Written so you can read your own capture table without a fitter standing next to you. Two sections: what the machines measure, and what the shaft specifications on your build spec do.
The single most useful distinction in launch data. A measured value was observed directly. An inferred value was calculated from something else that was observed. A modelled value came from a flight simulation that never saw your ball land.
| Figure | Doppler unit | Optical unit | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball speed | Measured | Measured | Both are reliable; a large gap means a calibration problem |
| Launch angle | Measured | Measured | Reliable from both, small differences are normal |
| Spin rate | Measured | Measured from markings | Optical needs a marked or dimple-tracked ball to be trusted |
| Spin axis | Measured | Inferred | Drives curvature; the doppler reading leads on this one |
| Club head speed | Inferred | Measured | Optical leads; doppler works back from ball speed |
| Club path | Inferred | Measured | Optical leads by a wide margin indoors |
| Face angle | Inferred | Measured | Optical leads; this is the main reason we run both |
| Strike location | Not available | Measured | The single best predictor of a bad data point |
| Carry distance | Modelled indoors | Modelled | Nobody measures carry in a room. Everyone models it. |
| Descent angle | Modelled | Modelled | Critical for stopping power, entirely simulation-derived indoors |
The line worth remembering: indoors, every distance figure you have ever been shown is a model output. That does not make it useless. It makes the inputs to the model — air, ball, and the measured values above — the thing worth scrutinising.
The four numbers that appear on a shaft label, ranked by how much they move your ball flight in practice, plus two that appear on your build spec instead.
Shaft mass changes tempo, sequencing and strike location more reliably than any other single specification, and unlike flex it is measured in grams by an actual scale rather than assigned by a marketing department. Moving from 60 grams to 70 grams is a real, repeatable change. Moving from one brand's "stiff" to another's is not necessarily anything at all.
When a session produces a large improvement from a shaft change, weight is the most common cause.
Usually sold as "low, mid or high launch", which compresses a curve into one word. What is really happening is that different sections of the shaft — butt, mid, tip — have different stiffness, and how those sections load and unload against your transition determines launch and how the club feels doing it.
Two shafts labelled "mid launch" can behave nothing alike. We test the profile rather than reading the label.
There is no industry definition of R, S or X. A stiff from one manufacturer can measure softer than a regular from another. Flex is a starting point for pulling test heads off a rack and nothing more.
The measurement that replaces it on your spec is frequency in cycles per minute, which is an actual number produced by an actual instrument.
Resistance to twisting about the shaft's own axis, in degrees. Lower is not automatically better. A low-torque shaft can feel dead and unresponsive to a golfer with a smooth transition, while a fast, aggressive transition may genuinely need the stability.
It also interacts with weight and profile, which is why chasing a torque figure in isolation rarely produces anything.
Cycles per minute of a clamped shaft, measured on an instrument. It is how we compare shafts across brands honestly and how we make sure a set of irons behaves as a set rather than as thirteen individual clubs that happen to share a finish.
Set frequency matching is the most under-appreciated service in the building.
The relationship between head mass and the rest of the club, expressed on the old lettered scale. Changing grip weight, adding tape, or trimming half an inch all move it, which is why a "simple" re-grip can make a club feel foreign.
We hold half a point of tolerance across a set and record the target on your spec.
Look at the discard count before the averages. A candidate that kept seven strikes of sixteen and one that kept twelve are not comparable, no matter how similar their means look.
Check dispersion before distance. Offline spread and descent angle predict scoring far better than a peak carry figure, and they are much harder to flatter with one good swing.
Ask which values were modelled. If a fitter cannot immediately tell you whether your carry number was measured or simulated, they have not thought about it.
Demand the conditions. Any number without an air temperature, a pressure and a ball model attached cannot be compared to a number taken on a different day, and comparing across days is the entire point of writing them down.
Bays fill first on Saturdays
Every session ends with a printed condition sheet and a build spec you own outright — take it anywhere, order from anyone.