OK: it's time for this one....artificial turf, and its detriment to your game

[blueonblack]

Everyone is posting swing vids. SO much fun. But....so often it's indoors, off a mat.

Personally, when I would go to the golf dome over the winter, it allowed my mechanics to get so BAD hitting off of mats without much consequence for steep angles of attack, sometimes it would take the first month of the season to un-do what mats allowed me to do to my swing over the winter. It was ingrained. The ones you find at a range are usually hard and largely devoid of bristles any longer, at least in the wear spot.

What say you about mats? Are they helping or hurting your game?

 

[McLovin]

i wouldn't say mats hurt your game. they can definitely hide swing flaws, but i think the feedback is still good enough that you know within some certainty whether you mishit the ball.

 

[ohthehumanity]

You know when you are hitting ball first on mats. At least I do. I do agree with you on some of the mats being devoid of any bristles at certain ranges, but I tend to not go to those ones if I can help it.

 

[Drumdog]

I hate mats and unfortunately that is what my home course has for the range. I also hate the floater balls since the range is a lake. So when I really want to work on my game, I go across the street to the other course that has a grass range with better balls.

 

[blueonblack]

I hate mats and unfortunately that is what my home course has for the range. I also hate the floater balls since the range is a lake. So when I really want to work on my game, I go across the street to the other course that has a grass range with better balls.

Oh my...I would think so! I HATE a water range. What an awful mental image to ingrain for golf. Splash after splash. Oof!!

 

[MrDC]

They can certainly hurt a players iron game, especially the short ones.

To have success off a mat it's very important to know the right sound, and to know what works on grass, if you're searching a mat can be very detrimental.

 

[OldandStiff]

They hurt my game. Or swing I guess. And body. I only swing off mats when I'm trying a new club, and I try to gain as much information as I can in as few swings as possible, and then GTFOff them. I don't go to mat ranges. The feels are all kinds of wrong to me.

They mask a lot of poor strikes, and level results, but I feel like everyone would have their own scale for benefits vs. drawbacks. I know some guys that love them and it doesn't bother their swings/game at all. I've seen others basically mat their way to on course misery with a lot of mat only work. Same as hitting into a net all winter. I'm sure it's highly personal, and I wish it didn't bug me as much as it does. My iron game is my life out there though. I've worked hard to not be a picker, and I aint going back.

And if I'm trying a club and get to take it outside I will base more on 3 shots out there with no data than 20 inside on a monitor. Give me the grass.

 

[Snickerdog]

Mats hide the contact you are making. If I can do a fitting outside on grass that is where it will be done over mats.

 

[M2Giles]

I always will take a grass range over a mat. But given a chance of no range time or a mat, I'll choose a mat.

You can get better quality artificial turf. But I'll stand by my thoughts that having my SIM in garage (with a mat) has been one of if not the best investments I've ever done for my game.

I think people are getting into hyperbole when it comes to possible negatives of a mat.

 

[MWard]

Mats aren’t good for me. Seems like you can murder the ball off a mat and give yourself false distances.

 

[Scott F]

Mats don’t really bother me at all. I’m more of a sweeper and rarely take much of a divot. I have a mat on my patio for hitting into a net. When I’m hitting it right off the mat, it transfers to the course. If I was more of a digger, I could see where it would be a problem.

 

[blueonblack]

I always will take a grass range over a mat. But given a chance of no range time or a mat, I'll choose a mat.

You can get better quality artificial turf. But I'll stand by my thoughts that having my SIM in garage (with a mat) has been one of if not the best investments I've ever done for my game.

I think people are getting into hyperbole when it comes to possible negatives of a mat.

As a former digger, it messed me up bad. My woods game benefitted from any practice, but irons and wedges off mats for a number of range sessions would get me even steeper. The one thing I didn't want. Now my hands won't allow that downward angle, so sweeping it is moving forward if I can remember to do it and un-do my whole life of golfing.

I'm definitely anecdotal in my account, so I have to stop short of hyperbole. But I think we're sorting out the diggers from the pickers pretty quick here?

 

[JB]

i wouldn't say mats hurt your game. they can definitely hide swing flaws, but i think the feedback is still good enough that you know within some certainty whether you mishit the ball.

Definitely. And some of the modern ones are very close.

 

[Greg Kulbick]

I never played better than when I was able to practice as much as I wanted to at my old course before it closed. It was all mats.

 

[M2Giles]

But I think we're sorting out the diggers from the pickers pretty quick here?

I have a pretty negative AoA so not sure if that's it.

 

[blueonblack]

I never played better than when I was able to practice as much as I wanted to at my old course before it closed. It was all mats.

