Hitting into a screen

[sean_miller]

It depends on the one you go to, the one I am talking about is at a fairly new store and the simulator is much different from any of the other ones that I have seen...

You should specify the location - consider it a public service announcement.

[mhenrickson]

I emailed the pro I know and have taken a few lessons from. He emailed back that the G15 is a great club, but they can play with the settings to make the results appear better than they would normally be. He also stressed that I should test out anything on a range before buying. I wasn't going to buy anything anyway, but that's good to know for future reference.

[mhenrickson]

I went back to Golf Galaxy on Monday and did another driver demo. Pretty much every shot was straight down the middle, and I could only get it to really slice if I opened my stance way up and basically tried to slice. So after that I went to the local outdoor range and demoed the same Ping G15 driver. What a surprise to see that my shots were going left, right and straight. Based on that I've learned not to trust the simulator for direction.

[pittpanther]

A couple of ideas off the top of my head, as to wy you might get different results at different simulators, or on a real course...

1. Are these simulators properly calibrated on a regular basis? Any electronic measuring tool will drift over time, and needs regular calibration to stay in spec.
2. I imagine these can simulate wind conditions as well? Perhaps one site had a tail wind, while another site had a slight headwind. And in both cases the operator failed to notice?
3. Perhaps the golfer actually does swing differently in the simulator than on the course? Subconciously you know that the simulator is not "real" so you are more relaxed and swing more confidently? Sinilar to the way a newbie might swing beautifully without a ball, but put a ball in front of them and the swing deteriorates...