Carry distances short on all clubs - tried everything

[ksmerola]

I purchased a SkyTrak last month and have been very impressed with its accuracy in terms of ball flight, but I am having problems with carry distances coming up short. I know this is a common issue and have read numerous forums about possible solutions. I have tried everything I have read but am still having issues.

Things I’ve tried:
Adjusting the lighting in the room
Removing white/reflective backgrounds
Hitting off a stationary Fiberbuilt mat
Hitting from in front of and behind the laser
Using white balls with logo facing the unit
Aligning and leveling the unit
Adjusting temperature and altitude settings
Hitting from a tee vs. mat
Trying low spinning vs. high spinning balls

I am by no means a scratch golfer, but I have been playing enough recently to have a good sense of my carry distances for my clubs. I have been keeping track of the numbers the SkyTrak is giving me, and they all seem to be 80-82% of the expected distance. It does not matter if I use a sand wedge, 7 iron, 3 hybrid, or driver – they all give 80% of the expected distance. I also do not believe I am using an indoor swing as I have plenty of room around and above me to swing comfortably.

I am wondering if I might have gotten one of the rare units that is not calibrated correctly and was hoping to get some advice on here to see if it’s worth it to send it in for testing.

[colinjm18]

I would try putting your numbers into flight optimizer (google it) to see if your distances match.

How have you been checking your carry numbers as it can be very hard to get the correct number out on the coarse?

[ksmerola]

I will try the flight optimizer and see what it says. Thanks for the tip

I am basing my expected carry distances off of what I have seen when hitting at my local PGA store and also course performance. For example, I consistently hit the green on 150-155 yd par 3s with my 7 iron, but the SkyTrak has my 7 iron carrying 125-130 consistently

[CintiGolfer]

I'm not sure I would trust any store launch monitor. I hit some new irons last year at a Golf Galaxy and I hit them 15-20 yards farther than I normally do. I brought some of my existing irons with me and they went farther as well. I think they increase the distance to help sell golf clubs.

[FaultyClubs]

If they have a gc2 then look on the lcd screen. That isn't boosted.

[SZ]

Where are you located? If you’re at any kind of elevation, there is a setting in SkyTrak to set the elevation. I’m at 4200 ft so I set the SkyTrak for that and my distances are spot on with what I get on the coarse.

[Trickle007]

I agree I live in the mountains and at first all my distances were short. I then set my altitude and now distances are accurate.

[Morini]

. If you are in a hurry to get answers, would suggest either taking it outside or to a place where you can compare to Trackman/GC2. You may have to sacrifice a few balls if you are at the range.

Also, since you have a bit higher than LPGA swing speeds, compare your spin and VLA against LGPA numbers: https://blog.trackmangolf.com/trackm...ge-tour-stats/

If going outside at this point in time is not an option, I'd suggest laying an alignment stick down on the target line, so that you have less chance of subconsciously doing something to your swing. Also, use foot spray. If you catch one in the middle of the face, and it goes straight with spin and VLA in a reasonable range, absolutely no reason why it shouldn't carry full distance. You should have 7 iron ball speed around 112 mph based on the real world distances you indicated. If you don't get that, either you are not hitting it clean, your real life distances aren't what you think they are, or there is an issue with your unit.

[golfnhockey]

How many times have you used your Skytrak in the month that you've owned it?

Reason I ask is that I had the same problem that you did. I tried every suggestion that I read on here, including pretty much everything that you listed, until one day out of now where within the last week all of a sudden my unit started to give me accurate distances. Makes me think there is some sort of break in period, however odd that sounds.

A couple things to try that may help you, that helped me a bit....
1: put a dark colored blanket/sheet/towel behind you. I use a dark blanket that is about 6' long starting at my right foot (right handed) and running toward the net.
2: make some sort of platform to match the height of your mat that you can put your Skytrak on. I made mine out of old plywood shelves. I havent seen anyone suggest this yet, but just something that I thought of. Reason being is that I saw that my mat was moving from shot-to-shot and thought that maybe the movement in the mat during the swing/strike meant that if the Skytrak was on the mat that it was getting inaccurate readings based on this slight movement.

[xdxaxvxex]

I had the same problem. My skytrak was perfectly level and looked like it was level with the mat. But then I realized my garage floor is not level; it slopes to the front for water to run off. So, I had to build a platform to make a perfectly level platform to hit off of. Then I used a long level to ensure the skytrak bottom was exactly level with the top of my hitting mat. This fixed it for me.