Trackman Indoor Simulator - High Spin Numbers

[bobcat88]

A small golfing social club just opened around me and they have 2 Trackman simulator setups indoors (NE Winters). My group of friends and I are decent, but not scratch golfers. I know the majority of my data after having multiple Trackman sessions at the beginning of the year to get an accurate idea of numbers before the season started. 

 

So the simulator on everyone's driver swings was spitting out 4500-6000 spin rates, making it pretty difficult to get accurate readings. I noticed the balls provided didn't have any metal dots on them. Is there anything else that could have been causing issues with the readings? Struck up a good relationship with the owners and we're all around the same age, so want to make sure they're having positive reviews from all of their customers.

[Stuart_G]

The two major factors that will effect the spin results indoors is

1) the presence or lack of a metal dot.

2) the amount of distance between the tee and the impact screen should give enough room for two revolutions of the ball before impact with the screen for the most accurate numbers.  So one has to look at the real spin and ball speed to really check if there is enough room.

 

In your case, #1 is almost certainly the main problem.  There are some balls that can get by w/o the dot - due to the seam between the two halfs of th balls - but I can't tell you which ones or how reliable that alternative is compared to the dots.

 

 

[jah7838]

On 12/9/2021 at 8:16 AM, Stuart_G said:

The two major factors that will effect the spin results indoors is

1) the presence or lack of a metal dot.

2) the amount of distance between the tee and the impact screen should give enough room for two revolutions of the ball before impact with the screen for the most accurate numbers.  So one has to look at the real spin and ball speed to really check if there is enough room.

 

In your case, #1 is almost certainly the main problem.  There are some balls that can get by w/o the dot - due to the seam between the two halfs of th balls - but I can't tell you which ones or how reliable that alternative is compared to the dots.

 

 

Could #1 explain ball flights that don't make sense base on how you felt you hit the ball?  

 

I have access to trackman because of a 2nd job that I have, and there are times where I feel like I hit the ball a certain way, like a slight push or pull, and the ball flight is the complete opposite of that feeling or an exaggeration of what the shot felt like.  I'm a single digit handicap, and a pretty good ball striker, so I'm fairly aware of how I hit the ball and what it should be doing.  I notice this more with longer clubs than I do with irons and wedges.  

[Stuart_G]

29 minutes ago, jah7838 said:

Could #1 explain ball flights that don't make sense base on how you felt you hit the ball?  

 

If the spin is off then yes it can result in the ball flight not matching what you might expect.

 

Also off center impact can cause problems with the spin axis indoors since it's generally calculated based on face to path with radar units and that doesn't take into consideration gear effect.  I've heard Trackman specifically has been working on an algorithm to account for that - at least partially.   Don't know where they are in that development or if the ones you used were up to date with that.

 

But horizontal launch and vertical launch and ball speed (and of course club data) should all be very accurate - even w/o the metal dot - assuming the unit is aligned properly when it was setup.

 

[jah7838]

2 hours ago, Stuart_G said:

 

If the spin is off then yes it can result in the ball flight not matching what you might expect.

 

Also off center impact can cause problems with the spin axis indoors since it's generally calculated based on face to path with radar units and that doesn't take into consideration gear effect.  I've heard Trackman specifically has been working on an algorithm to account for that - at least partially.   Don't know where they are in that development or if the ones you used were up to date with that.

 

But horizontal launch and vertical launch and ball speed (and of course club data) should all be very accurate - even w/o the metal dot - assuming the unit is aligned properly when it was setup.

 

That makes sense.  Thank you.  Ball speeds and distances all are about what I would expect with the clubs I've hit on Trackman compared to numbers I've seen on CG2 in the past using a TP5 golf ball.  They've been very comparable in that regard.