SkyPro - really impressive

[gparke]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the feedback about alerts. We have a method to tune alerts that we're already testing for the next update. We feel that the alert system is still in its infancy, and we'll continue to flesh it out in future updates.

SecovnieT: Getting pro swings is one of our priorities.

BigOgolfer: Sorry I don't have an official release date for Android yet. ncosper touches on a few of the difficulties. However, we do have plans to target at least a large portion of the Android platform, and we are working on an iPad app as well. The latter will likely happen much sooner than Android.

Gord

[TJSlayer]

Thanks for the continued updates Gord, really appreciate it

[Bmul4]

Hi Gord,

Just thought I'd let you know that I bought a skypro a few days ago (even at £20 over the RRP) from a pro shop and I am very impressed with it. I was hugely influenced by your updates on here and the customer service you guys are providing. Keep up the good work, as others, like I was, maybe just viewing the discussions, but with an interest to purchase.

What would be interesting is if you could sort planned developments to the app

Due in 1 month

Due in 1-3 months

Due in 3+ months

Thanks
Brian

[swingnmiss]

Does the "compare swings" feature actually exist in the app right now? I tried following what the help says but I've found the help is pretty inconsistent with the UI. I go into the swing library and I assume the "eye" icon is to compare but when I hit it I just go back to the 3D view.

Also, for those using this to work on your swing plane how do you know what the right swing plane is? I can tell where I want to be based on video but not sure how to figure out the right swing plane using skyPro.

[Wedgefromhere]

It works. Tap on a swing you want to compare and the swing speed of that swing will turn blue, then touch another one, but hold it down until you get the options that say "Compare" or "Favorite". Touch Compare and that swing will be red and you're good to go. I used my SkyPro for the first time yesterday and comparing swings is something I did when I got home. I compared a swing speed of 96 mph to one that was 90 and could see why.......the 96 swing was much wider, something I've been working on.

[u]My Questions[/u]
1. Does it matter that when I was using my driver (and calibrated with the driver), it says 3 wood for the club? In 40 swings, I only got a handful of alerts, mostly shaft lean at impact was backward and a couple of times shaft lean at address too far forward.

2. Gord, how about another youtube vidoe showing all the features and shortcuts that are available. I'm not sure if I'm using the full extent. For example, is it possible to upload the swing data so I can analyze it in Excel?

3. Is it possible to delete the demo swings? I tried to delete them, using the edit button and following all the steps, but they never get deleted. I'm sure Gord and the other four guys have nice swings, but I don't want to see them on my app.

Can't wait to try this out with my irons, I'm sure I'll get a lot more alerts.

[BigOgolfer]

[quote name='gparke' timestamp='1370025447' post='7144646']
BigOgolfer: Sorry I don't have an official release date for Android yet. ncosper touches on a few of the difficulties. However, we do have plans to target at least a large portion of the Android platform, and we are working on an iPad app as well. The latter will likely happen much sooner than Android.

Gord
[/quote]Thanks for a full response!! Good to hear.

[swingnmiss]

[quote name='Wedgefromhere' timestamp='1370262672' post='7158790']
It works. Tap on a swing you want to compare and the swing speed of that swing will turn blue, then touch another one, but hold it down until you get the options that say "Compare" or "Favorite". Touch Compare and that swing will be red and you're good to go. I used my SkyPro for the first time yesterday and comparing swings is something I did when I got home. I compared a swing speed of 96 mph to one that was 90 and could see why.......the 96 swing was much wider, something I've been working on.
[/quote]
Thanks, that works! Definitely not described that way in the help though.

[PNWPortland]

[quote name='Wedgefromhere' timestamp='1370262672' post='7158790']
It works. Tap on a swing you want to compare and the swing speed of that swing will turn blue, then touch another one, but hold it down until you get the options that say "Compare" or "Favorite". Touch Compare and that swing will be red and you're good to go. I used my SkyPro for the first time yesterday and comparing swings is something I did when I got home. I compared a swing speed of 96 mph to one that was 90 and could see why.......the 96 swing was much wider, something I've been working on.

[u]My Questions[/u]
1. Does it matter that when I was using my driver (and calibrated with the driver), it says 3 wood for the club? In 40 swings, I only got a handful of alerts, mostly shaft lean at impact was backward and a couple of times shaft lean at address too far forward.

2. Gord, how about another youtube vidoe showing all the features and shortcuts that are available. I'm not sure if I'm using the full extent. For example, is it possible to upload the swing data so I can analyze it in Excel?

3. Is it possible to delete the demo swings? I tried to delete them, using the edit button and following all the steps, but they never get deleted. I'm sure Gord and the other four guys have nice swings, but I don't want to see them on my app.

