Launch monitor versus on course reality

Rodrigo

Countless times whilst been custom fit on the launch monitor I've seen people on here saying they hit a 6 iron or whatever up to 30 yards further than there own clubs, the same with driver, spin rate is up/down blah blah blah and getting increased yardage. Personally I think in most most cases its a load of old bollox. How many people can say with all honesty that they really are getting such an increase in distance and if so, how long were they in the first place? Personally I think launch monitor figures are exaggerated with different launch angles from different clubs. And no I don't think custom fitting is a waste of time, far from it, its just the launch monitor the figures that you get can be misleading.

ForeRight

When I was on the monitor last I was driving the ball 260-270.

When on the course I often check the distance if I've hit a good one and its about 270-280 max when I really hit it well so its accurate enough for me when you add on the bit of run I suppose.

Rodrigo

Yes foreright, but you were getting those distances in the first place, you didn't suddenly find another 20+ yards on the monitor and then see were you getting that 20+ yards on the course.

ForeRight

Rodrigo wrote: »

Yes foreright, but you were getting those distances in the first place, you didn't suddenly find another 20+ yards on the monitor and then see were you getting that 20+ yards on the course.

I was agreeing with you.

Golfgraffix

I would say that the top end launch monitors are all within half of a percent of each other in terms of their output of ball flight data.

The top ones are very accurate and should match your normal real figures very closely, no more than +/- 2 yards.

The errors i have seen tend to be in the monitors setup, poor lighting and even in some cases radio/cell interference.

Generally the ones using radar will be far more accurate than camera based ones, the one exception would be the GC2 from Foresight. We had one at our stand at the PGA show in Orlando and for a small unit at a fracion of the cost say trackman it performed exceptionaly well.

J

Paranoid Android 2

Wind effects can be added to a lot of them. But I doubt anywhere would stoop so low as to turn on a downwind effect when you try a club they want to sell.

Golfgraffix

Paranoid Android 2 wrote: »

Wind effects can be added to a lot of them. But I doubt anywhere would stoop so low as to turn on a downwind effect when you try a club they want to sell.

Well Flightscope and Trackman figures won't really be sqewed by wind, as they are both radar based they track the full flight of the ball. So their figures should include the effect of wind on the ball.

Other camera based units like V1 and Foresight are better suited for indoors as they only gather data in the hitting zone and then apply an algorithm to work out the full ball flight.

J

Paranoid Android 2

Golfgraffix wrote: »

Well Flightscope and Trackman figures won't really be sqewed by wind, as they are both radar based they track the full flight of the ball. So their figures should include the effect of wind on the ball.

Other camera based units like V1 and Foresight are better suited for indoors as they only gather data in the hitting zone and then apply an algorithm to work out the full ball flight.

J

Sorry should have clarified. There is a menu option built into the software for wind effects on some devices. So if fitted indoors, where the full flight can't be tracked by Doppler radar, beware.

blue note

I reckon people also concentrate more when trying out clubs - they slow down their swing and make a better contact.

ShivasIrons

Rodrigo wrote: »

Countless times whilst been custom fit on the launch monitor I've seen people on here saying they hit a 6 iron or whatever up to 30 yards further than there own clubs, the same with driver, spin rate is up/down blah blah blah and getting increased yardage. Personally I think in most most cases its a load of old bollox. How many people can say with all honesty that they really are getting such an increase in distance and if so, how long were they in the first place? Personally I think launch monitor figures are exaggerated with different launch angles from different clubs. And no I don't think custom fitting is a waste of time, far from it, its just the launch monitor the figures that you get can be misleading.

What launch monitors are you talking about? Trackman/Flightscope/Foresight are all very accurate.

It's not unusual to see gains of 20-30 yards with a change in driver. There are a lot of golfers with clubs that don't suit them.

ShivasIrons

blue note wrote: »

I reckon people also concentrate more when trying out clubs - they slow down their swing and make a better contact.

This is not a very common scenario.

ShriekingSheet

Hit your own club(s) on whatever monitor you're using first. Then try the new club(s).

Any inaccuracies won't matter, because you're then comparing apples with apples.

The yardage it tells you you're hitting your driver is less important than the difference in yardage between your driver and a potential new one.

ImDave

It's important also to note the difference in technologies between various systems. Trackman, and I believe Flightscope x2, aren't really launch monitors by traditional definition. They use doppler radar to track ball flight and its attributes in real time, providing maximum accuracy. Trackman for instance, under normal conditions, is accurate to within one yard over a 275 yard shot.

Traditional launch monitors essentially take a series of short burst, high speed image captures of the golf ball at impact and launch, and makes a series of calculations and estimates based on same.