Confounded - R10 and Driver

[Tbonez]

I’m a fairly new player and I’ve been struggling with driver. I snagged a Garmin R10/mat/net and went to work. An effortless 7 iron shot shows 150+ yards. My driver (after swinging out of my shoes) shows 165 yards with total distance of 186. All of the metrics that I know seem good. Video of swing looks clean.

 

I don’t thing it’s possible I’m hitting the ball 180 yards total with how hard I’m hitting it. Are there certain numbers I should look at to see if my driver contact is bad or does the Garmin R10 do an awful job with distance?

 

I do feel VERY confident the swing speed is off on driver. When I’m on trackman at the course it shows driver swing speed of 90+mph and on R10 it shows 70-80mph. Irons show mid 80s on the R10 which is what Trackman shows at the course.

 

I’ve added my R10 numbers to see if any of you see anything that stands out. Your help is GREATLY appreciated. Cheers

Edited December 29, 2022 by Tbonez

[Bob Ferguson]

I've had low numbers from day 1. Inside and outside into a net. Never tried at the range. after one of the updates, I change the weather conditions. I'm hitting at 10000 ft! It's a little better but it is what it is. I've tried all suggestions over the last 8 months. Haven't tried awesome golf yet, saving my free 1 month till I have the time to really use it to the full.I hear it's much more accurate than the garmin app. I'd have to look but I'm about 10 - 15% short, all clubs.

[Tbonez]

52 minutes ago, Bob Ferguson said:

I've had low numbers from day 1. Inside and outside into a net. Never tried at the range. after one of the updates, I change the weather conditions. I'm hitting at 10000 ft! It's a little better but it is what it is. I've tried all suggestions over the last 8 months. Haven't tried awesome golf yet, saving my free 1 month till I have the time to really use it to the full.I hear it's much more accurate than the garmin app. I'd have to look but I'm about 10 - 15% short, all clubs.

Thanks! I really appreciate! I have a hard time with the driver numbers. The irons seem to be more in line. 

[hammersia]

Never had this issue with the R10 but the driver can be problematic on radar launch monitors due to the head being so big it covers a lot of the initial ball flight. 
 

Try:

1) A different driver, even an older one with a smaller head.

2) Elevating the R10 a few inches, particularly if it’s currently low down off the mat

3) Moving it a few inches outside of the target line, still pointing at target

 

 

[LeftDot]

I have found that the R10 struggles with driver hits in general, even outdoors. I do see that you're hitting in to a net - what's your distance from R10 to net? Can you increase that distance?

 

My current theory on why the R10 has a hard time with driver - put together after reading through some radar LM patents - is ball speed vs reading distance vs polling rate. 

 

 

3 hours ago, hammersia said:

Never had this issue with the R10 but the driver can be problematic on radar launch monitors due to the head being so big it covers a lot of the initial ball flight. 
 

Try:

1) A different driver, even an older one with a smaller head.

2) Elevating the R10 a few inches, particularly if it’s currently low down off the mat

3) Moving it a few inches outside of the target line, still pointing at target

 

Note that option 3 will affect the calculated face-to-path, launch direction, and potentially side spin. 

[Simpsonia]

You need to go back and get some driver ball-speed numbers from the Trackman at your club. Ball-speed on any of these radar launch monitors is as accurate as it gets. Multiple tests have shown that the R10, Trackman, and Flightscope end up with essentially identicall ball-speed numbers. Clubhead speed can vary, and can produce many different numbers depending on your smash factor (ie how well you make contact), so ball-speed is the most true metric you can get. 

 

I'm not sure where you play, but if I plug in a bog-standard midwestern ~600' above sea level, and 117mph ball-speed with 2591 spin into the Flightscope Optimizer I get nearly identical numbers as the R10 (162y carry, 181y total). Even if spin was wildly inaccurate, you'd still get similar distances out of that ball speed (ie 4500 spin = 165y carry 174y total; 1500 spin = 156y carry 183y total).

 

So ball speed is the only thing that could be the differentiator here. But as multiple tests have show, that is the single most accurate measure on the R10. 

 

So there's a few different options:

1) You don't hit as far as you think you do on average in vacuum (ie not taking wind-aided distances from on-course). 

2) Indoor swing syndrome (even if you were outside), hitting into a net in your yard you may subconsciously slow down your swing to avoid a sky-ball hitting a neighbor's house etc. 

3) There is a legitimate defect with your R10 and it is not reading ball-speed correctly; to confirm take your R10 to the course and alternate shots with the Trackman to get your ball speed numbers (not clubhead speed numbers) and see how close they are. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Simpsonia

[sratacik]

Very useful information...interested in a personal monitor and have seen some R10's for sale.

[hammersia]

On 12/30/2022 at 12:43 PM, LeftDot said:

I have found that the R10 struggles with driver hits in general, even outdoors. I do see that you're hitting in to a net - what's your distance from R10 to net? Can you increase that distance?

 

My current theory on why the R10 has a hard time with driver - put together after reading through some radar LM patents - is ball speed vs reading distance vs polling rate. 

 

 

 

Note that option 3 will affect the calculated face-to-path, launch direction, and potentially side spin. 

Re Option 3 yes I'm aware of that, but we're trying to help OP narrow down what the issue is that's causing a 30% misread. We can refine the solution later.

[mgoblue83]

Can almost guarantee the ball speed is accurate. It's a tough pill to swallow for a lot of people but 117mph ball speed is roughly equivalent to a 8-9 iron for a tour player and they carry those clubs in the 165yd range. 

 

My guess is you are swinging a lot slower indoors than you think (indoor swing syndrome is real) and the launch monitor is not the problem. 

 

Edit:

Didn't see the post by @Simpsonia and agree with everything he said. 

Edited January 17, 2023 by mgoblue83