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[stickner]

I don't agree that punishing you on a fat shot is a pro. It is a MAJOR con. Anyone with a reasonable mid-level index knows when they hit it fat, thin, off-center or right on the button.

 

I personally don't need jarring feedback to know I hit it fat.

[SlamMan]

 

It's not the mat that provides feedback in my opinion.

 

Cool story. I still find the CCE more like hitting off grass.

 

The DA doesn't provide enough resistance for me. Grass doesn't give way like this.

 

I initially went with DA thinking more forgiving would be better but it didn't work for me. Glad you like it though.

[jasonfish11]

I really like the real feel mat with the gel insert. I take pretty deep divots and I don't have any arm pain when I use it. Prior to making it myself I was hitting balls off the mat w/o the gel under it and within 15-20 shots I'd feel some "tenderness" in my leading elbow. It took me 1 week of quitting a practice session after 15 balls in order to prevent injury. The I placed the order for the gel insert and went to home depot to get a piece of 3/4" plywood. Anyone with a saw and an ability to use it w/o cutting off a finger can easily make the hole for the gel insert.

 

I get more resistance with the gel insert than in that video of the da mat (although I don't know the amount of force being applied). But it doesn't cause any pain or injury in my arm.

 

Although I agree w/ stickner if you can't tell how well you've hit the ball based on feel and sound no mat on the face of the planet with any amount of practice will be enough to help you. It's pretty easy to know where the ball is striking the club face by feel and sound.

[stickner]

Another thing to note.

 

Plan on it taking 3 months for you to see normal distances on your monitor if you are swinging indoors. Everyone always says this, and my thought was "ah wtf are these people talking about, that won't be a problem for me."

 

Long story short, it took me about 2 months to get the yardages similar to what I see on the course.

 

Not true for me!

 

When I got my simulator I went BEAST-MODE right out of the gate.

 

My driver was a slap-happy-low-squirrely-peel-off-bunt-fade that flew about 205 and rolled out to 212.

 

Just like real life baby!!!!!

 

And your 3w carries 225 usually pretty straight, yet you hit driver 9/10 times on the course? Hmmm your game sounds all too familiar.

 

10 out of 10 baby!

 

If you're not first you're last!

 

Shake it before you bake it!

[salmon2]

Just got a custom fitting so it looks like I’m on a tighter budget than this morning!

[hbgpagolfpro]

Years ago I had a simulator in my indoor teaching studio. It was addicting! I really didn't use it for playing golf...more for working on my swing. I got my simulator through GSA. I didn't have a big commercial type set up...I had the steel frame with netting and impact screen, computer with software, simulator mat, stance mat, and projector. The simulator provided excellent feedback relating to swing path, face angle, swing speed, etc. I worked on my swing all winter that year and was really swinging well. Combined with video swing analysis, it provided great feedback for my students.

 

Lots of good options out there these days, so don't think you need to spend a fortune for a nice indoor setup.

[msg]

Regarding mats, I have no problem striking irons off the grass. I got the CCE mat as my first mat and it never worked for me. Not sure why but it is the only mat that I cannot swing on. No other mat did that to me. I could not get any solid hits, I was always hitting behind the ball. I felt like I was sinking on my down swing. Funny thing is, I was only the one who had the issue with it. My friends never had any issue swinging on the CCE. But they did feel the punishment on fat shots. When the night was over, all of them were complaining about wrist and elbow pains.

 

Now I just use it as a stance mat and got a mat from ebay which works fine ever since. I tried out the Fiber Built mat and it was the most forgiving. Sometimes it is so forgiving that it feels like cheating.

[Greasegun]

I'm doing some research as well on this. There are a lot of hitting and sim options. I can't decide whether to go budget (Skytrak) or splurge on GCQuad. Either way, I don't want to skimp on the mat and end up with some of the elbow problems etc that some have ended up with.

 

If you can afford to go better than skytrak do it. Its technical difficulties and are maddening at times. Its pretty good when it works right but finicky.

