Driver boost setting

[rdeyer]

I have tinkered between the 0 boost and 5 boost setting for my driver. My problem is I don't know my exact distances to know which one is closer to real life. The point of this thread isn't to rehash the debate of whether boost should be allowed on tour (I see some of those threads draw out strong opinions both ways). My question is that for Skytraks in particular have people found driver distances to be spot on with 0 boost, or does it generally under report, making the boost more realistic? Do people generally find the irons, woods, and wedges to also be spot on with 0 boost?

[Morini]

This is not a simple one to answer, but I feel that on average, Skytrak ball data is accurate ... on average. Unbiased in other words. As such, 0 is the most accurate boost. However, there are factors beyond ball data. For driver, indoor swing could be an issue. Most people overcome it, but if space is tight, it could remain to a small degree. With regards to irons, it is obviously not all about distance, but also spin.The mat really comes into play. If the spin is too low of your mat, the ball will go too far, and won't stop on greens like it would in real life. As such, you may not play sim approaches exactly like you would in actual golf, so I don't think the goal of matching outdoor carry exactly is as relevant.
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If the goal is to have consistent numbers with your outdoor game, it coms down to specific and personal situation. You really do need to know your outdoor numbers. Iron carry shouldn't be too hard to know. You will often find your pitch mark and can laser back. With the driver you may need a spotter.

[Needsmoreeagles]

It just seemed like boost was needed to play at my home (@altitude 6200 ft) #s. We felt the elevation drop. It may not be perfect but it’s not broken either!

[EG$]

The SkyTrak app is spot on for me for all clubs after they fixed the ball speed over 150mph issue.

However, as far as I know the 150 fix wasn’t ever added to the SkyTrak TGC interface and I still see a 3 to 7 mph discrepancy between the SkyTrak app and TGC. 150 x .05 is 7.5 which slightly exceeds the top of the 5% range at that speed, but we're talking about a 1/2 a mph. I'm not certain how much administrative work it is to implement the 150 fix into the interface, but the 5% boost is a solid workaround. For me with a driver, the SkyTrak app, TGC with 5%, and my real world carry are all within +/- 2 yards.

The short answer to this if you have a club (or clubs) that exceed 150mph, the boost will make up the difference. It gets more complicated if you have 2 or 3 clubs that exceed 150. If you can get a 3 wood over 150, it would make sense to add the 5% to the fairway woods, but if you also carry a 5 wood, it would also apply the 5% even though you might not be able to get it over 150. You'd have to do some self policing at that point.

[EG$]

Morini - What SDK/interface version are you running? I'm running 4.2.7.

I top out in the low 160's with my driver and I'm consistently in the high 150's in the SkyTrak app. Most ball speed readings I get within TGC are 153 with the occasional 155. I've seen it show 160 maybe 3 times ever.

[Morini]

Same, 4.2.7.. My son is about 165 ball speed average ... on both. It has never been officially confirmed, but about a year ago many users above 150 mph started reporting identical ball speed ST range and TGC2019. Strangely, some still report a difference.

[Morini]

Maybe you should contact Protee.

[EG$]

Not a bad idea Morini, but this setup is working for me which is why I'm hesitant to mess around with it.

I'm not sure if you know the answer to this or not, but how does the recorded shot data get imported into the tour site? Trying to figure out if the ball speed number is calculated before or after the 5% is applied. My best guess is after because I'm seeing a 157 average on the tour site and if you added 5% to a 157 average I'd be seeing mid 160's in the game which is definitely NOT happening.

This is the from the tour site:
"48","TPC River Highlands","","DR","455.00","TEE","158.2","-4.5","15.3","-22.9","-781","1850","287.39"
"45","TPC River Highlands","","DR","329.00","TEE","156.2","-0.8","16.9","-24.6","-842","1841","285.52"
"39","TPC River Highlands","","DR","423.00","TEE","156.1","0.8","1 6.7","-13.9","-514","2080","279.23"
"36","TPC River Highlands","","DR","555.00","TEE","155.2","-0.6","13.5","-8.2","-373","2592","260.21"
"29","TPC River Highlands","","DR","453.00","TEE","153.7","0.2","1 8.1","7.4","291","2243","274.14"
"25","TPC River Highlands","","DR","408.00","TEE","157.4","1.2","1 6.1","-13.1","-512","2203","277.85"
"22","TPC River Highlands","","DR","331.00","TEE","156.2","-0.1","14.5","-1.6","-63","2261","273.14"
"19","TPC River Highlands","","DR","428.00","TEE","157.9","0.0","1 6.4","-0.8","-31","2262","280.94"
"139","TPC River Highlands","","DR","433.00","TEE","156.8","1.5","1 2.5","3.3","143","2496","263.86"
"136","TPC River Highlands","","DR","377.00","TEE","157.3","0.1","1 1.9","-4.1","-187","2612","260.40"

This is from my last SkyTrak session:
157 17.2 2852 7.8 -163 34 272 24 296 8 43 43 108 1.5
156 19.1 2141 2.9 -92 10 281 28 309 7 42 43 107 1.5
156 18.5 2129 3.6 -244 3 279 28 307 7 41 41 106 1.5
155 18.9 2137 3 -153 6 277 28 305 7 41 41 105 1.5
157 15.6 2188 2 -575 -24 272 28 300 7 38 34 107 1.5
153 18.7 2003 4.4 -288 4 274 28 302 7 40 39 104 1.5
156 19.3 2379 4.5 -102 19 277 27 304 8 43 44 106 1.5

Ball speed and carry numbers are very very close.

