By Sam Johnson
So, when last we talked I was going to visit the PGA Superstore to demo the AboutGolf simulators, which I did and it was pretty cool. Hosted by Head Teaching Professional Heather Ruhe, the demo started with me filling out a game improvement worksheet that covered name, age, etc, and then went on to ask handicap, playing habits, practice habits, swing thoughts and so on. There was a section on tendency such as, top it, push, sky it, slice, hook, pull... to which I answered all of the above.
Although, I suppose that any instructor could benefit from the information in the questionnaire, the sheer volume of lessons and club fittings at the PGA Superstore make such record keeping mandatory. For example, Heather told me that she had given more than 1,000 lessons and fittings last year. I'm not very good at math, but that's more than one per day, isn't it?
Standing in the hitting bay looking at all the electronic readouts in front of me, my first thought was about how easy it would be to create information overload. As many of you have reminded me from time to time, I have a tiny little brain, so it doesn't take much to confuse me. To this end, Heather was quick to put me at ease. "We don't try to fix everything in one forty-five minute session, nobody does."
True to her words, we started with grip, then set-up and posture. The simulator had several live video angles that really helped me with my posture. Once again, I found it very interesting that what I thought I was doing and what I was actually doing were very different. Instead of standing tall with a slight knee bend, the video showed that I was actually humped over with an exaggerated knee bend and my right shoulder was a lot lower than my left. It also showed my potbelly, but that's another story.
"Depending on the skill level and experience, we'll move slowly to different parts of the swing, but we never work on more than one thing at a time," Heather repeated. Then, after watching my swing she added, "This may take a while."
Since I am inclined to swing a cold-shaft without warming up, my early swings tend to look even worse than my normal swings, so it was not surprising that my early numbers were all over the place. However, once I warmed up a bit, and with the simulator displaying a pristine driving range, I hit several shots in to the screen and watched as they sailed high and left with a cool looking electronic tail trailing from the ball to help me follow the flight and trajectory.
In a box on the right side of the driving range image, I could see carry, total distance, club speed, ball speed, launch angle and spin rate. Lower down was a display showing how the clubface was closed at impact, and still another display showing my weight transfer and how I tended to move back on my heels and fall back on my right foot. By the way, swinging hard and falling back is hardly ever a good idea.
Seeing my eyes bugged-out at all the information, Heather flipped through a half-dozen display options, explaining that she could control the amount of information I was seeing. "I wanted you to see all of the options I have as an instructor and what a great teaching tool the AboutGolf simulator can be. If this was a lesson instead of a demo, I would keep everything a lot simpler."
With my eyes back in my head, I continued to swing and the simulator overlay each swing in a different color. The readouts were instantaneous, making it easy for me to relate the feeling of a good swing to the numbers it produced. With my head still spinning, Heather talked about what a great way the AboutGolf simulator was to test clubs and shafts. You can test Pings against Callaways, then see how it measures up to Nike or anything else. You may think you can swing an S-flex, or X-flex, but the AboutGolf simulator will quickly tell you if you really can.
Another interesting feature of the AboutGolf simulators was that you could record any or all of your swings and burn them on a CD that you could take with you. The PGA Superstore also had practice bays that you could rent for about $15 that had everything except the projection screen. Instead of the projection screen there was a large flat screen TV (facing a right handed player) displaying a couple of different views of your swing and as many numbers as you wanted. What a great practice tool.
Okay, what's the verdict? Are simulators the next best thing since sliced bread? Should every golf course in America sell off its driving ranges and send all their money to AboutGolf? The answer is yes and no. Yes, the simulator was really cool and provided a lot of great information. It did a good job connecting the feel of a good swing to the numbers. It was easy and informative; I could see what was wrong and that really helped me to understand what was happening.
I also like the club fitting aspect of the simulator, and that may be the one thing that helps golfers the most. No one should ever buy a set of golf clubs without being fitted.
Ironically, the accuracy of the AboutGolf simulator may be its Achilles heel. When you realize that your long drive was 245 yards instead of the 285 yards that you had hallucinated you may be a bit reluctant to put yourself under the scrutiny of the computer.
Is AboutGolf simulators the future of game improvement and club fitting? Perhaps, but it is going to be in combination with your trusty old driving range. The graphics were cool, the best I've ever seen and the information displayed impressive. But you can't feel the wind in your face, or look down and see the divot pattern. Watching the ball flight in a simulator, even with an electronic light trail, is never going to be the same as watching a beat-up range ball knuckling off into the trees.
Now, I didn't play any of the dozens of simulated golf courses contained in the AboutGolf system, but I did flip through the graphics and they looked very nifty. I did inquire if there was a Mulligan button. If only real golf was that easy.
Okay, now it's your turn. Go try a simulator near you and let me know how you feel, and while you're at it, go to AboutGolf.com and let them know, as well.
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Duration: 00:00:44
