Are the golf simulators at d**k's Sporting Goods accurate?

Question

Are the golf simulators at d**k's Sporting Goods accurate?

Answer 1

Have never been there to try simulators but several years ago we were approached by the makers of simulators to place some in an arcade. These were a novelty with a high price so we never purchased. This was a fine concept where you could play 5 different courses and hit all the clubs in the bag and you would be told how far you had driven, if you were on fairway or rough, how many yards you had left to the green. and the length of the putt to be played.

Answer 2

Nothing is as good as the real thing.  I am referring to of course, the driving range!

No simulator will ever give you the accuracy you need to do club fitting.  If youre buying clubs go out and try them, do not rely on the indoor simulators.

Answer 3

I was carrying my driver over 370 yards in that thing!  I also hit an intentional slice to see if it would recognize and nope!  So no, dont trust those things.

Answer 4

I have seen two different ones at two different d**k's, So I do not know which you are referring to.  The cool one is the one that is its own room, as a full screen and supposidly picks up your swing through doppler radar.  Its suposed to be accurate.  However, you are hitting off a mat.  As one salesmen told me a few weeks ago, you can hit behind the ball three inches off a mat and still get a good shot.  Try that off of real grass and your going nowhere.  Its the same reason people (myself, too) are so good at the range and so horrible at the course.  Mats are ok, but they are not realistic.  So unless your hitting off a tee in one of those simulators, its probably not that accurate.

Answer 5

You should not rely on Golf Simulators since they simply use computer calculations to simulate a ball flight.   An accurate device used by most clubmakers to analyse a Pro golfer swing is Vector Launch Monitor or Radar Doppler.     Usually they (the machines) use a real golf ball and a rubber tee and your will be asked to really hit the ball to a net.  Indoor or Outdoor does not matter because launch monitor only analyse the ball at impact.

Calculating club head speed and launch angle will give a correct yardage.... (minus breeze).  So find a Clubmaker with a launch monitor.   Golf Shops use simulator to give a chance for customers to just try the golf clubs they are selling.

Answer 6

i don't know, it said that I hit a 8 iron 180 yards, I have a 11 handicap so I highly doubt that I actually hit an 8 iron that far. When I bought the clubs, I only hit the 8 iron 150 so take like 10-30 yards of what it says for irons, for other clubs I'm not sure

Answer 7

Simulators are not that accurate, but they are a constant.  In other words if you are looking for a new driver, and your goal is to hit it further, you can hit different clubs in a simulator and see which one goes furthest.  The yardage shown on the simulator may be way off to what you hit outside, but you can still make a comparison.  So in my experience they are not that accurate, but they are still useful.

Answer 8

tradecory yess......distance no...they want you to think you are hitting it farther so you buy the club

Answer 9

As said in another post, simulators are "constant". I think a more appropriate statement would be that the conditions are constant, making the simulated results more "consistent". Believe it or not, just a few degrees in temperature, or humidity, or wind or surface conditions can change clubhead speed and aerodynamics of the ball. Also consider the way the constant conditions inside affect the golfer. You are much more relaxed and comfortable indoors, where as outside, you maybe sweating profusely after a short bucket, or have bugs buzzing in your face, noise or other distractions. Also, the simulator isn't always accurate in displaying misses. On the range, you see the results of a miss right away and that image can have a psychological impact on how you hit your next shot. Ever hit off of that simulated "rough"? Nope...nothing like the real thing.