Understanding P3pro Data

[bubba22]

I find the p3pro data very important to understand your swing. We mostly talk about the clubface angle, clubpath and speed however this sim also gives the angle of attack, club heights through impact, heel/toe heights, sweet spot as well as launch angle (not for GSA yet )

The setup for these values is important and changes depending on whether you have a grass top and how high you tee it up. This I find very important to do right. In discussions with Chuck and from my experience, the iron heights should be 1 inch if you have a grass top (1/2 inch for th grass and 1/2 inch for the ball). The tee heights should be measured rrom the grass too how high the tee is and add 1 inch.

Angle of attack: In general is up for the woods and down for the irons. I do see values of positive angle of attacks for the irons especially due to either not being able to take a divot and the club gets bounced up by the hard mat, hitting it fat (club bounced up again) or just a thin upward swing. It is important to look at the club heights through impact with really high upward angle of attack as since you can't take a divot, the club can be bounced upwards even though you ht a good shot. In that case your club height should be less than 1. The angle of attack would probably be best assessed with a camera based sim and something like the divot action mat. Especially since I find the sensor based sims (p3pro grass mat hard) one can't take a divot and it is really like hitting from a tight lie or hardpan. Good for practicing those shots however. I do think the tendancy is to hit shots thin off these surfaces compared to real grass that one can take a divot. I suppose you could t your shots up to avoid hitting the hard surface.

Club heights through impact: really accurate and neat to see how that club is coming through the impact zome. With irons the club should be at 1 or less through the impact zone. If it is higher then you usually are hitting it a bit thin (not all the time though).

Heel/Toe heights: Measured before and after the ball. Should be roughly the same when hit square and swing not too flat or steep. Again the value should roughly be at 1.

Sweet spot: Measured this with impact tape and it is probably 95 percent accurate.when you hit it thin it is low on the clubface. Heel and toe shots are accurate.

Launch angle: again measured against the Accusport Cobra Launch Monitor and it is probably 95 percent accurate.

I do think it is important to once in a while take a glance at these values. Although more for the teaching pros/clubfitters, if we can understand what they mean and trust in their accuracy(very dependant on set up) then we can all better learn each time we swing the club.

I continue to learn more about the sim setup and the club data that is produced. Please correct me if I am doing anything wrong or there are things that I am missing especially with the club data. Any thoughts?

[syhlif32]

Will the shot be shown as a thin hit if the club height is "high" during impact?
I did play a few evenings on a P3Pro this summer one with rubber top I do not remember shots shown as thin!
Bjarne

[bubba22]

No they won't. They probably should adjust their software to reflect the shot penalties. I think the penalties are not enough. If they do that then it really would be super important to set it up correctly. Obviously if you didn't then you could always take off the shot penalties. i do think they should penalize more toe and heel shota as well. To really look at the ball being thin one would need a ball sensor, ideally one that would measure ball speed, direction and ahhhh LAUNCH. I probably will be upgrading to a sim that has launch if the price is right unless p3pro upgrade their launch add on. I am strongly looking at the ProTee, GGS and the ST1 sims really for the purposes of ball sensing.

[wagolfpro]

Good comments on the post, Bubba. Just a couple more notes on a few of those:
Angle of Attack-With the driver, I always look for a positive number for my students to achieve (also with woods if hit off of a tee, although less of a + number) As far as the irons, a general rule of thumb is: the shorter the iron, the higher the - angle of attack. Basically, you want to take more of a divot with a wedge than you do a 4 iron. But, even with long irons, hybrids, and fairway woods, I like to see a slight downward angle of attack, in order to put maximum power and spin onto the ball for each club.
Heel and Toe Heights: This is a stat that can confuse a lot of players, unless they really know what they should be looking for. This stat is mostly used for club fitting, or, in some cases, showing a player where a possible fault may be affecting the swing. At setup, the toe of the club should sit higher than the heel, for all players. Through impact, the toe moves lower and the heel raises slightly, due to the lengthening of the arms. So, your reading should show a higher toe/lower heel reading at setup, and a lower toe/equal or higher heel at impact. Again, its a gauge mostly used for fitting, but it doesn't hurt to know the data and track it as you adjust your clubs.

[bubba22]

Excellent advice wagolfpro. I agree with what you are saying. I do find that at times the iron angle of attack is up and I think if you are hitting off the mat it is because yourclub is bounced and one can't take a divot. Looking at the club heights is important in that situation.