Indoor golf simulators are everywhere now — garages, basements, retail bays, and training studios. For many golfers, they’ve become the default winter practice environment.

Used the right way, simulators can be incredibly helpful.
Used the wrong way, they can quietly train habits that show up as frustration when real golf returns.

Even Tour players are careful about how they use them.

As Rory McIlroy has noted in multiple interviews, simulators are powerful feedback tools — but they don’t replace feel, turf interaction, or real-world decision-making.

That mindset is where most amateur golfers get tripped up.

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What Simulators Are Actually Great For

Let’s start with the positives.

Simulators excel at:

• Distance gapping

• Carry distance awareness

• Launch windows

• Start lines and face control

This is why players like Tiger Woods have long relied on launch-monitor data during practice — not to chase perfect swings, but to confirm distances and tendencies.

Used properly, simulators give clarity. Used obsessively, they give noise.

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Tip #1: Use Simulators for Wedges, Not Ego

If there’s one area where simulators shine, it’s wedge play.

Many PGA Tour players have talked about how dialed their wedge numbers are — and that precision starts with carry distance, not total yardage.

Justin Thomas has often emphasized how critical wedge distance control is to scoring, and simulators make that work efficient if you stay disciplined.

Winter is the perfect time to:

• Map partial swings

• Own carry numbers inside 100 yards

• Build predictable trajectories

Scoring golfers live here.

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Tip #2: Ignore Total Distance. Chase Carry.

This is where simulators quietly mislead golfers.

Indoor conditions often exaggerate rollout and reward launch angles that don’t hold greens outside. Chasing total distance indoors almost guarantees overswinging.

As Collin Morikawa has pointed out in discussions about iron play, control and predictability matter far more than raw yardage — especially with scoring clubs.

Carry distance is the truth. Train that.

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Tip #3: Don’t Turn Every Session Into a Long-Drive Contest

Simulators make it very tempting to:

• Swing harder than normal

• Chase ball speed

• Treat practice like entertainment

There’s nothing wrong with that occasionally. But it shouldn’t be the foundation of winter work.

Even power players like Bryson DeChambeau have talked openly about separating speed sessions from scoring sessions.

Winter practice should prioritize:

• Controlled swings

• Repeatable motion

• Distance consistency

Spring scoring depends on it.

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Tip #4: Mats Lie. Turf Doesn’t.

One of the biggest simulator dangers is low-point deception.

Mats forgive fat shots. Grass does not.

This is why Tour players are careful not to rely exclusively on indoor surfaces — ball-first contact is non-negotiable when real lies return.

If you’re practicing indoors:

• Focus on clean strike

• Use shorter swings

• Be honest about contact quality

Good wedge play starts with low-point control.

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Tip #5: Simulators Are Tools — Not Truth

This may be the most important takeaway.

Simulators are models.
Golf is reality.

Even players who use TrackMan and simulators daily treat the data as confirmation, not instruction. Feel, trajectory, and decision-making still rule scoring situations.

Winter simulator work should:

• Support awareness

• Sharpen distances

• Reinforce good habits

Not replace intuition or on-course judgment.

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The Scoring Golfer’s Simulator Mindset

Indoor simulators can be a huge advantage — if you use them like a scorer.

Focus on:

• Wedges

• Carry distances

• Predictability

• Repeatable feels

Avoid:

• Chasing numbers

• Overswinging

• Treating practice like a game

Used wisely, simulators help you step back onto the course ready to score.
Used carelessly, they create habits you’ll spend all spring undoing.

That’s the difference between winter practice — and winter progress.

That’s how you stay Inside the Scoring Zone.