Our favourite… Launch monitors

The latest ball-tracking technology has opened up a new world of data for tour pros, teachers and club golfers

Trackman 4

From £12,000 trackmangolf.com Until now putter fittings have taken a back seat, but Trackman 4 is changing all that. This version gathers data on everything from ball speed, skid distance and roll percentage. The latest update also shows where shots impact the club face on full swings.

Foresight Sports GC Quad From £13,990 www.foresightsports.com The latest GC Quad – which we use for much of TG’S testing – measures club and ball data from a single unit not much bigger than this magazine. It offers hundreds of stats, including the path of the clubface and its face angle at impact, plus new putting software to assess roll.

Flightscope Mevo £550 www.flightscopemevo.com Aimed at golfers wanting a personal launch monitor. It’s tiny (smaller than an iphone box), but thanks to a decent app it’s a powerful practice tool for less than an average set of irons. We’re big fans of its go-anywhere portability. It’s ideal for getting numbers wherever you are.

Swing Caddie SC200 Pro £299 www.jsint.com

With most of these units costing well into four or five figures, the Swing Caddie really makes it affordable – as long as you just want basic numbers and no clubhead data. That’s probably not enough for teaching pros, but it’s ideal for club golfers looking to track improvements.

Skytrak £1,900 www.skygolf.com

A bit of a one-size-fits-all launch monitor. Not only is it a reasonably low cost solution for club fitters and teaching pros, but as long as you have the right subscriptions and a practice net you can turn a garden or garage into a simulator. New wedge gapping software is handy for club golfers, too.