Is Sim putting worth it?

[stubious]

I'm in the planning stages of a first sim build, so don't have a launch monitor yet. As I'm thinking through setup and use cases, I'm wondering if putting is at all realistic in a sim environment / is it worth it from a game improvement point of view? Is it a 'distance' skill and you get better at hitting strength based on distance from hole? Do you have to read the green and adjust aim with a controller? Intentionally hit the ball offline?

For those that putt regularly in your sim, I'd love to hear thoughts. Fun gimmick for playing? Actually helps your game? Something else?

[SteveMac]

It is just “OK” in my opinion. Some of my buddies insist that we must putt, but I auto-putt when playing alone. If you will be playing online, it seems the majority require putting, but there are auto putt groups also.

IMO sim putting does not help prepare me for a real “on-course” game as much as hitting full shots in the sim. Your mileage may vary…

[stubious]

That's sort of what I guessed. Seems like one area that just doesn't translate as well!

[TripleBogeyPar]

I have tried numerous launch monitors. Some overhead launch monitors are great to putt with.

[COgolfengineer]

I think sim putting can translate to outdoor putting. A huge part of it depends on your launch monitor as well as the golf sim software. A lot of the camera LMs are very good for putting and if the sim software is accurate for speed, that helps a ton. Some LMs have a "straight" patch that isn't good as you want to see if you hit your putt at some angle which is very important. Now reading indoor vs outdoor greens doesn't really translate but my speed control outside is vastly improved ever since getting a golf simulator. So I 100% think putting in the sim is worth it.

[stubious]

my speed control outside is vastly improved ever since getting a golf simulator. So I 100% think putting in the sim is worth it.

Nice, I could see that. I'll have a GC3 (ball only, no club data) but I'd assume even then, given it is camera based, the data pickup should be good.

Does the sim auto aim based on the break, or you manually aim?

[COgolfengineer]

stubious Yeah a GC3 is great for putting! Depends on the sim software. Usually, by default, it auto-aims you straight at the pin so you can either use the mouse and change your aim point in the game and then you hit a straight putt, or you can aim your body and putt to to the left or right and the GC3 will see that you're hitting that way and the game can apply your actual horizontal launch angle of the ball. It's easier to aim in the game and hit your putt always straight so your GC3 should read a horizontal launch angle close to 0. If it's off from 0, then you mishit the putt most likely, so you can see how good your accuracy is to striking the ball with a square face and center of the putter. Aiming your body to hit the putt makes the play go faster but you don't really know if you're mishitting.

And have to make sure the sim software doesn't apply a perfectly straight putt every time.

[Travrav40]

Depends on what you use. Check out the new Golfzon Wave, it comes with a putting mat that has several IR sensors paired with the radar. I saw a video on it from the Par2Pro guys and it looks intriguing. Otherwise for me with Mevo plus it has gotten better over time but you have to tinker for a while to get it locked in.

[Bubba22]

Yes with the right unit. I love putting on my GC2 and hate putting on my Mevo plus.

[preludesam]

I never putt. If sim software started using the auto aim like Trackman I’m sure I would start. I would also like to see sim software start to give you a gimme range and a maximum range for putting. This way you could input those distances and only putt the physical distance you have in your sim.

For me real world putting is about speed and start line. Learning the nuances of aiming in software seems like wasted effort for practice. I have from time to time set it up on practice greens with a dead straight putt and just worked on speed but never in an round on course.

I will say the speed is very realistic with an EyeXO and my X3 as long as you set the stimp correctly. The Mevo+ was not as accurate.

[SteveMac]

Deleted double post.

[MongoOnlyPawn]

I agree, very hard for me to judge speed & line on the SIM, regardless of which program we've used. When playing, once on the green in the SIM program we putt on a big moss putting mat, 0' to 23', the stimp on that is supposedly 11. With the stimp set at 10 on one of the SIM programs, if you putt using the same speed on a 20' putt on the mat, on a flat putt, the ball rolls easily twice as far on the SIM program as it does in real life, so I just don't think that helps me. I don't think SIM putting helps you figure out how to putt when playing real golf. I think if you were using the same sim program all the time, and you spent a lot of time reading greens and practiced putting you could become a very good putter on that sim program, but it wouldn't help you out on the course.

[Godfather]

Creative Golf 3D auto-aims. Of course you may desired to play less break if you plan to hit it firmer, but it is a nice feature.

[Ronsc1985]

My take is it isn't worth much except for possibly adding some entertainment to playing sim golf. Translating sim putting to IRL golf is not really possible since you are dealing with a two dimensional picture and trying to relate it to the three dimensional reality of actual green grass golf.

It's kind of like comparing playing sim golf on a hilly course to actually playing at the course. All your stances in the sim are flat lies were in the real world the lies are all some combination of side and up or down hill.

Some claim sim putting has improved their IRL putting. Could be but if true it was simply because they actually practiced putting the ball. The same "improvement" could have been attained by just putting on a rug without using a sim at all. The first requirement of distance control in putting is hitting the ball in the center of the putter. .Practicing on a sim or just carpet will attain the same "improvement" if one can simply pay attention to what they are doing without being on a sim.

[bubbtubbs]

Couldn't agree more with all off this.

[timsiegle]

I agree that it helps because you're simply doing more practice than you would otherwise...however, putting in the sim for anything longer than 20' has helped improve my outdoor lag putting a ton. Developing a feel for what a 10mph putt is and knowing it translates to roughly 50' outdoors on a 10 stimp green has given me a gauge to calibrate all my lag putting. Without the sim, you would have no way to develop this feel since you wouldn't know how far the putt goes or with what speed.

[jasonreg]

I am of two minds. For playing rounds we generally use the 6 foot gimme function. But alone I do put. Where I find it helpful is in distance control. I put from 10 feet from my screen so I have a decent gauge of "real" distance. Then a 20 foot put needs to track twice that distance. I have found my distance control has improved IRL - slope of the greens aside. Just need to set the Stimp correctly - our local greens usually run at 10-11 so this is what I set in my sim as well. YMMV.

[Timmy5under]

I like it, not so much because it's as real as putting, but it provides a pause in between full shots that you get when playing outdoor golf. We've all gone to the range and striped them, a lot of that is because you get into a groove of hitting full shots. I also like it because if I really want to make a putt it forces me to concentrate more on my technique, something that is very real on the course. While it's not the most helpful in training I'll admit, the Eye XO does a fantastic job of creating as real a situation as can be expected given the situation.

[Godfather]

I enjoy putting in tournaments. With friends or even my son, we usually set gimmes to “On green” which adds 1 within 6ft and 2 outside 6ft. It just speeds up play to hit more full shots when alternating turns.

[Bubba22]

The fact is that most of indoor golf is fake. The lie. The weather. The elevation etc. You can be in front of a tree and take a full swing. Putting is all fake but I do think if done well and with accurate ball speed and direction measurement, it can be fun and also help your feel