An Honest Analysis of SkyTrak

[Bonvivant]

I've always stood up for SkyTrak based on what I knew about it before. This sheds some light on what it does well, and what it doesn't do as well. In the video they compare it to GCQuad.

[TN94z]

I think the swing speed topic is a good point. My personal experience with a Skytrak (I don't own one but have access to one when I want to use it) did not include the amount of inflated numbers that they saw. My numbers seemed to be right on track with what I would expect. I'd say that goes for my son as well. There were obviously some outliers but I feel like it is a good unit for the home. I'd like to see the Mevo added in as well.

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, TN94z said:

I think the swing speed topic is a good point. My personal experience with a Skytrak (I don't own one but have access to one when I want to use it) did not include the amount of inflated numbers that they saw. My numbers seemed to be right on track with what I would expect. I'd say that goes for my son as well. There were obviously some outliers but I feel like it is a good unit for the home. I'd like to see the Mevo added in as well.

For being a "not very old" video (November 19, 2020) it's pretty surprising they didn't have the Mevo+ in there.

[TN94z]

7 minutes ago, iacas said:

For being a "not very old" video (November 19, 2020) it's pretty surprising they didn't have the Mevo+ in there.

Agreed. If one of their end goals was giving an opinion on a good "at home" launch monitor, you would think they would have included all of the ones in that price range. Maybe they couldn't get their hands on one. Isn't Mevo out a few months on availability?

[iacas]

2 hours ago, TN94z said:

Agreed. If one of their end goals was giving an opinion on a good "at home" launch monitor, you would think they would have included all of the ones in that price range. Maybe they couldn't get their hands on one. Isn't Mevo out a few months on availability?

They've been shipping since February, though.

[Zippo]

I thought I heard them say that they'd be doing more launch monitors. I'd guess Mevo will be one of them - if I heard correctly.

[Darkfrog]

I’d like to see this evaluation done with the Mevo+. I’d like to know how the horizontal launch angle and spin axis compares to GC4. I do know that for the regular Mevo, the data I get hitting into my net is very similar to what I see in lessons with GC4.

Hopefully they get to it at some point. One thing about TXG guys is that I can’t tell how sincere they are - don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the content they create, and watch many of their reviews, but I haven’t ever seen them outright say something sucks, which makes me a touch skeptical of their motives.

[hillis11]

I ask them on the live video they did this morning. They said they will reach out to flightscope to get one to test or if someone that as one and willing to ship it for them to test they will.  The SkyTrak was ship to them from someone who had it for them to test. 

[MattM]

So...with mevo doesnt it just tell you swing speed, distance, ball speed, etc.?  I have a Swing Caddie that does that and is accurate, but the thing it doesnt do and what wound up screwing me this year was to tell me if I'm hitting a draw/hook, fade/slice.  I think thats where the SkyTrack would be better.

I got a net to hit through the COVID quarantine and literally grooved a hook swing.  If you don't know that your ball is actually doing you don't get much feedback.  Does the mevo tell you if you hit right/left draw/hook?

Sorry I answered my own question.  I was looking at the $500 mevo and not the $2000 PLUS model.

[iacas]

4 hours ago, hillis11 said:

I ask them on the live video they did this morning. They said they will reach out to flightscope to get one to test or if someone that as one and willing to ship it for them to test they will.  The SkyTrak was ship to them from someone who had it for them to test. 

Bit lame they aren't willing to buy them to test them out. And that's why, say, the SkyTrak review is years late.

3 hours ago, MattM said:

So...with mevo doesnt it just tell you swing speed, distance, ball speed, etc.?

Depends.

Mevo has 8 data parameters. Mevo+ has 16.

3 hours ago, MattM said:

I think thats where the SkyTrack would be better.

I'd get a Mevo+ before I'd get a SkyTrak. By far.

The SkyTrak, let's not forget, requires good light, but not too much light - you can't use it in sunlight sometimes.

[ChetlovesMer]

7 minutes ago, iacas said:

Bit lame they aren't willing to buy them to test them out. And that's why, say, the SkyTrak review is years late.

