Flightscope build out - Ceiling heights etc

[Godfather68]

Starting to do the maths on my proposed Golf sim and I am worried about a few things with the flightscope. Everything I have read says it needs 13ft from the tee to the net and roughly 8ft to 11ft from sensor to tee, the room I am building can cope with this (just). The thing I am worried about is ceiling height, I can get 9ft6 and possibly at a real push 10ft, which I have tested is more than enough height for me and my family to swing our drivers.

My concern is using wedges at 13ft from screen, using a 60 degree wedge, I think the ball will hit the ceiling before it hits the screen, I can probably protect the ceiling by designing the net to extend out at the top by a few feet.

My real question for the group is, what will the flightscope make of a ball that has only travelled 10ft11inches or so before it hits the ceiling (if my Maths is roughly right)? Will it read or am I going to have a problem?

Anybody done this for real with a flightscope that can share any tips or experience with me please?

[Dax]

From what I have read on another forum in respect of this issue you should not have an issue and the discussion might give you some comfort on the min distance requirements. On my TM, I have had shots hit the ceiling before the net and have not missed one shot in my new set up. For TM the min ball flight is 10 feet, but that is more for driver ball speeds in order to allow the unit to get spin measurements etc. based on my reading in the other site, FS seems to be very similar. Perhaps contact FS for ultimate confirmation.

My distances are as follows, ceiling height 9'2", distance from front of TM to the back wall is apprx 8 inches (keep this in mind as your other distances need to measure from the front of the unit), front of TM to hitting area 7.5 to 8.5 feet, distance from hitting area to screen is 10.5 to 11.5 feet, distance behind my screen/ net combo is just over a foot at the closest point. Also, keep in mind that your FS will need to sit level with your mat. In my case the height of the ground for the back leg must be level with hitting height.

[Godfather68]

Thanks Dax lots of good points there, yes forgot about the height of mat and scope, will have to think about a bit of extra for the unit to stand on. I will try asking FS, but so far they have been far from helpful as I did not buy unit from them direct. Can I ask what software you use with your TM?

[goatbarn]

I have 13' from tee to screen and 9' from ball to radar, Flightscope.

Ceiling is around 9' high where the ball hits for wedges.

Never had a problem with high shots at all. Ball spins quite fast enough before it hits the ceiling netting.

[Godfather68]

Thanks GB - good to know - what SW do you use please?

[Dax]

I use TPS and also have e6 1.6 for sim play. TPS is great for practice and game improvement (combine etc.) and the e6 is good for fun and playing courses every now and then.

[Godfather68]

I am looking at E6, what is TPS?

[Dax]

Trackman Performance Studio. It is essentially similar to the software that FS would have for providing you all info about the shot. For me, it allows me to hook up to my iPad and iPhone to get info as well as my PC. I can take video from TM with my swing and I can also take video from upto four other cameras as well (this includes both my iPad and iPhone). Works great and I find it really helps with my training. I would suspect FS would have something similar.

E6 is good, but graphics are defiantly not as good as TGC. The 3d visuals on TGC is in my opinion what is missing when you look at e6 everything is flat and the rough is just textured to look different where as on TGC you can visually see the difference in grass height and it is much more appealing visually. This is what I would have expected when e6 said they where doing a lot of changes, but looks like that was just a hope on my front.

[Godfather68]

Interesting, yes I have a similar set of apps on iPad for the Flightscope, although I have not got into the video bit yet.

Is TGC compatible with FS, could I get that instead of E6? Should I?

[Dax]

No I don't believe that TGC is compatible nor if there are discussions rumoured that they are talking. Maybe someone else has details. For me I am hoping that TM is in discussions, but I don't know iif something like this would ever happen

[Godfather68]

Another question on the same theme, where do you guys put the projector relative to screen and tee?

[mthunt]

My projector is a Benq 1080st. It's 14 feet from the screen. I Hit from 10.

[Godfather68]

Do you see a shadow of you on the screen.

[mthunt]

No. Not even close.

[Dax]

My projector sits about 10 feet from the screen and is also the 1080st, the only time I see my shadow is when I am a few feet from the screen, this is the best part of a short throw. One warning for DLP projectors like these is to make sure it does not sit too low as it may interfere with the radar. I found this out during my set up and quickly resolved the issue by moving the projector up about 8 inches. Radar really does not like fans and such.

[Godfather68]

Finally got planning permission and now have detailed drawings and it looks like 9"1" is the best I can get without spending loads more money. What do you guys think? Is 9 foot 1 enough for ceiling height?

[Dax]

I'm 5'11" and note that this ceiling height works for me, but it is barely enough room. If you could find a way to get a few more inches, I would greatly suggest that you consider it.

[Godfather68]

Thx Dax

[bubba22]

It will work but more is better.

[Godfather68]

Thanks for the input chaps, gone back round with the builder and we think we can squeeze 9"5' finished height, so hopefully we will be alright.

[Par2Pro]

Just a quick note, that with radar systems like FlightScope or Trackman, the key on the distance from tee to screen/net/ceiling is that the system reads 2 full revolutions of spin. As long as it can get that, then the spin should be quite accurate. The only other consideration is launch angle as if the LA is too high, it can have a bit of trouble reading it properly (ie: popping one straight up).

Hope that helps
Cory

[Godfather68]

Cory, hopefully the other room dimensions are big enough, but thanks for the info, they say in the FS manual that putting metal disks on the balls will help with the spin detection, will have to see how we go.

[Par2Pro]

Yes, you definitely need the little metal sticker on the ball for it to read spin indoors

[Dax]

Metal sticker is a must to get the accurate spin measurements. The recommendation is actually metal dot facing up in order to give the radar a good chance to see the dot as many times as possible. Obviously the only real issue is with a low sinning driver shot with a high ball speed and of corse chips less than 12 feet, which TM now seems to agree with as I see they have changed their advertising as they now say 12 feet instead of 6.

[Godfather68]

Guys thought you might like to see how the room has come together. I can now confidently answer some of my original questions. 9 feet 4 is plenty tall enough to swing all clubs for me and my family who are all smaller than 6ft 2"! We had anumber of issues with balls hitting the ceiling before hitting the net, these included wedges and mis hit drives, so we protected the final 1.5m of ceiling and this has stopped all the issues. We used a Sony projector from just behind the hitting position and it is fabulous in terms of picture brightness, size and absence of shadow etc. Also given my experience of balls hitting ceilings, I have no idea why anybody would put a projector in front of the hitting position!
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[Godfather68]

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[Dax]

Your room looks great Godfather. The great thing about knowing you have enough room while swinging is that you are less likely to build in a flat swing. I am glad everything worked out.