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Range mats hurt my left wrist - alternatives?


kafka01
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Compared to hitting off grass, which isnt possible yet, range mats tend to put a lot more stress on my left wrist than off grass. Do you guys have similar experiences?

The ranges i attend only have standard range mats. Anybody having experience with the newer more sophisticated range mats out there? Are they easier on mishits?

Since my course wants to raise fees i thought this would be a good idea to go ahead and ask them to replace these crappy mats with a healthier variant - any ideas?

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I have the same problem at 2 of the local ranges luckily we have a newer range which is a little more money but it has much better mats which alleviate this problem.
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The mats that I've hit off of were never heard enough to hurt my wrists - or maybe I've just been lucky so far.

Are you hurting your wrists on particular shots, or just over time your wrist starts to hurt? Unless you're working on a swing flaw, and not just beating balls, I would try to limit the amount of shots you hit off of mats. I've always hit the ball well off mats, because it covered up any contact issues I had when I hit a fat shot. It sort of made practicing counter productive.
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The hard plastic mat at my indoor golf range also has a thicker taller version to play off of which has more give on fat shots. I haven't seen a reduction in yardage.

I've only been playing a short time on a weekly basis, the majority of which has been indoors on plastic turf. I haven't suffered any physical injuries, but after playing outdoors (finally the weather broke!), I have found that I'm not as good as I thought I was. That plastic tee off area, is flat unlike any golf course we've played on yet. There is no wind, mud, sand, divots, or angled lies to deal with either.
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Some of the mats at the range I took my son to yesterday were in pretty bad shape.

We noticed the newer mats were under the sheltered hitting area.....that was fairly crowded.


He was mainly hitting teed up shots with all his clubs so we took one that wasn't crowded but had a good tee.

I hit a couple of shots with his six iron to demonstrate a few points to him. The result was wrist pain. I get that fairly easy if I don't stretch and rotate my wrist holding a couple of clubs for several minutes prior to ever hitting shots. The hard mat only increased the effect. I couldn't imagine hitting a bucket off that mat.

It's tough to find a range with good grass right now. We're lucky at our home course they've continued to overseed the range. The problem being that they don't adjust the ropes very often to get you on the good grass....

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Not sure how much space you have available, but have you considered buying your own mat and a net?

I got tired of the crummy mats at my range, so I purchased a "THE Golf Mat" and a large net that I attached to a clothes line across my back yard. The initial cost seemed high at first ($200USD, approx. 160 Euro) and another 50 for the net. But I was probably spending at least $30 per week on buckets of balls. So after a couple of months I was ahead of the game. That mat is cushioned to absorb shock and thereby save your wrists and shafts, as well as let you know when you mis-hit (unlike stiff range mats which let the head slide forward and strike the ball well even if you hit it a bit fat). Now I just go to the range once or twice a month for a small bucket to check my trajectory.

You may want to consider that if your living conditions allow....

Bag It:

3-Wood Wishon 525 F/D, 13*, Matrix Studio 65gm, Golf Pride Dual Compound
Hybrid: Wishon "321", 24*, MSF 85 HB, Winn DSI
Irons: Wishon 770CFE, Matrix Studio 74gm, Winn DSI

Putter: Odyssey DFX 2-Ball

Bag: Some big, honkin', ridiculous overkill of an Ogio cart bag with more pockets than I have teeth.

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You are talking about the Vijay mat right? So it seems like you enjoy it quite a bit. I read about this mat in other threads already. So how does this mat work - you just put it beside a regular range mat where you stand on to be on an even level? So i could buy it and just bring it to the driving range everytime i practice, right?

I´m not a big fan of practicing at home. Despite having enough space where i could set up a cage and mat, i like to see my balls fly and since the golf course is only 5mins away i prefer to go there whenever i can instead of hitting shots at home.

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FW Burner 15°
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CG10 50° CG12 DSG 54° & 60°

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Yes, that's the "Vijay mat", and yes, I like it quite a bit. It even comes with a heavy duty stance mat of the same thickness as the hitting mat, so you stand at an even height. (My only complaint is that I wish the stance mat were slightly larger so I could step forward and backwards. When you need to stand closer to, or farther from, the ball, the supplied stance mat must be re-positioned. It's wide side-to-side, but only a little deeper than a large shoe size. They sell large auxilliary mats, but they are very expensive.)

I certainly understand you're wanting to see the ball flight. I have the same concern, which is why I still go to the range every now and then. I just didn't have the money to keep going at the pace I was on previously, so it was the net or cut waaay back. Anyway, I would certainly consider bringing your personal mat to a range - just make sure they KNOW it's your mat first, so they let you take it back home again!

Good luck

Bag It:

3-Wood Wishon 525 F/D, 13*, Matrix Studio 65gm, Golf Pride Dual Compound
Hybrid: Wishon "321", 24*, MSF 85 HB, Winn DSI
Irons: Wishon 770CFE, Matrix Studio 74gm, Winn DSI

Putter: Odyssey DFX 2-Ball

Bag: Some big, honkin', ridiculous overkill of an Ogio cart bag with more pockets than I have teeth.

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I never thought range mats are as god-awful as people make them out to be. Sure, its not the same as real grass, but it has helped me improve. I certainly would be worse off if I didn;t practice all summer bc I was afraid of mats
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What range do you go to, nykfan? I work down by the Meadowlands, and had been stopping at a range on Rt.23 in the Wayne area on my way home a few times a week. The mats there were in good shape, but the lack of cushioning made it absolutely brutal. Even on well struck hits the clubhead would still clip the mat after contacting the ball and send a shock back. After more than twenty minutes I was always sore somewhere!

You're right that it's better than not practicing at all, but I'm glad I got a more forgiving surface that I can set up in 2 minutes right at my house.

All the best!

Bag It:

3-Wood Wishon 525 F/D, 13*, Matrix Studio 65gm, Golf Pride Dual Compound
Hybrid: Wishon "321", 24*, MSF 85 HB, Winn DSI
Irons: Wishon 770CFE, Matrix Studio 74gm, Winn DSI

Putter: Odyssey DFX 2-Ball

Bag: Some big, honkin', ridiculous overkill of an Ogio cart bag with more pockets than I have teeth.

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I usually go to Old Tappan, which has pretty springy mats, in addition to a side where there is pretty deep grass. Overall pretty good quality

But you may be talking about edgewater, which is in fact, just thin green mats on cement. If that is what you are talking about, then yeah it is brutal
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Thanks for the info, nyk! I may have to take a trip up to Old Tappan one of these days after work to check it out

Bag It:

3-Wood Wishon 525 F/D, 13*, Matrix Studio 65gm, Golf Pride Dual Compound
Hybrid: Wishon "321", 24*, MSF 85 HB, Winn DSI
Irons: Wishon 770CFE, Matrix Studio 74gm, Winn DSI

Putter: Odyssey DFX 2-Ball

Bag: Some big, honkin', ridiculous overkill of an Ogio cart bag with more pockets than I have teeth.

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my right wrist hurts when i hit fat ones off mats... ive even pulled muscles in my sides... and practicing irons off mats does nothing for my game cuz it never translates on the course... but sometimes i have no choice due to weather or range grass being closed...

maybe just work on technique instead of power when youre on mats or find another range with better ones
RUSS's avg drive - 230yrds and climbing
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Note: This thread is 5488 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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