Getting used to swinging indoors

[DShepley]

I recently built an office in my garage and last week purchased a Mevo+ so I can get some info instead of blindly swinging into a net.  I quickly found out that when I swing indoors, I don't make a very nice swing,...at first it had me questioning the data from the Mevo+ but I had a buddy over and eventually we started to see some numbers that verified that I was just hitting a lot of bad shots.  I talked to some people and they told me that eventually it would get better, that it takes a bit of time to get used to swinging into a net or wall that is 8 feet in front of you.  I had a bunch of frustrating sessions over the weekend but I think what it comes down to is that I hit poor shots and begin to chase every fix that is around every corner.  I get in a rut of trying too hard to manipulate the club to get the results I expect.  Here is a video this morning where all I was focused on was feeling the club lead from the top and freewheel through impact....let it go where it wants to go.  I was on a conference call at the time so I didn't have my Mevo+ hooked up, but impact felt much nicer and I was finding the middle of the net, unlike the push fades I was hitting all weekend!  Perhaps the lesson for me here is to just be natural and make my adjustments as small as possible..."How do you eat an elephant?" -- One bite at a time.  This video, while by no means perfect is better than where I was....and that is all that matters.

 

[msg]

Your space is way bigger than my space. It took me three months to get comfortable hitting all clubs down my basement. It's been 5 years since I set up my sim. 

[DShepley]

6 minutes ago, msg said:

Your space is way bigger than my space. It took me three months to get comfortable hitting all clubs down my basement. It's been 5 years since I set up my sim. 

I have to switch my camera to wide angle so that it can fit my swing in the frame.  My room is 16' wide across the wall that the net is on, and 24 feet deep.  The net is 8' from the tee and my Mevo+ sits 8 feet behind the tee.  You struggled hitting indoors at first as well?  Happy to hear I'm not alone.

 

[msg]

1 minute ago, DShepley said:

I have to switch my camera to wide angle so that it can fit my swing in the frame.  My room is 16' wide across the wall that the net is on, and 24 feet deep.  The net is 8' from the tee and my Mevo+ sits 8 feet behind the tee.  You struggled hitting indoors at first as well?  Happy to hear I'm not alone.

 

Oh yes and apparently it is real as it gets. Before we bought and built our house, I used to play indoors at sim places every winter. Obviously they have wider spaces so I never had an issue. Then when our house was finished, which we had the basement customized with 10 foot ceilings, I never took account the width. The width is some what limited, I do not have the exact measurements but the wall is on my right and then there is a flight of stairs on my left. I think the actual width is about 16 feet wide but because of the stairs which are on my left side and my back swing, the width has considerably became less, maybe just 13 feet of width and that bothered me so much as much as the wall on my right bothered me. 

 

What was funny is that I had some of my friends come over and they were able to swing freely on my setup. I remember having them over and they played 18 holes and I was just watching because I could not swing a damn club properly. I think I have one buddy who had the same issue as mine and he came over and played once and never came back again because he had an awful time indoors. 

 

I thought that I would never get over it and have my wife kill me for wasting money on the extra we paid to have the basement ceiling height adjusted, plus the Sky Trak and computer and hitting screen I purchased. LOL It was one of the most stressful and frustrating 3 months of my life. I could not hit even my sand wedge properly, let alone my driver. I was about 10 handicap at that time and I was coming off the best season of my life. I was pumped and excited with my set up and only to end up disappointed. It was really weird and I knew it was all mental because when I went o the indoor driving ranges, I was fine! It felt like my brain just does not want my body to swing the way I knew how to swing! I finally got over it as I said, in 3 months but it was really frustrating that I almost gave up. But five years later I am able to swing freely and even worked on increasing my driver swing this last winter. 

 

I read on the forum and they call it indoor swing syndrome. You will get over it. You just need to get used to it. Once you get over it, it will definitely become more enjoyable. 

[GungHoGolf]

That’s a problem so common that the industry has settled on a term for it: “indoor swing syndrome.”

 

Typically the better the player, the less it affects them and/or the quicker they get over it. 

 

BTW, you’ll get better accuracy from your Mevo+ with 9-10 ft of ball flight, especially with driver and fairway woods. 

[DShepley]

1 minute ago, GungHoGolf said:

That’s a problem so common that the industry has settled on a term for it: “indoor swing syndrome.”

 

Typically the better the player, the less it affects them and/or the quicker they get over it. 

 

BTW, you’ll get better accuracy from your Mevo+ with 9-10 ft of ball flight, especially with driver and fairway woods. 

Thanks!  I'm stuck with 8' for now but when my budget allows I will add an impact screen which will allow me to pick up another 2 feet of ball flight.  The frame on the net return takes up three feet of space behind the net.  I love the Mevo+ so far and can't wait until the weather here allows me to take it to the range.

 

[cgasucks]

I swing indoors in my basement too but only irons and wedges.  No woods and drivers as I don't want to mark up my ceiling...again.

