Trackman range

[nickjdavis]

We've got an https://www.inrangegolf.com/ system at my local range.

Uses range balls but calculates "premium ball distances"...the calculated distances seem pretty consistent with what I see on course. One day I need to take a few "decent" balls with me to the range and hit them as a batch next to the range balls and compare the "adjusted" value when hitting a rnage ball with the unadjusted value for the "premium" ball.

It uses radar and must track the entire ball flight as the screens that show ball flight are very accurate in terms of displaying the trajectory and the point of landing.

 

[mikejohnchapman]

I think it's useful for some things on a Trackman range.

Look at carry and not total distance.
Good for gapping
Look at height - especially driver

 

[sjw]

Apparently it's like this

The TrackMan measures the golf swing and the entire flight of the ball from impact to landing while displaying its 3D trajectory in real-time and, when combined with OERT technology, gives incredible accuracy - measuring the landing position with an accuracy of 1 foot at 100 yards.

Got to love when people just bin tech off as poor when it doesn't agree with their own thoughts on how far they should hit

Is that actual trackman though, or trackman range?

 

[sjw]

I was at Toptracer the other day, and while I don't know my ball spin, apparently a 14 degree, 162mph ball will carry 230 yards. Something didn't add up.

I also noticed that as it got later (and therefore darker), the exact same swing was registering as much slower ball speed. Just couldn't rely on it at all

 

[HeftyHacker]

I was at Toptracer the other day, and while I don't know my ball spin, apparently a 14 degree, 162mph ball will carry 230 yards. Something didn't add up.

I also noticed that as it got later (and therefore darker), the exact same swing was registering as much slower ball speed. Just couldn't rely on it at all

My local one seems to struggle beyond about 180 yards or so.

I've watched balls disappear into the trees beyond the back fence (which I've lasered at 230 yards) yet on the toptracer it didn't even rollout beyond 220.

So much so that when we play virtual courses on it we tend to try and play from the tees at around 6000-6400 yards as the drives come up so short that it makes the courses play very long otherwise.

As you've said - my mate usually hits a 160 ballspeed with a decent flight but his drives are only carrying about 225 to 240 on the TT - on course he's generally at about 260.

 

[Deleted member 35504]

Got to love when people just bin tech off as poor when it doesn't agree with their own thoughts on how far they should hit

So basically you blindly believe every monitor is telling the truth, despite certain levels of golfer knowing that the info they're being given is obviously nonsense?

The word "Trackman" is often used as a generic term for any distance measuring system, most of which are inferior. It's clear reading this thread that many ranges are throwing out incorrect numbers, made worse with poor quality balls which we're now getting charged more for.

 

[Deleted member 35504]

I was at Toptracer the other day, and while I don't know my ball spin, apparently a 14 degree, 162mph ball will carry 230 yards. Something didn't add up.

I also noticed that as it got later (and therefore darker), the exact same swing was registering as much slower ball speed. Just couldn't rely on it at all

Good example.
Assuming no crazy distance-zapping spin, a decent ball at that speed and launch is carrying 260+? off the top of my head, maybe more?
230 is obviously way off so makes it rather pointless.

 

[PJ87]

So basically you blindly believe every monitor is telling the truth, despite certain levels of golfer knowing that the info they're being given is obviously nonsense?

The word "Trackman" is often used as a generic term for any distance measuring system, most of which are inferior. It's clear reading this thread that many ranges are throwing out incorrect numbers, made worse with poor quality balls which we're now getting charged more for.

When you see proven tech installed in a range you trust it .

"A certain level of golfer" can still have differences in swings one to the next that would result in different outcomes.

It's not like tiger woods is posting his views on them

 

[nickjdavis]

We've got an https://www.inrangegolf.com/ system at my local range.

Uses range balls but calculates "premium ball distances"...the calculated distances seem pretty consistent with what I see on course. One day I need to take a few "decent" balls with me to the range and hit them as a batch next to the range balls and compare the "adjusted" value when hitting a rnage ball with the unadjusted value for the "premium" ball.

It uses radar and must track the entire ball flight as the screens that show ball flight are very accurate in terms of displaying the trajectory and the point of landing.

OK...so I did this this afternoon.

Hit 9 shots with an 8 iron using range balls and then a similar number using a mixture of old balls from my bag of pickups... a selection of ProV1, Chrome Soft and B330 RXS.

So...firstly with the range balls...

Measured Ball Speed: 97mph
Average Actual Measured Distance: 129yds
Calculated Premium Ball distance: 134yds

With the premium balls...

Measured Ball Speed: 100.5mph
Average Actual Measured Distance: 140 yds

 

[Neilds]

We have had top tracer for just over a year and when we got it installed, the club also invested in TM balls for the range. If you get caught using your own balls on the range then you will be subject to disciplinary proceedings (not sure what these are). Means you get what you pay for when you get a bucket of balls and not some scabby pick ups from someone’s gash bag

 

[sjw]

Good example.
Assuming no crazy distance-zapping spin, a decent ball at that speed and launch is carrying 260+? off the top of my head, maybe more?
230 is obviously way off so makes it rather pointless.

Yeah, I don't know whether or not the launch angle/speed was correct, but that's irrelevant really - it's clearly not "checking" itself at all to make sure the numbers make sense

 

[Wildrover]

In Plymouth?

