Inconvenient Misreads

[Shipwreck34]

I tried to search and see if anyone else has the problem I seem to have, but without luck. So here's my issue...

Over the last two years of having my SkyTrak I've noticed a concerning trend when it comes to my misreads. After several bad shots (all which get read of course) I will have a good shot and then the ST won't read it. I cannot tell you how frustrating this is, especially at the moment when you finally do it right and ten it doesn't count.

I already ran through all the posts about placement, logo, level, reflective items, etc to get my ST to read pretty well with a miss here and there. But this trend is different, and always seems to hit me at the worst time.

FWIW, I am almost always connected via USB.

I have a theory on what is happening... I have a sneaking suspicion that what is really going on here is that the tolerances in the SW algorithm that are designed to throw out erroneous data (outliers, from a statistical standpoint) are also throwing out "good" shots. To wit, I know when I hit my putt correctly, but it won't read. I'll hit it correctly 2, 3, 4 times in a row and it won't read. As soon as I mishit, then it will read. What I'm suggesting here is that it is taking a shot that would be "in the hole" as "too good" and ignores the data.

I'm aware this probably sounds like I'm a loony toon, or perhaps even crying about bad luck or whatever, but I assure you I have watched this happen round after round that I've played for two years now. I've been reluctant to say anything because of the implications I'm making, but the occurrences I've described are too predictable in their frequency and outcomes.

Am I alone here?

[Gresh12]

I sold my SkyTrak two years ago but I found 95% of my no reads came in two scenarios.

1. a horrific top by my daughter that I don’t fault the device for.
2. my best struck shots

For 2 I always even felt I was having bias because it’s easy to say it was a great shot when there’s no data. But I’m very good at calling out my strike quality outside and on launch monitors and with SkyTrak delay you had even more time to think about it and I’m convinced it missed way more good shots than bad.

No empirical evidence of course but I did enough mental tracking of good vs bad and read vs no read to convince myself of this.

[Shipwreck34]

Gresh12, exactly. There is no way to know for sure, but I know when I've hit it pure. I'm making the assumption that I'm not the only one that can feel that when it happens. Having this disparity happen on rare occasion is one thing. Having it happen at least once every round I play is another. Watching that trend continue unabated for two years? That's not a fluke.

[GungHoGolf]

Gresh12, exactly. There is no way to know for sure, but I know when I've hit it pure. I'm making the assumption that I'm not the only one that can feel that when it happens. Having this disparity happen on rare occasion is one thing. Having it happen at least once every round I play is another. Watching that trend continue unabated for two years? That's not a fluke.

What is your shot shape on a "pure" shot - do you launch lower than normal, or typically have a strong draw or fade?

[Gresh12]

I’m a delofter so my launches are low pretty regularly. I’m less steep now then when I had my SkTrak but back then I’d be 6 degrees down on a 7 iron. Shot shape is a push draw on best shots with miss being a start straight then over draw.

It definitely could have been a launch angle thing as I did find it helped putting the ball behind the dot not on it.

[Shipwreck34]

And I'm 5-7° up on a 7 iron when I'm not swinging well. I tend to cast. My instructor has me aiming for 21°.

I played with the ball placement for a long time and settled on Irons on the dot, hybrid/fairway just behind, Driver 2" back, wedges 1" forward, and putting 4-6" back and roll through. All with matte balls for less reflectivity.

None of this however answers the putting issue, which if I'm to be honest is more prevalent. Because it's not that my ST doesn't read good shots, it just has a strong tendency to misread them when several bad shots precede it. If I had a dollar for every misread putt on my ST, it would have probably paid for itself already! (Or at least my annual Game Improvement package) And I've read and done everything this forum has suggested to alleviate it.

I just realized there is something that's probably rather important that I hadn't previously clearly mentioned, but was implied. ALL of my issues are while in TGC2019. I do not have these issues while simply on the SkyTrak app.

[Shipwreck34]

So of course while practicing last night my ST had to make a liar out of me and did the "several bad read / one good no read" while in the ST app practice range. It only did it once like that, and I only maybe had 3 no reads in 80 shots.

I just thought I'd share that because I hadn't noticed it do that before, and I got a good laugh out of it!

[RAH5]

I was just laughing to myself last night. I’m lucky that I get very few no-reads, but it does feel when I get one it’s always a well struck shot. It’s probably how it feels to line out to center field.

[Morini]

It certainly feels like this at times, but I feel that well struck shots actually read well for obvious reasons ... they have nice trajectories and are picked up by the cameras. Shots are rejected because the ball was not in view of the sensors, or there is something reflective being picked up. If a lot of USB misreads, static is most likely culprit. You can usually tell because it happens more in dry season, and generally not until you have hit a few shots (until static builds up). You can also tell because the lights flicker a bit. If putts don't read, typically wrong height or poor case fit.

[Shipwreck34]

As I've mentioned, I've already taken care of the issues related to correct placement of the ball / logo, reflective items, unit height / level, etc. So that isn't it. I've made my hitting area so the full viewing area for the unit behind me is a dull, soft, charcoal grey blanket thereby removing that variable. And I would be shocked to my core if grounding out everything I have to the Nth degree somehow made my putts work every time, and my good shots after several bad shots issue suddenly disappear.

I've been watching this trend for two years. I'm not dreaming. If I was I'd dream of more birdies and eagles, trust me. Ha ha.

As a Hardware Engineer, I would say if you are having the static issue with USB as you describe, I would be looking at the grounding on the wall socket. By design everything grounds through there in the environment you're talking about. Either that or perhaps a failing power supply in your PC/Laptop. If you have to remove and/or simply touch the USB area to get it to stop acting weird, then it isn't grounded correctly and you are intermittently acting as the ground when you touch it. Food for thought.