Launch monitors are GREAT!!!

[e-man]

Hey guys. You sick of me yet???

I mentioned in another thread that I purchased a new 2008 X fairway 3 wood, stock stiff shaft, at Golfsmith the other day. Well today I went back to Golfsmith to see the numbers on the launch monitor. Check this out.

I hit about 10 balls with the club (off of a tee flush with the ground). My max was about 210, but most shots averaged about 200 yards. Also, the launch angle was pretty low (in the 10 degree range). Swing speed was in the high 80s. Okay, time to try out the reg flex. First shot -- bam, 220 carry and 227 with roll out. Second shot, pow, 218 carry and 225 with roll out. Third shot, fourth shot, fifth shot, more of the same. Also, the launch angle jumped up to around 14-15 degrees.

I cannot emphasize the importance of hitting new drivers/woods you're considering on the launch monitor.

I'm going back tomorrow tomorrow to hit the reg flex in the Hyper X driver. I purchased the Big Bertha 460 (10 degree stiff flex), but I'm thinking there's something about the shaft in the X line (in reg flex) that might work for me. I'll post up the results tomorrow.

e

[GolferX1]

valauable lesson- if you can not get ot side to demo the clubs. play well..

[Timothy D Watson]

The monitors I have used at stores are dishonest. They act significantly different with the same clubs and ball (I bring my own). They tell me that a 7.5* loft driver is a great deal better for me than a 12* loft driver. I have used an 8* and a 12* in real conditions. The 8* would not leave the ground most of the time. I have seen driver hits back up after hitting the ground. All of the in-store monitors I have ever seen are off mats. Even the best mats do not punish bad contact with the ground as accurately as real turf. The store staff can "fine tune" the systems for certain reasons including fraud. Almost every truely amazing shot I have ever got was one on a monitor.

[e-man]

The monitors I have used at stores are dishonest. They act significantly different with the same clubs and ball (I bring my own). They tell me that a 7.5* loft driver is a great deal better for me than a 12* loft driver. I have used an 8* and a 12* in real conditions. The 8* would not leave the ground most of the time. I have seen driver hits back up after hitting the ground.

I agree, but only to an extent. I mean, sure, the store is in the business of selling clubs, so it wants the numbers to be as favorable as possible, but I would also think that they want happy customers as well.

Also, even if the launch monitor is inaccurate, wouldn't it be inaccurate for all the clubs you try? In other words, even if it's "tweaked" to make it seem as if you're hitting it better than you actually are, it should still provide a meaningful basis for comparison.

[Timothy D Watson]

In most cases, increasing the spin rates on the launch monitors will make the more expensive pro version clubs and/or shafts (pro shafts are a good bit better, but not THAT much anymore) give more distance than the normal versions. Additionally, the pro version heads will probably display a more reasonable horizontal-plane trajectory than should be for their common fade bias.

Backspin can reduce sidespin though gyroscopic means because it is the stronger of the two forces. Slices or hooks (curving ball flights) are produced because of too much inappropraitely applied sidespin. Increasing backspin will reduce slices and hooks.

Backspin is characteristically a reducer of distance in drives. The pro version clubs will typically score better because they are designed with very low spin for very high swingspeeds. Still, all of the clubs will perform horrible at this stage of modification. To offset the short distances among all of the clubs, the initial speed of the ball is boosted on the monitor, bringing the average back to normal. The special pro versions should still give better distances after that final "correction."

This kind of mod to the software defaults in the monitor will almost universally make the more expensive upgrades score better than their normal versions in distance. A large amount of clubs now have a pro/tour version and a standard version shaft, head, or both.

I was pointed out this by a launch monitor operator. He fired a sales employee for doing something like this to make a sale.