3.8 software still poor accuracy vs Trackman : What is R10 Good For?

It is unfair to expect the R10 to be as good as a trackman which I don't, but comparison to the trackman is useful to understand what the R10 is good for. Golf simulation R10 is fine as no great accuracy would be required. I was wanting to use it as a training aid to target certain path angles, spins etc. For this the more accuracy and repeatability the unit has the better. At my last golf lesson we set the R10 up next to the trackman and compared its angles, spins shot by shot. Overall the R10 was regularly different to the trackman stats by >10% and every few shots would be >100% different on readings.

This was done from a training room open to the driving range.

I would conclude from this experience that the R10 would not be good enough to use for teaching or for targeting path angles to <2 degrees variation for example.

I do continue to use it in my net at home because it does provide information that can tell you whether you are too far right or left which makes net practice much more productive and safer (from point of view of knowing general direction of a hit)

Look forward to any further improvements on accuracy and repeatability that Garmin can get out of the technology.

  • How can someone even expect to use 500$ unit for golf lesson, which costs usually well over 100$ per hour? For professional purposes, I guess at least GC quad or Trackman is required, even SkyTrack  should not be used for teaching or professional club fitting purposes. I have been using my R10 with the NetReturn hitting net inside of my family room to use GSPro simulation software for the past two month and I do believe that R10 is accurate and consistent enough for average (driver swing speed <100mph) amateur golfer like me to enjoy indoor golf and practice. My son has 107 mph driver club head speed and I found that the distance from R10 seems 20-30yd shorter than one with the Trackman measurement. 

  • What is it good for to play some golf in the winter. To get the many golf lovers who can't break 100, 90 or 80 some fun and improve.  Also $600 vs $15000 come on you really think it is going to be the same?

  • Hi, sorry to confuse you. I dont expect it to be the same which I state in my first few words. Its a pretty good effort by Garmin to build it.  The R10 has many stats on angles, speed, rpm, etc so what are they meant to be for? Not for golf simulation. I thought they would be there so you can use them. If they are not meant to be used then they should not be there as advertised. If they are there to use then I would have hoped they would be accurate enough to use. I dont think they are accurate enough for a high handicapper either. At the moment they are of limited use, but for net practice its a big help and maybe Garmin can improve their algorithms although I wonder without a better aid to aim the unit I think it might be difficult. Enjoy your R10 and winter golfing or come to Australia and play all year!

  • Yes I agree its good for net practice as prolonged net practice without feedback can ruin your game. They provide all these stats and measurements though so too bad they are not more accurate as it would be a fantastic breakthrough at its price