[GMR]

I'm doing some research as well on this. There are a lot of hitting and sim options. I can't decide whether to go budget (Skytrak) or splurge on GCQuad. Either way, I don't want to skimp on the mat and end up with some of the elbow problems etc that some have ended up with.

 

If you can afford to go better than skytrak do it. Its technical difficulties and are maddening at times. Its pretty good when it works right but finicky.

While I’d agree that I would happily take a GC2 or quad over my SkyTrak any day of the week, I haven’t really had any issues with “technical difficulties” personally. A time or two when it wasn’t reading due to poor lighting maybe but that’s about it. I do wish the hitting window was larger and that it could read better when hitting off grass, but for the price those are relatively small complaints.

[dg_1983]

∆this

 

Skytrak setup properly isn't finicky. Out of 100 balls I'd hardly get a misread. Error rate of less than a few %?

 

Ofcourse the other units are better, but they are also waaaaaaaayyyyy more expensive if you are comparing new for new.

 

IMO unless you have spare change a GC2 alone isn't worth the extra cash over a skytrak.

 

Is not until you start adding in the HMT? Device for club head info that you get really value but that's costing ylu, what another 8 thousand dollars on the skytrak?

 

If you can afford a quad for personal use, money ain't an issue so don't worry about if your getting the best bang for buck

[Popeye64]

As far as logging distances for each club out on course whether it's a Skytack or a Flightscope I use only carry distances and feed them into my Golf Shot app. I find that to be the most accurate simulator to course way of cataloging. Has anyone else seen this as well?

[GMR]

As far as logging distances for each club out on course whether it's a Skytack or a Flightscope I use only carry distances and feed them into my Golf Shot app. I find that to be the most accurate simulator to course way of cataloging. Has anyone else seen this as well?

Not sure I understand the question, but if it helps I will tell you that I only ever pay attention to carry distances on my simulator, with the possible exception of the rare occasion I hit a driver on it, and even then I am still mainly concerned with the carry figure. You know what your shot shape looks like, and the spin number is right in front of you, so if you know how far the ball's going before it lands you should be able to get a pretty good sense of how far it will end up on the course based on the firmness/landing area slope/grass length/etc.

[Daniel Eason]

For any UK folks with a net/sim have you changed the garage roof height? Typical floor heights in UK new build garages with an apex are far too low to swing long clubs....i've considered if it was worth the investment tbh.

[cmckelvmi]

I got my Skytrak this past Christmas and have improved immensely, plus I have saved a bunch of money too. My handicap at my short goat track is down at least 5 strokes since Christmas. According to Skytrak I have hit over 11k balls, at my local driving range a large bucket of balls has about 110 balls for $12. I have saved over $1200 just in cost of balls, not to mention driving cost, tees, and personal time saved not having to commute back and forth to the range.

 

IMO, the best investment for your golf game is getting a simulator/launch monitor. As the wise folks before me have mentioned, do your research on your hitting mat. I started with a CCE type mat and ended up with bilateral tendinitis in my wrists. I switched to a Fiberbuilt and have been pain free. However, I think the Skytrak is a little more finicky with the Fiberbuilt.

 

The tour on TGC is incredibly fun and addicting. I just tied for 3rd in my first 'official' tournament!

[hobbes928]

End of last season I was shooting in the 90's to low 100s. Installed Skytrak + with fiberbuilt in my garage around September 2017 and yes it does carry over to the course. This season I'm consistently shooting in the mid to lower 80s and improving. If you're older with kids like me, it's nearly impossible to improve given family/work/time constraints, let alone make commitments to go to the range, Knowing that I went down this route. 0 regrets.

 

Pros: everything

Cons: $$

[hobbes928]

.

[sdrthedj]

End of last season I was shooting in the 90's to low 100s. Installed Skytrak + with fiberbuilt in my garage around September 2017 and yes it does carry over to the course. This season I'm consistently shooting in the mid to lower 80s and improving. If you're older with kids like me, it's nearly impossible to improve given family/work/time constraints, let alone make commitments to go to the range, Knowing that I went down this route. 0 regrets.

