Will You Actually Use a Simulator? An Honest Self-As...

Why Most People Never Stop Using It

Before we talk about the people who fail, let’s talk about why the success rate is so high.

A treadmill collects dust because exercising is the thing you don’t want to do. You have to manufacture motivation. You have to fight inertia. Every session requires a decision.

A simulator is the opposite.

You already love golf. That’s not in question. You spend time and money on this game. You drive to ranges in the cold. You pay for indoor sim bays. You watch YouTube swing tutorials at 11 PM. You are, without any ambiguity, a person who wants to hit golf balls.

A simulator removes every barrier between that desire and the action.

No driving. No tee time. No weather check. No range tokens. No small talk. You walk into the garage. You turn it on. You hit balls. The feedback loop is instant. The friction is almost zero.

The guys who use their setups the most aren’t more disciplined than you. They simply removed the friction. They optimized for the path of least resistance.

One forum guy put it perfectly:

“Garage just became my winter Tour.”

He doesn’t say it’s a chore. He says it’s a tour. That’s the difference. A simulator doesn’t replace a habit you hate. It removes friction from a thing you already love.

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The Small Group Who Lose Interest

But let’s be honest with each other. Some people fade.

I found the pattern by reading threads about sims that got sold. Looking for the common denominator. And it’s not what you’d expect.

It’s not budget. Some of the guys who sold their setups had $8,000 builds.

It’s not space. Some had beautiful dedicated rooms.

It’s not even skill level. High handicaps and low handicaps both kept using theirs.

Here’s what separates the guys who use it from the guys who sell it:

The guys who keep using their simulators have a reason to use it besides “having a simulator.”

That sounds circular. Let me explain with examples.

The guy who uses his simulator four times a week in February isn’t doing it because of the hardware. He’s doing it because:

• He’s working on a specific swing change and the data is addictive
• He’s hosting a weekly sim night with his buddies
• He’s training for a specific tournament or goal
• He’s chasing a handicap number
• He has a kid who wants to play every night

The guy who sells his simulator after six months? He bought it because he thought owning a simulator would make him want to practice more.

It doesn’t work that way.

A simulator amplifies what was already there. If you already love practicing, you’ll practice more. If you already love playing with friends, you’ll play with them more. If you already spend your free time thinking about golf, you’ll spend more of it thinking about golf.

But a simulator does not create the habit. It removes friction from an existing habit.

If you don’t have the habit, the friction doesn’t matter.

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The Honest Self-Assessment

You know yourself better than I do. But let me give you a framework.

Answer these six questions. Be honest. Nobody else has to see your answers.

1. Do you already practice on your own?

Not counting rounds with buddies. Not counting the range session before a round. Do you, on a random Tuesday night, go hit balls by yourself with a specific goal?

If yes, you’ll use a simulator. You already have the practice habit. The sim just makes it easier.

If no, a simulator probably won’t change that. You’re buying hardware to solve a motivation problem. It won’t.

2. How do you handle winter?

Be honest. When golf season ends, do you:

• Put your clubs away and accept your fate?
• Go to indoor sim facilities once a month?
• Go crazy and find every indoor option within an hour’s drive?

If you’re the third type, a simulator is going to change your life. If you’re the first type, you’re still the first type — you’ll just have a more expensive way to be the first type.

3. Do you play golf alone?

I mean actual rounds. By yourself. Not because your group bailed. Because you wanted to.

Guys who enjoy solo rounds use simulators. Guys who only enjoy golf as a social activity use simulators for parties but don’t use them daily.

Both are fine. Know which one you are.

4. What does “using it” look like in your head?

Be specific. Don’t say “I’ll practice more.” Say: “I’ll hit 50 balls after work three times a week.”

If the specific picture is vivid and realistic — you can see yourself doing it — you’ll probably do it. If it’s vague and aspirational — “I’ll just be in there all the time” — that’s the hope talking, not the habit.

5. Do you tolerate friction?

This is the sneak test.

Are you the type of person who cancels a gym membership because you have to drive 12 minutes? Do you stop using an app if the menu is confusing? Do you abandon a project if the tools aren’t perfectly organized?

Simulators have friction. The projector takes time to warm up. The software updates overnight and now the menu is different. The launch monitor needs to be plugged in and connected. Your buddies can’t figure out the settings.

