Putting with Skytrak

[Mike80]

PUTTING WITH SKYTRAK:
What's everyone experiencing with putting with Skytrak. In E6 I'll have two putts that read perfect. Then it gets on a streak of many misreads where it says the ball is hit 4 inches right. So far the putting is not consistent. I have a brand new ball, I even marked a straight black line on the ball hoping it would help. I do have the firmware and app updates installed to allow for putting.

I used the alignment in the Skytrak app and had a strip of tape in a line to help with putting direction. I went into the E6 practice putting green. Some putts read perfect and many don't. I really hope this issue gets resolved.

TGC: Anyone that is beta testing TGC. Do you get the misreads pushing the ball right like in E6?

[Mike80]

So I tried putting in the Skytrak app driving range. You have to hit it very hard to register the putt. But I'm getting good readings showing Side Angle Center on lots of the shots. So that tells me Skytrak is reading it correctly. So my thought is the issue could be a bug in the E6 Demo software and how it outputs the results when putting.

[MrHogan]

Are there any videos of anyone putting successfully in E6 or WGT? Even TGC for that matter.

[bionicboogerboy]

I have The Golf Club beta and the putting is the exact same as it is in the E6 demo. This is not a software issue. By the way, I have tried 3 different Skytraks and I have the exact same results. I have tried putting in our showroom with a different Skytrak, different cpu and a different environment altogether and I get the same bad putting.

Maybe we have to realize that this might just be a limitation of the hardware.

[mhage]

As an experiment, I tried the following. In E6, i went to practice chip/putt.

From the green, instead of putting, I chipped with a 7 iron. Direction was dead on.

Using putter, normal putts. Most went to the right.

Using putter with ball positioned forward in my stance to promote a little loft. Direction was perfect

Using putter with ball positioned back to limit loft. Ball shot to the right almost every time.

Can someone else try this and report back?

[JohnMeyer]

Interesting that if it lofts a little it works better, if anyone owns a chipper try putting with that, at least it will look and feel like a putting stroke, but maybe that little bit of loft it will give the ball will help ST read better

When putting on e6/WGT, If you "putt" with say a 7 iron an chip the ball, does E6/WGT show the ball as chipping and rolling out or just rolling like a putt?

If it always appears as a putt type roll, ie flat regardless of the VLA you actually give the ball then maybe there's a solution there somewhere.

Strange how some people are fine and others not, maybe as you say some are just giving it that fraction of loft on strike and it works fine, wheres a perfect flat roll doesnt read correctly as ST expecting there to be some degree of VLA between the 2 images?

[SFR]

Another thing to throw out there.... if you make a real hard putt, does it go straight? If it does, speed of the ball may be the issue. Again I don't have a skytrak but at one point it would not pick up putts when it first came out due to the slow ball speed I think. It was a firmware update that was to correct this.

The other point someone made was they kind of made a new putt line that was left of normal target. If you repeat that same putt line off to the left, do all the putts read as straight or is there still some error.

[Mike80]

Thanks for the comments! I'm not happy to hear the issue is in TGC.

Good thought on speed. Like I said in Skytrak app on driving range, if I hit very hard putts it shows most Center side angle. So maybe speed is an issue with the Skytrak reading putts correctly.

Bottom line this needs to be resolved in a new firmware release because you can't have putts going 5 to 10 inches right. It's ridiculous!

You would think Skytrak reading fast shots and reading spin and all kinds of numbers, then you would think reading a putt should be easier. Basically skip ball spin and only calculate ball speed and direction.

Seth, can you comment on whether Skytrak is working on a fix for the putting issue.

Can others comment how putting is with a GC2 in TGC? Is it accurate?

[MrHogan]

I have The Golf Club beta and the putting is the exact same as it is in the E6 demo. This is not a software issue. By the way, I have tried 3 different Skytraks and I have the exact same results.

I can't be dropping $1k plus another $1k+ on a computer for TGC if putting is 10" to the right.

How comes Bubba22 putts fine?

