Golf simulators will use various technologies to track ball and club data. These types include. Photometric used fiberbuilt golf mat simulators are camera-based systems that are quite flexible, and can be used indoors as well as outdoors.
These simulators capture high-speed images of the ball immediately after impact and, based on these images, derive various data parameters. This data leads to the rendering of shot shape and distance.
Photometric systems can also capture other data such as launch angle, distance away from center, backspin, and side spin. Arguably the most well-known photometric golf simulator is the SkyTrak.
Similar to a photometric system is a stereoscopic system, an example of which is the Foresight Sports GC2. This takes high-speed images of the ball from two different angles; viewed together, it increases the accuracy of the measurements.
You can go even further to triscopic and quadrascopic systems, which use three and four cameras respectively to produce extremely accurate measurements. Examples of these are the GC3 and GCQuad, respectively.
Infrared
OptiShot 2 Simulator Box & Device
Infrared simulators emit light signals in order to capture the precise position of the clubhead.
Since the ball itself is not measured, you can easily use foam or plastic balls with infrared simulators. However, it’s for this reason that they tend to not be as effective and reliable as other systems.
The OptiShot 2 is probably the most well-known infrared simulator system on the market. Foresight Sports GC systems use some infrared object tracking as well.
Radar
TrackMan 4 Launch Monitor
Radar-based simulators track the ball with the help of Doppler radar technology. These radars emit a microwave signal from the unit which bounces back from the golf ball after impact.
Since it requires seeing the ball travel post-impact, radar is ideal for outdoors use, although it can also be used indoors as long as there is sufficient free ball flight.
At the same time, because it uses microwave signals, it is not affected by ambient lighting conditions unlike with photometric and infrared systems.
The main disadvantage of radar simulators is that the units need to sit many feet behind the clubhead; this typically makes them unable to measure certain parameters such as ball impact location or club face orientation.
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