Hitting into a Net

[DPR99]

I set up a net 10 x 10 years ago. I use it to keep the swing going year round.  If there is something I want to work on I can, but I know the real feedback is ball flight so off to the range. Being able to hit balls at anytime is a great exercise and just good for the head.  I will tell you this though, I put in a sand bunker (nothing fancy) a hole filled with sand and a small putting green 20 x 20 again nothing fancy and that practice has paid great dividends. And being able to putt late at night when its quiet and with a cold one, is good for the soul. I would recommend those two add on's to anyone. -DPR99

[dpgator33]

I bought a net a few months back and set it up in the back yard the first weekend after that.  I hit into it 3 times and I hated it.  I took it down when it got windy one day and thought it might blow away.  It's been sitting there ever since.  A couple weeks ago I plopped down $400 for my club's range plan and I've been up there just about every day that I'm not actually playing a round.

[buckshot4227]

I have been working on my swing this winter by simply swinging a golf club at air or a rubber tee(just so I had something to swing at).  I got the opportunity to swing at some real balls this weekend.  I had a few ball striking issues and am considering getting a set up in my garage.  The issues I had were

1)  hitting it off of the heel/hosel.  Kind of weird being as last year my misses tended to be towards the toe.  When I would try to hit it off the toe, I would hit it dead center on the sweet spot.  Is this an acceptable swing thought till I start squaring it up again?

2)  I dont like hitting off of mats because I have a hard time knowing if I hit it fat or not.  I read some where on this forum that if you put a piece of tape down and put the ball right in front of the tape you should be able to hit the ball and miss the tape.  Well lets just say FAIL.  I couldnt do it.  When I would do it the ball wouldnt leave the ground.  I had the edge of the ball hoovering over the left side of the tape(I am right handed).  Is that how you are suppose to do it or are you suppose to be able to see a little bit of mat between the ball and tape?

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by buckshot4227

I dont like hitting off of mats because I have a hard time knowing if I hit it fat or not.......... Is that how you are suppose to do it or are you suppose to be able to see a little bit of mat between the ball and tape?

Feel - Get a nice thick spring crimped mat (all turfs are good - lotsa brands out there) - you can feel it when you hit fat, but you don't get that shock from hitting a hard mat.  They feel very real to me - like medium soft turf.

Visual - Sprinkle baby powder (climber's chalk) on the mat - you can see where the divot would have been after a hit.

Your tape experience example sounds a lot like you are leading your grip on the setup too much - and really overleading with your hands on the swing (if you miss the tape, the ball flight is goofy low else you have a good hit, but tend to be fat - then it's just a matter of deep or shallow).  have you thought about having a pro look at your weight transfer?  symptoms sound like you might be a bit of a picker so you're compensating by leading and closing to get contact.  Is it hard to get a good divot without hitting fat?  same thing....  On the plus side, if I'm right, the fixes are a BIG improvement you have in store.

[buckshot4227]

Originally Posted by rehmwa

Feel - Get a nice thick spring crimped mat (all turfs are good - lotsa brands out there) - you can feel it when you hit fat, but you don't get that shock from hitting a hard mat.  They feel very real to me - like medium soft turf.

Visual - Sprinkle baby powder (climber's chalk) on the mat - you can see where the divot would have been after a hit.

Your tape experience example sounds a lot like you are leading your grip on the setup too much - and really overleading with your hands on the swing (if you miss the tape, the ball flight is goofy low else you have a good hit, but tend to be fat - then it's just a matter of deep or shallow).  have you thought about having a pro look at your weight transfer?  symptoms sound like you might be a bit of a picker so you're compensating by leading and closing to get contact.  Is it hard to get a good divot without hitting fat?  same thing....  On the plus side, if I'm right, the fixes are a BIG improvement you have in store.

