Which balls and stickers does my launch monitor need indoors?

Start with a real golf ball

Every launch monitor we sell is designed to read a real golf ball. Foam and plastic practice balls are the one thing to avoid: Garmin lists foam balls among the causes of missed shots, and Rapsodo says the MLM2PRO can't measure foam or plastic balls. Beyond that, what you need depends on how your unit sees the ball.

• Camera units sit beside the ball and photograph it. They want a clean ball with a visible logo or line.
• Radar units sit behind you and track the ball's flight. Indoors, most need help to read spin, either a metallic sticker on the ball or a ball made for radar.
• Club data on most camera units needs a sticker or marker on the club. Radar units read the club without one.

The numbers these help with are explained in ball data explained and club data explained.

Balls for camera units

Camera units read spin from the markings on the ball, so how you set the ball down matters.

• Garmin Approach® R50: reads any standard ball. Garmin's manual asks you to place the ball so its logos or markings face the launch monitor, "especially if the ball has a matte surface".
• SkyTrak ST MAX: a clean, white ball on the red laser dot, with its brand logo facing the lens for the best spin results.
• TruGolf LaunchBox: a clean, white ball with a logo or a marked line, set up facing the unit to capture accurate spin.
• Square Golf: three patterned balls come in the box. With them, back spin and side spin are measured; with a normal ball, Square Golf's manual says they are estimated. Speed and direction are measured with either.
• Foresight GC3 and Uneekor EYE MINI: neither maker asks for a special ball. Uneekor's spec sheet simply says "Any".

A mat that's the same colour as the ball confuses cameras too, so use a green or dark mat.

Balls and stickers for radar units

FlightScope Mevo Gen2: aluminium stickers

FlightScope's manual says aluminium stickers or Titleist RCT balls are "required for accurate spin measurements" when you hit into a screen. Stickers come in the box, and FlightScope sells more on its website.

1. Stick one aluminium sticker on the ball.
2. Tee the ball so the sticker faces the target, directly away from the Mevo Gen2 and the club face.
3. Take the stickered ball out when you putt. FlightScope says stickers and RCT balls should not be used for putting.
4. Outdoors, with full ball flight, no sticker is needed.

Garmin Approach R10: RCT balls

The R10 reads any real ball, but Garmin says Titleist RCT balls give "up to a 30 times more accurate reading of spin rate" and up to 50% better carry accuracy. Garmin's route is the RCT ball, not a sticker.

Full Swing KIT: RCT balls

Full Swing says RCT balls give the KIT a stronger radar signal "to support indoor spin measurement and the data influenced by it".

Rapsodo MLM2PRO: RPT balls

A sleeve of Callaway RPT Chrome Soft X balls comes in the box. Rapsodo's user guide lists measured spin and spin axis "using the Callaway RPT Chrome Soft X golf ball" as a paid-membership feature (Rapsodo now calls that tier Core), so you need both for measured spin.

Club stickers and markers

Most camera units beside the ball need something on the club to read club data. Ball data works without it, so you can start hitting before you fit anything.

Garmin Approach^® R50

Stickers are in the box. Put one on the top centre of the face of each club you use. Garmin says not to put it on or near white decorations on the face, to replace it once it's dirty or worn, and that the putter doesn't need one, because the R50 doesn't record club data for putting.

Foresight GC3

A pack of 28 reflective club markers comes in the box. One marker on the face gives Foresight's 1-dot club data. If club data stops, Foresight's first checks are that club tracking mode is on and the marker isn't damaged. A GC3 bought in ball-only mode needs Foresight's club tracking purchase before any marker will help.

Uneekor EYE MINI and MINI LITE

Uneekor's manuals say club stickers are required for club data, and sticker tweezers come in the box. The positions are exact:

• Driver with 8 grooves: 1 inch from the edge of the toe, 5 grooves up. With 5 grooves: 1 inch from the toe, on the 3rd groove.
• Fairway woods and hybrids with 5 grooves: 1 inch in from the toe, level with the 3rd groove.
• Irons: on the toe side, 7 grooves up from the bottom, on the smooth part of the face, not on the grooves.

Square Golf and Square Golf OMNI

Square Golf uses a club marker on the shaft, fitted 20cm from the floor with the club upright. It gives measured club path and attack angle. The OMNI has two stickers: a shaft sticker for club path and a face sticker for impact point. Square Golf's OMNI manual says to replace them if they're worn, damaged, dirty or in the wrong place.

No stickers needed

SkyTrak says the ST MAX needs no club or ball stickers. The radar units, the Garmin R10, Mevo Gen2 and Full Swing KIT, need no club stickers either.

Keep a small kit

1. A box of the balls your maker names, kept clean and only for the simulator.
2. Spare stickers or markers, ordered from the maker before you run out.
3. A soft cloth for the lens. SkyTrak and Square Golf both say a dirty or scratched lens affects accuracy.

If shots still go missing, why a simulator stops tracking shots has the full checklist.