak , I agree, the unit shouldn't have to be closed this much to get it starting on a straight (ish) line and the left spin numbers do appear excessive. There does seem to be a problem with my unit from that perspective. But like I said in my very first post, I sent it away to be looked at and apparently there's nothing wrong with it but I think I've seen enough to suggest otherwise. What do you reccomend SkyTrak_Seth ? Also, does anyone know how I can adjust the settings in the range so that I can start the ball out right and see it bend back into my target as opposed to constantly missing it left? I can't really aim right because my setup is already very right biased. I know this can be done on a GC2 unit but not sure it's doable on the ST? I know that I can change the offset to the right but the ball will start on the centre line and not start 30 yards right for example. Cheers Dave

[Mirek_62]

Also, I recently started having a big left rotation problem. It was a mistake in swing and grip. I started to swing too far from inside and soon inside. At the same time, I unconsciously changed my grip to a very strong grip.
At first I had to fix the swing path with the help of the aiming sticks. The goal was to limit too much inside position of club on top and delay the back swing to inside in finish. I have reduced the left spin to less than half of the high left spin values.
Next, I focused on my strong grip that I changed to a more neutral grip. After a few sessions I now play a steady light draw. I have the same eccentric position of the swing path (closer to the right wall), there may be the influence of psyche, when you subconsciously swing from the wall and sooner you close or rotate the head of the club.

[bs531]

I have been having the same issue with a large hook with high left spin numbers over the last couple of weeks. Had a friend over last night who is a much better golfer and that issue never presented for him. I think one of the earlier comments about hitting it fat is my issue. Another thing that seems to help for me is to make sure my hitting mat does not move on impact. SkyTrak works great as far as I can tell. Thank you to everyone here for all of the good advice/info

[maine skytrak]

Another frustrating session in which I experimented a bit but didn't really learn anything new. See pics attached:

That looks crazy off to me, especially a 65 yard shot with high 1500's of hook spin...I was purposely trying to replicate that and the highest I could get was 900's and I hooding the face and flipping it a impact. Try a harder less spinning ball vs a pro V and see what the results are...strange.

[Dan McWhirter]

That alignment is crazy looking, nevertheless, based on start direction and spins, looks alright! But, besides that, I notice the big hooks also have lower launch angles...I ain't no teacher, but seems to me you might be over rotating your arms or applying strong wrists and hands or something in a flatter swing that results in a ton of left spin. I also noticed that regardless of distance, if you released at the right side 100 yard marker, you'd be hitting the pin, looks likes every time!

[Gresh12]

I’m looking at this on my phone so wasn’t easy to compare shots but here are my general observations:

- the drivers do look like a big hook visually which may not be your ball flight in practice but I will say the few I looked at were less than 35y left and I believe tour driving dispersion is about 70y so I’m wondering if the visual looks worse when you see the trail than you’re actually getting (the bigger misses are left rough not trees).
- you were able to produce a big slice so it’s not that everything hooks which I guess we can call a positive
- the no tee on average appeared to hook more than those off a tee for the irons. This still suggests to me you are catching turf and it’s shutting the face on you (there was one big hook off a tee also though but I’m wondering if that was still heavy. I have my unit on the axis view for spin so not as used to sidespin numbers vs degrees but if I put a big hook swing on an iron and catch the turf I can produce hooks like you are seeing. I’d try to hit 5 balls solid off a high tee where you pick them clean (delete shots you feel any turf) then hit 5 off the turf without a tee and compare.
- the hybrid and driver are longer clubs so are more prone to indoor swing so I wouldn’t rule this out. I’m guessing your flattening on these.
- your unit is still closed a lot in my opinion if your mat runs parallel to screen. If The unit needs to be angled that much so a centre shot reads straight I’d be concerned on calibration. Maybe Seth can comment before you send it for repairs but that angle looks too big to me. I don’t think this impacts your spin but raises general questions.
- I’m not a golf teacher but you seem to be adding loft to your 8 iron (launched one with 11k spin and another at 27* compared to normal of ~8k and ~18*) so I’m wondering if you’re flipping your wrists at impact to square the face and then the turf is exaggerating it.

Not sure I’m really helping at this stage but my general comments are: I don’t like how closed your unit is in general but the spin still feels like it could be mat/indoor swing.

[David Williams 'Chips']

I'm back and not defeated yet, thanks all for your help. I didn't make it out to the course earlier as the weather wasn't great.

SkyTrak_Seth - see pic for how closed the unit is, not an issue for me if I don’t have to keep changing it for each club. Grateful for your feedback on the latest screenshots.

Gresh12 - my apologies, I do appreciate you are trying to help and I am grateful. I have just felt very disappointed so far with the ST and after spending thousands of pounds to get where I am now, however, I had a much more positive session earlier and not all shots going left with the high left spin. I do believe the unit is giving exaggerated left spin numbers but I realised I haven’t been following through as much as I would on the course and believe my hands were taking over a bit. I have attached more pics from the session earlier, a bit of a mixed bag but I believe more realistic.
I’m not a big hitter but the driver distances were lower than I’d expect. I hit Driver, 22 degree rescue, 5i and 8i and all with and without a tee. One 5i went 188 yards which is much further than I normally would hit with that club. What are your observations with the latest screenshots? Go nuts, I won’t be offended honest ;-).

Morini, I didn’t try your suggestion to see if placing unit between me and the ball will produce slice spin but will give this a try and will take it out to see where the ball is actually going. Again Morini, grateful if you have anything to add with the latest screenshots, any patterns, anything positive or negative?