Can't wait to try this out with my irons, I'm sure I'll get a lot more alerts.
[/quote]

Even if it says 3 Wood you can just scroll left or right to change the club at calibration. My irons all say they are one down (I use a 7, it says it's a 6) because of how strong my lofts are. On the calibration screen I just select the right iron (and then change the default settings on the club).

[Justmuckit]

Just picked one up. Getting it charged, and going to hit the range tomorrow.

[Jaybirdie]

You're gonna love it. I've had one for a week and I think it's a great tool. Even better, it will improve over time as the app is updated. Seems very accurate with path, etc. I am still wondering about the swing speed though. Seems a little high. Anyone with Trackman care to share your findings?

[TJSlayer]

Doesn't look like you can delete the demo swings yet, but I'm sure they will address that in an update, so far loving it.

Already helping me with my slice, had a tendency to swing from out to in and in some cases by a lot, now consciously watch for that and things have straightened out by a good margin.

[genemcg]

Was thinking of buying this tomorrow. Is there a way to know from the box if it's the improved plastic/screw model?

Thanks in advance.

[Wedgefromhere]

Not sure about being able to tell from the box, but I'm pretty sure if you order it from their website you'll get the improved model. I ordered mine from them last week and used it over the weekend with no problems. If you get it from a store, it could be one of the original ones that's been sitting on the shelf. Plus ordering from their site right now will save you a few bucks.....$20 off and free shipping.

[GolfMonster2]

My SkyPro arrived today. Just been playing with it at home. Tomorrow to the range. This thing rocks!!! Seems very sturdy, professionally built. Blutooth pairing was seamless and managed to record a swing by contact with carpet. I think it is great value for $200. I can see I'm going to be spending many hours at the range with this device and MTRx simultaneously.

For future upgrades I think the priorities are:

1. Shaft direction (right or left of target) at the top when shaft parallel with the ground.
2. More options for face angle. All the model's face positions appear too closed for my preference.

[Cardigans]

Hi Gord,

I think mine might have a problem. Hit some real balls last weekend and it would only record about every other one. One of the errors it said was to keep the club still before swinging. I consciously did that and it still only recorded about half my swings.

[gparke]

Hey guys,

BMul4: glad to hear you're enjoying it! That's a good question about the planned development. I'm afraid I can't answer the 1-3, and 3+ months yet. We have a lot planned, but I'm not comfortable giving exact dates or features yet. I can do better with the next month though. We're just about finished an app update that includes customizable groove targets and editable alerts, along with a number of other new features . I also wanted to mention that all your feedback has helped us prioritize our schedule.

WedgeFromHere: PNWPortland is correct that you can swipe side to side to change clubs. I'd recommend doing this, because the SkyPro tries to learn your club's specific lie/loft values based on your selections. This usually improves its club estimation, but if you're actually using a different club it will learn the wrong values (I should note this 'learning' only affects the club estimation after calibration - it does not affect any actual results of your swing). I also think a video would be helpful. We're working on better help in general, and so I'll push for videos being a part of that. Finally, a few other people have mentioned deleting demo swings too. That's definitely in the works.

Cardigans: that's very weird. Was it transferring the swings, but giving you that error afterwards? Or just not transferring them at all? Would you mind emailing one of the swings to me? That will help me take a more detailed look into it.

Gord

[Tim]

Im a fan of this product. I have been tracking it on this website since it was released. It looks like im closer to making my purchase. Has it been confirmed that the skypro website is selling the newly designed hardware? I know they will replace it if i break it, but dont want to go through the hassle if i dont have to. I know they usually try to get rid of backstock before releasing new product. Just want to make sure before getting one from the skypro website.

Tim

[Wedgefromhere]

[quote name='Tim' timestamp='1370496172' post='7179850']
Im a fan of this product. I have been tracking it on this website since it was released. It looks like im closer to making my purchase. Has it been confirmed that the skypro website is selling the newly designed hardware? I know they will replace it if i break it, but dont want to go through the hassle if i dont have to. I know they usually try to get rid of backstock before releasing new product. Just want to make sure before getting one from the skypro website.

Tim
[/quote]
I can't confirm it, but based on my use, it seems like it. I ordered mine from their website on 5/24 and have used it twice with absolutely no problems. I took 40 driver swings over the weekend and another 69 swings with a 7-iron and 5-iron last night. Very happy with my purchase so far.

[DLiver]

I should mention that I'm pretty sure I have one from the original batch and haven't had the cracking problem (I've hit 500+ balls so far).

[swingnmiss]

[quote name='DLiver' timestamp='1370519637' post='7180436']
I should mention that I'm pretty sure I have one from the original batch and haven't had the cracking problem (I've hit 500+ balls so far).
[/quote]

Me too.

