The Five Questions to Ask Before an Indoor Gapping Session

Ask before the session becomes a memory

An indoor gapping session is easier to interpret when you establish the source details before hitting. The goal is not to interrogate staff or demand a particular system. It is to leave knowing what the numbers on your club card represent.

Ask five questions: Which distance label should I read? What units are displayed? Which mode are we using? What ball am I hitting? Which relevant settings are active? Answering these at the start is simpler than reconstructing them from a cropped screenshot next week.

Confirm the metric and units first

Point to the actual display when asking about the distance label. Do not say only 'Is that my distance?' because the screen may contain several different results. Establish which value is carry and retain its source wording in your supporting session record.

Then confirm yards or meters. A report can look familiar while using a different unit from your previous visit. If you later use the gap-distance calculator, suitable inputs are still your responsibility. The calculator is a useful starting tool, not proof that the source entries match.

Identify mode, ball, and settings

Ask which mode is running and what ball is being used. Record only what is established, especially if the ball is supplied by the facility. A guess based on appearance should not become a confident equipment label in your card history.

Trackman's historical normalization explainer shows why asking about source settings matters: a displayed result may reflect modeled conditions. It does not establish how every current simulator works. Ask the staff about this session rather than importing old defaults from a vendor article.

Keep a compact session receipt

Make a personal record of the date and the answers you received. A simple paper or text worksheet is sufficient; no automatic import or vendor connection is required. Preserve the original report separately if it is available and you are permitted to keep it.

Use the 50-character card note for the most important qualification, not the whole receipt. 'Practice carry; ball unknown' is a useful example. Put additional context in your own supporting record so the compact note remains readable and does not conceal an unresolved issue.

Leave with one clarification request

An unanswered question does not make the entire visit useless. It limits which comparisons you can defend. Continue recording what you know, then ask a focused closing question such as whether staff can identify the mode or normalization status from that session.

Before leaving, reread the entry as someone who was not in the bay. Can that person distinguish a measured display value from your interpretation? Create or revisit the club card with that reader in mind, and keep the source uncertainty visible when sharing it.

A worked example

DEMO - fictional personal session receipt, not an automatic import.

Common questions