Benefits of a simulator or launch monitor

[playit]

If you have either a launch monitor or simulator and like it, why? What all does it show, what all does it do for you? How do you use it? If it's improved your game, how do you think it has? And what model do you have?

 

And if anyone has a simulator, do you play a simulated round of golf with it? Ever with friends?

[Phabs]

Sims have helped me dial in my yardages and have helped me identify any bad gaps that I have between clubs throughout the set.   I shoot for 15 yard gaps between clubs and being in a sim a decent amount has allowed me to fine tune that. 
 

I’m just using a cheap SC300 portable monitor that I take to the range once a week.  Bought it at Costco but it serves its purpose. 

Edited October 1, 2021 by Phabs

[LHGolf4]

With decent ranges/golf courses at least 30 minutes away from me I bought a Skytrak and have a mat and net in the backyard (in the shade since it hates direct sunlight).  I try to do a couple of 100ish shot practice sessions a week so when I get to the golf course I am just warming up at the range and not trying to practice and warm up at the same time.   I sometimes focus on wedges trying to hit specific yardages, it also helps me see what spin/yardages I am getting with different types of golf balls.   It is obviously not GC Quad accurate, but it reads fades/draws and the yardage is definitely close enough to be useful at the course.

 

Most of the time I try to hit some drivers/fairway woods, hybrid, and more irons and wedges.  Even if I don't have a lot of time just hitting 30-40 shots in the afternoon to keep the timing down it has been very helpful.   

 

When I first got it I was out there 4-5 days a week wanting to get the most out of it.  Tendonitis followed by elbow surgery (due to me being an idiot and not resting) taught me a valuable lesson that just because you have it does not mean you have to use it everyday.  I also dug out a base and filled it with a mix of dirt and sand so even hitting off of a mat is not so hard on the elbow. 

 

I originally had a trial to play online when I first bought it and if I had an indoor setup I might do it again.  However I really use it just to save the drive to the range and get my practice in and it has worked.  Down to a 7.8 handicap (hovered at 10-11 for years) and several rounds in the 70's this year so I am happy with it.  If/when we move I will definitely try to have enough room to move it indoors.

[jvincent]

1 hour ago, playit said:

If you have either a launch monitor or simulator and like it, why? What all does it show, what all does it do for you? How do you use it? If it's improved your game, how do you think it has? And what model do you have?

 

And if anyone has a simulator, do you play a simulated round of golf with it? Ever with friends?

 

A good launch monitor is a fabulous way to improve your game.

 

I has a driver path issue that was undiagnosed until I got onto a launch monitor. I went from literally not knowing where the ball was going off the tee with driver to a fairly consistent fairway finder.

 

It's important to get a LM monitor that actually MEASURES the club path (as minimum) in order to be able to use it this way. If you only get ball data the LM will make assumptions about path that aren't always accurate.

[blazman11]

I don’t own a TM, GC Quad or Skytrack. My response might not be what you had in mind. I do own the Garmin G80 and Rhapsody MLM.  The G80 is always in my bag as it doubles as a GPS unit. The MLM I’ll use when I want to work on specific items / struggling in one area. 
 

I have access to a TM a few minutes from my house. I just cannot hit driver indoors. Never could never will. My form breaks down completely and the results are awful. So I use my own devices outdoors.  I use them for club head speed and tempo. I know how far everything is supposed to go. Recently I knew my club head speed was dropping with every club as my irons were 20 yards short and drives went nowhere. So I pulled out the MLM on the range and could see on video what was contributing to a 10 mph loss in club head speed. 
 

the real time information to me is invaluable. I love tweaking my swing and see right away what the ball flight result was and if it picked me up any additional speed. . Distance isn’t everything but it sure makes the game easier.  The same objective could be reached using just a plain swing radar and a camera mount for video. I do like the features of MLM though and will even export videos to Hudl technique for comparisons against pros. 
 

I will use TM for iron fitting as I have no issues hitting irons indoors. Drivers though always get tested on range and on course first before I buy. My local shop is great at letting me demo any head and shaft combo I want. 

[msg]

I have a Sky Trak and had it since 2017. Even if I have been playing once a week in the last four years, my handicap has not been above 10 ever since. I would say that having the Sky Trak contributed to my progress and success. 

 

Do I like? Hell yes. It is convenient and I cannot remember the last time I purposely went to the driving range to work on something with my swing. I just go to my basement and work on my swing, rain or shine, whenever I want to. 

