Flightscope X2 alignment

[agolfman]

Have struggled with getting the proper alignment of my unit and screen.  Most of my bad reads result on an outside to inside swing path...resulting in some slice like data.  I'm a low handicap that plays a slight fade on most shots and I've gotten some wild fluctuations...almost always 6-8
* of path and sometimes I've seen 200-24*!!!  Obviously I can verify this doesn't happen in real life and have a general handle on what my numbers really are.  And they are nowhere near this level of path.

 

Here's the thing...my garage setup forces my mat slightly right of center and leaves me aiming somewhat "left" toward my projected image.  I think this is the crux of the issue.  So, I'm wondering if there's a method to better align the unit physically and properly "aim" the face of the unit to get it squared up?

 

The alignment tool on the iPad app is useless, so that has zero help in all of this.

 

On another point, the whole FS platform is aging poorly: the app is outdated, no UI updates in years and the Sim integration is a last place candidate.  Oh well...

[Stuart_G]

spin axis is calculated from face-to-path so alignment shouldn't have any effect on ball curvature.  It would only effect the start direction of the ball.

 

Your description of your set-up is a little confusing.  You say the mat is offset and has you aiming off angle to the center of the screen.   But you didn't say how you were pointing the radar.  Do you have the radar also pointed down that same angled target line?     

 

I think most software assumes the target line is perpendicular to the screen.  So you certainly could get weird displays of the ball flight on the screen if you are not using that as a target line.  But as long as the radar is correctly aligned with your target line, the numbers should be good.

 

How wide is the impact screen?   Why do you feel you have to aim to the center?   Some software allows you to input an offset distance - how far you are from the center of the screen.    I haven't looked at the FS VX or skills app since I only use it outside so can't say if it has that capability or not.   Are you using the VX app?   There is an older one that's depreciated but last time I checked they didn't remove it from the google play store.   I made the mistake of using that app once before realizing I needed the VX app instead.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Stuart_G

[agolfman]

Using the VX app, yes.

 

Many thanks for the thoughtful response and suggestion!  Good observations here.  I think you hit it on aligning/pointing the X2 on the "Aim line" to the target.  In a perfect setup, the projector, the projected image, the ball, and the X2 would be on a single line and easily verified.  This would put my X2 further "Right" (looking at the screen) than I currently have it...probably by 3' or so.

In my case, I have the X2 and the ball aligned perpendicular to the screen, say 3-4 feet off center.  The target and my aim are both in the center of my 120" wide screen (3-4' left of the unit's alignment).  I believe this creates a bias in the path numbers, I'm convinced, which translates into shots that start left of the target and inevitably land at the target.  It is incredibly hard to generate a shot that draws as a result (starts right and draws back to the target).  Interestingly, I can start a ball left of the target and hook it as much as I like...

 

I'll do some testing on aligning/pointing the X2 to the ball and target line and see if that does any correcting.

 

For the record, at both Club Champion as well as another Trackman Sim, my Club Path is consistently 2-3* out-to in- and often even less.  So, I'm feeling like I've introduced 4-5* of fade bias into my setup.

[Stuart_G]

I think you'd be better changing your aim point to be in line with the FS than the other way around.   10' wide screen is plenty wide enough that impact 3-4' off center shouldn't be a problem.   In fact it will be better in the long run since when the impact spot starts to wear, you can just flip the screen around to get more life out of it.

 

It's also possible that the fact that you know your alignment is to the left might be effecting the swing to generate more left-right ball flight as a kind of sub-conscious correction to the alignment.

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Stuart_G

[agolfman]

Thats a fair point.  Because its a garage setup, there's a few considerations to deal with (garage door brackets and some storage items...I'll have to experiment a bit.  I would like to "solve" the alignment mystery and then reconfigure the setup.  

 

I absolutely think there's some weird swing things happening with my indoor setup.  Did a warmup the other day indoors and "brought" a crappy swing out to play for 4-5 holes...then worked it out.  The mind is a tough competitor!  

[agolfman]

Ok, had some success with re-alignment.  Might still need some tweaking, but I've moved the X2 to the side that aligns with my target line and I'm getting very good readings.  Or, at least readings that are consistent with what I see in the real world.

 

I think that taping off positions and standing back are the "instructions" that should accompany the unit.  I know that's pretty obvious, but I do think it's a more important than I realized and now see that a few feet makes a big difference in the club capture.

 

Thank you @Stuart_G!!!

[LaterOn61]

I’m using the X2 outside only and am struggling with the same. I am mostly interested in Club Path and Face to Path. However, I’m getting numbers like 23.8R Club path and 22.6L Face to Path. I’m new with the X2. Any idea what I’m doing wrong?

[agolfman]

On 12/13/2020 at 11:04 PM, LaterOn61 said:

I’m using the X2 outside only and am struggling with the same. I am mostly interested in Club Path and Face to Path. However, I’m getting numbers like 23.8R Club path and 22.6L Face to Path. I’m new with the X2. Any idea what I’m doing wrong?

No, haven't seen anything quite that extreme.  I'd suggest opening up a ticket through the app with Flightscope.  About half  the time, they're pretty responsive.  You can download the data to them from your app that way.