Indoor Golf: The Short Game

Many people that play indoor golf always say the the two toughest parts of playing golf on an indoor golf simulator is the chipping (60 yards and under) and the putting.

While most golfers believe that the game of golf tends to be 50% skill and 50% luck we like to look at it a little different. At a certain point in your golfing career one wants to get from being an 18 handicap to a 10 handicap and find that they are missing the key element of the game "Touch and Feel"

The average amateur golf is a visual player, while professionals play their shots based on feel and tempo. In a golf simulator the same rules apply, everything in the simulator seems like it is 20 feet away visually however this does not compute for the average golfer that needs to chip a 60 yard shot onto the green, when it looks only 15 - 20 feet away on the screen image, where a professional or low handicap player can judge ones distance outcome almost by watching a swing and through sound and tempo of the golf shot.

This is very frustrating and leaves most golfers weary of returning to play simulators, however with practice and understanding of what the shot feels like you can improve your game, and by the start of a new season you will be ready to lower those scores.

Technology has far exceed the old ways of setting up a cup 10' away in the house and using a Nerf ball or at worse taking the risk of hitting a shank with a real ball and destroying that new 50" plasma Tv you just bought. Take the time to look up a reputable indoor centre with proper equipment that can give you feedback such as club path, trajectory and swing tempo. These will be key to helping improve over the cold winter months.

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Putting can be just as tough on simulators but there are numerous key benefits to practicing on simulators. The stimp factor is one key element in practicing puts on a on a indoor golf simulator, this is an adjustable factor and can help one to understand how the ball reacts differently to uphill and downhill putts based on a greens speed.

Another key benefit to practicing putting indoors on a simulator is there is no hole. You are picking a target and putting to the desired location on the floor. This in the end will help with stopping the head from following the ball to the hole. The most important key element is learning the distance of a putt through feel as mentioned above a key element to reducing scores and becoming an overall better golfer.

Get to know your clubs and how they work and you will enjoy the game that much more, as well as becoming a better golfer in the end.