My ST numbers seem to be off compared to the video of the guy at the ST booth

[Nasdaqsam]

You know what's funny about the numbers is one of buddies came over tonight with his antique cubs. Hasn't played golf in 3 years, he is cranking it 220 with a 30 year old driver the size of my 3
hybrid. Dam hockey players they just seem to be naturals at golf. It took 8 holes and a ton of drinks before his game started falling apart and I pulled away with a sizable lead.

[Morini]

Most things have already been said. Ball speed is by far the most important factor in determining distance. Ball speed is primarily determined by club head speed (unless a mishit, but the posted screen shot did not seem to be). I am not sure what causes the ST and real life yardages to differ.

[xdxaxvxex]

Just got my skytrak a few weeks ago. I was struggling with yardage coming up short on the ST. I happened to be taking lessons at golftec at the same time and was getting consistent distances at golftec that matched my outdoor experience, but ST was coming up consistently 10-15% short. Turns out I had the skytrak level, but my 5x5 CCE hitting mat was not level because my garage floor slopes to drain water out the front. I had to build a wood platform to get a level hitting area. Then I used a long level to ensure the height of my ST exactly matched the height of my ST. That fixed the problem. I've been surprised at how extremely sensitive it is and how being just a little bit unlevel throws off the distances.

[Morini]

Hmm. Leveling shouldnt affect ball speed one iota. It might affect VLA marginally, not sure. Maybe the sloping mat caused you to catch it a bit fat or thin?

[xdxaxvxex]

"Hmm. Leveling shouldnt affect ball speed one iota. It might affect VLA marginally, not sure. Maybe the sloping mat caused you to catch it a bit fat or thin?"

Hi Moroni. Thanks for the reply. No, I'm 100% sure the distance coming up short was not due to hitting it fat or thin. I don't understand why but it was due to hitting from an unlevel hitting mat (due to unlevel garage floor) even though the ST was perfectly level. Son in law had the exact same level as did a few other golfers who came and hit. An initial test of taking the skytrak out of the fmj and putting it on the mat itself for a couple test hits solved the problem (so, the skytrak was exactly aligned with the mat- but both were on a slight downhill slope). Then, put the skytrak back in it's fmj, back to the side of the mat (not on the mat), but used cardboard to level the mat. Again, the distance was fixed and accurate. Ultimately, the cardboard was temporary and I built a hitting mat out of plywood and 2x4's with a 1/2" slope to get back to level from my unlevel garage. Have hit hundreds of balls since then and it reads accurately.

I really think hitting off of an unlevel hitting surface is a major problem for a lot of people and the skytrak setup instructions and troubleshooting don't address it adequately. Would save people a lot of hassle knowing up front they need to get to a level hitting surface before starting.

I certainly considered if the problem was my hitting - including "indoor swing", but I'm sure it was not because a) multiple other golfers who also know their distances hit and had the same shortage problem; b) I was taking lessons and hitting every couple days at golftec- only with a 7 iron- to work on my swing and rule out any variance with clubs. I would come home and immediately hit the same 7 iron- and could tell if I hit a clean shot vs fat or thin and every single shot was coming out 10-15% short c) by trial and error and testing many things to fix it- leveling the hitting surface was the only thing that worked and it immediately fixed the problem and once a permanent platform was built- permanently fixed the problem.

[Nasdaqsam]

As having a similar issue of shorter distances with my irons one thing I found was the CCE mats even if scrubbed an insignificant amount will cause significant club head speed lose IE ball speed. I am wondering if having the mat off level if you might have been hitting slightly behind and into the mat. Once leveled you would no longer do this. I know cutting out a 12" x 12" section of my CCE and inserting a FB square made a significant difference. Not to mention a lot less back and joint pain.

[Morini]

Interesting. This needs to sorted out one way or another. Was the loss of distance due to lack of ball speed, excessive spin, non-optimal trajectory, or perhaps a combination?

Seth, what are your thoughts of this. Are Skytraks sensitive to leveling in general, or is it only an issue on some units. Does leveling (or lack of) affect ball speed?

[JohnR]

I think I am running into the same thing. My ST is leveled based on the bubble level on top, which compared to the mat (sloping down towards the open garage) is essentially sloped "up." My theory is that the ST then sees a lower launch angle than actual...potentially effecting other metrics. Got my ST a couple of weeks ago and noticed FAR shorter shots than IRL - like regular 240-250 carry on my driver is now 200-210 ish. Maybe not solely due to the 5° down-bubble on the mat vs ST, but that has to be contributing. I have other tweaks on ball position to figure out, but I am building a shim/platform this weekend...

[Neepster]

I would ignore the bubble on the top... use the internal level (access bottom right from the Skytrak home screen once logged-in)