Launch monitors at home: which numbers are real

A launch monitor used to be a fitting-bay machine costing as much as a car. Consumer units now sit in the price range of a driver, and the question has changed from whether you can afford one to whether its numbers are worth having.

What is measured and what is modelled

Radar units track the ball in flight and calculate the rest. Camera-based units photograph the ball and club at impact and measure more directly. Either way some numbers are measured and some are modelled, and manufacturers rarely draw a clear line. Carry distance and ball speed are reliable on almost everything; spin axis, club path and face angle vary considerably by unit and price.

The three numbers worth caring about

Carry distance tells you which club to hit and is the most valuable thing an amateur can learn. Ball speed tells you whether a change actually added speed. Launch angle with spin explains why your drives balloon or run out. Everything else is interesting and almost nobody improves with it.

Indoors, outdoors and the honest caveats

Radar units want space behind and in front of the ball, which a garage does not have; camera units cope in a confined bay but want good light and a marked ball. Numbers off a mat differ from numbers off turf, and a heated bay in January is not the air of a course in July. Use the device to compare rather than to fix absolute distances.

Where they genuinely help

Three uses justify the purchase: building a carry chart for every club, which almost no amateur has; testing whether a swing change did anything measurable; and winter work with feedback, which in a British winter of mats and temporary greens is the difference between maintaining and drifting.

Where they do not

A launch monitor will not tell you why your club path is out to in, and chasing those numbers without a coach is how golfers spend a winter building a compensation. It will not fix the short game, course management or putting either.

What to check before buying

Decide whether you will use it indoors, outdoors or both, which narrows the field faster than anything else. Check what is measured rather than calculated at your price point. Look for a software subscription, a recurring cost in pounds the sticker price does not show. And try one first: American Golf has units in store, and indoor centres rent bay time by the hour with a monitor included.

Panxis Golf has no commercial relationship with any manufacturer or retailer and takes no commission.

Before you spend

• Rent a bay for an hour and build a carry chart. That may be all you wanted.
• Confirm which numbers your intended unit measures rather than models.
• Check for a subscription before comparing prices.

The device is a measuring instrument, not a coach.