What is your experience with launch monitors?

[Bravo]

OK - I did it. I took my r7 down (as well as my old R540) to Golfsmith today. Hit quite a few balls on their launch monitor and I am getting a Grafalloy ProLaunch 65 put in the club. I am picking it up Friday and will play it over the weekend. (Results to be posted early next week...).

I found that the ball direction on the launch monitor was uncannily accurate. I played 36 holes on Saturday and drove the ball pretty darn well, with quite a few fairways hit. When I am swinging well I hit a pretty good draw. Poor swings result in a snaphook or a block. But for the most part, I hit the ball well during my rounds on Saturday from the tee. (terrible short game arrrrggghh)

I would say that my average 'decently hit' drive was around 255 and I had several which I recall (since I was pacing them off the sprinklerheads for my next shot) which ran into the 270-280 range. On one short par 4 (315 yards) I was 20 yards off the front fringe so I figured this one around 280. No problem...I know I can't blast it like I used to anyway and I wanted the new driver to hit more balls in the shortgrass.

So I am hitting on the launch monitor. Hit the ball and look at the screen. Repeat. The "shot paths/shapes" look very similar to my last round and the club fitter said it well - "when you miss, you miss left". But I had quite a few that were within 10-15 yards of center which would have left me in the fairway. This was similar to Saturday...pretty solid.

Then, I looked at the yardage. It was estimating my drives at 215 yards, often times with a carry of 185. I had not a single drive over 223 yards. While I couldn't care less about what the machine said, I thought it kind of strange since I was getting much more than that on the course and the machine was very very accurate on simulating my ball angle...(I carried a 4 iron 190 on a par 3 Saturday....)

BTW, my swing speed was only 88 mph. I never mentioned anything about regular shaft vs. stiff and after about 15 swings the guy said, "Even though you don't have a very fast swing, you load it up pretty well so I am going to recommend a stiff shaft for you". So here we go - let's see if I like it. This is weird because all of my other fairway wood shafts are regular. I could care less one way or the other - I just want to hit them as straight as I can...

So - what is your experience with launch monitors? Do you find them to be accurate??

[Pa Jayhawk]

I have found Launch Monitors to be extremely accurate with everything but distance. I have found them to be give or take up to 35 yards on distance. However, I have found them to be extremely accurate on distance gaps, launch angle, and ball path. So if it is off by 35 yards, it is off by 35 yards on all my clubs. So you can properly analyze difference between clubs.

On the flip side, I have found Simulators to be inaccurate in all areas including distance, gaps, ball path and launch angle. I will not go to a simulator unless they serve beer so I can overlook their reliability.

[David B]

It's my hunch that a lot of simulators don't take spin rate into account... they simply measure speed and trajectory and put up their best guess as to how far the ball is going to travel, as well as the arc path it takes... that isn't really too difficult for a computer to estimate.

However, the spin rate on the ball determines how long it stays up in the air, and will actually increase the arc-length of the shot, as well as the arc-path. I think it would take a pretty sophisticated piece of equipment to measure the spin rate on the ball as it leaves the club face.

My only experience with a launch monitor was the simulator they have over at Copeland's Sports... it seemed to be pretty accurate, but it didn't do much more than measure ball speed and distance... it did make it nice for trying out clubs though, since you could at least get a general idea of one club's performance over another based on what you were seeing.

[obagain]

Launch monitors do not take wind or terrain into the calculation. Most will be short 15 yards or so because of that.

[Rockford35]

Originally Posted by obagain

Launch monitors do not take wind or terrain into the calculation. Most will be short 15 yards or so because of that.

Or 15 yards longer with a tailwind. So basically, they're bunk for distance.

R35

[Andy_79]

Yeah, I was hitting 6-irons anything between 168 & 192 yards on one yesterday ! Best off seeing 'em fly, me thinks...

[EnglishGolfer]

what I don't understand is why they have to be adjustable. The monitor at a local shop can be adjusted to show a greater distance than is accurate on purpose to build a customers confidence (and con them into buying).

I like the information about club face angle and swing speed is OK to know (but not essential, mainly used for bragging about when you swing over 100 mph). You just can;t beat actual use on the course, even the range doesn't come close.

[obagain]

On a launch monitor you want to look at, ball spin rate, trajectory and ball speed. None of the other stuff really matters.
If you are on a monitor and they adjust it anytime you are htting, ask for your money back. You want the same set up from start to finish.
If you can find a shop that uses doppler instead of a camera, go with the doppler. They are much more accurate.