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Simulator Tips

A Club Tinkerer’s Guide To Using SkyTrak

by Ryan Gager
written by Ryan Gager

Like most golfers, I like to change the clubs in my bag frequently. It may be to see a different ball flight, or because I like the shot shape of one club over another. Regardless, I always make sure I put clubs in the bag that address my distance gaps. In addition to those gaps, I’m also looking at dispersion. If my dispersion is all over the place, I will have to reassess what goes in the bag.

Shot Optimizer and Bag Mapping

To know that my clubs are properly fit for me, I use the Shot Optimizer. If any of my clubs are out of optimal spin, launch or descent angle ranges, I will first get the loft and lie of the club checked. If that doesn’t change anything, I’ll then look at adding a different club.

In my bag, there are two areas where gaps are present depending on what club I put in or take out. I tend to see gaps in my wedges and near the top of my bag. Using the Bag Mapping feature allows me to see those distance gaps and my dispersion with each club. When testing different clubs, the Bap Mapping feature is a great tool for knowing the clubs in my bag will perform. Not having any surprises allows me to play golf comfortably and stress free. Too often, I play with golfers who don’t know their distances. They base it off of one shot they hit and they assume that’s how far they hit it. How can you play your best golf without knowing your distances?

Going through each of these features has allowed me to take charge of my game. Over time, I have gradually stopped the constant tinkering with my bag. Knowing that my clubs are fit to me allows me to play my best golf. I challenge you to go through your golf bag, using the Bag Mapping feature to dial in your distances and dispersion with each club. You will be surprised how consistent your ball striking and scores will become.

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Launch Monitor

SkyTrak+ Launches, Bringing Tour Level Accuracy at an Affordable Price

by Ryan Gager
written by Ryan Gager

The new SkyTrak+ is a game changer in the world of golf launch monitors, offering tour level accuracy and performance at a price that makes it attainable to golfers all over the globe. The new device builds on the success of the original SkyTrak Launch Monitor, which has become the #1 selling consumer launch monitor in the world.

The new SkyTrak+ brings a new dual doppler radar system that delivers useful club data, including: Club Head Speed, Smash Factor, Club Path and Face Angle. Additionally, applying proprietary machine-learning algorithms to that data delivers precision at a level matched only by the highest end launch monitors on the market. The improved camera system gives golfers highly accurate and reliable ball tracking data that can power a player’s practice and improvement. The camera system also provides for improved outdoor performance on mats. You can now work on your game at the range.

With access to over 100,000 golf courses (courses like Pebble Beach Golf Links, Bandon Dunes, Torrey Pines – South and many more) and the best gameplay simulation software in the industry, the SkyTrak+ will transport golfers all around the world, allowing them to Practice, Play, and Compete with their friends, anytime and anywhere.

“We’re thrilled to introduce SkyTrak+ to the market. Our goal is to bring the ability to Practice, Play and Compete to golfers everywhere. We think it’ll be a game changer, bringing this level of accuracy to a price point that makes it a golf simulator attainable to the masses.”

Jeff Foster, SkyTrak CEO

Also featured is the new and improved SkyTrak Shot Optimizer and Shot Score functionality. By measuring results against a database of millions of golf shots, this new functionality provides an objective way to measure progress and improvement.

In addition, SkyTrak+ features a 40% larger hitting area, a new onboard processor for faster shot to show, 5Ghz Wi-Fi capabilities for faster and more stable connectivity, and USB Type C charging options for port stability and rapid charging. Another cool feature is that you don’t need special balls or stickers on your clubs to get accurate data.  Just plug and play.

SkyTrak+ is available for pre-order now through Skytrakgolf.com and will be available for sale at an assortment of partners across the globe. The device will be available at $2,995 USD and will ship late May.

Practice. Play. Compete. with the #1 golf simulator in the world.

