Skytrak driver distance fix!

[Kaj0341]

Hello all,

I have been reading ALOT of posts about ball speeds for higher SS players being way off. I would like to offer some advice outside of the normal it’s “your indooor swing” (although I agree that is a real thing we all have to overcome)

I recieved my Skytrak about 6 months ago. Immediately noticed my driver speeds were on the low side. I just figured I was hitting it a little “off”. One of my buddies comes over to play and this guy smashes it, I mean Bubba Watson, Rory, Cam etc smashes it. He is the type of guy who goes to test a club and everyone stops to stare at who the h*ll just hit that ball smashes it. He can’t get the skytrak to read over 159 ball speed. We also noticed it wouldnt read certain wedge shots, we moved the placement of the ball around the dot and instantly fixed that problem; wedges and irons read 99% of the time and at ball speeds we would expect.

We both begin tinkering with tee placement for the driver and after awhile we find what works for us. We simply put the tee in a position where the laser is hitting the top of the tee/bottom of the golf ball and WALLA great reads. I consistently get numbers that I get at demos.. between 160 on the heel and 170 on the high toe... my buddy is getting readings between 180-188. I will post a few pictures of exactly how we set up, I hope it helps someone that is struggling to find accurate driver numbers.

One thing that I think people fail to realize, these machines are mass produced and they all have a certain error to them. Not all the cameras are placed the same, the lasers are not all placed the same etc. Don’t give up on it, play around until you have hit it from every spot around that machine.

Good Luck, hope this helps at least one person.

[Dan McWhirter]

OMG! That's a beauuuutiful shot! Apparently the space around the red laser beam is a mysterious place. I'll try this soon. As an aside, e6 sand bunkers are no worse than fairway (maybe some penalty) and picking it out often works better than bouncing sand shot. So, I picked one out of the bunker IRL and sunk it to save an ugly two shanks bogey on a par 3.

[GolfGuy72_2000]

I'd move the tee anywhere if I could get even one drive to register 306 yards Thanks for the tip - have fun!

[pcascio]

Thank Kaj. In retrospect, this seems like common sense. All of our ground shots are positioned with the bottom of the ball on the laser spot.

[Gazpacho]

Thanks for the write up. Where did you find the sweet spot was for wedge shots. What about putting

[Kaj0341]

All of my wedges and short/mid irons are played about 1” in front of the dot.. 1” towards your net/screen. All of my long irons and 3 wood are played about 1” behind the dot. When we putt I place it right on it, putting is the only time I place the ball on the dot. I have found that even what shoes I am wearing can throw off the putting and wedge shots especially if you like to play a low flight high spin shot. I have a few pairs of grey shoes I can’t wear while I play.

One more thing we have noticed is cheaper clubs don’t like to read all the time. I am assuming it has a lot to do with the metals used to cast them. One of my friends has a cheap set that he plays with here and there and his wedges are so soft the metal scuffs when he blades a shot, those wedges almost never read (assuming they have a shine to them the camera doesnt like)

[Dave Lee]

It may be two different issues that you're seeing. The speeds being 15 mph lower than what he was expecting could be the camera wasn't catching all of the ball. Which the moving of the tee fixed. But I think the high speed problem is ~5-7 mph problem...which as far as i've seen or tested moving the position doesn't impact that. I wouldn't be surprised if you tried it again with a trackman behind you, those 180 mph shots are really 185 mph...etc But then again, maybe they hot fixed the issue. I haven't used my skytrack in 3 months haha.

[Morini]

The speeds being 15 mph lower than what he was expecting could be the camera wasn't catching all of the ball. .

Definitely catching the ball as in travelling in front of the sensor, but I also think it has to do with the timing of firing the strobe. If the strobe fires at the wrong time, the ball may not be in a good position to be captured. Obviously, the faster the ball is travelling, the more important it is to time the strobe. From what I understand, the light reflected from the laser curtain determines the timing. Not sure exactly how this works. I would assume that in knowing when the ball passes in front of the sensor, you'd need to have a good idea of ball speed and vertical launch angle. Or does it fire the strobe continuously once laser curtain is passed. The first sounds complex, so perhaps the latter. I will read the patent again when I have a moment.

