Indoor simulator fitting has improved dramatically in the last five years. The screens are more accurate, the launch monitors are more reliable, and the data quality has caught up. So why do we still insist on fitting outdoors at Bogey's?
The short answer: the data on a launch monitor and the ball you watch in the air are different inputs. A great fitting uses both. Indoor fittings give you only one.
Where indoor simulator fitting works.
Off-season feedback. You're snowed in, the range is closed, you want to noodle with a new driver or putter. An indoor sim with a launch monitor is fine. You'll get usable numbers.
Quick check-ins on existing builds. Lie angle measurements, loft verification, swing weight feel. None of that needs a range.
Putter fittings on flat surfaces. Putters are about stroke arc and roll quality. A good indoor putting setup with a stimped surface gets you most of the way there.
Where indoor breaks down.
Driver and fairway wood fittings. The ball's actual flight tells you things no simulator can simulate: how the ball reacts in real wind, how it falls out of the sky, how it draws or fades at peak height. A 4-degree draw on a screen looks the same as a 4-degree draw outside. In reality one finds the fairway and the other lands in the next-door state.
“A 4-degree draw on a screen looks the same as a 4-degree draw outside. In reality one finds the fairway and the other lands in the next-door state.”
Iron fittings, especially players' irons. Forged iron feel changes with real turf interaction. The way the ball reacts off slightly damp Bermuda is different from how it reacts off mat. We've had customers swear they hit a certain iron well indoors and then struggle with it on grass.
Wedge fittings. Bounce, grind, and turf interaction are the entire point of a wedge. There is no good way to fit a wedge indoors. None.
Putter fittings on long lags. Indoor surfaces don't roll like real bentgrass or Bermuda greens. For tour-style 30-foot lag putts, you want real grass.
Why we fit outdoors at Bogey's.
Bogey's Sports Park has a public, year-round driving range with real grass tee boxes. We can fit drivers, fairways, hybrids, irons, wedges, and putters in the conditions you'd play in on a real round. Trackman captures the launch monitor data simultaneously. So you get both inputs at once. The numbers and the ball flight. The decision becomes obvious instead of speculative.
If you've only ever been fit indoors, come try outdoor. The first time you see a fitting shaft change a 30-yard left miss into a 5-yard fade you can actually watch in the air, you'll understand why we set up the way we did.
Written by
Jay Canada
Co-owner · Fitting specialist
Want to dig in further?
Book a fitting and we’ll work through it on the range.
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