Golf Mat

Hey everybody, I'm looking to set up a golf mat and net in my garage to practice throughout the off season, and I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get a golf mat with the cross in the middle to help you align your feet and the lines on the perimeter to line your shot up?

It looks like the mat here



Thanks any input is appreciated.

Use a meter stick and some tape or whatever and spray paint it. Probably a lot cheaper and pretty easy to do.

Agreed 1000% you'll be paying out the buttocks for one of those mats, you're better off getting an angle or something to do it. hell, if you lived near me I'd let you use mine! it's 36x14 and you'd save a boat load of cash on it.

Pete

Is hitting into a net like that very useful practice? I'm just curious if you really get a sense of how you're hitting the ball without seeing the flight.

Probably not the best.....but it sure beats not swinging a club or hitting balls for months on end.

Some of us are very fortunate in that our climate allows us to tee it up year round. Been looking around at some mats, too, for my son to practice on in the backyard. He needs to hit a few shots per day where he's making good contact with the ball. I had no idea the price range of the things......wow...some of them are really steep but supposed to allow you to really hit down on the ball like real turf.

You need to be very careful using a net for an extended period of time without seeing the flight of the ball. This can ingrain some very bad habits. Muscle memory is the key to a repeating swing and a net will do that very well for you - the issue is, if the swing is off just a little... This becomes an issue with a swing that becomes "over the top" - it feels like you are striking the ball very solidly, but in flight it will be a hard pull. This is difficult to correct after the fact. Other issues i have seen - even though your garage probably has adequate height, you might feel that you have to keep the swing "down" so you don't hit anything. Or keep the swing close to the body for the same reason. This will cause problems for you also.

I am not recommending NOT to use one, just to be careful of these potential issues when you take your game back to the course. I have seen them cause more harm than good.

I am not sure on the cost at all - i also live in a colder climate, and have found a golf dome that has very good mats. I would think they are quite pricey though as for the 20+ stations they have, only 10 of them use this better mat. If price is not to big an issue i would recommend finding this style. It has a much looser weave so if you hit a shot fat, you really feel it. Kind of hard to describe, you just know when you are hitting off of it, the feel is quite different and much more realistic.

good luck.

Yeah well thanks for all the input, I was just going to get one as a way to keep my swing fluid. I can usually tell how the shot went by contact for example with my irons they tell me exactly how I hit the ball. Also, I will still be going to the range once in a while and hitting birdie balls in my yard.

Do driving ranges usually close for the winter? I'm asking because I'm extremely new to the game and I don't know, but I do know I'd like to practice this winter, and I'd like to be able to see the ball flight when I do.

-Andrew

Driving ranges around here stay open year round but you are a little farther north than me. I'm also able to play year round as well.

I had no idea about that birdieball net. I'm been looking for a decent net for a while but everything I get can't stand up to full shots.

They stay open. They are usually closed only with snow. I lived in the DC Metro for 4 years.

Whereabouts?

-Andrew

It might be nice to have a set-up like that in the garage and be able to video your swing and watch it back.

Yeah I was planning on putting it in the garage, and do something like that I think it would benefit me by keeping my swing fluid.

It's an interesting idea, although I'm sure it would end with a hole in the sheetrock somehow.