Just wanted to give you a virtual hug in addition to sad emojii. Been there. More than once. Mostly ranges closing, (un)fortunately, but all my par 3's/executives save for one remains. Childhood golf. *Poof*. Mom and pop range up the road. Still there. Land for sale sign just went up adjacent.
Range is on lease from the land owners for now.

 

[WLG1952]

Mats are only good as a last resort. I use mats in this last resort manner.

Mats can hide poor impact positions. Especially those smoothe surface types. A golfer can easily hit a fat shot, but still see a good ball flight. A club with high bounce can can cause a thin short, but still show a decent ball flight.

Of course, there are different types of mats available that can mimic fairway, or first cut lies. These type of mats are much better than those smooth surface mats with a thick rubber backing. The ones the course usually have laying on concrete.

Best way I know to use a firm mat is with a tee, and a metal wood. No swing/club that requires a divot to be taken.

 

[Greg Kulbick]

Just wanted to give you a virtual hug in addition to sad emojii. Been there. More than once. Mostly ranges closing, (un)fortunately, but all my par 3's/executives save for one remains. Childhood golf. *Poof*. Mom and pop range up the road. Still there. Land for sale sign just went up adjacent.
Range is on lease from the land owners for now.

They closed for a multimillion dollar redesign by Nicklaus and junior, and reopened wanting an initiation fee, which having previously being a member, I have a strong distaste for.

 

[blueonblack]

I have a pretty negative AoA so not sure if that's it.

Would your present opinion be swayed by your quality mat ownership at all?
I think a lot like joe average golfer, because I am joe average golfer.
The mats I've hit off of have generally been horrible for an outdoor range experience especially, or at the muni golf dome.

To add to @JB 's point, when I had a cool fitting experience at Hazeltine, I was like, "oh, so this is what a mat CAN feel like." Complete with sand area with different sand colored bristles, and rough lengths of a couple different heights. Felt like gel material of some sort underneath and then more padding underneath from there. Cause, yeah, it's Hazeltine. Same at quality simulator facilities that had newer mats when I went that were like that.
I've generally really liked my sim rounds over the winters and would do that in a heartbeat and less often than the muni golf dome.
You can set those sims on practice mode too which is very helpful for practice in the winter.
I'd love a sim in my garage but too cold!!!

 

[blueonblack]

They closed for a multimillion dollar redesign by Nicklaus and junior, and reopened wanting an initiation fee, which having previously being a member, I have a strong distaste for.

Yeah some local guys told me about one here that went from 27 to 18 with housing that I was getting on for $35 for a couple years when they opened it to the public. I was in heaven for a while there. Still affordable, but twice as much now. And there are houses now. I want to see it, but I don't, ya know?

I even hate a re-design they did that got awards on one of my stomping grounds. The course and land would get anyone a medal. They cut some trees and ripped the character out of the place for easy maintenance. Awards. They laid cart paths BEHIND par 3's with huge hills behind.
Many "committees" and public input sessions. Government. Can I say that?? Am I allowed?

 

[TCB2010]

I have never hit off a mat. In fact I've never tried a club out in a store and bought it. The ranges here do not have mats. With our new home I have thought about buying one and a hitting net for my back yard as we have a concrete pad I can set it up on and use a monitor. I've often wondered about what if your a divot taker and you use a mat how does that work..

 

[Greg Kulbick]

I have never hit off a mat. In fact I've never tried a club out in a store and bought it. The ranges here do not have mats. With our new home I have thought about buying one and a hitting net for my back yard as we have a concrete pad I can set it up on and use a monitor. I've often wondered about what if your a divot taker and you use a mat how does that work..

If its a good mat, it will still react appropriately. It won't hide a really fat shot, though. If you're REALLY steep, you'll just destroy your joints.

 

[-CRW-]

They are good enough for Phil:



And some of us are lazy and don’t want to have to clean clubs between shots, move alignment sticks/training aids, etc.

 

[blueonblack]

If its a good mat, it will still react appropriately. It won't hide a really fat shot, though. If you're REALLY steep, you'll just destroy your joints.

Does anyone look at their divots to determine club path when hitting off of natural turf anymore, or does one go back indoors to the LM for data?
Which way did my divot fly? What shape is it?

 

[blueonblack]

They are good enough for Phil:



And some of us are lazy and don’t want to have to clean clubs between shots, move alignment sticks/training aids, etc.

We could stand Phil on a glare sheet of ice in his bare feet....
I don't have the Tweeter. Ask him to do it??!! He will!!! Watch!!