The most accurate systems will often combine two or more technologies and track both club and ball data. It is important to note that all golf simulators require calculations. The simulator uses all the data produced by your shot and calculates where the ball should go based off the data processed.
Logically, the more data a golf simulator gets to process, the more accurate it should be. If a golf simulator has to calculate your shot using only a few shot metrics then the simulator will have to do more "guessing" in the final calculation. This can result in less accurate data.
Luckily, most golf simulator's today track more than enough shot data to get correct results. However, even if you have the best golf simulator technology, other outside factors can still play a role in the overall accuracy of your simulator.
Sometimes, technology can fail us. The good news is, we can normally diagnose these issues:
IT'S NOT SETUP RIGHT
Because your golf simulator relies on making calculations, setting your golf simulator to your playing conditions is absolutely critical. Environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, and elevation can affect the distance of your shot by up to 30-40 yards with your longer clubs.
Let’s say you’re from Florida where the air is heavy. If you get on a golf simulator that’s not set up with the same humidity levels of Florida, then there's a good chance the numbers will show that you are hitting everything farther than you’re used to.
Most golf simulator’s, and launch monitors, will allow you to adjust your environmental conditions.
YOU HAVE A CASE OF THE INDOOR SWING
Hitting indoors can also play a role in abnormal results. The type of mat you hit from can actually play a small role in the distance of your shot. Your club can react differently through impact while hitting on a mat, especially on slightly mishit or chunked shots. This can lead to slightly different numbers from mat to mat and most certainly compared to real grass.
A lot of golfers also report that they tend to hit shorter indoors. It could be the inability to swing freely for fear of hitting something, or just that you tend to give the ball a bigger swing when hitting into the grass. Whatever it is, there is a tendency for some golfers to have lower swing speeds indoors.
RADAR INTERFERENCE WITH LAUNCH MONITORS
This is a big one. Metal roofs, steel walls in a garage, aluminum siding, all of this can potentially interfere with the radar fields that your technology is using to pick up on the ballflight metrics. Please take all of this into account before making the move into a radar based system.
Accuracy of Golf Simulators - Summary
There are certain factors that will not compare to real golf and like any technology, it isn’t perfect. Every golf simulator will miss a shot every now and then, or show a number that leaves you scratching your head. But over an entire round, most golf simulators will provide you very accurate results.
And at the very least provide you lots of entertainment!
Rain or Shine Golf provides a variety of golf simulator packages for all types of budgets. View all our golf simulator packages to find the right one for you. And checkout our Home Golf Simulator guide to learn about some of the best golf simulator's on the market. Golf Simulators are even trusted by the top University golf teams.