Yes I am thinking about doing the evolvr.  I dont know much about it though.  My swing is posted under member swings, but I was only swinging at a rubber tee and the video isnt the best.  I think my weight transfer is ok.  I probably dont have enough secondary axis tilt though(my top center moves forward to far I believe).  Anyway back to evolvr and the topic.  Could I get good enough information from evolvr by just recording my swing hitting balls into a net?  Also do I need a better camera than the one used to record my swing under the member swings thread to get proper instruction.  Thanks

[gwlee7]

Originally Posted by buckshot4227

Yes I am thinking about doing the evolvr.  I dont know much about it though.  My swing is posted under member swings, but I was only swinging at a rubber tee and the video isnt the best.  I think my weight transfer is ok.  I probably dont have enough secondary axis tilt though(my top center moves forward to far I believe).  Anyway back to evolvr and the topic.  Could I get good enough information from evolvr by just recording my swing hitting balls into a net?  Also do I need a better camera than the one used to record my swing under the member swings thread to get proper instruction.  Thanks

Yes the evolvr guys can do a great job helping you if you are hitting into a net.  The main thing is that you are actually hitting a ball and not just making a practice swing,

[mwill1957]

Being in Texas, the backyard net has stayed up all winter and allows me to g out in the backyad for swing practice after work.  I can feel a real difference in my contact and consistancy although still not as good as I'd like.  I am going to try the tips on this thread to put actual Bermuda grass in this spring rather than closely trimmed St Augustine.

She won't tell me how much it cost as a christmas present, but if you can find a way to construct a practice net, it is well worth it!

[buckshot4227]

Hey guys.  Got my tarps hung up in the garage!  Its working pretty good, but it could be a little better.  What I did was bought 3 heavy duty 16x12 tarps.  I hung two up together with bungee straps just from the top 2 corners and I let it hang very loose.  I also hung one up about 2 feet behind them just in case a ball happens to make it through(now that I have hit some I dont think there is anyway they will go through).  The problem I am expierencing is when I hit, the ball wants to bounce off the tarps and come back at me.  Again I have it hanging very loose so I am not to sure what I could do to stop this problem.  Any ideas?  Thanks.

[rehmwa]

deleted, operator error

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by rehmwa

those are huge tarps for this use.  but two tarps should do it - I had a single tarp at first and promptly hit right through it, but two is nice as the first does the job and the one behind kills the excess speed that would normally dent up and hole up the first tarp.  The first blanket hangs above the floor, the 2nd layer (tarp) has about 3 feet of excess length that I spread towards my hitting mat.  I also take the 2nd tarp and pull the bottom back away so the two layers have a small gap between them......

If you don't like the automatic ball return you got going here (sounds good to me, I have a light car blanket in front of a tarp, a good hit will fold up the hanging blanket around the ball (both sides and even the bottom of the blanket wrap it right up), then a moment passes and the blanket unfolds under gravity and the ball falls out - it usually bounces slowly right back to me - I like it) - then you can try a couple things.

1 - push the bottom of the hanging tarps back further into a relatively overhanging position, then the ball deflects down instead of back towards you also better when hitting shorter irons.  Or - like my setup, use a smaller and lighter tarp/blanket as your closet tarp (short enough so it just hangs and not touch the floor) and push just the rear tarp back a bit so they aren't touching.  the first one will loosely gather up your ball better (like my blanket) and kill the speed of the ball completely.  two of them stacked up and dragging on the floor will present a relatively 'firmer' wall so you're getting a bit of rebound.  Loose is the theme, whatever you're doing in that area, just do more.

2 - else you could just take the excess lying on the floor and prop up the front edge into a trough, that'll gather the balls in the tarp for later collection.

[buckshot4227]

Pulled the the bottom of the front tarps back away from me to deflect the balls down instead of back towards me like you said, worked great.  Cant thank you enough.  Now all I have to figure out is how to hit this stupid round ball on the center of my club face.

[Spitsy]

I was looking into purchasing a hitting net to practice on at home and was debating on a Callaway Tri-Ball Hitting Net or .  Does anyone have any experience with these particular models and how do they hold up? I would like to hit regular golf balls instead of foam balls.

Here are the links to them

http://www.amazon.com/Golf-Practice-Set-Driving-Chipping/dp/B000GGVCXW/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=golf&ie;=UTF8&qid;=1368735625&sr;=1-2-fkmr0&keywords;=elite+caddy+hitting+net

http://www.amazon.com/Callaway-Tri-Ball-Hitting-Net-7-Feet/dp/B005ZZ8BOC/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie;=UTF8&qid;=1368736287&sr;=1-1&keywords;=callaway+hitting+net

[rehmwa]

here's a good thread - you can also do a bunch of searches here - a pretty common topic so the info is already here

http://thesandtrap.com/t/53895/hitting-into-a-net

I went with a homemade setup and an 'allturf' spring crimped mat.  But I can't take it outside yet without mods...

