26 September 2026 · 7 min read
Putting in a golf simulator: why it feels different
The putt is the one stroke where a bay can do less than a green. What it still trains well, and where the limit is.
Anyone putting in a bay for the first time notices it within three balls: it feels wrong. The surface does not roll, the hole is a picture on a wall, and the ball does not disappear with the sound you are waiting for. There are technical reasons for that, and they have consequences for what you should practise in a bay at all.
What the device sees of a putt
On a putt a launch monitor reads ball speed and launch direction, and depending on its design also face angle, skid and roll (overview). From those values the software computes the rest: the ball's path on the virtual green, the break on a slope, and whether it drops.
Camera systems have an easier time of it than radar. A camera reads the ball right at impact; a radar needs a measurable roll before it can say anything. That is why cheap radar devices often do not read putts at all, or read them unreliably, and why the same putting feels different at two venues.
Green speed is a setting
On a course it is measured with a Stimpmeter: a ramp releases the ball at 6.00 feet per second, and how far it rolls is the number. The USGA gives reference values (Stimpmeter):
| Green speed | Everyday play | US Open |
|---|---|---|
| slow | 8 feet | 10 feet |
| medium | 10 feet | 12 feet |
| fast | 12 feet | 14 feet |
In simulator software the same number is a slider, usually between 8 and 13. Set it to 12 and you are practising putts you will rarely meet on a Swiss club green in July. Nine or ten is realistic, and if you do not know the setting, look at it once before your first round.
Two things can never be right
The first is feel. A putt on a flat mat gives the club no resistance, and the ball leaves it differently than off closely mown grass. The second is reading: the slope is in the picture, not under your feet, and the software often draws it as a guide line that does not exist on a course.
There is a practical problem on top. If the ball rolls off a raised mat or across uneven flooring, the device loses it or reads it wrongly. A flat, smooth putting surface is therefore the precondition, not the extra.
What a bay is still good for
Launch direction. Hit ten putts from two metres on a straight line and see that eight of them start right, and you have learned something that is hard to see on a green, where the break blurs everything. The device separates the two.
And distance, within a narrow frame. Leave the same slider alone for a season and you get a reliable relationship between stroke length and roll. It is a few per cent wrong on a course, but it is there.
Where to practise on real greens
32 of the 110 indoor venues in the directory list a putting area beside the bays, and that is the better place for putts: real roll, several holes, no screen. Some have artificial turf with milled contours, some a small piece of real grass.
On a course the practice green is part of the facility and free. From November to March it is closed, and that is exactly when this article's question arises at all.
The exam target that goes with it
The course permit asks for nine putts in 21 strokes at most (Swiss Golf). That is 2.33 putts a hole, and it is the discipline fewest people fail. A bay can only half prepare it: distance control yes, reading no.
Anyone training over the winter solves that with a putting mat at home and an hour on the practice green in March. The order matters: line first, reading second, not the other way round.
What a putt gives you in numbers
A good device delivers ball speed, launch direction, face angle and the transition from skid to roll on a putt (overview). Two of those are genuinely usable: launch direction, because it shows where you are sending the ball, and ball speed, because it determines the length.
The third, face angle, explains the first. Start ten putts in a row to the right and your face is open rather than your alignment wrong, and that difference is hard to see on a green, where the break covers everything.
What the numbers say about putting
A look at amateur data: putts per round run from 29.4 at scratch to 33.8 at handicap 25 (Shot Scope). That is four strokes over 18 holes, while greens in regulation stand at 61 against 10 per cent.
Putting is therefore not where a higher handicap loses the most strokes. It is, however, where a simulator helps least, and the two together give a clear order: the long game in a bay, the short game on a practice green.
The drill that works in any bay
The ladder. Three putts at two metres, three at four, three at six, then back down. Not at a hole but at a line: this is about distance, not holing. Note how many finish within a metre of the target.
The drill needs no slope and no guide line and is therefore the only one that measures indoors what it measures outdoors. What works at home on a mat is in Practising putting at home.
Bring your own putter
Rental putters differ in length, loft and weight more than rental irons do, and in putting that is exactly what decides. Hit twenty balls with somebody else's putter and you are practising a stroke you will never make again on a course.
The putter is also the one club that weighs nothing against its usefulness: it fits in any bag, and with it the last twenty minutes of a bay hour become real practice rather than a pastime.
More on this: Golf putting rules, Choosing a putter.
The setting that rescues a score
Almost every software has a gimme distance: putts inside a set radius drop automatically. On a round with friends that makes sense because it saves time. But anyone comparing a simulator score with a course has to set it to zero, or five to ten strokes a round are missing.
That is the most common reason a bay round comes out better than the same round outside. The full list of differences is in Simulator score against course score; which venues have a putting area is on the map.
Frequently asked questions
Can you putt in a golf simulator?
Yes, but only half realistically. The device reads ball speed and launch direction, and the software computes the roll on the virtual green. What is missing is the feel of real grass and reading the slope under your feet.
What green speed should I set?
9 or 10 on the stimp scale. The USGA calls 8 slow, 10 medium and 12 fast for everyday play; 12 to 14 are US Open values that hardly occur on a Swiss club green. More important than the value is leaving it alone for a season.
Why does my device not read putts?
Because radar needs a measurable roll before it detects anything. Camera systems read the ball at impact and therefore capture putts better. Cheap radar devices often do not read putts at all, or do so unreliably.
What is the gimme distance and should I use it?
A radius inside which putts drop automatically. Sensible for a round with friends because it saves time. Anyone comparing a simulator score with a course sets it to zero; otherwise five to ten strokes a round are missing.
Where can I putt on a real green indoors?
32 of the 110 indoor venues in the directory list a putting area beside the bays, some artificial turf with contours, some real grass. For putts that is a better place than a bay, because the ball actually rolls.
Sources
- Stimpmeter: Funktion und Richtwerte (6,00 Fuss pro Sekunde, 8 / 10 / 12 Fuss)
- Putten im Simulator: was ein Launch Monitor liest
- Swiss Golf: Reglement Platzreife (PDF) (neun Putts in 21 Schlägen)
- Shot Scope: Traditional Statistics v Strokes Gained (PDF) (Putts pro Runde nach Handicap)