What about this method for sensing fat shots on mats?

[colin007]

I've tried putting tape just behind the ball and it works really well. You can quickly reuse the same bit of tape over and over again as well so it's actually pretty convenient.  Another method is putting tape about 6 inches in front of the ball. You then hit the ball and try and take the tape away as well. This is excellent way of intuitively stopping yourself from flipping and ensuring that you take a divot after contact.

You could still hit it fat that way.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlasgowsGreen

I've tried putting tape just behind the ball and it works really well. You can quickly reuse the same bit of tape over and over again as well so it's actually pretty convenient.

Another method is putting tape about 6 inches in front of the ball. You then hit the ball and try and take the tape away as well. This is excellent way of intuitively stopping yourself from flipping and ensuring that you take a divot after contact.

You could still hit it fat that way.

8i/9i and longer should be about the same as grass, except for the fact that it's a perfect lie and it hurts the wrist after impact a little more.

As for me, I love hitting wedges off the mat. No fat shots!

Seriously though, I did see a competitive amateur or lower tier pro last night that was practicing with his 52 degree on the mat. His coach and father were there commenting on the strikes. So, I suppose you could still hit off a mat with a 52 degree wedge and successfully determine how good was the strike.

[MPtheKid]

Hmm interesting stuff. I don't know why but I don't really have an issue figuring out if I hit it heavy or not off of mats. Even if the club "bounces" after hitting behind the ball and catches it so that the flight looks half-way decent, you still can feel that you hit mat first, right?

[Lihu]

Hmm interesting stuff. I don't know why but I don't really have an issue figuring out if I hit it heavy or not off of mats. Even if the club "bounces" after hitting behind the ball and catches it so that the flight looks half-way decent, you still can feel that you hit mat first, right?

It's extremely hard to tell with a wedge, but possible if you have the skill to do it.

I can't, there's probably less than a 100msec of "fat".

[mdl]

I've never understood this complaint about hitting off mats, so I've never gone through all this trouble of setting up ways to prove I wasn't fat.  Sure it doesn't feel quite the same as off grass, and maybe you can't tell the difference between a perfect strike and one that's a tiny bit fat, like brushing three blades of grass before the ball fat.  But I've always thought it felt really obvious on the mat when I hit a ball heavy enough that it would be more than a couple yards short off of grass.

[nevets88]

I've never understood this complaint about hitting off mats, so I've never gone through all this trouble of setting up ways to prove I wasn't fat.  Sure it doesn't feel quite the same as off grass, and maybe you can't tell the difference between a perfect strike and one that's a tiny bit fat, like brushing three blades of grass before the ball fat.  But I've always thought it felt really obvious on the mat when I hit a ball heavy enough that it would be more than a couple yards short off of grass.

So many people still don't know about mats and fat shots - not enough golf "intuition" to sense it? They keep practicing their fat shots and then ask, why am I hitting it fat on the course? This has happened before and will happen again.

Those who do know the difference are fine on mats. Tiger Woods used your typical practice mat during his childhood years, there are photos out there. There's a huge wear spot... ahead of the ball.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdl

I've never understood this complaint about hitting off mats, so I've never gone through all this trouble of setting up ways to prove I wasn't fat.  Sure it doesn't feel quite the same as off grass, and maybe you can't tell the difference between a perfect strike and one that's a tiny bit fat, like brushing three blades of grass before the ball fat.  But I've always thought it felt really obvious on the mat when I hit a ball heavy enough that it would be more than a couple yards short off of grass.

So many people still don't know about mats and fat shots - not enough golf "intuition" to sense it? They keep practicing their fat shots and then ask, why am I hitting it fat on the course? This has happened before and will happen again.

Those who do know the difference are fine on mats. Tiger Woods used your typical practice mat during his childhood years, there are photos out there. There's a huge wear spot... ahead of the ball.

Agreed, and the novice golfer is more prone to this issue than more experienced ones.

[Dave2512]

Sure the obvious fat shots are easy to detect. Everything from the feel to the thud of the club whacking the mat is a dead give away. But I don't want to spend a lot of time hitting shots that are coming off the face too high because I'm not getting the ball first. A strike just behind the ball doesn't feel real bad to me. I was just at the range hitting off nice mats this AM with a brand new wedge that was shredding balls. I could see from that what shots I hit well. The difference between hitting one on the sweet spot and a so-so strike pretty much flew in the same intended direction. The difference was a good hit flew a little lower and a little further. For me a little heavy is usually a combo of not getting my weight forward and left wrist problems. At least that's what my instructor tells me.