Skytrak distances

[GungHoGolf]

Ron, Thanks for the input. I couldn't disagree more on the comment on significant variance in my carry numbers with my short irons. You are making a poor assumption based on my handicap. Whether its on the simulator, the range, or the course I am very consistent with distances with my short irons. When i gave my distances in the previous post they were averages, not the longest number I have ever hit. Your explanation is basically saying because i suck, only an 11 handicap, I'm too stupid to calculate my average carry numbers. My average with a PW on the course is 150 yards. I'm yet to hit a single ball 135 yards with a PW on the simulator after hundreds of shots. Maybe I need to hit thousands of shots to hit one 15 yards short of my average on course distance because I'm just an 11 handicap?

I'm just trying to help you based on almost 7 years of experience using, selling, and supporting SkyTraks. I said nothing about you "sucking" or say anything near "only an 11 handicap." I'm sorry if it came across that way - I certainly don't think you're "stupid."

Best advice is still what I said above - find a low-cap friend, have him come over and hit a few short and mid-irons with his own balls. Your unit could indeed be defective on reading carry - but it'd be the first verified case I've heard of in my years of experience (with the previous exception of high ball speed drives reading short before a 2020 software update).

Another way to find out (besides sending your unit in to SkyTrak for testing): find a local indoor golf facility with TrackMan, Flightscope, Foresight, or Uneekor monitors, and book 30 minutes with them. Take your SkyTrak and see how the numbers compare.

Another thing to check: make sure you don't have a North wind turned on in settings. You probably would have noticed that in the interface, but a couple of users have missed that being on before and been surprised by their short carries.

Finally: make sure you're using a fresh, new ball when testing. Balls crack all the time when hitting indoors, and they commonly come up 20-30% short for a couple dozen shots before you see/hear them crack.

[preludesam]

You did your best Ron and I’m proud of you.

[Morini]

150 yard PW carry is very very long. Comparatively Millertime20s must be carrying driver well over 300 yards. Probably 125 CHS and 325 yard carry. If that is not the case, maybe there is some delofting going on with short irons, and maybe on sim the ball rolls up the face, and launches high. Millertime, post a photo of a PW shot.

[OC_Mike]

GungHo - what is your experience with Skytrak and hooky ball flight in comparison to all of the other units you have access to?

[GungHoGolf]

I've played around adjusting tilt both ways to see if I could reasonably impact changes to spin axis, and didn't feel like it was useful. Might be worth playing with yourself, however. Theoretically, tilting the unit towards the ball *should* reduce any draw bias, and increase fade bias.

Are you sure it's not your indoor swing? Got an "always fade" good player buddy who could come hit some shots?

[OC_Mike]

I'll try messing with title and roll again tonight. It's always been overly draw biased for the several years I've owned it. Just tired of it and considering moving on to something else. I'm a +1 and can hit a fade pretty easily...except on skytrak. I'll take it out to the range on a cloudy day and see how it looks out there.

[Morini]

Skytrak is supposed to auto-correct (auto-compensate really) for tilt and roll up to ... I think 5 degrees. So should not make a difference, though probably best reasonably level. My personal opinion is that there is no draw bias, and that it comes about from either the mat or hitting off center without moving target line or toe contact care of indoor swing. It simply takes two pictures and figures out the the axis at which the ball rotates. Not rocket science. Two good pictures, and it figures it out.

[Adam Prince]

Hi, looking for feedback on skytrak distances vs actual on course distances. Ive had my skytrak for about 3 months now. I enjoy it, but the distances are so far off my on course distances it becomes a bit frustrating. I'm not sure if there are any settings or setup changes I can make to improve accuracy. Just to give a few examples of the discrepancies; i hit 52 degree 105 on skytrak vs 120 on course.. PW 125 on skytrak vs 150 on course. 8 iron 150 on skytrak vs 172 on course. If I stripe a driver it might go 260 max on skytrak vs around 300 on course. I appreciate any suggestions you may have.

3hcp here, and the carry distances are pretty much spot on for me. ISS as mentioned is the likely culprit, combined with poor mat interaction and spin issues/launch angle problems caused by it. SkyTrak is not the problem, just know that.

[Sixmudd]

If you’re hitting 8 iron or less on par 3s and rarely more than pw on par 4s? Maybe work on that putting/short game and not long irons lol

[Millertime20s]

Hey thanks, this is really helpful. I will shelf the $2K skytrak and go chip around in my backyard.

[U.P.O.]

Skytrak is definitely very very accurate with distances - unless your unit is faulty.

I have had mine a few years, have compared it with trackman and its spot on. Also spot on with the distances i use on the course.