[Stryker]

[quote name='swingnmiss' timestamp='1370520767' post='7180484']
[quote name='DLiver' timestamp='1370519637' post='7180436']
I should mention that I'm pretty sure I have one from the original batch and haven't had the cracking problem (I've hit 500+ balls so far).
[/quote]

Me too.
[/quote]

Lucky, I just got my first RMA and now the second one won't even turn on straight out of the box.

[ncosper]

[quote name='swingnmiss' timestamp='1370520767' post='7180484']
[quote name='DLiver' timestamp='1370519637' post='7180436']
I should mention that I'm pretty sure I have one from the original batch and haven't had the cracking problem (I've hit 500+ balls so far).
[/quote]

Me too.
[/quote]
Same thing here. 900+ swings and no cracking probs. I got one soon after release. Great product!

[swingnmiss]

Gord or anyone else, how do the swings get sync'd with the phone? I usually have the skyPro app open in the foreground on my iPhone so I see every swing immediately in the app. Today, however, I was using V1 to video my swing so skyPro was running in the background. When I went back to the skyPro app after taking a number of swings it said I had 15 swings on my skyPro that I could transfer or delete. I chose to transfer them but after doing so the app keeps popping up a message asking to calibrate the skypro and each swing shows that it didn't know what club I was on although it shows 6 iron on the side which is correct.

It there a more appropriate channel for discussing this?

[s34nsm411]

anyone get the chance to compare numbers to any radar based devices? trackman type or even just speed radar?

[GolfMonster2]

Had a good session at the range and the device worked perfectly. However, I am a little concerned about the absolute data values as my impression was that the face angle readings were too closed. For the halfway back image below, skypro says

Takeaway angle = 0 degrees (i.e. directly parallel to target line)
Face angle 15 degrees closed

To me it appears as though the clubhead is clearly outside the hands while the face is only very marginally closed?
I was really careful making sure the face was aiming down the target line at address. My feet are also direstly parallel with the target line.

Also, from the front-on view I have a swing which extends just short of parallel to the ground, but skypro says 22 degrees to parallel (to the ground)??

What to people think? Gord, are you confident about the factory calibration/accuracy?

[attachment=1719856:halfway.JPEG][attachment=1719858:length.JPEG]

[BrianL99]

[quote name='GolfMonster2' timestamp='1370593097' post='7187372']
Had a good session at the range and the device worked perfectly. However, I am a little concerned about the absolute data values as my impression was that the face angle readings were too closed. For the halfway back image below, skypro says

Takeaway angle = 0 degrees (i.e. directly parallel to target line)
Face angle 15 degrees closed

To me it appears as though the clubhead is clearly outside the hands while the face is only very marginally closed?
I was really careful making sure the face was aiming down the target line at address. My feet are also direstly parallel with the target line.

Also, from the front-on view I have a swing which extends just short of parallel to the ground, but skypro says 22 degrees to parallel (to the ground)??

What to people think? Gord, are you confident about the factory calibration/accuracy?

[/quote]

I agree with you. I think the absolute data calibration is significantly off. Both issues you mention, "face angle" and how far the swing extends in relation to parallel, are way off on my SkyPro. I've never been to parallel in my life and SkyPro is showing me there ... & there's no way my face angle is so closed to the targe line, as evidenced by my actual ball flight.

[TheBigGun]

[quote name='BrianL99' timestamp='1370597939' post='7187430']
[quote name='GolfMonster2' timestamp='1370593097' post='7187372']
Had a good session at the range and the device worked perfectly. However, I am a little concerned about the absolute data values as my impression was that the face angle readings were too closed. For the halfway back image below, skypro says

Takeaway angle = 0 degrees (i.e. directly parallel to target line)
Face angle 15 degrees closed

To me it appears as though the clubhead is clearly outside the hands while the face is only very marginally closed?
I was really careful making sure the face was aiming down the target line at address. My feet are also direstly parallel with the target line.

Also, from the front-on view I have a swing which extends just short of parallel to the ground, but skypro says 22 degrees to parallel (to the ground)??

What to people think? Gord, are you confident about the factory calibration/accuracy?

[/quote]

I agree with you. I think the absolute data calibration is significantly off. Both issues you mention, "face angle" and how far the swing extends in relation to parallel, are way off on my SkyPro. I've never been to parallel in my life and SkyPro is showing me there ... & there's no way my face angle is so closed to the targe line, as evidenced by my actual ball flight.
[/quote]

I've only used it once but when I look back at my data I get the same feeling relating to club parallel and path on the way back, and I too tried to ensure the face was pointing at the target as I see how this can throw everything off. It's for this reason that I'm really leaning towards the swingbyte with their target alignment feature. I think that will be the one way to truly get accurate data which you can trust.

They're all great bits of kit but the last thing you want is false data.