I read that and thought the same

 

[Canary_Yellow]

We've got an https://www.inrangegolf.com/ system at my local range.

Uses range balls but calculates "premium ball distances"...the calculated distances seem pretty consistent with what I see on course. One day I need to take a few "decent" balls with me to the range and hit them as a batch next to the range balls and compare the "adjusted" value when hitting a rnage ball with the unadjusted value for the "premium" ball.

It uses radar and must track the entire ball flight as the screens that show ball flight are very accurate in terms of displaying the trajectory and the point of landing.

I also go to a place (Tonbridge Golf Centre) with the inrange system and I agree with you that it’s pretty accurate. As you say, it must track the ball the whole way, I’ve seen this in action as the distances it reports are impacted by the wind conditions. I went down on the Sunday afternoon of storm Isha and as the wind was blowing straight down range, I entered the long drive competition Got into the top 3 for the year so far (long since been overtaken, but it was fun!)

 

[nickjdavis]

I also go to a place (Tonbridge Golf Centre) with the inrange system and I agree with you that it’s pretty accurate. As you say, it must track the ball the whole way, I’ve seen this in action as the distances it reports are impacted by the wind conditions. I went down on the Sunday afternoon of storm Isha and as the wind was blowing straight down range, I entered the long drive competition Got into the top 3 for the year so far (long since been overtaken, but it was fun!)

I think the system uses multiple radars around the range to track the balls so it can work out which bay each ball has been hit from and report the results to the appropriate bay. The rnage i go to is slightly elevated so for the most part you can see where the ball lands....the results shown on screen are pretty precise.

Makes you wonder if the system can track a couple of dozen balls being hit from multiple locations and 100mph speeds plus with a high degree of accuracy, why couldnt it be installed at a football ground to track player and ball movement/positions and come to instant offside decisions.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Whilst I agree Trackman is probably not completely accurate in their range system compared to the full blown version but the option of having access to some data (and playing courses etc) means any practice I do can be is a little more structured and varied rather than bashing balls into a wide field with little feedback or consequence

 

[Dando]

All the ranges near me have either trackman or top tracer and in my experience the numbers are way off so it’s pointless using it unless it’s one of the games.

 

[Orikoru]

There's a range near me called BigShots that apparently uses the outdoor version of Trackman. But the back fence is only 155 yards away. So on the 'practise mode' when you hit the fence the screen literally shows it hitting the fence and dropping. Then you have to change it to 'long drive' game mode, and then when you hit the fence, on the screen the line keeps going, estimating where it would have gone by continuing the flight/trajectory. I remember one time though I hit a skinny worm-burner with an iron and it malfunctioning and kept measuring it up to like 250 yards. And when I went there recently with a mate, we were playing a course (which you can just see on the screen at the side), but a lot of his shots the camera didn't even pick them up for some reason, even though they were good hits.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

All the ranges near me have either trackman or top tracer and in my experience the numbers are way off so it’s pointless using it unless it’s one of the games.

I was involved in the testing of the Trackman at my local range before it went live with their fitters still on site so they could rectify things like shots not being picked up and strange distances vs ball speed etc and ensure each bay was set up correctly so I know the numbers I got then and when it first opened are accurate. Of course whether the people running the range on a daily basis will monitor this and be able to correct any issues going forward remains to be seen

 

[sjw]

There's a range near me called BigShots that apparently uses the outdoor version of Trackman. But the back fence is only 155 yards away. So on the 'practise mode' when you hit the fence the screen literally shows it hitting the fence and dropping. Then you have to change it to 'long drive' game mode, and then when you hit the fence, on the screen the line keeps going, estimating where it would have gone by continuing the flight/trajectory. I remember one time though I hit a skinny worm-burner with an iron and it malfunctioning and kept measuring it up to like 250 yards. And when I went there recently with a mate, we were playing a course (which you can just see on the screen at the side), but a lot of his shots the camera didn't even pick them up for some reason, even though they were good hits.

That's nothing, I hit one on Toptracer that immediately warned me about hitting out of the range perimeter - I could see behind the warning this straight yellow line going off at a 45 degree angle, straight up into orbit, and it had apparently gone 3000 yards

The shots not being picked up sometimes is super annoying. Last time I went, the only club it wouldn't pick up was the driver. Guess which club I'd gone to practice with?

 

[Orikoru]

That's nothing, I hit one on Toptracer that immediately warned me about hitting out of the range perimeter - I could see behind the warning this straight yellow line going off at a 45 degree angle, straight up into orbit, and it had apparently gone 3000 yards

The shots not being picked up sometimes is super annoying. Last time I went, the only club it wouldn't pick up was the driver. Guess which club I'd gone to practice with?

It was funny, as I said I was playing with a mate taking turns on the same bay, and it failed to pick up his shot 6 or 7 times, whereas to me it only happened once I think. Not sure what he was doing differently, or it was just bad luck for him.

Another annoyance but slightly unrelated - when he missed the green it would give him an auto up-and-down most of the time, even out of bunkers, yet one of the times I hit the green it gave me a bloody three-putt from only 20 feet! And that machine hasn't even seen me putt so how would it know??