 

I usually hit golf balls on the range function at least once a week. I would hit my driver, three wood, hybrids, 7 iron, 9 iron, PW. I would also do wedge work from 100 yards to 15 yards. I play 18 holes every now and then at least once a week too. I also like to do the randomizer feature where it randomly spits out yardages. I would set it to 100 yards max and just use my wedges and play around with it. There was a time when I was hitting 300 wedges daily. LOL I did not hit any other club for a week and I played the weekend of that week and my swing was fine even if I was just doing wedge work. 

 

Every winter, I would work on my full swing. Especially the driver. Last winter I finally decided to fix my path issues. My miss is a slice and it took me three months to really ingrain the changes. I added about 10 - 20 yards on my average total distance with my driver because of the decreased spin. 

 

Sky Trak showed me how much I was losing with my out to in swing. I can see the difference in spin and side spin and the carry and total, compared to a more or close to neutral swing now that I have. 

 

Every winter, my buddies and I also play every weekend or every other weekend. It makes the winters more bearable. We have a tournament and it would be all winter long. 

 

Overall, for me, Sky Trak has been the huge difference in my game. I cannot imagine being where I am now without it. The two biggest things that I can see that I have improved is my driving and and my wedge game. I was able to dial my wedges from 100 yards to 10 yards. I was able to straighten my driver and gained accuracy and yards in the process. 

Edited October 1, 2021 by msg

[Sean124]

My SkyTrak has improved my game simply because I practice more, and have better feedback while I do it.
 

I hit anywhere from 500-1000 balls a week vs. going to the driving range once or twice. I rarely use the sim feature because my wifi sucks. 

[aramirez24]

I hit balls every morning before work in my garage with my Mevo+ set up. It's helped me so much figuring out my swing and how far I actually hit my irons. My favorite thing to do is hit my wedges at the 125 and 100 yard targets. They've become a strong part of my game on the course. 10/10 I would recommend if you just enjoy swinging your clubs. 

[doc52]

I've been thinking of grabbing a Mevo+, but just not sure of the accuracy compared to a larger more expensive LM.

[JAM01]

All of the above plus the 5-6 month break from late October to mid March is horrifically long. 

[aramirez24]

1 hour ago, doc52 said:

I've been thinking of grabbing a Mevo+, but just not sure of the accuracy compared to a larger more expensive LM.

For $2k or 1600 on a special I don't think there's anything that can beat it. Yeah a uneekor or gc2 is better, but for me it's exactly what I want it to be. I'd say probably 90% of my shots feel accurate, with some spin issues with stuff like driver. My brother in law plays off a +3 and he says it's close enough to the gc4 he practices on at his coaches facility that he feels comfortable practicing on it. 

[lefthack]

I am looking at the new Garmin if I can find room in my garage to set up a simulator. I would love a GC Quad or something with all the legit courses but I'm a cheap bastxxx. I think it would be cool when I can't get out to the club for less than a grand.

[ProjectX]

Holy poop I'm not sure you want to read the novel I could write about how much my GCQuad had changed my game in the last 6 months.

 

Driver: I've known I was a high spin player for 10+ years. So like every WRXer I sought out the lowest spin driver and would open the face to try to knock off even more spin. Then I get slapped in the face with data the second I get my GCQuad. While my iron swing path is very neutral I find out my driver swing path is a few degrees out to in and the excess spin is a result of me not squaring up the face at impact. So instead of playing with a 1.5*-2* open face I now have the face a degree closed. Because I'm squaring the driver up now my spin dropped a whopping 700 rpm and my fairways hit has jumped from 34% to 53%.

 

Ball:  I had been playing the Bridgestone B330S and now Tour B XS for years. Then I saw my wedge spin numbers were up over 12,000 rpm on full shots which was impossible to control. So I switched to a Z-Star XV and brought that number to 10,800 which was much easier to control. The spin drop through the rest of the bag was a welcome addition as well.

 

Gapping: I set my lofts based on how far I thought I hit each club. Some were spot on other places not as much. Particularly my wedges were all much shorter than expected and I always struggled with what to do between 4 iron and Driver. PW and AW were 6 yards short, bent them 2* stronger. SW and LW were 3 yards short, bent them 1* stronger. With the drop in spin and straighter ball flight on my driver I all of the sudden had a massive gap from 5 wood to driver. This caused me to switch from a 5 Wood driving iron combo to a 3 wood 5 wood combo and I adjusted my irons again a degree or two to get the gaps right. From 3 wood to LW now cover 260-95 yards for me vs the 250-95 I had previously. The minor adjustments in loft I had to make throughout the bag were totally worth it to gain 10 yards up top and have better gapping through my bag in the process. 

