Trackman monitors

[Dan42nepa]

Anyone practice using the trackman monitors? I have one at a health club near me and I can use it for practice for 20 per hour. I wonder as to the accuracy. I was at a pro shop monday and was using a callway 4 wood which according to the monitor i hit consistantly 210 yards. Either the monitor is wrong or I NEED to go buy that club.. LOL

 

Dan

[mvmac]

Trackman or FlightScope is as accurate as you can get.

[ZappyAd]

I think Trackman makes some assumptions on their ball flight model that might not match what you actually see in real life.  So for instance it might be set up to assume a brand new, perfectly clean, pro spec ball; sea level altitude; warm weather; low humidity; no wind.  All those things might make the ball go further in the simulation than it would when you hit it for real.  I believe you can set things to be closer to your physical surroundings and equipment but possibly in the pro shop they might not see that as being necessary or advantageous.

I hit with a trackman at the range very occasionally (£60 an hour which must be about $100 for comparison!) and the last six iron I hit was 190yds on Trackman but only about 170 according to how far the ball physically went (it hit the 170 marker which I then lasered to double check).  I was using a pretty beat up range ball on a cold day so I assume that is where the difference comes from.

[Abu3baid]

1 hour ago, ZappyAd said:

I think Trackman makes some assumptions on their ball flight model that might not match what you actually see in real life.  So for instance it might be set up to assume a brand new, perfectly clean, pro spec ball; sea level altitude; warm weather; low humidity; no wind.  All those things might make the ball go further in the simulation than it would when you hit it for real.  I believe you can set things to be closer to your physical surroundings and equipment but possibly in the pro shop they might not see that as being necessary or advantageous.

I hit with a trackman at the range very occasionally (£60 an hour which must be about $100 for comparison!) and the last six iron I hit was 190yds on Trackman but only about 170 according to how far the ball physically went (it hit the 170 marker which I then lasered to double check).  I was using a pretty beat up range ball on a cold day so I assume that is where the difference comes from.

£60 is probably only about $66 (1.09 right now).  

Maybe that was the exchange rate when they first introduced the Euro lol

 

[ZappyAd]

44 minutes ago, Abu3baid said:

£60 is probably only about $66 (1.09 right now).  

I'm seeing GBPUSD as 1.44 on Google so £60 = $86...  Maybe we should do a trade @ 1.09? 

[Abu3baid]

Just now, ZappyAd said:

I'm seeing GBPUSD as 1.44 on Google so £60 = $86...  Maybe we should do a trade @ 1.09? 

LOL.. my fault.. no the 1.09 is the Euro to USD not the GBP.. as you were.. haha..

[Lihu]

2 hours ago, ZappyAd said:

I think Trackman makes some assumptions on their ball flight model that might not match what you actually see in real life.  So for instance it might be set up to assume a brand new, perfectly clean, pro spec ball; sea level altitude; warm weather; low humidity; no wind.  All those things might make the ball go further in the simulation than it would when you hit it for real.  I believe you can set things to be closer to your physical surroundings and equipment but possibly in the pro shop they might not see that as being necessary or advantageous.

I hit with a trackman at the range very occasionally (£60 an hour which must be about $100 for comparison!) and the last six iron I hit was 190yds on Trackman but only about 170 according to how far the ball physically went (it hit the 170 marker which I then lasered to double check).  I was using a pretty beat up range ball on a cold day so I assume that is where the difference comes from.

The Trackman generates numbers normalizing everything to standard conditions, while the real life test you did might have had things like GPS accuracy, a tailwind or the temperature was higher than 72F or any other number of factors.

I would trust the Trackman more than your on course measurements for a standard distance.

 

[nevets88]

12 hours ago, Dan42nepa said:

Anyone practice using the trackman monitors? I have one at a health club near me and I can use it for practice for 20 per hour. I wonder as to the accuracy. I was at a pro shop monday and was using a callway 4 wood which according to the monitor i hit consistantly 210 yards. Either the monitor is wrong or I NEED to go buy that club.. LOL

Dan

Doesn't it depend on how well it's set up? You need a certain distance for TM to see the ball launch (I forget, 20ft?), a certain distance behind the player. I noticed some places say they have Trackman and they do, but it's severely limited. No face, path, aoa, spin axis, etc.. just distance, whether you're in-out or out to in. If I were to go to a place that uses one, I'd make sure the people who are setting it up know what they're doing. And you have to adjust numbers mats vs grass.

[Dan42nepa]

Being cynical I guess i wondered if the complementary distances and stats also helped in selling golf clubs

 

[Lihu]

15 minutes ago, Dan42nepa said:

Being cynical I guess i wondered if the complementary distances and stats also helped in selling golf clubs

 

The GC2 at most stores can be "compensated" as there is a tweak factor on those. However, I think it is not as easy to do with Trackman?

It's more likely that most golfers are also more comfortable hitting in a store than in real life, and perform better there?

I'm kind of backwards because I'm slightly afraid of tight spaces when I swing, but even so I am getting good numbers nowadays.

[ZappyAd]

1 hour ago, Lihu said:

The Trackman generates numbers normalizing everything to standard conditions, while the real life test you did might have had things like GPS accuracy, a tailwind or the temperature was higher than 72F or any other number of factors.

I would trust the Trackman more than your on course measurements for a standard distance.

