Golf Simulator Forum wants your opinions about the SkyTrak to be heard!

[dborden0]

I just received my skytrak today. So far I am really enjoying it. I've had a few no reads, but they have been mostly on really bad swings. I originally thought it was reading my shots short, but I realized i was not swinging full speed. I think I was nervous about the skytrak placement. With a little practice I was getting in the right range. I don't have a projector yet, so playing on a little PC screen. I think it will be a lot more immersive after i get a projector set up. I played a quick 9 in TGC, and got eaten up. Definitely going to need some practice! I am ecstatic with the setup, especially considering what it cost.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[ironFrank]

To bring my feeling to a reliable test I will go to the range with my ST and my Teaching Pro and we will test my device. After that I will give you feedback of the results.

Perhaps I do have a bad feeling or really swing different when I am inside? Perhaps I do have a broken ST or it was damaged on transport? Who knows?

What I figured out already is one thing:

- When I take the ST out of the Security Case, the red laser dots are pointing exactly parallel to the case. I checked that and could see that ST can be moved inside the sec case and that causes an offset to the target line. That case is closed.

[ironFrank]

Like I said we have tested it now.

5 out of 10 hits where completely wrong. I've contacted the support and it will be sent back for check up.

[goodmatt78]

I went last night and got fitted for a new driver of GC2. The numbers I got were nearly identical to at home on my ST. I actually noticed more irregular ball flight (ie. draws looking like big hooks) on the GC2 than what I see at home. I would have no issues learning from either device.

However, I had way more misreads on the GC2. I don't know if the flash needed replaced, but they had to restart the software 2xs.

[Jwheels9876]

Only thing I dislike about the skytrak is its so damn close to the ball that letting anyone other than myself use it scares me to death. The protective case is a piece of plastic junk... Other than that, I've tested it indoors and out and it is pretty spot on at the range where I can see my ball actually landing IRL. I'm playing TGC now with it and it's amazing.

[doublebogey]

I've had my SkyTrak for a little over 1 1/2 year now and have used GC2 a few times (with golf coach, at golf shops and while fitting for new clubs), my 2 cents:
- GC2 and Trackman are clearly superior to SkyTrak in the absolute sense - no arguments there.
- However one cannot compare SkyTrak to GC2/Trackman given the vastly different price points.
- SkyTrak also does not claim to be as accurate as GC2 or Trackman (their error tolerances are much wider than that of GC2 or Trackman).
- GC2 and Trackman being clearly more superior are clearly the choice of golf companies (i.e., Nike, Callaway in their testing centers), golf coaches, fitting facilities and golf stores.
- However SkyTrak, given the price point, has a market for the recreational users who wishes to use a LM at home w/o shelling out for a GC2.

Now that being said, I'd still like to see someone do a major comparison between SkyTrak and GC2 (and real ball flights at range) for a variety of shots (not just perfect shots, but severe pulls/pushes, severe hooks/slices, severed pull hooks and push slices, severe pull slices, etc.) especially for the longer clubs like the driver (as I still seem to get more distance and slightly different shot shape from my driver on the course vs. SkyTrak at home - though the irons seem to be fairly spot on).

[BlairDarst]

I have read the reviews and being a full time fireman with 3 kids (8,12,15) my budget is more beer than champagne. I went ahead and purchased the SkyTrack with the hopes of improving my 8 yr old son's game as well as my own. Focusing on club head speed etc with the hopes of building a Simulator after we have tested the product. My question to the group has two parts. 1: Will SkyTrak be able to accurately predict and improve a childs swing speed etc? Also what should I be looking at in terms of his overall improvement? 2: If we decide to take it to the next level and make is a Simulator versus a Launch Monitor what is the best way to do it? He currently works with a PGA professional using on course instruction as well as Trackman on the range. We live in Georgia so our "season" is a bit longer than others but daylight plays a big factor during the week.

[wbond]

Skytrak does not measure club head speed, so it's a bogus number. Taking skytrak to the next level is either TGC or JNPG. Most on here use TGC. You will love it. Currently it doesn't allow for different tees so if you're playing with your kid, you'll most likely have to play shorter courses. For improvement, you can compare ball speeds with the same club. That would equal either better contact, higher CHS or combination of both.

[Miura Mario]

First week using the skytrak - definetely thought there was a fair sized learning curve to it. Its only as good as the way you align the unit and align yourself to your target (very important).

I had some quirky connectivity issues the odd time that were fixed with reasonable fiddling around - once you figure these out they can be remedied in a matter of seconds. Reading users input on this site helps alot.

Figuring out ball position in relation to club choice was very important I got tonnes of no reads until I figured this out - also ball position varies for me not only regarding club but based on launch angle - If I want to hit a low punch wedge I need to move it back - Hitting a super high 9 Iron needs to be forward for me and etc...

I based ball position on the dot for 9/8 iron stock shot and played around from there.

