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Ever since I hurt my side a few months ago I've been slowly ramping back up to the swing speeds I had prior to the injury. However, I've now played a few rounds of real golf and to be honest, my distances in real life are all a mess right now. I used to be very consistent with distances and this was a major strength to my game however my last few rounds of IRL golf I was thrown for several loops compared to what I've been seeing on the SIM. I use the Skytrak app, JNPG (formerly PG), and TGC quite a bit. So tonight, I decided to put each of them to the test and get to the bottom of my problems. I have a swing caddie sc100 as well that I used as my control. I measured every shot against the SC100, which many claim to be very accurate. I used the same ball for the entire length of my session. My findings:
skytrak app vs. SC100
skytrak consistently 2mph ball speed higher than SC100
wedge average 120 sc100 average 125 skytrak app
8-iron consistently within 1 mph average 145-150
driver consistently 30 yards longer on SC than in skytrak app!! with same ball speeds. I am a very low ball hitter so I suspect this to be the problem.
Example - one drive I hit with 142mph 8 degree launch 2256 spin almost dead straight. Carry in skytrak app 198 total 206, SC100 said I hit it 244. Foresight trajectory optimizer says carry 223 roll to 239. Appears skytrak app doesn't handle low launch low spin conditions well at all.
Moving on to JNPG vs. SC100
wedge and 8 iron consistently 2mph higher on JNPG than SC100. Carry distances slightly longer in JNPG from 2mph. Total distances longer on JNPG on normal setting due to roll out, only slightly longer on soft setting.
Example - 8 iron 106mph sc100 146 108mph JNPG 150 on soft total
Driver - On soft conditions, similar to issues seen above in skytrak app. On normal, distances within 5 yards on 10 drives Sc100 vs JNPG. I also think JNPG has trouble with low launch low spin shots which, unfortunately is my predominant ball-flight. However distances very close sc vs. JNPG across all shots.
On to TGC
Start off with wedge on practice range - first shot 143 carry vs SC100 119 carry and 4mph more on TGC (jaw dropped)
This continues with numerous wedge shots - consistently 4mph more than sc100 and shots carrying 20-25 yards longer than SC with carry.
Move on to 8-iron and same thing occurs 175 yard 8-irons on TGC vs 150 on SC.
Hmm, what happens if I switch club from driver to wedge or 8-iron?
with wedge - 130 yard carry vs. SC100 119 yard total, still 3 mph higher in TGC app.
8 irons are very close when struck well but 2-3mph higher in TGC thus 5-8 yards longer than SC100 consistently.
Move to driver with 8-iron still selected.
2mph higher in TGC than Sc100 resulting in 8-10 yards more in game than on Sc100. 260 to 250 an example.
Switch to driver in game while hitting drivers:
first swing 143mph Sc100 145 TGC. 247 total Sc100 270 CARRY in TGC runs out to 285. Wow.
2nd swing I really try and rip and hit a good one (for me) 145mph SC100 148mph TGC. 250 total on SC100 281 CARRY total 301 TGC. 50 Yards longer than Sc100.
Switched back to JNPG and hit a good drive right away to compare with very little sidespin
146mph sc vs 148 JNPG. 255 sc vs 267 JNPG. This one would easily have gone over 300 maybe 310 in TGC.
At this point I don't know what to think. I think that normal conditions in JNPG are good off the tee, but a bit too "hard" at the greens and short-irons don't spin enough in normal thus resulting in longer short-irons than I can hit IRL, however I can spin a wedge a LONG way on "soft" conditions. Seems there should be a happy medium found there.
I think that the skytrak app does the worst job handling low-spin low-launch conditions, and even on firm setting carry just is simply too short.
I think that TGC driver is boosted, plain and simple. While it feels nice to hit 300+ yard drives I just don't think that's possible with 148 swing speed. On flightscope trajectory optimizer even with the very best launch conditions possible I couldn't get one to carry more than 255, nowhere near 281 carry I hit above.
I'm using SIM for fun no doubt, but I'm also using it to improve my IRL game. I'm still hunting for the best combination of the above but right now JNPG is easily the closest to IRL that we have to choose from based on my findings above.
skytrak app vs. SC100
skytrak consistently 2mph ball speed higher than SC100
wedge average 120 sc100 average 125 skytrak app
8-iron consistently within 1 mph average 145-150
driver consistently 30 yards longer on SC than in skytrak app!! with same ball speeds. I am a very low ball hitter so I suspect this to be the problem.
Example - one drive I hit with 142mph 8 degree launch 2256 spin almost dead straight. Carry in skytrak app 198 total 206, SC100 said I hit it 244. Foresight trajectory optimizer says carry 223 roll to 239. Appears skytrak app doesn't handle low launch low spin conditions well at all.
Moving on to JNPG vs. SC100
wedge and 8 iron consistently 2mph higher on JNPG than SC100. Carry distances slightly longer in JNPG from 2mph. Total distances longer on JNPG on normal setting due to roll out, only slightly longer on soft setting.
Example - 8 iron 106mph sc100 146 108mph JNPG 150 on soft total
Driver - On soft conditions, similar to issues seen above in skytrak app. On normal, distances within 5 yards on 10 drives Sc100 vs JNPG. I also think JNPG has trouble with low launch low spin shots which, unfortunately is my predominant ball-flight. However distances very close sc vs. JNPG across all shots.
On to TGC
Start off with wedge on practice range - first shot 143 carry vs SC100 119 carry and 4mph more on TGC (jaw dropped)
This continues with numerous wedge shots - consistently 4mph more than sc100 and shots carrying 20-25 yards longer than SC with carry.
Move on to 8-iron and same thing occurs 175 yard 8-irons on TGC vs 150 on SC.
Hmm, what happens if I switch club from driver to wedge or 8-iron?
with wedge - 130 yard carry vs. SC100 119 yard total, still 3 mph higher in TGC app.
8 irons are very close when struck well but 2-3mph higher in TGC thus 5-8 yards longer than SC100 consistently.
Move to driver with 8-iron still selected.
2mph higher in TGC than Sc100 resulting in 8-10 yards more in game than on Sc100. 260 to 250 an example.
Switch to driver in game while hitting drivers:
first swing 143mph Sc100 145 TGC. 247 total Sc100 270 CARRY in TGC runs out to 285. Wow.
2nd swing I really try and rip and hit a good one (for me) 145mph SC100 148mph TGC. 250 total on SC100 281 CARRY total 301 TGC. 50 Yards longer than Sc100.
Switched back to JNPG and hit a good drive right away to compare with very little sidespin
146mph sc vs 148 JNPG. 255 sc vs 267 JNPG. This one would easily have gone over 300 maybe 310 in TGC.
At this point I don't know what to think. I think that normal conditions in JNPG are good off the tee, but a bit too "hard" at the greens and short-irons don't spin enough in normal thus resulting in longer short-irons than I can hit IRL, however I can spin a wedge a LONG way on "soft" conditions. Seems there should be a happy medium found there.
I think that the skytrak app does the worst job handling low-spin low-launch conditions, and even on firm setting carry just is simply too short.
I think that TGC driver is boosted, plain and simple. While it feels nice to hit 300+ yard drives I just don't think that's possible with 148 swing speed. On flightscope trajectory optimizer even with the very best launch conditions possible I couldn't get one to carry more than 255, nowhere near 281 carry I hit above.
I'm using SIM for fun no doubt, but I'm also using it to improve my IRL game. I'm still hunting for the best combination of the above but right now JNPG is easily the closest to IRL that we have to choose from based on my findings above.
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