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Launch Monitor

Why SkyTrak?

by Ryan Gager
written by Ryan Gager

There’s been a giant shift in golf over the past couple of years. Statistics show that off-course golf has become increasingly popular, meaning more and more golfers are buying launch monitors, playing simulator golf and visiting places like Topgolf. With the on-course game still popular as ever as well, SkyTrak is the perfect launch monitor for everyone – those who want to use it as a tool to improve their on-course game, and those who want to play simulated golf from the comforts of their home.

Keep Your Game Sharp All Year

SkyTrak provides the ultimate experience in simulated golf

SkyTrak is the perfect tool to keep your game sharp year-round, especially if you live in an area where fall and winter months shut down courses. We know how hard it is to let go of the desire to play golf when cold winter weather makes an appearance. SkyTrak also comes in handy when you’ve been planning a round, and you can’t get on the course because of rain or bad weather. In these instances, SkyTrak makes it possible to continue to play and work on your swing. Like many golfers, every year you try to play as much golf as possible, and you probably have noticed that the more frequently you play, the better your game gets. However, if winter months prevent play your golf game takes a hit. Instead of having your golf game start back at square one each year, grab a SkyTrak and keep improving throughout the year.

Play On Short Time

Another reason SkyTrak is great for golfers, you can play on short time. A golf outing can take several hours, and often your entire day is planned around it, which is great if you have that time. However, sometimes, it’s nice to jump on the SkyTrak and play a quick round on the simulator or get a 30 minute range session in to keep working on your game. For times when you just want to practice or play for a short period of time, it’s nice to be able to stay home and golf in your most comfortable clothes. Lastly, and I think some amateur golfers can relate to this, sometimes you’re a little too embarrassed to practice or play in front of other people on the driving range or course. Maybe you’re just starting to play or maybe you just had a bad round and you’d like to work out the kinks before taking your game out in public again.

The bottom line is, whether you are an avid golfer, just starting, have lots of time to play rounds of golf or have limited time – SkyTrak is for everyone! Making SkyTrak a part of your golf repertoire will help you play better golf and have more fun.

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Simulator Tips

SkyTrak Tips For A Great In Home Golf Simulator Experience

by John Spagnola
written by John Spagnola

For most golfers, the idea of an in-home golf simulator is nothing more than a fantasy. However, with advancements in technology, your own golf simulator is now more attainable than ever. Gone are the days when a simulator installation costs 30, 40 thousand or more. Now, with SkyTrak you can get accurate, real-time data and course play at an affordable price. 

When making the decision to add an in-home launch monitor/golf simulator setup, the first question to ask is “where?” Whether you plan to custom build a golf studio or repurpose that space in your basement or garage, these questions need to be addressed:

  • Do I have enough room to comfortably swing a club? To test this, grab your driver, take a swing and ensure you have sufficient height, width and depth available. 
  • What setup best fits my space? Is there sufficient room for a hitting bay with a projector or is a smaller setup with a hitting mat/net combination optimal for my available space?
  • What am I looking to get out of my setup? A dual-purpose golf simulator/home theater? Am I more interested in game improvement and data tracking or playing championship golf courses with friends and family? Or, all the above? 

After you’ve addressed these pre-setup questions, make a plan. If you have the space and budget, a custom-built golf studio with projection is the optimal path. For the more budget conscious, there are numerous turnkey do-it-yourself options that are simple to assemble and provide an immersive simulation experience. If your available space and budget are limited, a simple setup with a hitting mat/net combination will still provide great feedback and is a very effective solution. Many SkyTrak customers use the system in smaller spaces by connecting their mobile devices to a TV or external monitor to maximize their visual experience. Want some inspiration for your space? Check out these SkyTrak setups!

Next, address your objectives/goals. Are you looking for more insights and data on your game to improve your on-course performance? Take advantage of the numerous game improvement options available in the software and mobile app. Or, if you’re interested in course play, there are a variety of excellent options available; nearly every golf course imaginable available to play at your convenience from the comfort of your home.

Finally, set your plan into motion. This setup is where you and your family will be spending the majority of your free time so it’s important to get it right.

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Launch Monitor

Get the Most Out of Your Range Session with Practice Area Features

by John Spagnola
written by John Spagnola

On the SkyTrak practice range, you will get all the data you need to take charge of your game.

