# Toptracers at Driving ranges



## Britishshooting (Aug 1, 2018)

How accurate are the Top Tracer systems you find at some driving ranges? Theres one near me that is free to use with a basket of balls on Fridays.

I really enjoy using it but the range itself isn't the best in terms of yardage markers set out on the range, is the top tracer reliable enough to understand how far you're carrying irons and drivers etc?

It seems to get the flight path right on the money.

Anybody use them?


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## Hosel Fade (Aug 1, 2018)

Im not convinced of the accuracy of the system at Silvermere, reads short compared to (admittedly old) trackman yardages I have when I'm sure I have put (a little) speed on since


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## Dibby (Aug 1, 2018)

It's pretty good but not perfect, fine for a rough idea, but I wouldn't believe it to the exact number.

With a cloudy\foggy\snowy sky it can't track the ball, it struggles with short shots <50 yards. and I've hit range signs before, and the tracer shows the ball continuing forward, not bouncing backwards, so I assume it must project some of the path based on the bit it did track.


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## Britishshooting (Aug 1, 2018)

Hosel Fade said:



			Im not convinced of the accuracy of the system at Silvermere, reads short compared to (admittedly old) trackman yardages I have when I'm sure I have put (a little) speed on since
		
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That was the reason for my query in terms of short iron shots i can roughly match the range yardage to that of the Toptracer and its not far out if at all.

At longer ranges though I'm not convinced. It had me down as hitting a 311 yard drive, then i spanked one and it claimed 325 with 290 carry. Now one thing i do know is I NEVER get 35 yards of roll with my flight path so assumed it must guess the roll out or it got a hard firm bounce as it has been dry.


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## Pathetic Shark (Aug 1, 2018)

Hosel Fade said:



			Im not convinced of the accuracy of the system at Silvermere, reads short compared to (admittedly old) trackman yardages I have when I'm sure I have put (a little) speed on since
		
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At the prices they charge, you'd think they would be accurate.  I've heard this complaint from a lot of people.   They are no better than Top Golf but without the targets and beer.


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## shortgame (Aug 1, 2018)

The two I use are fairly often are pretty accurate tbf

Things to watch though:

- i work from carry distances not total distance as I guess the roll must be calculated 

- The 'normalise' option adds a set % to all shots, designed to correct for the loss of distance between range balls and normal balls.  However this is very arbitrary (say 10%) that is apllied across the board.

- I find they pick up nearly all shots at night with full floodlights or in daylight but very poor at dusk.


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## Blue in Munich (Aug 1, 2018)

Variable would be the polite way to describe the performance of the ones at the Beverley Way range on the A3.


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## Pathetic Shark (Aug 2, 2018)

Blue in Munich said:



			Variable would be the polite way to describe the performance of the ones at the Beverley Way range on the A3.
		
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I thought the Japanese had a 100% monopoly on use of the range there â€¦...


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## mashleyR7 (Aug 2, 2018)

Hosel Fade said:



			Im not convinced of the accuracy of the system at Silvermere, reads short compared to (admittedly old) trackman yardages I have when I'm sure I have put (a little) speed on since
		
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I've usually found Silvermere quite accurate. Maybe its just me trying to convince myself this new club im testing is worth it ha ha. 
I picthed my old 5w against a new one and the distances were the same, well marginally better with the new epic v xhot actually.


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## Britishshooting (Aug 3, 2018)

[video=youtube;ZCF3lP3oO1g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCF3lP3oO1g[/video]After doing a bit of comparing since posting:

Iron shots seem to be bang on in terms of carry distance and roll unless playing into a green.

Driver carry distance is about right however it must definitely guesstimate the amount of roll, on this drive it assumed i had 35 yards of roll which I never get. I hit the ball extremely high and miss out on much additional roll.

This is a shot recently with my old R11S 9.0 in lower flight setting, just been fit for a 917 d2 after a long absence from golf which has sorted my trajectory issues out however not had chance to use mine yet which was delivered a couple days ago.

Do these top tracers require frequent calibration? Assuming there not frequently calibrated issues arise?

Ball speed also seems excessive, 176 is mighty fast.. maybe it assumes roll from ball speed and if ones not calibrated it knackers it up?


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## road2ruin (Aug 11, 2018)

Sorry, arriving at this topic late but, for me, Top Tracer has completely changed the frequency that I visit the range. For me the driving range was a bit boring, Iâ€™d hit 10-20 balls properly then get a bit bored and start smashing them down the far end with a driver. 

The range at Sandown Park has recently got them installed so went down to have a go and it was a revelation. Iâ€™ll now have a bucket of say 25-30 balls to warm up and then play the games on Top Tracer, hitting specific targets to get points. Other times Iâ€™ll play a round of golf. 

The distances may be a little questionable however itâ€™s really helped me focus when down there and I actually enjoy visiting. My ball striking has improved as Iâ€™m practicing more so definitely a fan


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## Depreston (Oct 15, 2018)

Just seen close house have had this installed anyone know how much they charge?


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## IanM (Oct 15, 2018)

Blue in Munich said:



			Variable would be the polite way to describe the performance of the ones at the Beverley Way range on the A3.
		
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Just looked at their site?  Â£8-80 for 50 balls?  I thought St Pierre were cheeky charging a fiver!  Maybe I am just getting old


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## Parsaregood (Oct 15, 2018)

Mearns castle have top tracker, it's accurate enough on carry from about 40-200 yards if you discount run as it assumes everything runs out about 20-30 yards. It's more a novelty thing to get people in the door I think, seems to be busier anyway, doesn't really do much for me. Anyway ball prices here are 
25-Â£5.50
50-Â£6.50
75-Â£7.50
100-Â£8.50
Absolute robbery, balls are mostly in poor condition and the ball washer doesn't seem to be used much do can guarantee they will be firty/gritty. Problem is there's not really another driving range in the area so they can charge what they like and get away with it.