 

Tail wind would make my ball go further in real life wouldn't it?  Trackman had me hitting further in simulation than in real life : Trackman = 190, Real Life = 170.  It was about 42' F, no wind and using a laser rangefinder instead of GPS.  So I think my measuring was pretty accurate and conditions were less than ideal which is why I wasn't surprised to be seeing the ball go shorter than Trackman suggested.  However in my very limited experience (about five hours with Trackman) it always reports I hit further than I ever do in real life.  

I would actually be very interested to know if anyone has used Trackman and it has come back with numbers that are less than they see in real life.  I'll start a separate thread on that.

[Dan42nepa]

I was hoping it was accurate so I could get real stats on my irons as far as distance spin trajectory etc. I will probably still use it for practice.. does anyone know if there is a putting feature? the one in my area has putting and chipping but would be curious if it read things like true roll speed etc...'

[Lihu]

33 minutes ago, ZappyAd said:

Tail wind would make my ball go further in real life wouldn't it?  Trackman had me hitting further in simulation than in real life : Trackman = 190, Real Life = 170.  It was about 42' F, no wind and using a laser rangefinder instead of GPS.  So I think my measuring was pretty accurate and conditions were less than ideal which is why I wasn't surprised to be seeing the ball go shorter than Trackman suggested.  However in my very limited experience (about five hours with Trackman) it always reports I hit further than I ever do in real life.  

I would actually be very interested to know if anyone has used Trackman and it has come back with numbers that are less than they see in real life.  I'll start a separate thread on that.

Or headwind. . .42F will take a club or more off your distance versus 72F (density of air will be 10 yards plus another 2-4 yards for the ball depending upon the ball design). You might be one of those people who are more comfortable hitting indoors (without bulky outdoor clothing?) as well, so that's possibly another 5 yards?

The Trackman numbers are pretty accurate, and like any other instrument it needs to be calibrated properly.

4 minutes ago, Dan42nepa said:

I was hoping it was accurate so I could get real stats on my irons as far as distance spin trajectory etc. I will probably still use it for practice.. does anyone know if there is a putting feature? the one in my area has putting and chipping but would be curious if it read things like true roll speed etc...'

I understand that it has a chipping feature, but have not asked about trying it.

[ZappyAd]

29 minutes ago, Lihu said:

You might be one of those people who are more comfortable hitting indoors (without bulky outdoor clothing?) as well, so that's possibly another 5 yards?

I think I might not have written clearly enough - I am standing outside on the driving range with a Trackman set up behind me, so when I hit the ball I see where it goes and I can then compare that to what Trackman predicts it did.  The two are different, shot for shot, with Trackman predicting that the ball would fly further and generally straighter than it actually did.

[Lihu]

19 minutes ago, ZappyAd said:

I think I might not have written clearly enough - I am standing outside on the driving range with a Trackman set up behind me, so when I hit the ball I see where it goes and I can then compare that to what Trackman predicts it did.  The two are different, shot for shot, with Trackman predicting that the ball would fly further and generally straighter than it actually did.

Aha, so the Trackman was outdoors at 42F and you hit a ball outdoors? The Trackman was probably setup to normalize your shots to 72F.

In that case, I can easily see only 15 yards difference I don't know where that extra 5 yards less came from? Possibly measurement error***? 2.5 percent is not bad. Your rangefinder might be measuring low 1.25% and the Trackman high by 1.25%?

 

***Actually, if you can tell where your ball lands within 5 yards with no target flag on the range that's pretty good. Guessing there's a target flag at 170 yards? We have one at 150 yards and on another range 160 yards the next one at both places is 185 yards.

[ZappyAd]

The ball hit a target almost at the base of one of the metal feet and bounced off so I am pretty sure that the distance measured is accurate. i.e. I lasered the point where the ball landed.

I will ask the pro who owns the trackman if he ever sees anyone hit longer in reality.

[Dan42nepa]

That was very interesting zappy and answers my question I think. I was hoping for true accuracy so i could tell exactly how far my irons carry. I guess the other readings would be correct. Another thing, is there some sort of print out you can get afterwards that records all your readings? What i am planning for now is cell pictures of the results when i can get a general average for each club. I am always a little behind with the  technology and get general readings when I play using my sky caddie but those arent carry distances and also would include roll. I guess nothings perfect. 

[Lihu]

24 minutes ago, Dan42nepa said:

That was very interesting zappy and answers my question I think. I was hoping for true accuracy so i could tell exactly how far my irons carry. I guess the other readings would be correct. Another thing, is there some sort of print out you can get afterwards that records all your readings? What i am planning for now is cell pictures of the results when i can get a general average for each club. I am always a little behind with the  technology and get general readings when I play using my sky caddie but those arent carry distances and also would include roll. I guess nothings perfect. 

You'll never actually hit a club exact distances, unless you're really good.

So assume that you'll never hit your 6i 170 yards every time on the course, sometimes you could use the club for punch shots and sometimes you could use it off the tee. I would not expect both those distances to match at all. You just need to know how much "energy" (forward and spin) you can impart on the ball with any particular club.

So, the best thing is to know how far you hit under ideal conditions to help make decisions on trajectory and how much oomph you want to hit behind your ball. For instance, if your monitor distance with 6i are 190 yards, you know you will most likely hit within some factor of that number and take in all the conditions of the shot into account using that number as a simple guideline.