[Exactice808]

@DShepley Hey OP.  The fear is real,

 

Posted this in the sim section.  I had to work my way up to swing indoors. 

The photos tell the story,  

 

I started with a small net (6' x 5' )with Foam balls only.  

 

Then I went to a bigger net 6' x 9'  but that was 9' vertical.  I only hit irons into this net.

 

It took 3 solid months of hitting in this net to gain any type of confidence to hit anything more than Irons.

 

 

Now, its been almost 1 year since I built my sim (3 versions LOL),  I am now hitting into a 8.5' x 8.5ft net,  Full driver and basically top speed indoors.  Same swing indoor is same swing out door.

 

It took a while to build up the confidence.  Just takes time.  I do suggest foam balls and alternating between real and foam when you work up to woods then driver.

 

 

Other than that, no magic sauce to make it happen, you just got to blow a couple holes through your drywall to get over the fear HAHA! 

 

 

[Krt22]

There are 2 things at play here. Indoor swing syndrome is in fact and thing and effects some more than others. I personally never experienced it, if anything I hit it better/farther in my sim than I do on the course. The other is chasing results from shot to shot is not a productive way to use a launch monitor. 

[DShepley]

5 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

There are 2 things at play here. Indoor swing syndrome is in fact and thing and effects some more than others. I personally never experienced it, if anything I hit it better/farther in my sim than I do on the course. The other is chasing results from shot to shot is not a productive way to use a launch monitor. 

100%.  For the next while indoors, I'm just going to make sure I feel loose and make as free of a swing as possible.  I swing best when I feel like the club head is leading me into a finish and I got away from that.  It's more likely chasing results that has me uncomfortable.  I also find that the fibrebuilt mat that I have, while not hard on the body, really punishes even the slightest fat shot.  It's wild to see the difference in smash factor that the Mevo+ records.

[stryper]

Personally, I hit it way better indoors than out, and I think it makes sense.  Perfect lie and perfect alignment take away two huge variables and make it so easy to concentrate on target.  

 

In your case, unless I’m missing something, it looks like you’re hitting into a net, with no particular target in mind.  Your target window is literally keeping it within the dimensions of your net.  So I’m thinking you’re really just practicing “golf swing”, rather than “golf,”, which is hitting a ball to what amounts to a very small target.  

 

Nothing wrong with keeping the golf swing free and keeping the body moving like that, but I don’t think I’d put any stock in what Mevo+ has to say about the outcome.  I suspect that if you had a screen with animated graphics and “real” targets to hit at, you might see very differently results.

[DShepley]

1 hour ago, stryper said:

Personally, I hit it way better indoors than out, and I think it makes sense.  Perfect lie and perfect alignment take away two huge variables and make it so easy to concentrate on target.  

 

In your case, unless I’m missing something, it looks like you’re hitting into a net, with no particular target in mind.  Your target window is literally keeping it within the dimensions of your net.  So I’m thinking you’re really just practicing “golf swing”, rather than “golf,”, which is hitting a ball to what amounts to a very small target.  

 

Nothing wrong with keeping the golf swing free and keeping the body moving like that, but I don’t think I’d put any stock in what Mevo+ has to say about the outcome.  I suspect that if you had a screen with animated graphics and “real” targets to hit at, you might see very differently results.

Perhaps, but when you are on the course, you aren't looking at the target when you hit to it. You set up to a spot and swing with the target in mind so I don't see much difference really.

[DLiver]

I can hit irons ok indoors, but driver? No way. I first noticed it years when doing a driver fitting at a Callaway center. Back then, my driver SS was 108-110. I played x-stiff throughout the bag. My longest drive at the fitting was 220 yards. That's when I knew something was up.

 

I used to hit balls in my garage. It was a 3-car garage with no internal posts and a 12-foot ceiling. I still couldn't put a good swing on anything longer than a 5 iron.

[DShepley]

Here is data captured from a 3 wood I hit off of the mat, not teed up, earlier tonight. I’m not sure if there is a way to capture all of the shot data on one page. The FS Golf app defaults to landscape with large data blocks.

[bonvivantva]

17 hours ago, stryper said:

Nothing wrong with keeping the golf swing free and keeping the body moving like that, but I don’t think I’d put any stock in what Mevo+ has to say about the outcome.  I suspect that if you had a screen with animated graphics and “real” targets to hit at, you might see very differently results.

 

Although I agree that swinging indoors takes a little getting used to, I haven't personally found it that hard to adapt.  

 

What I have noticed is what stryper is talking about.  At an outdoor range, I'll pick a flag and aim at it, and at the very least, watch the ball until it stops rolling.  Inside on a monitor, I'll get a quick result and reach for another ball.  While I can get too fast at an outdoor range, being indoors is far worse.  I've found that when I play a simulated course I do much better.  Even if I'm just hitting at the virtual range and looking at numbers, slowing down and picking targets helps significantly.

Edited March 29, 2022 by bonvivantva