Lets keep talking launch monitors. This is the second part of a two part “Corner”. Last week we looked at the value of owning one. This week, we can talk about the differences between them.

Big picture… what’s the difference between trackman or a GC Quad and an old fashioned one (like a GC2)? Off the top, an older unit will read partial data and fill in the blanks. Generally the older unit, the less data it will record, and the fewer blanks it will fill in. Newer, inexpensive units (relatively speaking) will only read ball speed or club head speed, launch and spin and calculate distance using a fancy algorithm. Many of today’s low end units (like a Mevo fall under this category). For 2012, when I got a GC2, this was great and better than good enough. Candidly, I really used it for Clubhead speed and distance. I took it as gospel, despite the frequent mis-reads. I would have to learn to look at the data and see if anything looked “off”, and discount that shot. A lower end machine today, from what I’ve seen will not have the mis-reads, and they are pretty good for what you get. I have considered adding a Mevo to our fleet for the odd situation where we need data and all other machines are occupied. 

But, Really, what is the difference between a super high end machine and a lower -middle end machine? Simple. A high end machine will track ball data and club data separately, while a lower end machine will simply track ball data and club head speed. For simple fitting, this is enough. For practice, if a player is a knowledgeable player, this is enough (because he will be able to know the data from a good shot and a poor one – he won’t know WHY it was poor, just that it was poor). From a teaching standpoint, it depends on you. Are you working on a plane change? Or a path change? Working on Attack angle?? Knowing what the club is doing is vitally important. Say you use V1 or some video software and nothing else. You could look at the plane and see where it is. You can draw a line and look at it. You can teach off that, No problem. Tell me though, what is his face to path? Or the starting line of the shot? Having a machine that will do that for you is invaluable. You know the ball flight laws, so you can look at a shot and know about WHY a shot did what it did, but a higher end machine will tell you EXACTLY why.

What would make a unit cost $25K??? As stated, a higher end machine will give more data and more exacting data. Trackman, for example, will track the club and the ball separately. It tracks the club via the camera (on the front of the unit) from about waist high to waist high, AND it has a Doppler Radar based ball tracking system, so it also tracks the ball through it’s flight. We can see the ball speed go up or down as the player hits it on the center of the face or off the toe. Heck, the new machines even give hit location off the center to the tenth of a millimeter. We can see club face angle, club path direction, attack angle, the amount of carry distance accurate to within a half inch or so, the amount of curve, apex height – you name it!! You can use this data for putters as well. Try giving a putting lesson or a putter fitting with this kind of technology – it is off the charts cool (and helpful!!). Trackman can “Normalize” the data – meaning it assumes a Tour quality golf ball at a pre-determined temperature, elevation and zero wind (we use 70* and 400′). Trackman needs this because it tracks the ball through it’s entire flight, so data can be very different from ball to ball if the quality of the balls (i.e. range balls) are different. 

The Foresight GC Quad has a different approach, but it yields similar results (and will also read data from putters). It also tracks the club and ball separately and gives the same data as Trackman – it does it with high speed cameras instead of radar. In ball tracking, it uses a series of high speed cameras and tracks the ball for about the first 30 feet of it’s flight, then uses a mathematical algorithm to calculate the ball flight. For club data, it does the same thing, but with 2 different cameras. Four very high speed cameras packed into one unit. This calculation is extremely accurate, and it will yield data that is comparable to Trackman. Additionally, it takes weather based readings and calculates more accurately, and even has a display on the top of the unit (so you don’t need an ipad or PC to use it). 

Nuts and bolts here, please… What is the difference between a $25,000 machine and a $2,000 one? In a nutshell, between the two best of the best units, either one is as good as it gets, and will suffice for any need a teacher or fitter could need. While they measure things differently, they both yield essentially the same data. The biggest difference is the AMOUNT of data that is read, the ACCURACY of data that is reported, and the TYPE of data that is measured.

• AMOUNT of data. As you pay more, you get all the swing data you could want. You get all the ball data you could want. You also get all the club data you could want. With all the data, you have to know what you are looking at so you can interpret it to be able to relate it in a usable fashion.
• ACCURACY of data. Want to track a tee shot with a driver to 301.6 yards, or is +/- 5 yards good enough? Do you want to know swing speed AND ball speed or is knowing swing speed and guessing at Ball speed OK? 
• TYPE of data. DO you want Swing Data, Club data and Ball Data? That isn’t cheap…

If that’s more than you need, shop around!! You CAN find something that will do what you want it to do to help you grow your business. 

Because you’re curious… What do we use? We use Trackman with the iPad on the range. We split the app into 2 screens – one for a map of where the shots landed, and data tiles on the other side. We use some club/ ball data and some swing data. We use club speed, ball speed, smash factor, spin rate, carry distance, total distance, Launch angle and Apex height. For swing data, we use Path, face angle, face to path, Attack angle, low point (tells where in relation to impact did the club bottom out), hang time (because it fun to mention), and land angle. Maybe in a future “Corner”, I’ll explain what we look for in each of these… That’ll be a good snoozer for a Monday morning. Haha. 

I’ve been fitting golf clubs for almost 30 years. Through years of study, I can look at the data from a shot and know if it’s a good one or a bad one, and if it’s a golf swing that caused it, or an ill-fitting club (like I’m sure you can too). Having the right data to help me make that decision is invaluable. New for 2023, we are switching to GC Quad. Learning curve!! Should be fun!!

Bottom line. You get what you pay for here. You need to decide what you need and what you can live without. Factor in what we talked about last week – does it make budgetary sense for your business, and if so, how much can you allocate to it?

Hope this helps. Until next time – happy fitting and Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!