 

Practice: I used to be able to get to the range once a week and play once a week if I was lucky. Now I'm hitting balls every other day and my ball striking has never been better. My distance control with my wedges has been a revelation. The one downside to this was my body wasn't liking hitting balls off the mat this often. Started to get sore right where my neck meets the shoulders. So I decided to make the switch to graphite iron shafts. 

 

C-Taper to MMT switch: Switching shafts I was able to verify instantly any changes that had occurred. With my adjusted lofts and graphite shafts my spin dropped about 400 rpm. A simple ball switch from Z Star XV to ProV1x got me right back in the windows I wanted. 

 

I could go on and on but you can see how much this has changed the game for me in 6 months. My long game picked up 10 yards, my short game is much improved which has dropped my putts per round. My scores used to be mid to low 80's and now I shoot mid 70's. I've never been more confident that I have the right clubs in the bag. I might not even club ho anymore!!! Might...

 

Bottom line, data is king and the more you have the better off you will be.

[ProjectX]

Also, to answer your second question. My general practice routine is to warm up on the range for 15 min and then play a round of golf. I have my quad set up to auto putt which gives me a score based on the average amounts of putts it takes from that distance. 18 holes takes me 40-45 min. This number will hold true of 40-45 min x number of golfers. Both my wife and neighbor occasionally play a round of golf on the sim with me and takes 90 min for two people. Again well worth it. No travel time and we can play year round.

[JAM01]

1 hour ago, ProjectX said:

Also, to answer your second question. My general practice routine is to warm up on the range for 15 min and then play a round of golf. I have my quad set up to auto putt which gives me a score based on the average amounts of putts it takes from that distance. 18 holes takes me 40-45 min. This number will hold true of 40-45 min x number of golfers. Both my wife and neighbor occasionally play a round of golf on the sim with me and takes 90 min for two people. Again well worth it. No travel time and we can play year round.

Excellent points - no drive time, no waiting on slower players, no issue with being pushed by faster players behind you, no searching for wayward balls, and no lost balls. 

[ProjectX]

On 10/1/2021 at 5:50 PM, JAM01 said:

Excellent points - no drive time, no waiting on slower players, no issue with being pushed by faster players behind you, no searching for wayward balls, and no lost balls. 

Yeah, to be honest the only thing that holds me back from going even faster sometimes is waiting for the ball to stop rolling or the shot to finish so the next shot can load. For instance when I miss the green and know I missed it I usually have my wedge in hand waiting to hit the next shot before the ball even lands. If there was a way to fast forward to the end of the shot I could probably play under 40 minutes every round. 

[KCChipper]

I’ve liked using this Garmin launch monitor.  Working to move it indoors for the winter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctue0z4rU6k

[Pens #1 fan]

On 10/1/2021 at 12:10 PM, msg said:

I have a Sky Trak and had it since 2017. Even if I have been playing once a week in the last four years, my handicap has not been above 10 ever since. I would say that having the Sky Trak contributed to my progress and success. 

 

Do I like? Hell yes. It is convenient and I cannot remember the last time I purposely went to the driving range to work on something with my swing. I just go to my basement and work on my swing, rain or shine, whenever I want to. 

 

I usually hit golf balls on the range function at least once a week. I would hit my driver, three wood, hybrids, 7 iron, 9 iron, PW. I would also do wedge work from 100 yards to 15 yards. I play 18 holes every now and then at least once a week too. I also like to do the randomizer feature where it randomly spits out yardages. I would set it to 100 yards max and just use my wedges and play around with it. There was a time when I was hitting 300 wedges daily. LOL I did not hit any other club for a week and I played the weekend of that week and my swing was fine even if I was just doing wedge work. 

 

Every winter, I would work on my full swing. Especially the driver. Last winter I finally decided to fix my path issues. My miss is a slice and it took me three months to really ingrain the changes. I added about 10 - 20 yards on my average total distance with my driver because of the decreased spin. 

 

Sky Trak showed me how much I was losing with my out to in swing. I can see the difference in spin and side spin and the carry and total, compared to a more or close to neutral swing now that I have. 

 

Every winter, my buddies and I also play every weekend or every other weekend. It makes the winters more bearable. We have a tournament and it would be all winter long. 

