I used one to decide which of my four drivers (i know, that's not many by forum standards) should be in my bag right now. In that situation, I didn't really care whether the actual numbers were correct, since presumably it would make the same errors for all the clubs I tested, and I only wanted to see which of those clubs would work best for me.
So, I think they can certainly be useful. If you are shopping for new irons, for example, you might have narrowed down your choices to two or three. You could go onto the monitor and hit those clubs, comparing outcomes in terms of relative benefits, rather than necessarily believing in the actual yardages it spits out.

As Typhoon pointed out hitting clubs indoors vs. outdoors is a night and day experience. How many have had buyers remorse after the honeymoon period is over? 😁

    a month later

    Gatorman Yes, but if you bring your own driver, fir example, do they turn it off when you are hitting your driver and then turn it on again when you hit the latest, greatest? If not, at least you could get comparison numbers.

        I consider myself a good driver, most days I can get it going and hit 9 or 10 of 14 fairways. I’m a senior but I get a good 200-220. That said I can’t tell you I hit the same exact trajectory two times in a row. I have hit majestic looking drives that aren’t that long when I get to the ball and line drives that are longer than I expected. I switch between Alpha, SMT, KZG, LaJolla, Bang and Macgregor and can’t say one is longer or straighter than the next. I probably have one of every brand ball in my bag and they’re all about the same. I stay around the middle of the face and my misses are usually high or low on the face. All R flex decent older shafts and the shafts don’t seam to matter. The only driver that stands out is the Alpha at 400cc because I can get a fade on demand and an occasional draw, must be the smaller head is easier to work. I have tried my son in laws new Cobra and my buddies Calloway and no difference.

        scotts33 How many have had buyers remorse after the honeymoon period is over? 😁

        That's why I like buying from our local Uinta Golf, they have a 90day return policy if you and
        your new club decide to file for an early divorce!

          Par4QC just dropped off his SIM Max at the post office....I’d have him weigh in on this but don’t think he uses a launch monitor, he just buys them, hits them once, sees it’s no better than last weeks driver and sells it. He’s a hobbyist.

            rsvman2

            I am not sure, however I have no issues w tee shots... My iron game suffers every Friday

              Typhoon I detest nay mechanical means of telling me how I hit the ball, esp. when it comes to telling me how far I hit it.

              Many years ago, we played an indoor league in the winter. My brother quit on me when the SIM would not show us hitting driver any farther than 190-200. Made for some bad virtual rounds, and horrible scores. When we got to play outside, of course our drives were all 250+, and that was reality, not virtual. Machines are total crap, imo. You want to know about a club, buy it, take it outside & play it. If it does not fit you in some way, well, you just don't know anything about yourself at all. You should be able to take any club out and hit it well, if you know the shaft flex you need. Even then, you might be shocked to find you hit a different flex even better than you thought you could.

              SIMs are Ok, IF you are wanting to test shafts. ONLY....imo. The numbers that are put up are total bullshit from most of them, as a lot of people find out, after spending far too much money on something that never works, on the course.

              I'll proofread this later and come back, if I missed something important to add. 🤣

              BTW, if anyone is having any trouble getting a good launch from a driver, seek out the SIM Max. I had a 9* @ 47", and it was as long of a driver as I've ever hit in my life. The launch was almost 2 times the height of my 9* Radspeed or 9* Mavrik or 9* G30 LS Tec. Distances are all equal, and all will bore through 15-20 mph winds like it is calm out; even with the high launch of the SIM I lost nothing. Oh, and they all hit as straight as any driver made. 🤨

                5 months later

                I use the flightscope X3 I think it does a great job and no has environmental parameters that can be input to the session.
                Simulators being used in leagues or as entertainment are not anywhere near the precision of the LMs. mostly due to the amount of attention they dont receive when thing are going wonky.
                SOme folks do struggle indoors and I have them hit there clubs for a base line to ensure Im not out of line.

                  Mcburbn Yeah I struggle with hitting a driver indoors. It's not the enclosed space that bothers me. It's more like I need the actual visual of a drive and the target in my mind before I swing. I just can't produce that visual indoors, and then I have no feel for whether I'm making a typical swing or not.