How are you using the SkyTrak Practice Range? Keep reading to get the most our of your SkyTrak sessions.

On the SkyTrak Practice Range, you will get all the data you need to take charge of your game. From ball speed, side angle, backspin, side spin, launch angle, and a calculated club speed, you will have the same data the pros use to fine-tune their game. On the main screen on the driving range, there are two tabs that grants you access to some changeable features.

On the left side of the screen (under distance), you will see a Practice Area setting. To access these features, you must be signed into your SkyTrak account. Once you click on Practice Area, you will be able to gain access to the Practice Greens and Practice Fairway feature.

From here you will be able to give your green or fairway a desired shape and difficulty. The harder the setting, the more you will need to focus in your practice sessions. At the bottom of the screen, you have access to the Randomizer feature that allows you to simulate shots you will see on the course. The Practice Green feature is one of my favorites that I use. I used to go for every pin regardless of the trouble. That would get me into some tough up and down situations. When I started using the Practice Green feature I started aiming for the middle of the green and I noticed out on the course my GIR per round went up significantly. If you are looking for more ways to use the Practice Green/Fairway feature, Top 100 Instructor Joe Hallett shows us how to get the most out of these features.

The second tab is the menu icon in the upper right – this is where you can adjust the Practice Settings.

In the Settings tab, you have the ability to change the camera angle and the number of tracer shots. You can change the elevation, wind speed and direction. It’s fun to see how much wind can affect the shot shape, distance, and shot dispersion.

Take advantage of these features and start hitting more greens!

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Improvement

Know Your Tendencies

by Ryan Gager
written by Ryan Gager

For four years as a college player, I recorded my stats after each round. As a result, I knew my strengths and my weaknesses. Afterwards, as a team we would have a game plan going into our practice sessions — knowing exactly what we need to be working on. As I’ve transitioned out of being able to play every day, I’ve looked to SkyTrak to help me streamline my practice sessions because I simply don’t get to practice as much as I used to. In my opinion, the most underrated feature of SkyTrak is the Skills Assessment. Why? Because I use it multiple times a month to help address those weaknesses I see in my stats.

Skills Assessment

Completing a Skills Assessment and learning your tendencies will help you during your practice sessions and on the golf course. After going through my personal Skills Assessment my tendency is a short left miss. I found that my strengths are from 7 iron to my wedges. Knowing my tendencies allows me to game plan for any course I play. Knowing I have a short left miss allows me to make minor adjustments out on the course to fix my miss. By aiming right and taking more club I fixed the issue. Seeing my strengths are from my 7 iron down allows me to take a more aggressive approach to make birdies.

When you complete a Skills Assessment, keep a record of your Dynamic Handicap and set a goal to see how many strokes you want to lower your handicap throughout the month. This allows you to practice with a purpose! Having a clear goal in mind during your practice sessions will allow you to focus on what you are working on. 

Skills Assessment Results Screen

During the Skills Assessment you can choose which clubs and distances you want to use. To get the most out of my sessions I pick out the clubs in my bag that I struggle with the most. In my bag I know I tend to have issues with the long irons. So, when I use the Skills Assessment I like to use the Randomizer feature. I set my distances from 180 – 225 yards. I will hit a variety of shots from those distances with each club using different swing lengths. This helps when I have this distances on the course. I don’t feel tense or anxious when I get a long iron in my hand because I know how to plan for my tendencies.

To get the most out of your practice sessions use the Randomizer feature at least once a month! You will see big improvements in your game after seeing what your tendencies are and how to fix them!

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Launch Monitor

Skills Assessment – Practice With A Purpose

by Ryan Gager
written by Ryan Gager

As golfers, we have all experienced hitting the ball great on the range, but then it doesn’t seem to transfer to the course. When that happens, we tend to try and find a fix by hitting more balls, but instead it leads to more problems and the score is nowhere near where it should be. I definitely struggled with this issue, as I would hit 50 – 100 balls before a round, causing my head to spin with too many swing thoughts as I approached the first tee. When I did have a good range session, my ball striking was not being transferred from the range to the course. However, with SkyTrak I have started implementing a new approach to my practice.

