Trackman and Spin

[Brian A]

Curious to know how the spin affects trackman distances. I have a steep AoA which creates a lot of backspin and am using the RCT balls. I struggle to hit the driver 210 or more on the TM but on course (using Arccos) I am usually a 250ish yard drive. Is there some setting I am missing with the trackman or does it over penalize for the high spin rates? This is also consistent across all clubs, usually have to hit a club or 2 clubs stronger for TM distances vs what I would real life. 

[cnosil]

27 minutes ago, Brian A said:

Curious to know how the spin affects trackman distances. I have a steep AoA which creates a lot of backspin and am using the RCT balls. I struggle to hit the driver 210 or more on the TM but on course (using Arccos) I am usually a 250ish yard drive. Is there some setting I am missing with the trackman or does it over penalize for the high spin rates? This is also consistent across all clubs, usually have to hit a club or 2 clubs stronger for TM distances vs what I would real life. 

Devices like trackman and GCQuad are very accurate.   Considerations are:

• The device isnt setup properly.  There are specific settings and distances that are necessary to get accurate results
• people often struggle to swing indoors….i am assuming indoors since you are using RCT balls. 
•  Your ground conditions on the course could be extremely different that the ground settings on the trackman.
• ideally you should look at carry distance since actual ground conditions are hard to mimic (wet, dry, firm, Lon grass, short grass, elevation changes, etc.)
• all balls have different aerodynamics and unless they see the full ball flight (outdoors) there will be some calculations.  

Edited January 11 by cnosil

[Brian A]

20 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Devices like trackman and GCQuad are very accurate.   Considerations are:

• The device isnt setup properly.  There are specific settings and distances that are necessary to get accurate results
• people often struggle to swing indoors….i am assuming indoors since you are using RCT balls. 
•  Your ground conditions on the course could be extremely different that the ground settings on the trackman.
• ideally you should look at carry distance since actual ground conditions are hard to mimic (wet, dry, firm, Lon grass, short grass, elevation changes, etc.)
• all balls have different aerodynamics and unless they see the full ball flight (outdoors) there will be some calculations.  

The specific settings? Any thing I should be looking at?  The trackman rep came in and said we had the right distances to screen, hitting spot etc.

 

[revkev]

csnoil knows his stuff - for the less technologically inclined it is probably the ground you are playing on or the elevation that you play at - if your trackman setting is for sea level and wet and you are playing at 1,000 ft and firm - that can be 30 yards very easily. 

 

Just look at the PGA tour averages from different parts of the country - it's eye opening.  Sea level by the water courses (not mountainous like last weekend) places like Torrey Pines or Innisbrook or PGA National - you are going to see driving averages drop significantly as compared to mid-summer, mid-Western or Northeast courses and if you get a tournament in the dry desert at 2,000 feet - I'm looking at you, Scottsdale or Vegas - watch out.  The PGA is going to be showing those average drives and saying - "See we told you there was problem." 

[cnosil]

18 minutes ago, Brian A said:

The specific settings? Any thing I should be looking at?  The trackman rep came in and said we had the right distances to screen, hitting spot etc.

 

here is some information.  

https://mytrackman.com/media/f7227c12-c02d-43f9-b829-f6df6065d3d6/8glu1w/Site GFX/4. TMU GFX/7. Learning Tools/PDF´s/TrackMan Operator Training - Setup.pdf

if the rep said everything was fine, I’d go with your swing,  difference between the RCT and your ball,  or actual ground conditions give you more rollout…look at carry distances   

 

Edited January 11 by cnosil

[jaskanski]

You could also pug in your numbers here if you know what they are and fiddle with the spin to see how much it affects carry and overall distance. It can also compensate for local weather and altitude etc.

https://trajectory.flightscope.com/

 

[LeakyValve]

On 1/11/2024 at 6:13 AM, Brian A said:

Curious to know how the spin affects trackman distances. I have a steep AoA which creates a lot of backspin and am using the RCT balls. I struggle to hit the driver 210 or more on the TM but on course (using Arccos) I am usually a 250ish yard drive. Is there some setting I am missing with the trackman or does it over penalize for the high spin rates? This is also consistent across all clubs, usually have to hit a club or 2 clubs stronger for TM distances vs what I would real life. 

Might be a dumb thing but I've played in tournaments where they've stated the elevation is set to match the course. When we played everything was an iron or so short. I was told that the elevation can make a big difference if it's set to sea level vs being set to your normal elevation. 

Edited March 5 by LeakyValve
Misspelled word

[Bob M]

i find my driver 3 wood are pretty close on Trackman and on the course but my irons are always way short on Trackman. Best I can think is I don't ground out with driver and wood, but probably don't fhit the ball first slowing the club down on matts, while not really effecting the shot too much on most grass. 

[brogies]

It would be helpful if you could show us the Trackman report. Details on how to do this here.

Trackman is extremely accurate, but as @cnosil said, there are a lot of settings and requirements. Where are you hitting on a Trackman? Depending on that, a worker/coach should be able to confirm its set up properly.

If you're a really high speed player, like 115+ mph swing, I have heard instances where Trackman might randomly double the spin, especially on driver, which causes the distance to go way down. But that seems like an edge case which doesn't happen very often.

I can confirm my distances are dead-on in real life and on the Trackman.