Depends.

Mevo has 8 data parameters. Mevo+ has 16.

I'd get a Mevo+ before I'd get a SkyTrak. By far.

The SkyTrak, let's not forget, requires good light, but not too much light - you can't use it in sunlight sometimes.

I wonder about the Mevo+ when hitting into a net. 
If I got either, I'd mostly be using it indoors with my net. I'm wondering if the 2 photos taken from the side deal of SkyTrak, would be better than the doppler tracking from behind of Mevo+? Due to space constraints, my net is only a couple of feet in front of my swing. Would that give enough time for Mevo+ to track my ball?
 

[iacas]

Just now, ChetlovesMer said:

I wonder about the Mevo+ when hitting into a net. 

What about it?

You need 8 feet of ball flight.

[bweiss711]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

Bit lame they aren't willing to buy them to test them out. And that's why, say, the SkyTrak review is years late.

Just want to stick up for that TXG channel a little bit.  I really enjoy their content and personalities, and respect their expertise.

They are a golf club fitting channel.  And as their channel has grown, they have branched out a bit into more general golf interest, such as training aids and launch monitors.  This was the first video they have done on a launch monitor, I believe.  And they did it because one of their subscribers wanted to know how it stacked up against a GC Quad and sent his unit to them.  

They work in the world where everything they need to make a video already exists in their fitting studio because of the business they run.  Their channel isn't about testing everything under the sun related to golf.  If this was your first look at what these guys do on their channel, I could see how you'd think its lame that they don't seem to be going all out to test literally everything in the mid-range home launch monitor market for better context of what they said about SkyTrak.  But its not what their channel is built on.  This video wasn't intended to be anything other than looking at how a SkyTrak unit compared to a GC Quad. And this type of video is very much an anomaly to their normal content.

That being said, they did say they reached out to FlightScope about a Mevo+.  And they would be willing to test a subscriber's unit if someone sent one in.  But this type of content is not what they are about.  Its very much a bonus to their core content, so I wouldn't expect them to go all out and purchase a $2000 unit just to make a single video.

Now should they get their hands on one, I'm very curious to see their results.

[iacas]

I understand that, @bweiss711, but I also think you’d agree they’re branching out more and I think they monetize their videos.

I also think they should have hit more than about three shots. 🙂

[bweiss711]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

I understand that, @bweiss711, but I also think you’d agree they’re branching out more and I think they monetize their videos.

I do agree.  And they mentioned on their live stream this morning that they got a decent bump in subscribers over the weekend, likely due to the SkyTrak video.  So more of this type of content could be on its way, and maybe they'll be more willing to go out of their way to create it. 

My point was only that this video wasn't meant to be anything other than comparing SkyTrak to GC Quad as opposed to a comprehensive look at all home launch monitors. 

[MattM]

I will say in reading some of the comments on the video these guys didn't have the Skytrak set up correctly.  Apparently it's supposed to be level with the hitting surface where they have it sitting up higher.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, MattM said:

I will say in reading some of the comments on the video these guys didn't have the Skytrak set up correctly.  Apparently it's supposed to be level with the hitting surface where they have it sitting up higher.

I think you're using a different definition of "level."

Their SkyTrak was in the SkyTrak case, which has feet to adjust the "level" (i.e. tilt) of the SkyTrak, while also slightly elevating it.

And even if it was tilted slightly, it would only really get some angles wrong, not the amount of spin or the ball speed.

I see in some comments they say "flush with" the ground, but in that case, why does SkyTrak sell a case that elevates it (and protects it)? Why not just have the Skytrak protected in the front? If the "camera window" is so small that, as one poster claimed - "If the ST is not flush with the hitting surface, the ball starts moving outside of the camera window. So the speed and spin numbers are less accurate, especially at faster speeds." - then that's an awfully small camera window and SkyTrak is selling a device (the cage) that most people should WANT to buy to protect their ST, and yet which will guarantee degraded performance?