 

Pros: everything

Cons: $$

 

Simulators = lots of fun and lots of money. Glad you are enjoying yours.

[Ri_Redneck]

Quick question that I can't remember seeing asked about sims. Is there a setting on most for elevation changes? I play all over the country from sea level to 10k. I really need my yardages for all elevations to cut down on the guesswork.

 

BT

[secondary]

Quick question that I can't remember seeing asked about sims. Is there a setting on most for elevation changes? I play all over the country from sea level to 10k. I really need my yardages for all elevations to cut down on the guesswork.

 

BT

 

Usually on the software. As I type this I am second guessing myself?? For sure on E6 software there is an elevation option.

[GungHoGolf]

SkyTrak has elevation settings.

[dg_1983]

For any UK folks with a net/sim have you changed the garage roof height? Typical floor heights in UK new build garages with an apex are far too low to swing long clubs....i've considered if it was worth the investment tbh.

 

That depends on what you expect back for the money and how much it would cost you ......

 

Fun tick

Practise tick

Save money on range sessions tick

Save time on range sessions tick

Avoid bad UK weather tick

Play some virtual rounds in the winter tick

 

With a young family the ability to hit balls at a moment's notice is priceless.

 

It's allowed me to maintain my scratch handicap while starting a family and maintained my sanity (I decompress by hitting some balls! )

 

Space cost - that depends on your expectations are you converting a permanent structure into a full blown SIM room? All the bells and whistles like some of the amazing US based installs?

 

Or are you (like me) building a shed that's big enough for you, with the basics

 

Those end up with very different bills at the end!

 

I'm planning on playing golf for a very long time, weekly if possible.

 

The UK weather isn't changing anytime soon

 

Simulator options are only going to get better

 

I'm not moving house anytime soon

 

All of the above helped me pull the trigger on what so far (18months) has been a very worth while purchase/investment in my golf game!

 

[Ri_Redneck]

Thanks for the info!

 

BT

[GMR]

SkyTrak has elevation settings.

Would add there are also levers for temperature and humidity, the first of which in particular can make a relatively large difference.

[Ri_Redneck]

SkyTrak has elevation settings.

Would add there are also levers for temperature and humidity, the first of which in particular can make a relatively large difference.

 

I presume this is referring to the SkyTrak also?

 

Thanks,

 

BT

[GMR]

SkyTrak has elevation settings.

Would add there are also levers for temperature and humidity, the first of which in particular can make a relatively large difference.

 

I presume this is referring to the SkyTrak also?

 

Thanks,

 

BT

Yes, and specifically the Skytrak range software. Not sure about the other software packages (though I know no such settings exist in the WGT "simulator")

[GungHoGolf]

And a cool little hidden trick in SkyTrak is that, after hitting a shot, you can adjust the elevation, temperature, humidity, and/or wind speed and direction, then REPLAY your last shot to see the environmental effects on the shot.

[cmckelvmi]

And a cool little hidden trick in SkyTrak is that, after hitting a shot, you can adjust the elevation, temperature, humidity, and/or wind speed and direction, then REPLAY your last shot to see the environmental effects on the shot.

 

 

Huh, I had no idea that was possible! This is a game changer, I could see how my shot shape would hold up against the wind.

[Ri_Redneck]

And a cool little hidden trick in SkyTrak is that, after hitting a shot, you can adjust the elevation, temperature, humidity, and/or wind speed and direction, then REPLAY your last shot to see the environmental effects on the shot.

 

Now THAT'S handy!

 

BT

[mci711]

Opinions on these options? Was looking into purchasing the "Tee off" package for Skytrak. Was looking to spend 12k or less on the whole project.

[HuskerDevil_1]

I agree with comments above regarding mats. I started off with a less expensive mat to see if I even liked hitting balls in my garage and how much i would use it. Well I love it. I then spurn for a $300 mat. Best money spent ever. The one i purchased gives good feedback on fat shots. A must in my opinion.