I have had spells where im 10-15 yards short on my Skytrak for days on end and cant seem to get my usual distance but its usually been down to my swing (maybe catching the matt a little heavy) or maybe a worn ball. Worn dimples on the ball cause a big loss of distance.

I used to get big excessive hooks on mine too. I could never get the thing to fade, no matter how hard i tried. Now my Skytrak sits just a touch open and i think its much more accurate. I can regularly get fades now and dont seem to see the massive hooks as much.

I nearly gave up on it at one stage because of the hooks but now im extremely confident in my Skytrak

[GungHoGolf]

Skytrak is definitely very very accurate with distances - unless your unit is faulty.

I have had mine a few years, have compared it with trackman and its spot on. Also spot on with the distances i use on the course.

I have had spells where im 10-15 yards short on my Skytrak for days on end and cant seem to get my usual distance but its usually been down to my swing (maybe catching the matt a little heavy) or maybe a worn ball. Worn dimples on the ball cause a big loss of distance.

I used to get big excessive hooks on mine too. I could never get the thing to fade, no matter how hard i tried. Now my Skytrak sits just a touch open and i think its much more accurate. I can regularly get fades now and dont seem to see the massive hooks as much.

I nearly gave up on it at one stage because of the hooks but now im extremely confident in my Skytrak

Thanks for sharing your experiences! Are you sure that adjusting your SkyTrak to sit more "open" helps prevent over-draw reads? Being more open (as I use the term, pointed more to the right for a RH player, vs perpendicular with the ball/target line) typically causes more pull/draw reads, as the unit will think everything is starting further left. Typically the over-draw reads are helped by adjusting the front of the unit to point more left, or closed to the line.

[U.P.O.]

It's definitley a touch open to my eye anyway. Front of the unit pointing a little right. I don't know why or how it works. Maybe my unit is off. I dont know.

All i know is i spent ages getting constant draws and massive hooks. I could not get any shot to fade or slice on it. Then one day I spent a bit of time just doing some trial and error, opening and then closing the skytrak a little here and there until i got to the point where i was happy with the results.

That was about a year ago and i havent moved the skytrak since then. Now i get just as much fades and draws and when i do get a hook i believe it, whereas before i always had question marks about it.

[Morini]

I agree Ron. Alignment affects HLA degree for degree. Zero or very minimal impact on spin axis.

[MarkSC]

+1 for SkyTrak being EXTREMELY accurate with distances. Just watch a few YouTube videos comparing to Trackman. No more than 2 percent variation.

[thorin33]

As someone who can double cross the driver with the best of them I can say for a fact that the Skytrak can read a fade/slice. I will say that the algorithm does overemphasize the curvature a bit but I feel it is very accurate.

[Morini]

Skytrak range ball flight model yes. Skytrak hardware obviously not the issue, and it will read accurately on TGC2019.

[MarkSC]

https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum/skytrak/221175-skytrak-distances-are-short

post #12 here is a good read and evidence that ST is pretty spot on.

[RAH5]

I agree with others that the unit seems very accurate. Based on launch monitor usage at the outdoor range compared to Skytrak at home it’s all very similar. In fact I’m now at the point where I can predict based on how the strike feels where it will go. I’m surprised very few times by Skytrak.

[Morini]

I posted this in a comment below, but it might get buried, so reposting here:

When trouble shooting, there are some things you can do to sniff out the cause without taking it to range or to another LM. Hit off a short tee to rule out club-mat interaction. Compare driver versus 7 iron versus PW ball speeds, and look at the ratios. Often (but not always) indoor swing affects driver more. Driver should be 40% faster on good contact shots. Finally, also look at launch angles to see if they are too high. And of course, use new premium balls when trouble shooting.

It is almost never the unit, almost always indoor swing or club mat interaction. All the white shoes, light, logo, black background etc etc will not cause distance shortfall, so don't waste time on that (unless no-read). Also don't waste time on altitude etc, not the issue.

[OttawaP]

Fwiw....after two years with skytrak I still find myself swinging "hard" indoors but swinging quick on the course. The result is much shorter distances inside. Once I warm up and relax, my outdoor swing shows up, lighter, quicker and faster. It's annoying but it takes me 10-15 min to get the groove.

[Iojr17]

I don't have a distance issue at all. If anything there are spot on for me with some wedges occasionally. Not sure if you are just hitting the skytrak range or E6 etc.. I will say that most will have a indoor golf swing issues. Meaning it takes a bit to swing more freely inside as outside depending on space. Also, turf interaction/ball will alter these numbers as well. The best thing you can do is use the SKYTRAK optimizer on your shots to see where you are sitting in each data parameter. Will give you a great idea of you are not optimizing your swing numbers and also if you swing up on the ball vs compress. Big difference between carry and total distances.