Dome vs Indoor Range

[Gates]

Any thoughts on whether a dome or indoor range is better? Which do people prefer and what are the pluses and minuses of each? Also, there was talk of a dome coming to the east end - does anyone know if that talk was about the dome going in at the Hornet's Nest or is there another coming?

[guyinottawa]

Any thoughts on whether a dome or indoor range is better? Which do people prefer and what are the pluses and minuses of each? Also, there was talk of a dome coming to the east end - does anyone know if that talk was about the dome going in at the Hornet's Nest or is there another coming?

Does it matter now that the sun is shining!

What do you mean by indoor range? Do you mean simulator?

[Gates]

Does it matter now that the sun is shining!

What do you mean by indoor range? Do you mean simulator?

But the sun only shines about one day a week!!! By indoor range I thinking of something like the OAC - hitting into nets 20 or 30 yards away.

[guyinottawa]

But the sun only shines about one day a week!!! By indoor range I thinking of something like the OAC - hitting into nets 20 or 30 yards away.

I only have experience with the Dome at Landsdown and the Golf Sim.

The Dome is much better. To see your ball flight is everything, to me anyway.

I would say the Dome allows you to hit around 75 yards...

Can't comment on hitting into nets at OAC, but my assumption would be that the Dome is better because of the distance.

The golf sim? Stay away. More for recreation then anything IMO.

[Big_duck]

But the sun only shines about one day a week!!! By indoor range I thinking of something like the OAC - hitting into nets 20 or 30 yards away.

Actually, it's more like 20 or 30 feet. But then the OAC is a winter golf school, it is probably closed for the season by now.

[el tigre]

I hit balls a few times at Lansdowne and practiced extensively at the Swing Rite golf school over the winter, including 10-15 minutes on their simulator during each session. They're all good for their own reasons.

In general, the Dome is better because you can see more of the ball flight. If your focus is on reducing a slice or hook and/or working on your trajectory, there is nothing better. It also just feels better when you're practicing to see your ball soaring in the air.

Hitting into nets has its advantages though. For one thing, it is usually a lot cheaper. Also, if your focus is on better contact at impact, you don't need to see ball flight. You know immediately after making contact with the ball if your swing is good, and in fact seeing the ball flight can actually be detrimental to your practice. You start worrying about the slice/hook when you were supposed to be working on better contact at impact. Finally, when you first start playing or start making significant changes to your swing, looking at your ball flight/distance (or lack thereof) can be very discouraging. You usually hit the ball a lot worse before you get better, and hitting in a dome just makes that fact all the more obvious. Sometimes its better for the mental side of your game to only see the first 20 feet for a while.

There seems to be 2 kinds of simulators. Type A (Golf-O-Max, Wintergreens) simulators have you hitting off of mats and has sensors that read the ball flight after contact and project the shot. These are great for playing a round with the guys for fun, but less useful as a practice tool. It is the video-game version of hitting a ball into the nets.

Type B (OCDG, Swing Rite, Fairlawn) simulators have you hitting off of a tee and has sensors that read your club/ball flight at impact. They give you lots of data on swingspeed, tempo, club path, face angle, etc. which makes them great as practice tools. They are terrible for projecting what your shot will actually look like because they don't read the ball beyond the first few inches after contact, so they generally do not work well for playing a game.

[BC MIST]

Any thoughts on whether a dome or indoor range is better? Which do people prefer and what are the pluses and minuses of each? Also, there was talk of a dome coming to the east end - does anyone know if that talk was about the dome going in at the Hornet's Nest or is there another coming?

Those who had been to the Thunderbird this winter noticed that the entire indoor area had nets placed on all sides and above and that the hitting area was 30 yards to the back wall.

In talking to one of the folks from the management group, they are interested in doing a similar thing, some place in the east end, for next winter.

A dome?? Not likely.

When working on my swing, I am unconcerned as to where the ball is going, so I do not need a deep hitting area like Landsdowne. However, I would go to Landsdowne every 3 weeks, to see the ball flight and then make any adjustments necessary to correct any undesireable patterns, at the TBird, that may have developed.