Club fitting - do you trust simulators

A few things about simulators...

• They're computer-driven devices, so they have to be calibrated time to time to make sure they're simulating accurately
• Some golf shops "soup up" the simulator to make you think the club will deliver more yardage than it actually will. As a test, always get baseline data with your current club. If you're suddenly carrying your driver 250 yds., when you only get 220 yds. on the course, maybe the machine is off a little.
• If possible, bring along a couple of sleeves of the ball you play on-course to use in the tests
• Make sure you warm up first. Do some stretches - if possible, hit a small bucket at a nearby range - and then warm up a little when you get to the shop.  If you get out of the car cold and start hitting full shots 3 minutes later, it probably won't accurately gauge your swing.

The local Golf Galaxy actually cautions us that their simulator measures things "a little short." I find I hit iron shots about a half-club longer outdoors than I do on the simulator.

Besides the machine, you need a player's rep who can help you interpret the data (unless you have a personal Trackman in your back yard, and just didn't bother to bring it along).

Also, a formal club fitting takes longer than just comparing Your Driver vs. New Driver for 10 minutes. A formal fitting should allow you to hit different shafts in the club(s) in question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by colin007 

Question - do you think the curve of the ball is accurately represented? Even if the machine reads long does it still show slices and hooks to the same severity as the real flight?

That seems to depend on how it's setup.  I have been on machines that I have seemed to be hitting the ball exceptionally straight and put a big cut swing on the ball and it's a small fade on the simulator.  I agree with bringing your current club so that you can compare what you typically see on the course to what the simulator is showing and base your decision off that.

Curve is a bit hard to replicate i found, i usually just go for ball speed, launch angle, and backspin are the only three things i look at, with these i can keep tabs on my equipment. 

I would never by a club, especially a set of irons,  without seeing the ball flight on the range. Simulators are just that. The only time I go looking for a simulator is for driver feedback, spin, launch angle and ball speed.

I was just fitted at Carl's Golfland using the Trackman 3.   They have heated garages setup with computers and you hit the ball onto the range so you can see the flight of the ball.   I'm a visual person and wanted to see the ball instead of just hitting into a net.   I felt the flight of the ball was very accurately captured by the computers.