Golf Simulators

What can you do on a golf simulator??

There are 2 options….

Driving Range

Or

Play a Full Round of Golf

What does the Driving Range offer a golfer?

There is so much information on the virtual driving range that you may need instruction on how to use this information to your advantage. You can learn things about your swing that you may or may not know about.

After every swing you take on the range, and when the ball has come to a complete stop, there will be an information screen that will pop up. This screen will contain specific numbers regarding the shot you just took.

The information screen contains the following information:

Total Distance:	The total distance the ball traveled, including after it hits the ground.
Carry Distance:	The total distance the ball carried in the air, does not include distance ball rolled.
Club Head Speed:	The speed at which the club head was traveling when it made contact with the ball.
Ball Speed:	The speed of the ball just after it is struck by the moving club head
Spin Rate:	The rate the ball is spinning as it travels through the air. Spin rate is measured by Rotations per Minute (RPMs)
Launch Angle:	After contact, the ball is launched upward at a specific angle.
Overall Height of the Shot:	Is the highest most point reached by the golf ball during its flight.
Smash Factor:	Is a ratio produced by the Club Head Speed at Impact and Initial Ball Speed. The highest ratio allowed in golf is 1.6 Smash. This means that if a golfer hits a ball with 100 mph of club head speed, the golf ball should not travel faster than 160 mph. If it did travel faster than there would be something funny with either the club or the golf ball. This ratio is used to do testing on equipment for professional tours all over the world. Equipment must be in accordance to the rules of golf as set by the R&A or USGA. The average tour player will reach ratios along the lines of 1.50 to 1.55. The average Sunday player will tend to have smash factors that are from 1.30 – 1.42. Advanced players will tend to fall between the two.
Picture of Trajectory:	This picture shows the side view of a golf shot so that you can see the arc of the ball flight.
Face Angle:	The angle of the club face at impact in relation to the centre of the driving range. This information will determine if your club face is pointing to the right or left at impact and how much.
Virtual Image:	This is the most advanced portion of the driving range information screen, the radar technology is able to give you a virtual picture of how your club is approaching the golf ball at impact. It also provides a picture of the initial direction of the ball after impact. This picture can show you the unwanted angle of approach that many golfers have when hitting a slice. With this imagery you can virtually cure your slice on your own. This tool is not available when playing a round of golf on the simulators.

What is involved when I play a round of golf?

Some people may not be too sure on how this works because it is hard to believe that you will actually be playing golf just as you do outside. But it is true you will meet the same challenges indoors as you will find outdoors. The reason is because the technology is based on the fact that you are producing the numbers needed to create a golf shot. Club speed, ball speed, angles, and so much more, these are all the numbers that you generate outdoors. Thus the tendencies you have in your game will still be evident inside. The difference is you will not be relying on your eyes as much to determine distance, you will learn the distanced in numbers, which is not as hard as you think. If you can remember the feel of a certain shot you may hit often outdoors you will be at an advantage because you have to call upon the exact same efforts to hit the shot indoors. But if feel isn’t your thing we have tips to help you determine distance.

You will have to putt, and you will have to feel distance and read the greens just as you would outside. You will have to choose which shots to play in various situations, do I hit it low or do I hit it high? These are the same scenarios you meet on the real golf course. Learning your distances for each of your clubs is much easier indoors because the simulators tell you how far every shot travels. These are numbers you will never see outside, and even tougher than that are the distances measured properly outside. These are exact.

Our staff is here to help you improve you game. We want you to enjoy the game, thus please don’t be shy to ask us questions if you are struggling with any particular part of the virtual golf.

Please check out www.NorthernSwing.ca weekly for tips on how to improve your game, outdoor and indoor.