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## shortgame (Oct 15, 2018)

Parsaregood said:



			25-Â£5.50
		
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## jpxpro (Oct 15, 2018)

been to mearns one a couple of times, carry distances are not too bad but totals are a joke, my lob wedge rolls about 20 yards despite me knowing i have 9000/10000 spin, defo think its a better option than blasting balls aimlessly, and is great for looking at flights and dispersion, especially if like me you struggle to see the ball flying through air


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## Markom1974 (Sep 20, 2020)

jpxpro said:



			been to mearns one a couple of times, carry distances are not too bad but totals are a joke, my lob wedge rolls about 20 yards despite me knowing i have 9000/10000 spin, defo think its a better option than blasting balls aimlessly, and is great for looking at flights and dispersion, especially if like me you struggle to see the ball flying through air 

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I went to Forthview on Thursday, £9.00 for 100 balls. During the day, distances and ball flight seemed to be decent. Went to Mearns Castle on Thursday night after dropping the boy off in Paisley at his football training and I won’t be back. As you say, range balls were filthy and in a very poor condition. A tenner for a hundred balls, which is fine if the system works. Mats weren’t in good condition either. The tracer itself lost every ball beyond 120 yards, so I’m carrying my 4 iron the same distance as my pitching wedge. Also, it loses any lob and gap wedge shots, whereas Forthview picked up everything. 
I was in Bay 15 on Thursday. Absolutely dreadful and a waste of a tenner to be quite honest. 
Forthview was in a different league in terms of accuracy and condition of the balls. Range itself could do with a tidy up, but it is what it is. 
Someone said at Mearns Castle the scope can’t pick up high wedge shots at all. Seemed that way for me. “The roof is too low” is what one fella told me. So, the question is, why bother? Is it better during the day?


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## Swinglowandslow (Sep 20, 2020)

Britishshooting said:



			That was the reason for my query in terms of short iron shots i can roughly match the range yardage to that of the Toptracer and its not far out if at all.

At longer ranges though I'm not convinced. It had me down as hitting a 311 yard drive, then i spanked one and it claimed 325 with 290 carry. Now one thing i do know is I NEVER get 35 yards of roll with my flight path so assumed it must guess the roll out or it got a hard firm bounce as it has been dry.
		
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You carry 290?. I wouldn't worry about how much roll out😳😳😳
Wish I could get anywhere remotely near that.
That's good swinging.


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## SaintHacker (Sep 20, 2020)

My club has recently opened a studio with on of these indoor things thay lets you play loads of famous courses.  They charge £15 for an hour to use it for club distances. Seems pretty reasonable to me given the prices some are quoting on here for a bucket of battered old range balls. I know my distances pretty well as ive been tracking them with an app but I'm planning to book a session this week ,it will be an interesting comparison


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## sev112 (Sep 20, 2020)

Good timing to come across this thread, after a few years off golf, I’ve been a few times to a local range that has thism and I was wondering how it worked, presuming it to be trackman related somehow I.e. camera in the ball dispenser perhaps, but it didn’t look like that.  I couldn’t understand Why the few previous times every ing had a slight draw to hook, whereas yesterday everything was going right? Must be something in my swing. 
eventually I worked out that it was very windy yesterday !

actually I find the carry distances pretty good


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## Chico84 (Sep 20, 2020)

Certainly the one on the A3 provides variable performance. Most recently I’ve found it almost useless for highly lofted pitches. I’m guessing the trajectory is too steep for the radar (is this how it works?) to pick up. 

Carry distances don’t seem too far off in my experience but the roll can be optimistic at times, especially compared to a damp British course.


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## Newnsy (Sep 20, 2020)

pachesham golf centre has just got top tracer installed and we had a session testing it against GCQuad. Top tracer was about 4/5% out with irons carry distance. ball speed was pretty much identical. 
Driver was much more erratic sometimes as much as 40-50 yards difference but that might be because of the uphill range


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## MendieGK (Sep 20, 2020)

Newnsy said:



			pachesham golf centre has just got top tracer installed and we had a session testing it against GCQuad. Top tracer was about 4/5% out with irons carry distance. ball speed was pretty much identical. 
Driver was much more erratic sometimes as much as 40-50 yards difference but that might be because of the uphill range
		
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I took my GC2 to a top tracer range and found ball speed and launch identical, but distance out by a fair amounts.

4/5% is a fair amount. That’s more than half a club on most shots.


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## HomerJSimpson (Sep 21, 2020)

If I had GC 2 or GC quad I would probably steer clear of any range with Toptracer as you do seem to be paying a premium on the price of a bucket of balls and look for one without it and set up the QC monitor


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## SaintHacker (Sep 25, 2020)

Just found out my local range has been upgraded over the lockdown and now has toptracer in all bays and new Srixon balls. £10 for 45 mins and unlimited balls which doesn't seem too unreasonable. Got something I want to work on and I know my club distances pretty well so off up there ina bit to see how accurate these things really are.


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## SteveW86 (Sep 25, 2020)

SaintHacker said:



			Just found out my local range has been upgraded over the lockdown and now has toptracer in all bays and new Srixon balls. £10 for 45 mins and unlimited balls which doesn't seem too unreasonable. Got something I want to work on and I know my club distances pretty well so off up there ina bit to see how accurate these things really are.
		
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Which range is this Paul? Also, did you have a go on the simulator?


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## SaintHacker (Sep 25, 2020)

Paultons mate. Seems pretty accurate to me. Was coming out probably between 5-10 yarfs less than my gps app tells me but the wind today could easily account for that. Not been on the sim yet, have you?


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