Setting Up a Skills Assessment

Set up Skills Assessments of varying lengths ensuring you practice with different clubs

So, what do we mean by ‘Practice with a Purpose’? We are talking about setting an expectation for each session. Having a clear goal in mind while practicing will help you transition your range sessions to the course. 

Recently, I’ve struggled with my wedge game from 75 – 100 yards. Also, over the past couple of months, I have been struggling with excessive curvature with my irons and driver. So, my initial goal was to work on my 75 – 100 yard shots and hit about 50 balls each day. My secondary goal was to work on my overall shot shaping. 

We understand that life might be very different now than it was when we were younger. In years past, I could practice whenever I want. Now, making it to the range is more difficult, and will become much harder as you advance your career, start a family, etc. But, this is where it’s beneficial to have a SkyTrak. Even using it over a lunch break or at night before bed can have lasting results. Utilizing the Practice Randomizer feature, I started hitting 50 shots daily to my problem yardage – 75  to 100 yards – while also working on my shot shaping with longer clubs.

As you keep working on Skills Assessments day after day, you will start seeing your proximity to the hole decrease and your overall confidence in your wedges and irons will grow. These Skills Assessment practices will help you play stress-free golf on the course because you put in the work with your SkyTrak. Having a clear goal while you practice will lead to better results. Going to the range and hitting shots just to hit them will only go so far. The phrase ​‘practice smarter not harder’ is one to take to heart, and SkyTrak will help you do just that. 

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Improvement

Improve Your Shots Off The Tee

by Ryan Gager
written by Ryan Gager

There’s one club most recreational golfers struggle with more than any other – driver. Most recreational players tend to think they can hit “perfect” drives where it sails 300 yards right down the middle, but instead end up trying to hit it too hard, and are not able to keep the ball in the fairway, sometimes not even in play. Take one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the world, Rory McIlroy, who during a typical round, might hit one or two “perfect” drives. In reality, golfers need more playable drives during a round. Here’s how you can use your SkyTrak to hit better drives and shot lower scores. A good place to start is with a proper setup, so you eliminate having to manipulate the club from a bad position to a good one to make proper contact.

Practice Range and the Long Drive Feature

Most players have three common issues with tee shots:

  1. Ball Position
  2. Attack Angle
  3. Club Selection

More times than not, recreational players place their ball position in the middle of their stance; like they would hit an iron. A driver swing and an iron swing are not the same swing. With an iron, you are swinging the club on a downward attack angle. With a driver you are doing the exact opposite with an upward attack angle. Ball position can solve this issue. Moving the ball up in your stance — toward the inside of your lead foot — will encourage swinging up on a driver. To test this out, use the Practice Range or Long Drive feature. Notice the difference in spin, launch, and carry when you swing down versus the numbers when you swing up with a driver. Having a steeper attack angle will cause the ball to spin more and carry less. 

Use Practice Range and Long Drive to help improve your tee shots

Another way to change your attack angle is by tee height. Top 100 Instructor Joe Hallett gives us an example on how to improve your tee shots when using the Long Drive feature. By adjusting your tee height, you can change your attack angle with a driver.

Finally, driver is not always the most prudent play. Notice the trouble areas off the tee and make your club selection based on how the course is laid out. Sometimes it’s best to take less club, keep the ball in play, and not force the issue with your driver. 

Taking into account ball position, attack angle, and club selection will dramatically improve your tee shots. The main takeaway is to play to your strengths. It’s important to know when to be aggressive and go after those birdies and when to play for the center of the green and ensure a par. Use your SkyTrak and its immense features to help you prepare for all scenarios. 

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Improvement

From the Range to the Course

by John Spagnola
written by John Spagnola

One question I always received as a teaching professional was, ​“why can’t I take my range game to the course?” As golfers, we are always trying to mess with our swing, mess with our equipment, or we mess with our setup. But we often neglect how to transfer our practice sessions to the course.

