Are the launch monitors at Golftown accurate?

For the first time, I brought in a few drivers to test out at the Golftown in Kanata, hoping to figure out which of the two was giving me better numbers (and get a regrip while I was there).

I couldn't believe the results....I wasn't getting any distance at all, even when it "felt" really good. I hit my 17* i25 hybrid 220 yards the other day to setup an eagle putt (one of the only highlights of the day, sadly) and there I was, unable to get much further with a G30 driver in my hand - the average after 20-30 swings being about 240 all-in with some drives going a mere 210 yards, when I usually hit it 250-280 on the course. The other thing was the spin numbers....as low as 1500 and as high as 3850!

I wasn't expecting such poor numbers from the session, and if anything, I figured they might tweak it so that the club you were demoing would give you AMAZING results...not the opposite. Has anyone else found the machines there to be "off"? I tried both bays and they were consistent in their mocking of my golf game :)

I'd been thinking about getting a simulator at some point - even just an Optishot. But this was no fun at all...and I don't think I'd want to relive that experience at great cost ever again...

I only use them to compare clubs. Everything being equal, it gives you an idea of spin rate and yardage for comparison. I never get too exited about yardage numbers and look at dispersion, spin rate, etc...

When I was looking at irons last year I discovered that the "smash factor" which is used in the predictive calculations is not a measured variable at GT but rather a programmed one - that is to say you can enter the value directly into the system. I found this out when I was asking my pro why the distances were off (too far in my case). May have something to do with it.

That's interesting - thx for sharing that. Restores my faith a bit in launch monitors ;)

They are not accurate. I have gone in and used 2 monitors in the same visit, one giving me the exact same smash factor of 1.38 for every single swing and then the other 1.42 for every single swing. There is no way that every single swing gives exactly the same smash factor. I purposely hit some of the toe, the heel etc just to try and get a different result but no luck.

I wonder if it's the equipment or just some shenanigans deployed to sell more drivers :)
I went to an actual range today and felt much better about things...

I know that every shot has a roll out for a driver, even if you are hitting an iron so total distance on anything but a driver is skewed.