Can you get fitted for clubs using a home golf simulator?

Partly. A home simulator with a good launch monitor can handle some of a fitting, such as checking yardage gaps or comparing a couple of shafts. It usually can't replace a full fitting with a trained fitter, especially for driver, irons and lie angle. Treat it as a way to prepare for a fitting, or to check one afterward.

What a home setup does well

• Gapping: Comparing carry distances across your clubs shows where you have overlaps or holes.
• Basic comparisons: Hitting two shafts or loft settings back to back gives you ball speed, launch and spin numbers to look at.
• Tracking changes: You can see how a new club performs against your old one in the same space and conditions.

Where it falls short

• Data quality varies. Some monitors measure spin directly, while others estimate it. Indoors, short hitting spaces can also affect how well a device reads the ball. Check the manufacturer's specs for your model.
• Static details are missing. Lie angle, club length and grip size depend on how the club sits at impact and how you stand to it. A fitter can check these in person. A simulator generally can't.
• You may not have enough clubs to test. A fitter has many heads and shafts on hand. At home, you're limited to what you own.
• Small differences get lost in the noise. If your swing varies from shot to shot, a few yards or a few hundred rpm between clubs may not mean much.

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Home simulator vs. professional fitting

A practical approach

1. Use your simulator to learn your typical carry, spin and launch numbers with your current clubs.
2. Bring those numbers to a fitter and ask how they'd use them. We don't know how every fitter handles outside data, so ask first.
3. After you buy, go back to the simulator to confirm your new gaps.

If you're weighing up which simulator to buy, check whether the launch monitor measures spin and how much room it needs. Our review and comparison pages cover those differences, and you should confirm current specs and pricing on the manufacturer's official site.

Related

• How to Use Launch Monitor Data to Lower Your Scores: Gapping, Dispersion and Swing Fixes
• Practice & Improvement with a Golf Simulator
• Are golf simulators good for beginners and kids learning the game?

Keep reading

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