[Morini]

The displayed ball speed in TGC2019 is before boost. That is all I know. I don't know anything about the tour site.

[Morini]

I guess one way of finding out is to remove the boost temporarily.

[taeho]

i got a feel basic config is make shortly distance. .actually i got driver distance like 245~265 yd. but basic skytrack config 0. made 215 yd~230yd. when i modify config +10 i got 255yd. thats better for me.

[sbrentt]

I've only had the Skytrak for less then a week, however this is what I have found. I've hit countless iron shots and I feel the data is spot on, its actually really impressive. When I hit my driver of the Birtee tee it goes significantly less then "real life". I'm no long ball hitter, but I know I fly 250 yds pretty much every time...of all the Skytrak shot I hit with driver I haven't gone over 250 total yds once. Sometimes as low as 210-220 yds total. Now when I hit my 3wd off the mat (no tee) its accurate just like my irons...about 240-250 total yds, when I hit it normal.

For the more experienced Skytrak users...is using a tee, which obviously makes the ball not level with the Skytrak causing the reading to reduce yardage somehow??

I wish I had the "talent" to hit driver off the deck to test, but that's no an option unfortunately lol

[rdeyer]

Skytrak doesn't have any issues reading the ball off a tee.

No matter which launch monitor you have (Skytrak, GC2, GC3, Uneekor QED/Eye, etc.), there are so many posts out there people questioning their distances. I'm making up percentages but I feel like 99% of the time its the person and their swing, and only 1% of the time is there any actual issues with the LM. I even went through a phase where I swore my Skytrak was shorting my drives but now I'm driving a lot further and think its spot on. It takes a bit to understand the impact of launch angle and spin on the ball, but once you do you'll be able to instantly understand why a certain drive goes 210 and another goes 250.

[sbrentt]

Not trying to be a Smart@ss, but are you saying that the LM is just wrong for drivers and you have to live with it or are you saying thats what I am actually hitting for distance and the Skytrak is correct?

Every other club goes exactly the distance I expect including 3 wd and 5 wd off the mat. I would find it very hard to believe that all the sudden I hit my 3 wd significantly longer then my driver. Obviously I’ll take the Skytrak to the range and get actual results, but I don’t buy that I’m just hitting that one club way shorter.

[rdeyer]

I'm saying that the majority of the time the launch monitor is correct. If you send your specific #'s though (launch angle, spin rates, ball speed, carry, etc.) people can look them over and see if something appears off.

[Scoop]

The only thing that might affect the reads hitting off of the tee is if the tee is white. It is best to use a dark color tee. Otherwise, check the ball data (spin, launch, etc) and see if anything stands out there that would cause shorter distance.

[Morini]

I can see no reason why it would be accurate for all clubs including 3 wood and not driver. I'd start with footspray to ensure good contact. And as rdeyers suggests you need to dig deeper. How does 3 wood compare to driver in terms of ball speed, VLA, spin etc?

The skytrak literally just takes two pictures. The image engine analyzes the images to calculate ball data. The issue happens somewhere between these steps, so don't worry about distance, focus on the ball data.

[sbrentt]

So I haven't gotten to the range yet, but I did go to Golf Galaxy and used the Trackman for 30 minutes. I'm not going to get into all the details, but what it comes down to is my Skytrak under estimates my club head speed big time with the driver and even with my irons a little. I was wrong about my irons being spot on...they are actually about 5-8 yds shorter on the Skytrak vs the Trackman. My top club head speed out of a ton of Skytrak shots was 93mph, which i know is low for me...I hit 15 drivers on the Trackman and not a single one had a club head speed below 101mph. To me that is extremely significant. The irons were much less of a difference and for some reason my 3 wd was only a few mph off also, the guy there couldn't explain it either...but he said the Trackman numbers are accurate.

So back to the original point of the post...I think adding a boost to the driver is completely fair if the Skytrak is robbing you of yards. I'm not trying to start a debate or argue and maybe others are more accurate, but it is what it is at this point . Thanks for all the feedback.

[LeadZeppelin]

for me Ive found that the wedge to 7 iron is spot on but I am very suspect after that. For example I hit my 8 iron around 160 carry with a 109 ball speed ( all these numbers 0 boost) but my 4 iron with 129 ball speed only goes190 carry. My clubs are PXG gen 6 so I know its not that. And I am not talking a few shots but well over 100 each. I'm not sure why yet but my neighbor is the caddie for Miguel Jimenez and I sent him a screeshot of my numbers and he thinks something is off. I just got it so my next move is to take it to the range and compare yardages there.

LeadZeppelin