Do you trust launch monitors?

[Grizzly]

With apologies for picking your collectives brains again....

Launch monitors. I was in American Golf the other day killing a half hour between meetings by looking at the new ranges, and talked myself into trying out the Ping Crossover driving irons. They had a net and screens, and a launch monitor set up, and I hit maybe 20 balls with each of two set ups. My question is, how much can I trust the results? I recognise I should be comparing in my head to a wind free mid Summer day rather than imagining how I'm hitting it in winter with no run on the fairways, a stiff breeze and cold air conditions but...averaging 242 yards with a 3 iron seems excessive (for comparison, I currently carry a 5 wood that I'm lucky to get 220 out of)

 

[Deleted member 3432]

You can trust launch monitors, GQ quad and Trackman are fantastic bits of kit.

You can't trust salesmen fiddling about with launch monitors when you are testing clubs!

 

[Ethan]

Launch monitors are simply pieces of tech which measure certain things. I trust them to do so within a certain specification so long as they are accurately calibrated.

The question is therefore whether you trust a particular vendor to honestly calibrate the devices or if you think they might crank them up to make a sale.

 

[Grizzly]

You can trust launch monitors, GQ quad and Trackman are fantastic bits of kit.

You can't trust salesmen fiddling about with launch monitors when you are testing clubs!

Thankfully I don't think that was an issue - it was a Pro, and I was left to it.

 

[Orikoru]

I trust them but if you're trying out new clubs on one, you need to bring your own clubs to try out in the same conditions for a proper comparison. And keep swapping between the two so you can't put it down to having warmed up, or the settings being fiddled.

 

[Dando]

I had a fitting with ag and the numbers of my 7 iron were well below what I normally hit and when I tried a new iron, low and behold I was hitting my usual distance

 

[Grizzly]

I trust them but if you're trying out new clubs on one, you need to bring your own clubs to try out in the same conditions for a proper comparison. And keep swapping between the two so you can't put it down to having warmed up, or the settings being fiddled.

That's sensible - if I take, say, a 5 iron that I consistently hit 185 and intersperse it, it should give me a good idea how accurate the calibration is.

 

[patricks148]

i suppose who the said shop was or if you have over 120MPH clubheadspeed with a driver.

 

[patricks148]

That's sensible - if I take, say, a 5 iron that I consistently hit 185 and intersperse it, it should give me a good idea how accurate the calibration is.

is that carry

 

[Grizzly]

i suppose who the said shop was or if you have over 120MPH clubheadspeed with a driver.

The shop was the AG by Monument. No idea my driver clubhead speed but my swing speed when I was fitted for it was 108.

 

[patricks148]

The shop was the AG by Monument. No idea my driver clubhead speed but my swing speed when I was fitted for it was 108.

that would be witha driver.

check this out

 

[Dando]

The shop was the AG by Monument. No idea my driver clubhead speed but my swing speed when I was fitted for it was 108.

I often pop into that one on my way to Cannon Street.
It’s one of the better ag’s about, with the one at Sidcup and the O2

 

[Deleted member 23270]

The important thing with monitors is purely to treat them as comparison devices. Forget the distances, just see how club A compares side by side with club B.

 

[ScienceBoy]

When buying clubs at AG? No!

With the pro in a lesson? Yes.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I will take my own club usually a 7 iron with me. I know from hitting it on Trackman and GC Quad what my numbers should be so can see very easily if the monitor in a store has been cranked. If I am using a monitor when having a lesson I'd trust the data unless it gave what I considered a wild or strange number and then question it. On the whole yes I do trust them

 

[Roops]

As all have said. It largely depends on who is using it and what for. We had a golf sim setup at work when we were sponsoring an event. The longest drive was 360 yds.......it was ridiculous how it had been setup. On the other hand, I go to a club fitter/pro and we always make a comparison between current clubs and any new stuff I am looking at. We also only take measurements using proper balls, range balls are used for warm up.

 

[Papas1982]

I trust the technology. I just don't always trust those controlling said tech.

 

[hombre_paulo]

I went for a wedge test at AG and took along my existing 52 degree vokey. Hit a few with that to warm up and asked the guy what distance they were going, 115yds said the guy. He went very quiet and fiddle with his settings when i pointed out the game golf tag and the fact I've never hit it over 105yds.
Suffice to say after his fiddling his numbers were much more accurate - trust the monitor, dont trust salespeople.

 

[Sats]

Launch monitors do not take in a lot of other conditions that would affect things. AG seem to just focus on how far all the time, I had a 'fitting' at monument once and all I got recommended was a club that I hit the longest - not the one I consistently got good dispersion/spin rates etc.

 

[need_my_wedge]

In AG, I don't like the computer screen, I think lines it draws are out of proporion, so being offline looks a lot worse than it is in real life. The instructor I go to has a trackman on the range bay we use, so I can see ball flight for real as well as the figures. I trust the figures it displays, but prefer to see the results for real.