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Mats vs. Grass at Practice Range


drocpdp
Note: This thread is 3236 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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  1. 1. Do you hit off the grass or mats when you go to the range?

    • Always off the GRASS - I want realistic conditions
      66
    • Always off the GRASS - This is all my range offers
      9
    • Always off the MATS - It's cheaper
      1
    • Always off the MATS - I like the feel of the mat
      0
    • Always off the MATS - I don't want to clean my clubs when i'm done
      1
    • Always off the MATS - This is all my range offers
      23
    • I switch it up but mostly off the GRASS
      12
    • I switch it up and it's 50/50
      7
    • I switch it up but mostly off the MATS
      18
    • It doesn't mater to me at all. I have no preference
      0


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IMHO
Foam balls in your yard are preferable to a mat.

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grass is certainly prefered...but a mat is better then nothing. You still need to have the club on line, you still have the muscle memory...if you can't feel a fat shot shot being corrected by the mat then you need to consider a new game.

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I think you get away with more on a mat. I prefer turf, in the winter here in Ohio I use the mats the ground becomes to soft unless it's froozen.

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The main problem with hitting off of mats is that they can hide or deminish mistakes made when you hit the ball. On mats if you hit a ball a little fat the club tends to skip and still make good contact unlike when hitting off of grass where the club digs and you chunk a shot. So you may feel like you where hitting the ball great then get on the course and find out you're hitting everything fat.

Exactly.

A good grass driving range is a gem and hard to find for the non-country club guys. I found one that gets little use. Grass all the way

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I agree that for golfers who struggle with a consistent low-point in their swing, practicing on mats can be misleading. When I started playing, I went through that awful experience of practicing irons on mats, then chunking everything on the course.

The problems I'm having now are hitting out of poor and uneven lies. Just no way to practice hitting a ball below your feet out of deep wet rough at the range. I played a tough course recently where a majority of my shots off the fairway were severe sidehill, downhill, or uphill lies. I felt really ill-equipped.

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Didn't Steve Stricker get his swing back the winter after he flunked Q-school hitting thousand of balls off mats from a shed onto the frozen Wisconsin prairie? I guess he can afford a winter place down South now.

I agree that grass is better than mats, but think mats are better than no practice at all. The mats I usually see are all rubber and don't use artificial grass inserts. You don't go very fat on those.
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Is there much of a difference or an advantage as to whether you are hitting off the grass or off the mats? Some driving ranges you're hitting off the mats and some they just rotate. But at a few golf courses around here, its mats only and they highly discourage the use of tees, I was approached and told that I CANNOT tee off the grass and must use the mats instead, sheesh!!

I really dislike hitting off mats at the range. But around here it's my only option. One of the things I'm thinking of doing is bringing a portable mat that allows me to hit down and through the ball (unlike normal range mats). I reviewed the Country Club Elite Mats and I bought the small 24x30 one. You can see my

review here . Unfortunately hitting of mats is just a fact of life for many of us, but it can be made better with the right additions. Best of luck to you.

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I know that there are times that you have no choice - and this seems to be the case with you - but in my opinion practicing off mats is pretty close to a complete waste of time. There is no similarity at all between synthetic grass and grass. Fat shots will feel OK and you'll also find it hard to attack the ball correctly for fear of damaging your wrists or your clubs. Mats are a great way for people who are learning to get a bit of a feel, but there is nothing in golf more likely to disguise poor ball striking than artificial grass.

Agreed. I find that practising off mats is generally inefficient or (worse still) counterproductive, which doesn't mean it's not fun -- hey, it's still (a form of) golf.

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A perfect shot off the mats can never compare to the feeling of hitting a perfect shot off the grass...Unfortunately, the range that I live next to has dirt so thin, that every shot is a bunker shot...

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I know that there are times that you have no choice - and this seems to be the case with you - but in my opinion practicing off mats is pretty close to a complete waste of time. There is no similarity at all between synthetic grass and grass. Fat shots will feel OK and you'll also find it hard to attack the ball correctly for fear of damaging your wrists or your clubs. Mats are a great way for people who are learning to get a bit of a feel, but there is nothing in golf more likely to disguise poor ball striking than artificial grass.

+1 mats are a waste of time. one good thing is that you can learn how to spin with your wedges.

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i don't think hitting off mat is a waste of time. as someone has pointed out, you can learn to listen for contacts that are good or bad. and yes, it can hide fat shorts very easily, but then again, one can try to assess the trajectory of each shot. yes, concur that it is stupid that even by now i don't see mats that allow tee to put inside...

ideally, golf should be learned on grass but some folks simply cannot afford it...cost...weather issue. my kids play some junior events and some kids from china are doing very well. the word is that they don't have easy or cheap access to golf courses,,,all they have is to hit off mats in ranges. and then they shoot 60s in world championships...

i have mats at home for winter, but bought one that is cushioned. at impact, the mat surface drops a little. i think this is important because grass gives and the mat on the range usually does not. it is hard, hard on the elbow and wrists. no need to develop some soft tissue injuries from that.
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I can't stand hitting off mats - but I think it's sort of a mental thing.

On the other hand, I've seen driving ranges where I cant stand hitting off the grass either. Was at one recently where the grass was thick and stiff, and about 2 inches high. The ball just sat on top of it and pretty much every shot was just a sweeping flyer.
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Too much time on mats really messed my game up as I grooved a great mat swing that didn't function on the course. I was always hitting off the high brush matts and they really encourage you to come in fat, no I try to switch things up and use the hard rubber mats - again this has it issues as coming down hard the ball is great of a mat likethat
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There is a very distinct difference in sound when making ideal contact on a mat, and hitting it even slightly fat. As long as you can tell the difference, I think mat practice is productive.
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Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

There is a very distinct difference in sound when making ideal contact on a mat, and hitting it even slightly fat. As long as you can tell the difference, I think mat practice is productive.

The nice thing is that with the right mat, you don't need to rely on the sound to tell the difference. You can feel it and see it in the ball flight.

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Driver: Adams 9032ls VooDoo XNV6
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  • 3 months later...
I personally hate hitting off mats. I think it takes all the feel out of a shot, and I can never tell if i hit it well cuz it always feels like crap hitting down into a hard mat (i'm also more of a digger than a sweeper). One of the most important things for me when practicing at the range is reading my divots, I can tell right away why I missed a shot. When hitting off mats, sometimes I feel like I hit it a inch fat, but I can never tell from my ball flight and there definitely is no divot to read.

On the other hand, I doubt hitting off mats is bad for your game, so if you want to, why not? I know plenty of good players who practice off mats.

-Gibby
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Not all mats are created equal. Some are a thin rug set up on a sidewalk, whereas others have a fair amount of cushioning.

Also, any club repair people know if the "thin rug" harms the clubheads or epoxy seal over time?

As for the range in general, some people claim that the harder range balls can damage metal-wood heads over time.

Focus, connect and follow through!

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