Edit: I checked the patent. It does use reflected light to estimate ball speed, which is then used to determine when to fire the IR strobe, and presumably also the interval between the two strobes. There is no mention of trajectory, so perhaps that is not important for strobe timing purposes. Still, dusting off my high school trig, I calculated that a ball launched at 40 degrees has to travels about 2 inches further to pass the sensor than a 10 degree launch. Not sure if this is enough to get poor readings. In any case, it is likely that all these factors (ball placement, trajectory, ball speed, individual unit tolerances) interplay, so good on Kaj0341 for experimenting and finding a solution.

[golfnhockey]

Kaj, thanks for the passing on the ball placement that you figured out. Im having issues with my higher ball speeds as well, starting with 8 iron at 20 yards short and moving on from there up to driver at 40-50 yards short. I found putting the ball 2" behind the laser dot slightly helped register higher ball speeds, but I havent tried your positioning test on my unit yet, so we'll see.

The mass production comment seems to ring true as well. Something slightly off could mean huge impacts to accuracy. Not sure what their quality control is like, but still seems like there are tons of people having accuracy issues. I dont necessarily want to send mine in to get looked at just to have them tell me its within specs with no resolution other than to just "figure it out".

[Supraracer]

Take the unit to another indoor range that uses trackman or GC2 and see how accurate it is.

[Kaj0341]

Golfnhockey,

I agree 100% I know that in the past they are quick to replace a unit that was bad. I would like to know what is bad and within specs.... at the end of the day we all have to realize what price point we are in.. if you want 100% accuracy trackman is the answer... for me I just want to have fun and work on my game.. now I do understand that yardages are a huge part of the game but getting to hit balls year round on command can’t hurt your game...and if you get to the course and your drives are longer that’s never bad either!! learning to hit spin can’t hurt.. learning your ball flights etc... it does suck though that so many people are having issues with the driver, 1 of the 3 most important clubs in the bag and hands down the biggest ego check in the game!

[Morini]

I am still inclined to think that in the vast majority of situations, the unit either works accurately, or doesn't work at all. I don't believe that some units are more accurate than others. The rare exception would be units that are fully functional, but are significantly miscalibrated in terms of HLA.

I am also not sure that that many people are having issues with their driver. I do think it is slightly short, and I upped the elevation to compensate. Again, the known exception being ball speeds in excess of 160mph, which are read significantly short. On that topic, I have my fingers crossed that Rhapsodo identified and resolved the issue during recent robot testing. We will probably get an update on this soon during the PGA show.

[Kaj0341]

Mine originally was so bad that I was hitting 2 iron at 144-147 mph... 3 woods always in the 150’s and I couldn’t get the driver ball speed over 150... I was getting more ball speed from my 2i and 3 wood every shot!

[Kaj0341]

I agree that it is really only is a big difference for players with higher SS/BS.

[golfnhockey]

Kaj,

I agree that you get what you pay for and at this price point it is a great option. However, they claim that Skytrak has tested their units against Trackman and claim remarkable accuracy within a couple percent. If thats the case, then why are so many people having issues with distance accuracy? Something doesnt add up.

[golfnhockey]

Morini,

I have to crank my altitude up to 6500ft to get my distances to register accurately. I am also holding out hope that the upcoming Q1 update at the PGA show and the fix for high ball speeds will correct everyone's issues. My only other option at this point seems to send it in to have it looked at, but I know that they'll likely say its with in spec.

[Morini]

However, they claim that Skytrak has tested their units against Trackman and claim remarkable accuracy within a couple percent. If thats the case, then why are so many people having issues with distance accuracy? Something doesnt add up.

They have sold something like 30,000 units. People are more inclined to google and post if they are having trouble than if it is hunky dory, so we don't get a random sample. And of those that do post here about being short, most eventually resolve the issue to resulting from indoor swing, mat or other.

There are a number of posted reviews/tests, and most are quite close to real life/Trackman. They average a few percent short. Very little for the short irons, and then increasing slightly until driver.

Personally I tested pitches on a windless day, and also compared to trackman indoors. The pitches were slightly long under 30 yards, and about 2 percent short at 60 yards. When I put elevation to 1500, it was very close. On the trackman, spin, and VLA for irons and woods was ridiculously close, and ball speed again averaged a few percent short, with the odd one quite a bit more.

[trhuke]

Yours is a remarkably reasonable take on this. Bravo!