The most important part of my post is!! I took it to the range aligned myself to the flags and lasered them - Carry was within a yard 85% of the time and within 3 yards the other 15%. Its truly amazing where your money is going in terms of accuracy. Spin was perfect on bump and runs, High speed checkers and etc... Shot shape was right full flight 95%+ keep in mind alignment of the unit is spot on and awareness of target..

In summation I couldn't be happier!!! Impact screen arriving next week - 60% of my build is complete and cant wait to start playing tgc

[ironFrank]

Update:

I've got my Skytrak back now. The service was nice and fast.

It is now working fine without a doubt. But what is grinding my gears is.... they told me that all was ok and they didnt change anything on the device... but the results are now completely ok and I am not changing my way to play over 2 weeks and suddenly all is good. Interesting.

Here are some points which I do for setup:

- levelled setup with the App leveler and not the bubble
- Aim with the laserdots and parallel device
- using the protective case I place the device 0,5cm lower than the hitting mat (the device is 0,5 cm higher inside than the plasticsurface outside)
- taking white balls with deep black logos pointed to the lens
- lower the light in general and put a light spot on the ball from behind the device so that no light is shining into the lens
- I use dark blue golf shoes instead of white ones

That is all I do and it works now fine.

[JJ62]

Just got my Skytrak a couple weeks ago. Took a long time to pull the trigger - some questionable reviews made me nervous.
I love the thing. I've had about 5 other buddies come over and play and they're fans as well.
I'm using Perfect Golf with it and have an unforgiving mat to hit off of. My distances were terrible at first so I wasn't convinced it worked. After reading so many reviews of users saying you need to get used to hitting indoors, I was patient. I must say it is now, for me, quite accurate. It sometimes misses a shot - but rarely. There is a slight lag - but I'd say in the 2 to 3 second range which I can't imagine hitting balls within 3 seconds of each other. I've had some funny experiences with Perfect Golf - hit a drive that rolled very fast for about 600 yards! Never had that happen again. If you need to take a drop in Perfect Golf - be careful before you accept the drop. Sometimes it will drop you like 1000 yards farther away! All you have to do is click 'back' before you drop and it has been correct for me. I have the protective case and hit it once. luckily with no damage. I had a bit to drink when I did that. Haven't been anywhere close to hitting it since. I'm a computer guy by trade, so I can't say anything bad about the software/interface since all computers have issues sometimes. It works great for me and pretty much all I think about now is how to get out in the garage and hit balls.

[brnixon]

Funny I have had the hit that rolled forever a couple of times. Both times it happened to me it was because I had reset my interface to skytrak and I believe what happens is that the software may have it in putting mode. I believe that is the case because I hit an iron that should have flown high and stayed way low and rolled forever (like 300 yards.) To get it out, I just click the putting mode button twice to make sure it is in regular mode.

[JJ62]

Ohhhh. That makes total sense! The opposite has happened to me where I've been on the fringe and putted 10 times before noticing putter wasn't selected.

[Lgnir]

I just received my SkyTrak 2 weeks ago, and thanks to the tips I received from this forum, getting it working right was a breeze. I know the carry distances for most of my clubs from using a laser rangefinder on the range, and the course. I also own a Voice Caddie Swing Caddie 2, and it has confirmed my distances as well. The SkyTrak has been spot on! Even though (as previously stated) the SkyTrak does not "measure" club head speed, it seems to always be within 1-2 MPH of my Swing Caddie. In fact, SkyTrak pretty much mirrors the numbers I get on my Swing Caddie.

I currently have a Net Return net and a Dura-Pro mat, and I enjoyed hitting balls into it, but with the SkyTrak, it brings a whole new dimension to at home practice! I just received my case for it, but I plan to upgrade to the Full Meta Jacket, or possibly the case SkyTrak is coming out with very soon just for some added protection.

Is SkyTrak a little pricey? Yes, but compared to what else is available out there, (outside of an OptiShot), there is nothing in the price range outside of the P3 ProSwing, and I really do not like the idea of having to tape my clubs every time I want to play. Besides, I think the data I am getting with the SkyTrak is better than what I would get with the ProSwing.

I am using my SkyTrak on a gaming laptop, and just use the USB connection as that seemed the easiest, and I only seem to have a 1-3 second delay after hitting the ball. I have been careful each time I set it up to ensure it is level with the surface of my mat, and level in the bubble and within the app itself. I also make sure I use the alignment feature before each session, and I also use alignment sticks to ensure I am hitting on the same path of the SkyTrak.

Everything I hit off the matt (including woods) seems to be accurate, except for those shots I know I hit really fat or thin. The ball flight on the screen doesn't match what "I" think it should be (like I'm a PGA pro and know crap like that, right?) and that seems to be the only times I have experienced a mis-read. The only issue I have experienced is using a rubber tee, my driver distances and ball flight are not what I see on the course. I know I need to play with the height of the SkyTrak compared to my tee height, but I will wait on that until I get my new mat that allows me to use wooden tees. Until then, I am very happy with just working on my irons and fairway woods.