[Sascha1818]

It's pretty interesting that a lot of people report there putts going right. I played the first day of the 30 day E6 trial on sunday and the first round was ...... let's say messy hahahaha. the short putts, if they registered, went hard left 80% of the time. The longer putts were fine. For the 2nd round I just put auto put in and the round was great. Either way I don't think putting on simulators makes much sense. But that's just me. I guess i will have to use putting whenever TGC is released and I play there tour. I hope it will be working better by then. The rest was great and a lot of fun.

[SFR]

Can others comment how putting is with a GC2 in TGC? Is it accurate?

Putting on a GC2 in TGC is good. Putting on a GC2 has an azimuth of +/- 1 deg. You can hit a very short putt on a GC2 (less than a foot) and it reads it. You just need to make sure what you putt on is flat and no bumps in the first 6" to 10" of roll. If your ball bounces off line early after hitting it, the GC2 can pick that line up as being off line and thus the putt will be off line by a deg. or so even if the rest of the putt rolls back straight to your target line. That would be just enough on a 6' putt to miss right or left by a few inches.

TGC has a feature built in that any putt within 1.4 deg. (if I recall) will go straight to correct the +/- 1 deg. thing in the GC2. I'm thinking it will be similar with skytrak when it is released.

Software for sims just use the numbers the Launch Monitors give them so if the skytrak is reading slow putts with a bias to the left then the software will use that. Again if you can create a new putt line where the unit reads the path as straight with the same ball speed hit, then it could be a temp fix. However if that line varies due to speed of the putt, then that will make it harder to judge where to aim. Also if some have left issues and others have right issues that is even worse.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Hey guys, putting mode is not enabled at all in the SkyTrak app currently. I'm not positive, but I don't believe it is for the E6 demo that is out their either. This mode is required for accurate putting measurements. The only software that I know of that enables putting mode currently is WGT if you are on the green (don't confuse this with the auto-putt feature). I think putting mode actually reads putts pretty well for simulated putting, I'm just not really a fan of simulated putting though in general. Though now that I mention it, I'm not a fan of putting on the golf course either

[Mike80]

Seth, thanks for the comments. It makes me feel a little better that there is still hope for good putting...haha. Makes sense what you said then. If the sim software doesn't have the updates for enabled putting then that would explain why E6 is so far off.

Someone stating that the putting in the TGC beta was very bad as well. So is it correct to say that TGC beta doesn't have the enabled putting built into the sim software yet?

I am looking forward to TGC with the enabled putting then!

I'm glad to hear this because now I don't think there is an issue with my Skytrak unit.

[Tekbud]

Tonight I put down tape on the lines generated from the skytrak app for accuracy for putting. I can tell hitting a drive if I've missed left or right swinging 105mph with skytrak but with a five 5 putt no clue... I hit the mark, ball goes about 10 inches right. Aim left same thing. Further left ball goes way left. I found it impossible to make a 5 foot Putt. Now that I'm an "amateur" on WGT gimmes appear to start at 4 feet and below making the game well, not much fun...

[bionicboogerboy]

Hi Seth

I have the putting enabled as I have the beta with TGC. The putting still goes to the right. Im not sure why but it is as if people at Skytrak are not aware of this problem.

[Mike80]

I played WGT last night. Putting was very accurate for me. I play in Practice Mode because then you can set the conditions and green speed. I like Very Fast or Tournament speed. It rolls much more true. If you don't do Practice Mode then you are stuck with the slow greens which make putting speed horrible!

Also WGT read short 3 ft putts really well.

All of you try putting in WGT and don't pick the auto putt or gimmies. Keep putting out the entire round to see how accurate it is. But you also have to read the greens and move your aim in app based on breaks. But overall very happy with putting in WGT.

Seth, I'm curious to know if TGC really has the same putting mode in TGC that WGT has. Because the TGC Beta tester is saying putting is still bad.

Thanks!

[Tekbud]

I'm very interested in how yours is accurate. I wonder what is different for you versus the rest of us. I haven't tried practice mode yet though. May have to give that a shot.