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.

[Wizard of Coz]

I watched a video of track man set up for indoors vs gc2 but balls hit outdoors so shots are viewed. Gc2 was getting shot shape correct trackman wasn’t consistently wrong. So outdoors in outdoor setting track man is the std. But indoors I would bet photometric monitors are superior. Aka gc2/skytrak

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Wow, that's interesting to read. With ball speeds that high, I would imagine you would need to place the tee/ball at least 1" to the right of the red laser dot. I've certainly seen positioning affect the ability to capture, but not the actual data.

On another note, we just received a new SDK with adjustments to high ball speed measurement (as a result of our robot test). I hope to be able to start testing next week during the PGA show.

[Kaj0341]

Any update on this? Thx

[Lombo]

Has anyone else tried to place the ball like Kaj0341 had explained and got increased distance results? I only swing at about 106mph with driver, so I am not a SS player, but I have certainly noticed that my driver distance suffers on the Skytrak, rarely getting a carry above 245-248, with an average around 242. I have always found these distances a few yards of carry short as compared to real life, but I figured as long as I keep everything relative, it's not a big deal. However, last night I tried placing the red dot towards the top of the rubber tee I use mimicking Kaj's visual, and after a couple of no reads, I blasted a 255 carry and then a I proceeded to register 3 out of my longest 5 shots I've ever hit with the Skytrak with carries in the 270's and ballspeeds in the 161-162 range, even one at 166. Now, not every swing produced these numbers so I didn't get too excited as I also had just as many readings to what I normally get with the Skytrak. The major drawback was lots of no reads and to be honest, I went back to the normal position because of this, but I will say I think it helped if you get the tee spot just in the right spot or I was swinging especially faster than normal. Just was wondering if anyone has given it a go to see what happens?

[frodaddy00]

I tried one drive in a tournament round using this approach. It required me to move the ball too close to the SkyTrak and it measure my shot as a dead right push like 80 yards offline... I haven't tried it since!

[colinjm18]

I too tried it in a tournament and it went about 50 yards straight on what felt like a solid swing so will not be trying again.

[Lucas MacEwan]

I just tried that. Currently I register a speed of 106 mph max on driver. I tried putting the laser on top of the tee, but couldn't get it to register. Moved it around a bit in the general area and the swing speed was the same.

[Morini]

You replied to a 2 year old post. A lot has happened since then, most importantly high ball speed fix. Club head speed is not measured, so don't bother. The laser is just a pointer, and has no other function. It does not have to point at a teed up ball. Most users have best results with ball one or two inches behind the red dot. Ball position has to do with getting the right trajectory so that the ball passes in full view of the imagers. It will help with getting reads, but will not have any impact on ball speed.