SkyTrak launch monitor review

Launch monitors are usually resigned to teaching professionals and driving ranges.  

On the market today, leading launch monitors cost in the ball park of £10,000, making them unattainable for your average player. 

But in the SkyTrak, have we got a realistic option, at £1,695? Could this be the cheaper version we've all been waiting for?

Looks

A big pro for the SkyTrak is its size. Many launch monitors on the market today come is large briefcases and are extremely heavy. Transporting them is no mean feat.

Conversely, the SkyTrak can fit in your average golf bag, and most players would have no concerns carrying it for 18 holes.

Sat down beside the ball, the product exudes class, and looks like a premium piece of kit. When forking out over £1,000, you would expect as much.

The grey and white colour scheme works well, and the glossy finishes add a touch of luxury.

Performance

Like some other leading launch monitors on the market, the SkyTrak is a photometric design, meaning it uses cameras to track data, before utilising software to project the flight of the ball.

Setting up the system takes around 10 minutes after downloading the app on your iOS tablet or iPhone, and the manual takes you through the process step by step. Customers should note, the system requires an iPad Air of Mini2 as minimum.

To charge, users simply plug it in via USB, and the three lights turn green when it’s ready to go.

It’s advised to use it off a mat – players can hit off grass if they wish, but data may be skewed.

On a tablet, players click on the club they wish to use, and then line up the laser beam that comes from the side of the machine onto the ball.

Compared to other launch monitors, getting your ball in the correct position on the SkyTrak is faster and more reliable – we’ve used it over 10 times now, with only a handful of shots going awry. 

Users have the option to buy a protective cover, which has a built in mechanism which raises the SkyTrak to your desired height – and, as the name suggests, offers more protection for the device. For the privilege, uses will have to spend another £99.95, though.

After hitting a ball, the system only takes a couple of seconds to provide data. Not only are users shown numeric data, but there is also visual representation of shots.

Players can inspect distance, trajectory and dispersion figures following each shot. We have tested SkyTrak against the top launch monitors on the market, and we have only noticed minute differences in the figures produced.

For instance, in the distance stakes, the largest difference we noticed between the products was one and a half yards. No doubt, the Skytrak is incredibly accurate.

Furthermore, for your average golfer, the data provided on the SkyTrak is adequate to their demands. While your teaching pro may want more data in order to make an informed decision on what to do with a student, the SkyPro will provide more than a satisfactory level of feedback.

The basic package allows players to shoot on the driving range, but there are a host of extra features that can be unlocked.

For £79 per year, customers can get the SkyTrak Game Improvement Package, allowing users to save shot data, and compare club performance.

It also enables golfers to benefit from the simulator, with the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island on offer in a nine-hole nearest the pin challenge.

To open up a new treasure chest, players must stump up £159.95 per year to become a Premium member.

After downloading the World Golf Tour app, players can go around 18 simulated courses, including St Andrews, Pinehurst and Chambers Bay. If customers opt to stay with the basic package, they can still go around Pebble Beach for free

Thanks to the accuracy of the system, golfers now have a high spec simulator at their fingertips, for a snip of the price compared to what you see on the market..

The Golf Club offers over 92,000 user generated courses, costing £361 a year - users must alse be subscribed to the Game Improvement plan.

Jack Nicklaus’s Perfect Golf package allows players to benefit from feedback on the data provided via SkyTrak, costing between £75 and £210 a year.

TruGolf, which also requires the Game Improvement package, allows provides 15 high-definition courses, in a variety of formats, costing £226 a year.

SkyTrak are running a new payment plan, spanned over 12 months. After an initial payment of just over £200, customers will pay £125 per month for a year. 

Verdict

SkyTrak is the first affordable launch monitor on the market providing accurate data. There is little difference in data compared to other monitors costing in the £10,000 region, although the more expensive products offer a larger variety of figures.

The extra features allow golfers to play many different golf courses through the simulator, safe in the knowledge that what they are seeing on screen is accurate.

Small and simple to use, the SkyTrak device is an outstanding option for the player that does not want to take out a mortgage in order to get accurate shot data.

By no means a drop in the ocean at £1,695, but excellent value for money bearing in mind its competition.

Head to the SkyTrak website for more information.