[titandynasty]

Practicing you swing by hitting into a net is definitely a good way to practice certain change in your swing; however, based on my experience, in order to practice effectively, you need to ensure you're indeed practicing the correct mechanic you're trying to work on.  Whenever I practice against a net, I also use the V1 mobile apps and GolfReflection Swing Monitor to make sure I'm doing the things I'm working on.  Like many coaches said, you may think you're doing something the correct way, but most of the time, you're not; that's why using mirror or video is the best way to practice.

[tstrike34]

Since I joined this site in December, I have had to make a few modifications to my garage setup:

I had a Golfmate net that lasted about 2500 swings (back when I had the serious shanks); however, the poles cracked. I since switched to a Wilson net that is anchored.

I also had to switch my mats from Golfmate 3x4s to TT6060 5x5 because the Golfmate mats just could not handle being on concrete. Also the shock was killing my hands a bit.

Hitting into a net has really helped me practice a lot of mechanics and I see the results on the range (after good instruction from Evolvr).

[Ernest Jones]

I do about 90% of my full swing practice into a net. As others have stated, always use a camera to verify that you are hitting the positions you're working on, you can't see any ball flight so this is pretty important to make sure you're not just doing a ton of reps with a crappy swing. Also a good idea to use alignment sticks and have a general idea of what kind of start line your getting. There are definitely draw backs to using a net but with a proper set up and monitoring via video you can get some very good work done. Your also far less likely to over swing when using a net so when you do take it to the range or course be mindful of your tempo to make sure your not cranking up the swing speed and length.

[Hacker James]

a lot has already been said on this subject and there is little I could add. One could spend hundreds if not over a thousand dollars on a good quality indoor or backyard range set up. I went the cheap route with a cage type net I got on ebay for around $60 and a mat I got through home depot for around $22.  It works just fine for my purposes and so far is holding up even on full swing impacts. There is a photo on my profile as one of the avatars (Note, the photo is stock from the web), but mine is essentially the same except it is green rather than black.  The mat is 1 x 2 and is a "spring turf" that is plush enough to hold a wooden tee as I have mentioned previously. I glued it to a piece of plywood so it will stay in place and left one edge with plywood showing so I could drill holes to accept a pair of  skinny tent pegs.  The mat allows for a down and through iron swing and if you hit it fat, you get similar feedback as real turf.

As far as practice goes, while you can not see a ball flight, I believe it leaves you with more focus on the swing rather than a ball. Others say that hitting into a net off a mat only ingrains a bad swing. In my case, I do not think that is true as it has definitely helped me be more consistent. I can usually tell from where the ball hits the backdrop of the net and on solid hits, the ball will even roll straight back to me. As far as divots go, obviously there are none, but the idea of using talc powder lines is something I might try to see exactly where the bottom of my swing arc is.  For chipping, the set up is great. I can move the mat clear across the yard say about fifty feet and pitch/chip into hit and even observe fades and draws somewhat.

[Brakkus]

Originally Posted by titandynasty

Practicing you swing by hitting into a net is definitely a good way to practice certain change in your swing; however, based on my experience, in order to practice effectively, you need to ensure you're indeed practicing the correct mechanic you're trying to work on.  Whenever I practice against a net, I also use the V1 mobile apps and GolfReflection Swing Monitor to make sure I'm doing the things I'm working on.  Like many coaches said, you may think you're doing something the correct way, but most of the time, you're not; that's why using mirror or video is the best way to practice.

I agree you need to see your positions, I like using a full length mirror. I just practiced solid for six months in my net without filming my swing. To combat the potential for messing up my swing I only go to the range a couple of times a month to see the result. To be honest with you I just knew what worked as I tend to study swing mechanics by reading a lot of golf theory even if I don't use it so was confident that it was correct.

Only filmed the results a couple of weeks ago, my wife did it on her mobile phone, it captures frame by frame pretty well although my downswing was too quick for it. I was very pleased with the results. If you are open and have a lot of trust and know what you need to change in your swing then you can go for a long period without analysing your swing too much, but obviously that would differ from student to student, personally I have a lot of faith in doing this kind of thing based on experience from other sports.

However we are all different and each to his own.