One mistake I see is that most players spend too much time on block practice. ​“Block” is the type of practice where golfers tend to hit a full bucket of balls without having any purpose or goal in mind. Most of the time it is to just to get the body loose. Block practice does have some creditability if you are working on a swing movement and you need repetition to get comfortable with the new movement. Your practice sessions should align with what you will do out on the course.

  • Pre-Shot Routine
  • Commit to the shot
  • Post shot feedback

On the range you should go through your pre-shot routine. You visualize the shot, measure your distances, and take the conditions into account. After you go through your pre-shot routine you commit to your shot. Finally, you analyze your shot and assess what you did good and bad. Out on the course you will not hit the same yardage multiple shots in a row. It is always random distances for every shot. With SkyTrak, you have the Randomizer feature that allows you to hit random distances with each shot. This allows you to take your practice sessions to the course easier.

You can access this feature on the Practice Range or the Skills Assessment feature. When I am struggling in the long or short part of my bag, I turn on the Randomizer and see what my shot tendencies are. That way I can plan for any course I can play. This helps me eliminate any pressure or nervousness I feel out on the course. I challenge all #SkyTrakUsers to use the Randomizer each week. You will see dramatic improvements in your ball striking and your scores!

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Launch Monitor

The SkyTrak Experience 

by Ryan Gager
written by Ryan Gager

When we first set out to define our approach to what would become the SkyTrak experience, we knew we had to start with a blank canvas. Our previous experience at the time, as with nearly every other launch monitor company in an overly-saturated niche market, was focused almost exclusively on the commercial account/professional user. Golf technology was progressing at an astounding rate and the amount of data becoming available to the end-user was staggering, if not completely overwhelming. We made the decision that, in order to connect with the average golfer and avoid what I call ​“data overload”, we had to implement KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid.

Hardware and Software Teams

We knew that nothing could gain traction without a solid piece of hardware, and thanks to some pretty auspicious timing, we were able to help develop the SkyTrak launch monitor. Not to diminish the hardware element of the entire experience because it is truly the foundation, but we knew that we also needed an elevated software experience. However, we had to reimagine what this offering was, as it had not been done before to this scale for the consumer.

We found a fantastic design team at Expand the Room. They were instrumental in helping us whittle down the UI/UX to make it more digestible for the average golfer. They worked with us to find what we liked and didn’t like about our competitors, and then merge that vision into one cohesive experience that we could truly call our own. They continue to help us remain fresh and relevant as we explore new features and offerings.

Equally critical to SkyTrak’s success has been our wonderful development team at Visartech. They are a one-stop-shop for anything development and not only work at lightning speed, but they go above and beyond continuing to explore new technologies, find ways to optimize the application and offer suggestions of ways to improve the overall experience.

Golf Simulators and Feedback

To round out the full experience, we also have a number of trusted golf simulation companies as partners to offer a variety of simulation options depending on customer need and budget. People have found that creating the elusive at-home golf experience is not quite as complicated nor expensive as it once was, and during this pandemic in particular, we have seen interest in golf simulation increase exponentially.

I mention our valued partners because in such a niche market, it’s exceedingly important to think outside the box, and what these partners bring to the table is always a breath of fresh air — stale is the last thing we can afford to be. I also find great value in monitoring and participating in golf forums (namely golf​sim​u​la​tor​fo​rum​.com). The more rapport we can establish with these customers (a community that represents the full scope of our user base, from the newbie to the power user) the more comfortable they are sharing honest feedback and requesting new features, and in turn, the more efficiently we can help them enjoy our product while executing on that feedback to make the product better.

We understand that golf is not a one-size-fits-all game, and thus the SkyTrak experience should be varied enough to accommodate golfers of all skill levels and interests. Some users just want to hit balls on the range, some want to play fun challenges with their friends and family and some want to take a deep dive in order to really improve their game. Regardless, we find ways to make sure that any activity you do in the SkyTrak app is actually making you a better golfer, whether you realize it or not.

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