What are your best options for playing on a golf simulator?

With various amount of golf simulators on the market today. It is so hard to choose which one is better than the others. One thing to remember is that all simulators are not 100% accurate, plus you might not be playing at the same elevation on a simulator than what you are playing now on a real golf course.

How far is that ?

Putting and chipping are the most difficult to judge because of the distance you are hitting the ball from to the screen. How do you hit a 20-30 yard chip or 30-50 foot putt into a screen that is 10-15 feet away from you? You must swing your club like you would on a real course and trust that the simulator you are using will give you a proper reading. Again all simulators are not 100% accurate. I find that all the simulators have their pros and cons. The fancier things like wider screens, automatic tee up or tilt plates are great, but may or may not distract you from the playing experience on a golf simulator. The more fancier things you have means it will need more computer power to operate and may effect the golf simulator experience.

Now you must decide on what you want to do.

Are you trying to improve your golf game, play in a league or a group of friends, or just a social night out with family and friends. When trying to improve your game, go with a Gimme Range of 0 – 5 feet. Practice your chipping and don’t worry about the putting. You can always practice putting later. A 3-foot gimme on a simulator is about a 1 foot on a real golf course. If you are playing games for a league or a group of friends, go with a 5 to 10-foot gimme for speed of play. If you are having just a social night out, go with the maximum gimme range or auto-putt and pickup your ball at double par and have fun. Nothing can be more frustrating than wasting your sim time on chipping and putting.

There are three types of golf simulators.

• Photometric – photometric-based golf simulators, are camera-based systems that take high speed images of the ball immediately after impact. Best for game improving. I find that this type is closest to my actual swing.
• Radar (Doppler) – In a radar-based simulator, a microwave signal is emitted from the unit and bounces back from the golf ball after impact. Great for outdoors usage, but numbers can be a little off indoors, because it tracks the ball that only goes 10-15 feet instead of few yardages.
• Infrared – Infrared (IR) golf simulators, emit a light signal to capture the position of the clubhead through the swing. Great for small areas, but shots can be off if there is something covering the sensors.

Conclusion

Yocaddie hopes that the information we have provided you will help you decide on what golf simulators is best for you. We could state our options on what we think is the best, but the only option that matters is yours. Try different brands if possible and enjoy your experience. Golf simulators are great for you to practice on during the off seasons, but may or may not help your game on a real golf course. Remember when playing on a golf simulator that you should not lose a golf ball and your ball always has a good lie off the hitting matt. When does that happen on a real course.

YoCaddie has put together a list below of some popular brands of golf simulators and what courses they may have. Try and find a brand that has a course you want to play.

Also below are destinations where you can find golf simulators and what brand they are using

For more information go to

https://shopindoorgolf.com/pages/best-indoor-golf-simulators and read the section. The Importance of a Golf Simulator or https://swinggolflounge.ca