New SkyTrak Unit Distances

[TorchRedRob]

I had more time today to play with my new Skytrak, and here is my observation this far. Distances are so far off it cannot even be considered in the relm of my misperception. For example my general 8 iron carry distance could be considered 150 to160 depending on how hard I swing. Best this thing will calculate if I hit it as hard and flush as I can is 130'ish at best. What is even more bizzare I can grab my 4 iron out swing the same and guess what distance is the same as my 8 iron, sorry no way. My driver distance average carry for me in real world is more than 250, I literally swing out of my shoes on Skytrak and I think the longest total driver shot I have ever been able to muster was 219. Wedges are off also but the margin of error on the surface probably does not seem as bad but as a percentage of calculated distance probably it is as bad. I have made my mind up and come Monday Skytrak is getting a call, I paid way too much money for this toy to accept this kind of poor product. I have been patiently waiting a year for this thing (PC Version) and my patience is flat worn out.

What kind of launch data are you getting with the unit? I'm just curious if it seems like the same kind of defect we've seen before, or something different.

[arwin]

I just tested my brand new skytrak using the PC v2.1. My distances seem to match my gps measures distances.

Haven't tested my driver yet though


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[golfmatt1773]

A couple of questions - what type of mat are you hitting off of? Also, what is the yardage you get out of your PW along with the backspin #s? I just wanted to see if you had a high spin rate and were still getting a good carry number as I have had problems with high spinning irons showing well short.

[Chughes82]

Driver and 3 wood distances have improved. My carry results are about 4-5% longer than earlier version. This is in line with Seth's representation.

[Jimsol]

I was getting much shorter distances also, but actually got a chance to compare 2 Units side by side. Both units showed same yardage. I have found that hitting off a Mat make a huge distance. I found if I hit it clean well struck ball my distances at dead on if not better than I hit outside. If I hit behind the ball at all even the slightest behind really slows the club down which gives you shorter yardage. Not sure how to correct this except work on hitting a cleaner shot. I can't say about my driver, my ceiling its tall enough to test the drivers but irons are correct if I can pick it clean. If anyone has a different opinion or have different results with different mats , please post.

[Shardak]

I have never used a launch monitor to measure my distances before I got the Skytrak. I have golfed on and off for 20 years, and decided this year to put more time into it to improve. Bought Skytrak a month ago and have hit between 3000-5000 shots in that time between the skytrak range and E6 demo. I made some slight grip and swing changes, and feel I have improved my strike by a large margin.

Before Skytrak, I would have said my 150 yard club was my 8-iron. Skytrak has my 8 iron at 135 carry average. That seemed way short to me.

Today I went to a flat driving range and bought a laser rangefinder (Bushnell Tour V3), and confirmed that every club I hit is accurate in Skytrak. 60,56,52, PW - 4 iron, a couple hybrids and a driver. They were all spot on.

With my swing changes, I find I am hitting the sweet spot alot more. I used to hit thin alot, which would increase distances (as long as it wasnt too thin). My irons are Ping i3 oversized...they are game-improvement irons that are high lofted with a fair amount of offset. Hitting them in the sweet spot results in high towering shots, and that causes them to fly a bit short. I think the fact that I hit the sweet spot alot more now, has me hitting high, slightly shorter shots than my past average.

Today at the range was the first time I had hit outside since I got the skytrak. The transformation in my ball flight blew me away. Its one thing to see it on Skytrak, but to see laser straight, high, penetrating shots in real life is something I have never seen in my game before. My average 18 hole score before getting skytrak was 95-100. In E6 demo I have shot some rounds in the low 80s. Never done that in real life. After seeing how I was hitting the ball today at the range, I believe I can shoot in the 80s no problem. I was going to play 18 today to test that theory, but the rain came.

My game has been greatly elevated in just 1 month of using skytrak. I also watch alot of swing tip videos from Mark Crossfield on youtube. He is a pretty good coach, uses GC2/HMT and following some of his tips really helped. Its great to be able to make a small adjustment and then go hit 100 shots to test it out.



I had some doubts about the numbers in skytrak, but the range session today has given me confidence that it is reporting accurate numbers.

[TorchRedRob]

Awesome to hear, and not surprised at all that skytrak is spot on.

[goodmatt78]

Similar here....too bad the session is over. I got my st in September and have improved my game significantly. Mostly, I have figured out how to correct my swing on the course when things go bad. I just got back from amelia island and played great.

I actually find yardages slightly long for my irons, but it could just be that I groove my swing better in my sim than on the course. I was getting 185 with a 6 iron and on the course I play it around 170.

[BogeyMan]

What kind of launch data are you getting with the unit? I'm just curious if it seems like the same kind of defect we've seen before, or something different.

I went out and grabbed some launch data. I am getting stupidly high backspin measurements which I think might me the cause. I am getting 5000 plus spin rates off a 10.5 degree driver. I tried various brands of balls with little affect.

I don't remember spin rates on the long irons but average 4 iron shot was around 150 total yards, shorter than my normal 8 iron.

Honestly I think side spin rates are exaggerated as well but I have less proof here.

[TorchRedRob]

That sounds just like one of the defective units another member dealt with recently. If you know your spin numbers are lower than that (most people are at least down onto the 3000's) then I'd start looking at an rma if I were you.

[Willymakit]

Looks like they sent my first one to you. Lol. I was getting between 5000-6000 backspin on the driver and I knew that wasn't correct. Did some more testing with it (waisted of time). Sent in my first one and Skytrak sent me another back and everthing was fine. Maybe still a tad short but the backspin rpm were around 2700-3200 for me which is inline with any other launch monitor I used. So before you change anything just send it back and get another one. If you don't you will get frustrated ( trust me on this ).

[doublebogey]

Willymakit, do you still remember the SkyTrak SERIAL NUMBER (on the bottom REE******) on your defective unit? If so, maybe you should share w BogeyMan. If he indeed got your old defective unit, I (we all) would be worried...

[ukzknos]

Apologies but I'm a newbie..........in the original post it says:

"I hit 10-15 balls with each club and deleted any that may have been hit fat or otherwise skewed the data."

Please tell me how do you delete swings?

[keithpbz]

Easiest way on iPad is if you hit a bad shot then before you hit another shot there is an x towards the top of the screen just right of center that deletes the last shot.

[dsailer]

@BogeyMan (or any others with the short yardage issue)
I'm curious, have you tried your Skytrak outdoors? And what are the results?

[golfmatt1773]

I went ahead and sent my unit to be checked out. Just seemed odd that it read mid/long irons and woods fine but was consistently 10-15 yards short on short irons and wedges. They have had my unit for just over a week now and ill post an update once I hear something or get it returned. Anyone have any insight as to what the turnaround time is on a unit once they receive it?

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Typically it's just a couple of days.

[spider]

Curious as to what is a typical problem with the skytrak if unit is "defective." IE. camera issue etc? Seth are the demo skytraks tested for accuracy before being sold?

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Everything is bench tested and then actually hit tested by a human being before being shipped. I can't explain what could cause these 'defective unit' issues, as I've never seen it myself, unless something is happening to them in transit to the customer. Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing about a demo unit that would make it more likely to have an issue over any new unit. That said (and knock on wood), the number of units returned as actual hardware failures/issues is incredibly small.