kyle7372

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Living on a military base here in Japan I can always get cheap green fees and such but from my experience at these courses, their driving ranges suck! The local range near the base that I go to is more expensive then a round of golf but is a necessary for me to keep my swing as beautiful as it is lol. Anyways the point of this post is to see what you all think of the driving range mats. I hate the mats in that they really dont replicate the turf out on the fairways. Do you avoid ranges with mats or just deal with them? Would a thin shot on a mat be a solid shot on grass? I will say my visit to the range this evening was awesome and striking the ball so well i might finally break 80 tomorrow!
 
I myself try to stay away from from hitting off mats. I feel that I don't get good feed back from the way I strike the ball. I guess what I'm saying is if I happen to hit a shot a little fat on the mat the club impacts the mat and bounces back and hits the ball and it flies just fine verses hitting the grass I would have lost distance and the shot not felt as solid like it did on the mats....but thats just me
 
While I enjoy the fact that I hit balls very well on the mats, it normally doesnt translate to success on the course, so as of late Ive tried my hardest to stay away from them
 
There's only one driving range around me that has grass. It's not really that close either. But I prefer hitting off grass for the very reason everybody else has said. Mats cover up bad ball striking. Hitting off mats gives me a false sense of hitting good shots.
 
Mats hide "the fats".

Hate 'em and won't go to any range that requires you to use them.
 
Agreed with everyone here that mats aren't ideal. However, if it's what you got then it's what you got. Grass ranges are more expensive too. Agreed that mats hide the fats and they're probably not good for your wrists, but it's better than nothing. I can usually tell when I hit one fat off the mats. I'd imagine that at a 13 hdcp you can as well. Just my $0.02
 
Mats are better than nothing. I've hit probably about 10,000 balls off of mats since this time last year and I haven't noticed any problems. I will say thought that the mats I use don't really hide fat shots. I mean, it's a pretty obvious difference in feel to me when I hit ball first or when I hit the mat first.
 
personally, I am not a fan of using mat's at the driving ragne. I live in Columbia, SC, and we have a lot of driving ranges (one 4 mins from my office) in the area - most are grass, only one is mat's only, but I avoid that one.

I echo what everyone else says though - mat's give me a false sense of a purely struck shot, and don't give me the proper feedback I need when I'm working on a particular shot.
 
I always hit shots straight up with mats, yuck! I don't know what it is about mats but I hate them and can't stand hitting from them
 
If I were in this situation I would just play more, get out as much as possible. Playing 9 holes once you have some level of proficiency will probably do more good than hitting range balls for an hour or so, unless you are trying to learn a new swing or make a swing change of some kind. If maintenance of what you already have is the goal then actually playing golf out on the golf course is better than a range session. Hitting off mats is a last resort for me but I do it from time to time.
 
If I were in this situation I would just play more, get out as much as possible. Playing 9 holes once you have some level of proficiency will probably do more good than hitting range balls for an hour or so, unless you are trying to learn a new swing or make a swing change of some kind. If maintenance of what you already have is the goal then actually playing golf out on the golf course is better than a range session. Hitting off mats is a last resort for me but I do it from time to time.

yeah that's a good suggestion in april and may, I played every single day instead of practicing and I became very consistent. I didn't practice more than putting a bit, but I was playing the best golf of my life at the time.
 
Agreed with everyone here that mats aren't ideal. However, if it's what you got then it's what you got. Grass ranges are more expensive too. Agreed that mats hide the fats and they're probably not good for your wrists, but it's better than nothing. I can usually tell when I hit one fat off the mats. I'd imagine that at a 13 hdcp you can as well. Just my $0.02


Agree, if it that or nothing, what can ya do? I'm a higher cap than that but after using my clubs for nearly 10 years I can certainly tell (or feel) when I didnt strike it well from a mat. Fat, thin, toed, heeled, open, closed, whatever, I can usually read (feel) my club feedback regardless where the ball went.
I wonderin how or why that one range the OP mentions cost as much as a round?
 
I must be blessed....all the ranges here in town have no mats.
 
I must be blessed....all the ranges here in town have no mats.

all of our ranges were mat less, but then one of them got greedy and didn't want to repair grass all the time so they bought mats and charged more. . .ugh
 
As others have said, I can't stand hitting off of mats, but if it's the only option, it's better than not practicing or at least keeping your swing somewhat grooved.
 
As others have said, I can't stand hitting off of mats, but if it's the only option, it's better than not practicing or at least keeping your swing somewhat grooved.

I'd rather play a crappy round than practice on mats haha
 
I'm extremely new to the game, but I quickly noticed that the mats make you seem much better than you really are, I try to stay off of them. Funny(not literally) your driving range sucks on an AF base, I'm Army and my posts driving range is pretty dang nice ..who knew the Army could have something nicer than the AF?!
 
Mats are better than no range time at all. If it's all that's available, go for it. An awful lot of golfers have no other choice, and there certainly are teaching pros teach at facilities that only allow mats.
 
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