Would I recommend SkyTrak to my friends? I certainly would!! For me, I seriously want to lower my handicap, and I know that takes practice. With the SkyTrak, I can practice anytime in my garage and still have that "on the range feeling" by being able to see my ball flight, as well as getting all the data that Skytrak gives me, allowing me to understand what my ball is doing, and working on improvements. The Game Improvement Package adds some really fun modes that makes your practice session even more fun!

I look forward to next month when I am going to pull the trigger on one of the three simulator packages, and have even more fun with this thing!

Once again, thanks to all the people in this forum that have shared their experiences and tips, as they have been very valuable in making my experience with SkyTrak, very smooth!

[Huck403brian]

Dear Skytrak, looking at what people wrote here and reviewed, there is a consistency with positive reviews about the actual product and ease of use but people have problems or negative reviews with your business model. For example, renting software instead of making them available to purchase the full deal (minus the golf club). Customer support seems to get some negatives with support just quoting the owners manual and information on the website. The price of the protective case seems to be an issue. You have a device next to someone hitting a golf ball, it will get hit. So, warranty issues seem to be a negative factor. If it was such a great product, I would back it up with a lifetime warranty but make the extra warranty $80.00 or so. Looking at the device as a whole and the way you advertise, you should be getting a better rating than a 6.5. Customer service and reliability go a long way. I mean a 3.9 in customer service should tell you something. I myself am pleased with the product but do not like the customer service experience.

[Greasegun]

The skytrak is pretty awesome. It is unfortunate that they want you to pay 100 bucks per year to have a target to shoot at. No thanks on that. Would be nice if there were pc support for the WGC features that are built in to the $100 per year game improvement package. Not everyone uses an Ipad. Also 100 bucks for an extra 6 months of warranty is a rip. How about a 3 year warranty for 100 bucks? The other problem is no android support, so I cant take mine to the range. Another issue is the alignment of the unit to the target is a little tricky, as the unit has to be angled a few degrees right to have the lasers line up.

All that said, its a good unit with pretty good accuracy that the vast majority of golfers would be happy with. Glad I own one but they wont be getting a 100 dollar a year subscription from me until they offer something more worth while for that money.

[pennypepper]

I have had the Skytrak now for about a month and use it with my daughters who are tournament golfers almost every day. I have to say that I have been looking for a practice tool like this for many years now and I have never found anything that come close in this price range. I started out with the Golf Launchpad then upgraded to the Optishot. We were really unhappy with those products as they just didnt have the accuracy that would actually help us improve our games. My daughters would ask to go to the local golf store once a week just to hit balls on their GC2 which would have been the dream home set up if I could afford it. With the Skytrak I feel like we finally have the launch monitor that is in between the optishot and GC2 in price and the only down side is the 3 second delay between shots. Maybe a few more no reads than what we have experienced with the GC2. I can live with that.

After a month of using the Skytrak range to tune up their swings my daughters have seen some really substantial improvements in their tournament scores and have improved their greens in regulation percentage quite noticeably. I can honestly say that the Skytrak can be used as an effective game improvement tool. Having additional feedback on things like launch angle, back spin, side spin etc give us the granular data we need to work on specific swing thoughts. The (almost) immediate feedback after each shot is invaluable when working on different shot shapes. And I also can do club fittings without leaving home! This is huge for me as they are still growing so fast and go through clubs faster than toilet paper. Actually they probably go through more TP but its close. But really their distances for each club is constantly changing so its been a challenge for me to keep track of their club distances as they grow in strength and skills. The Game Improvement stuff in Skytrak is really a game changer for us. Unfortunately I have also seen an uptick in their putts per round in their last two tournaments. I guess we have been neglecting their putting or maybe even hurting their putting by putting on the sim. Im not sure how well Skytrak tracks putts but it would be great to leverage the technology to improve putting strokes as well.

I do agree that the subscription/licensing model to unlock the game improvement functionality and use third party software feels a bit exploitative. But hell, Im happy to be able to use it to play simulated rounds at the worlds best courses. Im locked into the JNPG package myself and will probably renew next year as long as my girls keep begging to play pebble beach every night. The software is constantly being updated and new courses are always being added. And it really breaks the monotony of range practice to play a few holes at Liberty National or Cypress Point. I probably would never get to set foot on these courses IRL so tough to put a price tag on that.

With the Skytrak, sim software, net, screen, mat, PC and projector Im out of pocket about $4000. I probably could have saved some dough if I went cheaper on a gaming PC. Still all said and done, cheaper than the GC2 by itself and so much better than an optishot. After a month of use I still feel like it was money well spent. So much so that I even joined this forum to stay up on the latest developments and talk to you fine folks.

[Lgnir]

I would like to retract my glowing review of the SkyTrak I purchased. The "Bait and Switch" they just pulled has soured me on SkyTrak something terrible!! Very deceptive business practices!!