 

Overall, for me, Sky Trak has been the huge difference in my game. I cannot imagine being where I am now without it. The two biggest things that I can see that I have improved is my driving and and my wedge game. I was able to dial my wedges from 100 yards to 10 yards. I was able to straighten my driver and gained accuracy and yards in the process. 

What software are you using for the Sim gaming part? 

[msg]

2 hours ago, Pens #1 fan said:

What software are you using for the Sim gaming part? 

I have Fitness Golf. It works just fine but when I have some extra money I will get TGC 2019. 

[khalespace]

On 10/1/2021 at 7:13 AM, playit said:

If you have either a launch monitor or simulator and like it, why? What all does it show, what all does it do for you? How do you use it? If it's improved your game, how do you think it has? And what model do you have?

 

And if anyone has a simulator, do you play a simulated round of golf with it? Ever with friends?

 

I have a Skytrak golf simulator and I like it a lot. It is in my garage. I use it from 10 to 11:30 when my kids and wife go to bed.

 

Within one year, my handicap has gone down from 19 to 13 without instruction.

• I have many golf aids that are not easy to bring to the driving range, it is nice to have access to all of them.
• I can videotape myself
• If I have 20 minutes, I can practice. It takes 15 minutes to get to the range alone.
• I can do drills, it can be expensive doing drills at the driving range
• I can watch movies, YouTube, golf videos, live golf on my TV while practicing golf
• I have had a few friends coming over but we find that if we have time to get together, it is better on the course and not in the garage.
• I have paid for the TGC software for $900 to play many courses. I regretted this decision. I use the driving range most of the time. The TGC on course simulator doesn't feel like real golf.
• Hitting the driver with real balls is very loud indoor so I rarely use the driver. If I use it, I hit foam balls.

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by khalespace

[BigEx44]

I don't own a simulator, but I am a member of something pretty unique - a "Simulator Country Club".
Something I love since I live in the Northeast (Upstate NY) where our golf "off season" is about 5 months long (Nov-Mar).

Membership is limited to 60 people to ensure plenty of availability for the hitting bays.
This "Digital Country Club" has three huge hitting bays (the largest I've ever experienced) and with the best graphics I've ever seen – it seems like every bell and whistle is included.  One of the bays even has a balance board (will give you all kinds of data on weight distribution at setup and during your swing).  All the bays also include a camera so that you can see a video of, and analyze, your swing.

 

And all of this is just 10 minutes down the road from where I live.  So for me, this is the next best thing to owning a simulator.  In fact, it may be better, since I’m not sure I could afford this kind of super high-quality simulator on my own.

 

And I love using a simulator for 4 reasons:

 

1) I just got fitted for a new set of clubs - so it's providing a great opportunity for me to get used to, and gap, my clubs before my “real” golf season starts in May of 2022.  Even beyond that though, it’s also providing me with the information to develop a “yardage card” (something I’ve always wanted to put together, but never had the resources to do easily): to know how far I hit each of my irons using a full, ¾, ½ and ¼ swing.  I could never get that kind of accurate yardage, without a ton of work, from an outdoor range.

 

2) I also like using the simulator for my “range” work since it can provide so much feedback about my swing:  swing speed, ball speed, smash factor, total yds, carry yards, spin, swing path, launch angle, attack angle, face angle etc etc.  More data I could never get on my own at an outdoor range.

 

3) I love playing the famous golf courses from around the world.  Two or three of us get together at least a couple times a week to play a round.  It’s the next best thing to playing real golf.  I do miss the exercise of walking, but appreciate the fact that a 18 hole round can be played in an hour by 1 player in a simulator.

 

4) As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, also provides a good incentive to do drills.  There's not the mental strain of thinking you're wasting money with anything less than normal full swings.

 

This "digital country club" only opened up this past December so I can't yet state its impact on my handicap - but I'm feeling a real improvement in my game after only a month.  I can't wait to see how this all translates to my real game.

 

Edited January 10, 2022 by BigEx44

[happy_guy]

I have had a skytrak for 3 years.   My handicap in those 3 years has gone from a 13 to a 9.   I use the skytrak in conjunction with my real game stats.   GIR, putting, Fairways hit...etc.   I then use the skytrak to focus on problem areas.   Last winter my focus was on approach shots.  I used the skills assessment tool to reduce my distance to the pin on my approach shots.    The results were noticeable.   My GIR not only went up, but it also had a big impact on my putting stats.   This winter I am working on chipping and pitching.... working on my problem yardages.... my tendency is short left in the real world, so in the SIM I am working to have on straight and long.  It's kinda messing with me a bit, but I am starting to "feel" what straight feels like.