Why Rehab Facilities Are Looking at Adaptive Golf Carts

Rehab facilities invest heavily in functional mobility equipment. Parallel bars, tilt tables, and standing frames help get people upright.

But sustained, task-oriented standing activity is harder. It requires environments where a person isn't just tolerating an upright position, but doing something purposeful from it.

Stand-up golf carts can help fill a specific part of that gap. The SimCat, a new entry in the category, is a supported standing mobility device that positions users upright—allowing them to move, reach, and rotate through a golf swing. For rehab facilities, it can add a functional mobility dimension to activity-based programming.

The SimCat's golf-based format gives facilities a way to build sustained standing time into programming for veterans working through mobility challenges, adults managing progressive neurological conditions, or people navigating recovery after stroke or spinal injury.

What Supported Standing Does, Physically

When individuals move from a seated position to supported standing, several things happen at once: weight transfers through the lower extremities, postural muscles in the core and hips engage to maintain the upright position, and proprioceptive input — the signals the nervous system uses to understand where the body is in space — increases substantially.

For individuals who spend extended periods of time in a seated position, these inputs tend to be underrepresented in daily life, not by choice, but because most environments don’t accommodate standing.

The SimCat is a standing mobility device designed for adaptive golf. It positions users in a supported upright stance, held in place by a structured seating and support system, while allowing them to move through an indoor space. The golf swing context adds a rotational element—reaching, weight shifting side to side, and following through on a movement. For individuals with intact upper body function, that’s a meaningful layer of bilateral coordination.

Who This Environment Was Built For

Individuals who could use the SimCat to play golf share a few characteristics: they have intact or partially intact upper body function, some standing tolerance, and some interest in golf—as a regular player, a casual participant, or someone who always wanted to try.

Practically, that includes a wide range of diagnoses:

• Post-stroke adults can be candidates for use of the SimCat, including those with residual lower-limb weakness.
• Individuals managing Parkinson’s disease or MS can use the SimCat to stay active and keep playing golf indoors.
• Individuals with spinal cord injuries can use the SimCat if they retain levels that allow supported standing.
• Veterans with lower-limb loss or mobility limitations can use the SimCat to explore adaptive sports.

The VertaCat—the outdoor version of this technology—has been operating on golf courses for years. Places like The Loop Golf Course in Chaska, Minnesota, which runs weekly adaptive programming, have shown what this looks like in real life. The SimCat brings that same core technology indoors.

If you’re supporting mobility-challenged individuals, an adaptive mobility aid like the SimCat could encourage and motivate them. The best starting point is a direct conversation about fit—your space, your user population, and your program goals. Reach out to our team for a conversation.

Important note: The SimCat is an adaptive golf cart. It is not FDA-cleared as a medical device and does not carry ADA certification. Facilities evaluating it for rehab programming should treat it as an adaptive mobility aid, not a clinical treatment device, and consult with their clinical and compliance staff accordingly.