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Simulator Practice Routine?

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lanechanger

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Hello,

Wanted to know if there was a good practice routine available to a new golfer who has access to a simulator but not to a range/putting area. Is it even worth it to practice chipping and putting on simulators?
 
Here's my experience. I started playing early last year, and setup an area in the house to practice. By the time I actually hit the range for the first time, my ball striking was really bad. I had developed some bad habits hitting at home, where I could not see true ball flight. So I would just caution against that. Now, starting out with lessons would be really good, but you can set yourself back if you try to do things too much in the beginning, without assistance. At least that was my experience.
 
Thank you. I get lessons when I can, guess when I can't I'll just go and hit irons until it feels comfortable.
 
Welcome to THP! Not everyone will agree with me, but I do not like the idea of hitting any shots except for shots from real natural grass, and outdoors. I hate sims, I hate mats and I hate nets. You need to see the ball flight to really know what is happening with your shots.

If you have a school or a factory or anythings with a wide open area, gets some balls and a shag bag and hit. I use to do all of my practicing for years behind our local Jr. High school (with their permission of course) during none school hours. I'd hit 100/200 balls and then go pick them up almost every evening when I was much younger.
 
HoosierGolfer said:
Welcome to THP! Not everyone will agree with me, but I do not like the idea of hitting any shots except for shots from real natural grass, and outdoors. I hate sims, I hate mats and I hate nets. You need to see the ball flight to really know what is happening with your shots.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. You need to see what the ball flight is doing.
 
lanechanger said:
Hello,

Wanted to know if there was a good practice routine available to a new golfer who has access to a simulator but not to a range/putting area. Is it even worth it to practice chipping and putting on simulators?
Click to expand...
I have access to a simulator with down the line and face on cameras and it was great for working on my swing during the winter. Working on changes in a controlled environment can be beneficial. I came out of the winter swinging better than I ever had. I would focus on swing changes in the range mode, and then I would play holes so I wouldn't get into a groove with one club. The nice thing is you can also set up targets in the range modes and play for them. Distances typically won't translate to the course 1 for 1 so take everything with a grain of salt.

As to chipping and putting, I don't think using the simulator is as good for either chips or putts. Putts are tough because you are rolling the ball over a bad surface, and chips are tough to gauge spin and rollout, but you can certainly work on your contact on chips.

When used properly, the simulator can be a great tool.
 
Simulator Practice Routine?

robmypro said:
Here's my experience. I started playing early last year, and setup an area in the house to practice. By the time I actually hit the range for the first time, my ball striking was really bad. I had developed some bad habits hitting at home, where I could not see true ball flight. So I would just caution against that. Now, starting out with lessons would be really good, but you can set yourself back if you try to do things too much in the beginning, without assistance. At least that was my experience.
Click to expand...

What he said^^^^^^^.
I thought I was doing myself a favour with my indoor hitting area in my basement but when I went to the range it was a different story. Get outdoors if you can.
Now in the winter I'll do indoor lessons with my pro and focus on those drills in my basement but spring to late fall I'm outside.
If you can't get outside at least get a good pro to monitor your progress.
 
robmypro said:
I agree 100%. You need to see what the ball flight is doing.
Click to expand...
Any high quality simulator is very accurate at showing the ball flight. Following that there is a ton of data to analyze the entire swing and ball performance. Yes being outside is the best way but very few ranges have quality grass tee areas. Hitting in a field somewhere isn't the best either. So if a simulator is available it's a great alternative especially with the proper guidance.
 
Chipping and putting absolutely not. It won't help anything in regards to that IMO. You're better off just finding an open field or space at a local school to chip around.
 
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