Aiming

[floki]

Hello everyone, I'm new here.

I need some help understanding how aiming works in golf simulators.

A system like the gcquad or eyexo (unlike complete out of the box systems like fullswing or golfzon) wouldn't know the size of the projected image nor the distance it is away from the screen. Therefore aiming at something on-screen (e.g. a tree) wouldn't necessarily result in the ball flying in that direction (naturally, a tree on a 10 feet screen would visually be at a different location than on a 5 feet screen). I understand that instead, I would have to adjust my virtual centre line using the mouse/keyboard. The goal would then be to hit a straight shot so that it flies where I aimed virtually.

Is there any way to calibrate the projection so that it matches the virtual reality? I've seen a couple of videos where people deliberately aim to either side of a target (e.g. https://youtu.be/4olBD7SEGjQ?t=361), especially during putting. It seems like these people are just getting used to the error. I feel like this could mess up real-life aim.

Thanks.

[jpotas]

Launch monitors base ball flight on the flight path relationship to the monitor. The launch monitor does not care if you have a screen or not, some people hit into a net and view the stats on a tablet or phone.

Many people have a mark on the floor that is an exact straight shot from their hitting point. The idea is that this mark is you alignment point for every shot. You can still hit the ball left or right of the mark in order to shape a shot, but it is still all relative to your set alignment mark. I have a piece of tape that runs from my laser dot straight towards my screen at a 90 degree angle to the screen.

With that being said I think most software packages allow you to offset you camera angle so that you can align the aim point of your projected target with your alignment mark. I hit off-center in my sim room and my Skytrak allows me to slide my projected target line towards the rh side of my screen in order to align with my alignment mark, TGC also allows this. As far as depth perception goes, don't know but I have never read anything about it.

I hope this is what you are asking.

[GungHoGolf]

Agree with jpotas above - use the "intermediate point" aiming system, with a mark on the floor a couple of feet in front of your ball on an extended target line perfectly perpendicular to your screen, and use that for aiming. That system transfers to real-course play very well, and you're in good company, because many (most?) tour pros (Tiger, Rose, etc) use an intermediate point that they pick out from behind the ball when aligning their shots (instead of just looking at the target and aiming by "feel").

If you're a player who aligns themselves by looking at the target in the distance, you're going to have a tough time using that system in a sim. There's just no chance a flat 2D image of the course only 9-10 feet in front of you is going to give you the same offset/perspective/parallax you get in real life, no matter what adjustments you make to the software's target offset, because the offset would need to change based on the distance of the shot.

On the upside, if you switch to the intermediate point system both inside and outside, you may find yourself on target more often in real life golf - especially for "tricky" shots where you have elevation changes or blind shots where aligning to the target is more challenging/subjective.