If small friction kills your motivation, you need to plan for that. Set up a smart plug. Auto-boot the software. Pre-set the courses. Design for laziness — because laziness is the default state of every human.

6. What happens when the initial excitement wears off?

Month one is a honeymoon. You’re in the garage every night. You’re texting your buddies screenshots. You’re playing Pebble Beach at midnight.

Month six is different.

The novelty fades. The usage patterns settle. You stop being impressed by the technology and start noticing the things that annoy you.

The guys who are still using their simulators at month six aren’t more excited than month one. They’re more routine. The sim is just part of their week. They hit balls on Tuesday and Thursday. They host on Friday. It’s not a novelty. It’s infrastructure.

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The Three Types of People

Based on everything I’ve read across the forums, here’s how it breaks down:

Type A: The Addict (80% of buyers)

You already love golf. You already practice. You already go to indoor sims in the winter. You already text your buddies about swing changes.

A simulator doesn’t change your behavior. It removes the gap between wanting to hit balls and hitting balls. You were going to do this anyway — now you do it in your garage.

You will use the hell out of this thing. Buy it.

Type B: The Social (15% of buyers)

You love golf, but mostly as a social activity. You play with your group. You enjoy the beers and the conversation as much as the game. You don’t practice alone.

A simulator won’t change your solo habits. But it will change your Friday nights. Your buddies come over. You play 18 in 90 minutes. You have beers in the garage. Everyone goes home at 10 PM.

You’ll use it for hosting. The solo sessions will tail off. That’s fine — the hosting value alone is worth it.

Type C: The Aspirational (5% of buyers)

You don’t practice on your own. You don’t go to indoor sims. You don’t think about golf between rounds. But you love the idea of having a simulator. You picture yourself in the garage, working on your swing, getting better.

That picture is fiction.

You’re buying hardware to solve a motivation problem, and hardware can’t do that. A simulator in your garage will feel like a gym membership you never use — except it costs more and takes up more space.

Don’t buy a simulator. Buy a net and a cheap launch monitor. Dip your toe in. If you find yourself using it every day, upgrade. If not, you’re out $500 instead of $3,000.

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What the Forums Actually Say

I promised you real quotes. Here they are.

From a thread about buying decisions:

“Just get one. The regret you’ll have is not having it sooner. The only regret I have is not doing it years ago. Every single person I know that has one says the same thing.”

From a guy who was on the fence:

“Do it. There is nothing like hitting balls at 10 PM in your heated/cooled garage with beer in hand. All of the simulator haters don’t own one.”

From a rare “I sold mine” post:

“I ended up selling mine. Not because it was bad — it was great. But I realized I enjoy golf more as a social thing with my group than practicing alone. The gear was amazing. I was the problem.”

That last one is honest. Respect it.

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The Truth

The dusty simulator doesn’t exist for normal people. If you love golf and you already practice, you will use this thing relentlessly. The forums are full of guys hitting balls at 3 AM in February. They’re not faking it.

But there’s a small group — maybe one in twenty — who buys a simulator hoping it will create a habit that doesn’t exist. And for them, it doesn’t work.

Curious what real owners say? The Hero Stories page gathers quotes from r/GolfSimulator, Golf Simulator Forum, and GolfWRX — no sponsored testimonials, just guys sharing what happened after they built theirs. And when Golf Digest argued sim golf “doesn’t scratch the itch,” we wrote a response you might like →.

The simulator doesn’t change who you are. It amplifies what’s already there.

So ask yourself the six questions. Be honest. If you’re Type A or Type B, here’s what you do:

Stop researching. Stop pricing it out. Stop asking for permission.

Buy the sim. Set it up this weekend. Hit your first ball on Sunday morning while everyone else is asleep.

And when you’re standing in your garage at 10 PM in January, 155 yards out on 17 at Sawgrass, with your numbers glowing on the screen and the garage warm and nobody else awake — you’ll realize you should have done this last year.

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Your next move:

If you’re Type A — you know what to do. Pick your launch monitor and build it.

If you’re Type B — plan for the social experience. Set up a guest-friendly software option and a seating area.

If you’re Type C — start small. $500 nets and launch monitors exist. Prove the concept before you build the cathedral.

Find your launch monitor → Start with a budget setup → Build the full experience →