Skytrak - Does elevation of your hitting location matter?

[brob2k1]

At home I have not really noticed any issues outside a few misreads here and there which I kind of expect based on what other have posted. With that said I took my Skytrak to a close by range to see if there would be a difference in range. I generally do not feel like i'm taking a full shot at home so my thought was at the range i'll swing freely and should see that in distance. This was true when it came to my Irons for the most part but for my woods and some hybrids the skytrak was not registering at all the correct distance. shots that I know were going 200 were registering 130s.

The one thing that I was wondering was if elevation matters and what I mean is if the driving range where you are hitting from is higher than the field? At this particular range there is an elevation drop from where you hit and where your ball is going to end up.

[Morini]

Elevation has a near negligible impact. It is 1.2% extra carry per 1000 feet elevation. You have to look at the ball data and see where the problem lies. Ball speed, launch angle, spin. If the results are very random (for example crazy side angle et.) Skytrak is sitting too high, so the trajectory for woods are at the extreme bottom of sensor field of view. Move the ball back two inches for woods (away from screen) and see if it helps.

[3on3putt]

I don't think he means elevation as in distance above sea level. He's talking about elevation as in hitting from on top of a hill to a range that is down below.

No, that does not matter with skytrak as it is only capturing the ball immediately after impact. The skytrak has no idea that your range is downhill. Skytrak does not like direct sun, nor does it like grass and dirt flying through the camera's vision. Just as you do at home, make sure the bottom of the unit is at the same height as the hitting surface and tee it up behind the red dot. Also, range balls don't perform the same as regular balls so any range data should be taken with a grain of salt.

[brob2k1]

Appreciate the replies. the only alignment I could think of at the range is to ensure it's butted up against the side of the mat but other than that you are pretty much stuck. I'll try the move ball back / forward at the range but have generally not done that at home since I really don't hit wedges there.

For drivers is the recommendation to have the red dot in front of the ball? At the range i'll was trying my best to get it as close as possible and not a single shot registered properly.

[Morini]

Yeah, sorry I misread that. Elevation difference is basically yard for yard. If you are 15 yards above landing area, take 15 yards off.

Ball placement is more to do with getting reads than accuracy. If the ball is in view, the unit is accurate. The caveats 3on3putt mentions are valid. Sunlight, glare, dirt, range balls etc will interfere with reads.

Yes, for most people a few inches behind red dot works best. It depends on tee height and driver trajectory. Low shots back. Medium on dot. And high in front.

[brob2k1]

Yeah, sorry I misread that. Elevation difference is basically yard for yard. If you are 15 yards above landing area, take 15 yards off.

Thanks, that's what I was getting out. using the scope I could see i was hitting for example 200 but the skytrak was returning 150/160 so for bag mapping it really sucked which is what I was trying to do. I guess the best thing is going to be to find a range that is level since the two closest to me you are hitting from a higher elevation from where the ball is falling.

[Morini]

Like I said, just take a yard carry for each of elevation drop.