[BrianL99]

[quote name='TheBigGun' timestamp='1370599787' post='7187454']
[quote name='BrianL99' timestamp='1370597939' post='7187430']
[quote name='GolfMonster2' timestamp='1370593097' post='7187372']
Had a good session at the range and the device worked perfectly. However, I am a little concerned about the absolute data values as my impression was that the face angle readings were too closed. For the halfway back image below, skypro says

Takeaway angle = 0 degrees (i.e. directly parallel to target line)
Face angle 15 degrees closed

To me it appears as though the clubhead is clearly outside the hands while the face is only very marginally closed?
I was really careful making sure the face was aiming down the target line at address. My feet are also direstly parallel with the target line.

Also, from the front-on view I have a swing which extends just short of parallel to the ground, but skypro says 22 degrees to parallel (to the ground)??

What to people think? Gord, are you confident about the factory calibration/accuracy?

[/quote]

I agree with you. I think the absolute data calibration is significantly off. Both issues you mention, "face angle" and how far the swing extends in relation to parallel, are way off on my SkyPro. I've never been to parallel in my life and SkyPro is showing me there ... & there's no way my face angle is so closed to the targe line, as evidenced by my actual ball flight.
[/quote]

I've only used it once but when I look back at my data I get the same feeling relating to club parallel and path on the way back, and I too tried to ensure the face was pointing at the target as I see how this can throw everything off. It's for this reason that I'm really leaning towards the swingbyte with their target alignment feature. I think that will be the one way to truly get accurate data which you can trust.

They're all great bits of kit but the last thing you want is false data.
[/quote]

Swingbyte doesn't have a target alignment feature, other than for taking video.

[gparke]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info. Seems like there two issues: backswing length and parameters at half back. I want to give some details on how we calculate our parameters, and then I can list some of the things that could go wrong.

I'll start with backswing length. You're right that 22° parallel refers to the ground. We basically figure out where the club is pointing at the top of the backswing with our gyros, and compare that direction to the "down" direction, which we can measure with our accelerometers (they measure gravity). Both of these measurements should be very accurate; our testing indicates they're typically within degree or so. We've tested this with motion capture systems, swing robots, and even a simulated swing with a device that forced the "club" to exactly parallel. We don't rely on factory calibration - the sensors' calibration varies with temperature, time, etc., so that wouldn't be too effective. Instead, we have a few internal calibration routines that run automatically. For example, the sensor automatically detects when it's not moving and "zeros" out its gyroscopes.

So I am quite confident in our ability to measure the backswing length checkpoint quite accurately. If it's giving results that seem off, I do have a few ideas. My first suspect would be the club length. If your SkyPro isn't using the correct club length, it could throw off this parameter. That might seem counter-intuitive at first (what could the length of my club have to do with where it is pointing), but it is actually connected. When SkyPro reconstructs your swing, it does so under the assumption that it is actually a golf swing - which allows it to tweak some values to make the reconstruction more accurate. If the club length is significantly wrong, however, this assumption isn't valid, and some parameters may be affected. The most obvious is clubhead speed, but it will affect other parameters to a varying extent. So, if you have a custom club length, you should adjust its length in the app for maximum accuracy. You can do this when you finish calibrating. IMPORTANT: we've found that our method of listing club length can be confusing. The measurement we show is actually measured from the bottom of the heel of the club face to the top of the SkyPro (bottom of the grip) - not the actual length of the club. This is confusing because our length is one grip-length, or about 10 inches, shorter than the club length as listed by its manufacturer.

GolfMonster2: I actually took your backswing length picture and tried to measure it on my screen. My method wasn't too accurate, but I think it gives decent ballpark number. I measured 17° to parallel, which is just 5° off the SkyPro's 22°. I'll post this picture below. (I'm not too surprised about the 5° difference, my little on-screen protractor method is pretty improvised, and I haven't corrected for the camera angle or perspective). Would you mind sending me that swing though? I'd look through the data and just make sure nothing is going wrong.

For the Takeaway Angle and Face @ Half-Back: this one is weird. The Takeaway Angle is affected by our target line, but the Face Angle @ Half Back is actually not. It is measured in reference to the vertical, i.e. 0° is the club pointing perfectly toe-up. (This is one of the reasons we included the face angle @ half back and not at impact in our first release). Therefore, the fact that both of them seem off suggests to me that the SkyPro might have slipped on the club between calibration and this shot. This would cause a takeaway that looks more inside, and a closed club face angle @ half back. Is this possible? If it is, try tightening the thumb screw a little further and recalibrate. Finally, this could potentially also be a club length issue, as in the backswing length discussion before.

Hope that helps. We obviously take accuracy very seriously. SkyGolf has allowed us to access some great resources, including motion capture systems, but we appreciate the feedback from the field (especially with pictures!)

Thanks

Gord

[gparke]

swingnmiss: I think you have found a bug with the swing transferring. What you're doing sounds correct. I'll put that in the list for our update, thanks.

Gord